<p>Vandy is a decent pre-med school. Professors are a mixed bag. Most are good instructors, but some are really unrealistic. Grading in pre-med science classes can be tough (it's supposed to weed out those students who cannot cut it). The advising is good and very helpful. I believe 72% of applicants get into at least one medical school. Once again, not outstanding but pretty good.</p>
<p>iam not trying to be a prick but how the hell is vandy a top university? no iam not trying to be an ass, i am SINCERELY asking because i really want to know. other than the fact that it has beautiful women, gorgeous campus, good social scene, it doesn't seem to have a specific area in academics that it excels at. i mean people are saying music/med school is good but they can't be the reason why vandy is in the top 20. in USNEWS vandy is ahead of U Mich-Ann Arbor, UCLA, UC Berkley, Georgetown, Carnegie Mellon, Tufts, UNC-Chapel Hill. how is this possible?</p>
<p>intotherain, Vandy has strong departments everywhere -- English, History, Economics, Foreign Languages, The Sciences, etc. It has always been a prestigious school, but often people have biases against the South and never apply. I'd encourage you to look at placement rates for top law schools and med schools. So far my classes have been amazing, I wouldn't change schools for anything.</p>
<p>Vandy may have strong departments, but strong does not necessarily translate into the best. I think money factors heavily into the rankings. some schools intotherain listed give an equal or better education. However, Vanderbilt has money to burn, or give to those seeking financial aid. But make no mistake, the students are very bright despite its southern location.</p>
<p>What do you mean "the students are very bright despite its souther location"? Are you implying people in the South aren't smart? And that schools in the South aren't very good? </p>
<p>Way to make a huuugely incorrect stereotype.</p>
<p>
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But make no mistake, the students are very bright despite its southern location.
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</p>
<p>This is exactly the type of anti-Southern bias to which college2332 was referring.</p>
<p>It's undeniable that education is a lot less of a focus here in the South than it is elsewhere in the US. There are some qualities schools in the South, but not nearly as many as there are in the North or even California alone.</p>
<p>do you guys know anything about the engineering school in vandy?</p>
<p>Here's a solid reason for Vanderbilt to have a strong reputation: its English Department was the birthplace of the Agrarian movement and the first home of the Fugitive Poets. The New Criticism was developed by Vanderbilt-educated scholars, who then taught at LSU, Washington, Kenyon, Sewanee, Yale, Stanford, UVA, Harvard, and Princeton; living remnants include Stephen Greenblatt. The Kenyon and Sewanee Reviews are both products of this same extraordinarily important group of Vanderbilt students and faculty.</p>
<p>PS I should mention that I rather regret enrolling elsewhere!</p>
<p>how is vandy's physics and engineering, since i plan to double major</p>
<p>you will be disapointed with vandy's undergraduate physics program. engineering is rather good, however.</p>
<p>One other recent tidbit re: English Dept at Vanderbilt. They received the first NIH (Nat'l Inst Health) grant to a non-science department to study the impact of genetics on literature (Think Gattica)...</p>
<p>The physics department is small but solid. Some of the professors are really good, but others aren't so good. There are a few different groups doing work right now, but I would admit that it isn't as extensive as other schools might be. If you want more details about the physics department PM me.</p>
<p>guyute, your settings are blocking PMs. ;)</p>
<p>hah. sorry, fixed that</p>
<p>How is their History Department?</p>
<p>And the political science department?</p>
<p>Awww man.
I was starting to like Vandy, but I just looked at the philosophy department.
Now that is some weak sauce.</p>
<p>I'm considering Vanderbilt pretty seriously, but how conservative vs. liberal is it? Being in the South, it seems like Vanderbilt would be pretty conservative. I definitely prefer a more conservative atmosphere, but the drawback is that I'm a vegetarian. Are there many vegetarians and/or similar clubs around campus? What does the city/campus have in the way of vegetarian and vegetarian-friendly restaurants? I don't want to be eating salad for 4 years.</p>
<p>yes, there's a vegetarian restaurant (it's preety good) located on campus. Also, several restaurants on campus offer some vegan entrees.</p>