<p>Hey guys!
I'm a junior and I'm going to look at Vanderbilt in a few weeks. Since most of you have already applied there I'm assuming that a bunch of you have already visited. I've scheduled the tour but is there anything else anyone recommends doing while I'm there? Also I know there's a million things to do in Nashville but I'm not from anywhere near Tennessee and I've never been so is there anything that's a must-do while I'm there for the weekend? Thanks!!</p>
<p>There’s a really yummy indian restaurant down the street from the entrance. Better than any indian restaurant we have in 'Bama.</p>
<p>I don’t think the tour takes you to see the rec center or the sports facilities (football field, memorial gym (basketball) or the baseball stadium, so you might want to take a walk to see those. Walk down 21st street (keep walking down further than the the commons, there are a lot of little shops and restaurants. Have lunch at Fido or breakfast at pancake pantry) Stroll in centennial park (right across the street from campus on West End Ave) if you have time.</p>
<p>Breakfast at Pancake Pantry goes on to 2 or 3 pm. The food is worth the visit, but you might even see someone famous while you’re there. Shortly before the holidays, D sent me a link to a picture of the two Taylors (Swift and Lautner) checking out from their meal at PP. Mmmm, did I say the food was worth the visit - best French Toast in the world, IMO!</p>
<p>Definitely check out Hillsboro Village which is on 21st street as posted above. Also drive down West End boulevard towards downtown. This is the road that the admissions office is on. There are tons of hotels, restaurants, shops and once you merge with Broadway, West End changes name to Broadway. Follow it all the way down to the river and you will pass the Frist museum, the historic and famous Ryman Auditorium, the Sommet center (the Predators play here as well as major concerts-Bruce Springsteen,Coldplay,etc) and all of the live music venues,bars and restaurants. The Country Music Hall of Fame and the Schermerhorn Symphony are a block east of Broadway on 4th Street. There is also TPAC(Tennessee Performing Arts Center) a few blocks to the left of Broadway which gets most of the Broadway shows on tour) Once you get to the river, there is a turn around which gives you full view of the Titans Stadium across the river. Head back up Broadway and when it divides again into West End, take the Broadway side (veer left). Broadway will later change names into 21st avenue and take you past the Medical Center on the right and Peabody on the left. Music Row occupies most of 16th and 17th Avenues to the left of 21st. If you stay on 21st, you will again pass through Hillsboro Village and once you pass over the 440 interstate it changes names to Hillsboro Road. You will now be in the Green Hills area which has more restauarants and the really nice Green Hills mall(J Crew, Burberry, Juicy Couture, Kate Spade, Ann Taylor, Lucky, True Religion, Tiffany,Coach, Louis Vuittion, Cheesecake Factory, Regal Theatres,etc) and the Hill Center(Anthropologie, POSH, Monkees, Pei Wei, California Pizza Kitchen,Whole Foods,etc) In between these 2 centers is a Trader Joe’s. Nordstrom just broke ground at the Green Hill mall and will open hopefully in Fall 2011.
The mall is easily accessible by bus or taxi from Vanderbilt.</p>
<p>I’m visiting vandy too in a couple of weeks collegegirl.
Are you going to a black&gold day or are you doing dore for a day?</p>
<p>Thank you all so much for your replies (: </p>
<p>HKlove22, I’m not going to black&gold day I’m just going on a normal day.
What about you?</p>
<p>Thirding Pancake Pantry, great suggestions from Bridie and VU0609, and terrific post #5 from MusicCityMom! When we haven’t wanted to wait at PP, we’ve had excellent breakfasts at Noshville on Broadway, across the street from the Embassy Suites, where we’ve had some nice stays at slightly more reasonable prices than other West End hotels.</p>
<p>So much to do in Nashville, so little time. My absolute favorite place was about a 10-minute drive from campus - Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park, which I think is the most extraordinary urban park I’ve ever visited. Beautifully designed and really unique.</p>
<p>I’m going to the feb 1st black and gold day and doin the dore for a day sometime within the next two months.
But, i live in tennessee, about 30 minutes from Vandy, so its not that far of a trip for me 
Like the people that posted above me said, Nashville has a lot to offer, and Vandy is a BEAUTIFUL campus.
I didn’t read much of what people said before, but Opry Mills would definitely be a good place to go.</p>
<p>You ought to check out Opry Land hotel. It’s beautiful. Opry Mills is an inside mall of brand name outlets. You’ll most likely find some really good deals. If the weather is nice, you ought to walk along downtown Nashville; it’s only a mile or two down the road. </p>
<p>Nashville is nicknamed Music City, but don’t be under the impression that it’s all country music! The place has every type of music known to man, and you can hear it from any pub or bar you walk by. </p>
<p>But be sure to thoroughly check out the campus; it’s beautiful – especially in the fall. Enjoy yourself!</p>
<p>There have been some great specific suggestions from posters above, so definitely do as much of that as you can. And I will for sure back up the Pancake Pantry recommendation. Whatever the wait is…it’s worth it. Also, for dinner, check out a restaurant called Lime if you enjoy Mexican food at all. One of the best meals I have ever eaten! It had a very cool atmosphere also.</p>
<p>The most important suggestion that I can give you is to spend some extra time around the campus area after the tour. I spent about half the day just walking around campus and up and down those streets with the cute little shops and stuff. This is when I really got a feel for the school and fell in love with Vanderbilt!</p>
<p>Sit in on a class! There are tons of really interesting big lecture classes I know of that you can just drop in on or take friends to for the day. PM me if you want some suggestions.</p>
<p>In Nashville, I’d say check out Fidos or Pancake Pantry in Hillsborough Village, the restaurant Acorn downtown (my professor’s husband actually works there), the Grand Ole Opry, the Opryland hotel, the Union Station hotel (interesting fact: the men’s bathroom in the lobby is open to both genders because of its architectural importance), the performing arts center, Frist visual arts center (free for students, awesome for art history field trips )… Nashville is a great place. The Predators hockey games are really fun too downtown.</p>
<p>I’d say if you can’t decide, just stroll the touristy streets downtown and see where it takes you. As a student at Vandy, that’s what I do with visitors.</p>
<p>I highly recommend you do the “dore for a day program” You have to sign up for it on their webiste but my son did it and he liked Vanderbilt even more than before. The student he got assigned to was exactly like him down to the geographic area, ethnicity and ecs. He spent the afternoon hanging out in the dorms with the student, going to class with his roommate and eating with him.</p>
<p>We stayed at the courtyard down the street and it worked out very well. Also visit Jacks for BBQ downtown, it is an institution and our favorite place.</p>
<p>Good luck, the campus is very nice.</p>
<p>Go to the mall, it’s awesome. It will probably take you all day it’s so big. The Opryland Hotel is pretty cool too. The Loveless Cafe is famous, it is a long drive. Although the drive is very pretty, lots of big houses and nice land, the cafe itself it overrated. We waited about 2 hours to get a seat and it was nothing out of the ordinary from the country food we have in Kentucky. But, if you are not a person who gets a lot of good country cooking, then you might consider going there. As people above have said, walk around downtown and around campus. It’s pretty and it seems like a really fun town. Very country, but I liked it. Plus, can’t go wrong with Pancake Pantry. Especially, since you might see someone famous.</p>
<p>I think that pre VU is excellent if you can attend one. Its fun to hear about the different schools on the campus. We loved the full day we spent their and were very impressed with all that we saw. There are lots of admission counselors and students there to answer your questions. Getting to eat with the students on campus was great. The food was fantastic by the way. I think Vanderbilt did a great job displaying southern hospitality.</p>
<p>2VU0609 always suggests Pancake Pantry haha. Though I cannot disagree! I think everyone has given plenty of suggestions. If you are at all interested in the sciences I would try to find a lab to tour. If you want more info on that PM me.</p>
<p>haha is right, GCN2! I went 5 years of driving past PP and seeing long lines outside thinking it was just too much effort to stand in the line. Wrong! I’ve only been there 4 or 5 times, but it is always worth the wait.</p>