<p>As a parent of a current student (who loves the school) and an alum of Vanderbilt, I’ve been thinking how best to answer your question–how to differentiate Vanderbilt from the 20 other schools of roughly similar size, type of student, selectivity of admission and D1 sports, of which you posted this question (the large top tier public schools are more easily distinguishable). All of the schools have outstanding professors and competitive students, many of whom will continue their education at the graduate level.
Aside from the hard-to-quantify atmosphere at Vandy that the students are more friendly, less cut-throat and more willing to let loose on weekends than you might find at the other schools, Vanderbilt has a few other things in its favor: the Freshman Commons, Nashville and, last but not least–wonderful financial aid/needs blind admission.<br>
The Commons is the 10 dorm “complex” where all freshman live in either less than 10 year old dorms or dorms renovated within the last decade. In addition, there is a very nice cafeteria building which also has classrooms, lounges, and a workout facility in the Commons. There are social events and mentoring opportunities throughout the year that are designed to make to adjustment to college better and bring the new freshmen together to bond; my brief description does not do justice to the outstanding “freshman experience” that VU provides.
Nashville is a great city; an ideal size, fun things to do (not ONLY country music), campus is fairly urban and the city likes the school and its students which is not always the case. As a bonus, the weather is better than you would find in Chicago, South Bend, Ann Arbor or, other extreme, Houston, IMO 
Finally, Vanderbilt is very generous with financial aid (your family doesn’t have to be earning below the poverty level in order to qualify) and the school has a needs blind admission policy which means it does not factor in your ability to pay when evaluating your application.</p>
<p>As another poster on this forum likes to say, Vanderbilt is one of the few schools that gives you the full college experience (good academics, good social scene, D1 sports…) with a well respected name on your diploma. Good luck with your college search!</p>