Tell me about Vanderbilt

[Anonymous]

Considering it for DD, but she is much more of a jeans/sweats/t-shirts kind of girl than a perfect makeup and hair, accessorized outfit type. Would she fit in there? Are "Southern belles" the norm? What about Rice? Any thoughts on either would be appreciated.

[Anonymous]

I graduated just over a decade ago from Vandy and I'm from NY. I had culture shock initially but ended up loving it. In the beginning, I wondered why I hadn't chosen a school in the northeast with people just like me but I'm glad that I stepped outside of my comfort zone for college. DC-area students I knew felt less of a cultural difference than I did coming from NY. Yes, you'll find southern belles down there, but there are plenty of other types of people, too. Perhaps students get a little fancier than other schools bc of the southern feel but that might mean jeans to class instead of sweats (although I swear I wore sweats to some early classes). We had fun laughing about the girls who rolled up to 8am classes in their prom dress and pearls. I was jeans/t-shirt and fit in just fine. I will mention that There was a lot of pressure to be thin but that might be the case everywhere now. It is a great school and I'm very happy with the education I received. The campus is beautiful and Nashville is an awesome college town that has only gotten better in the past decade. Good luck to your daughter!

[Anonymous]

Rice might be a better fit. My DD is there and loves it. There are no sororities or frats, and there is a very tight "house" system that splits the campus into residential colleges where they remain for their entire time at Rice. While there are southern belles there that would never be seen without their makeup, a definite minority. My DD's friends who went to Vanderbilt have all joined sororities and the emphasis on dress and looks seems much more pervasive there than at Rice.

[Anonymous]

Vanderbilt is also a bit too conservative for many for from this area. Not all tea party nut jobs, but definitely more right wing than you'd expect at a top school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Rice might be a better fit. My DD is there and loves it. There are no sororities or frats, and there is a very tight "house" system that splits the campus into residential colleges where they remain for their entire time at Rice. While there are southern belles there that would never be seen without their makeup, a definite minority. My DD's friends who went to Vanderbilt have all joined sororities and the emphasis on dress and looks seems much more pervasive there than at Rice.

I'd love to hear more about Rice, which my rising senior DD -- a jeans and t-shirt girl -- is very interested in. What's it like to go to Texas if you've never lived anywhere but the east coast? How often does DD have to explain to folks outside of Texas where it is and what kind of school it is? Does she find that employers, esp. those in STEM fields, know the school and are interested in recruiting students?

[Anonymous]

Too Greek

[Anonymous]

Rice is very well-known, particularly in STEM fields, music, and social sciences. My DDs friends a year ahead of her (she is a rising senior) seemed to do great getting into graduate schools, internships, jobs. And not just in Texas. If you really care what your friends in DC who went to school in northern New England think, and some might not have heard of it, then maybe a problem for you, but with one DD at Rice and another at an Ivy, the one at Rice is getting a MUCH better education and is in a much saner social scene.

[Anonymous]

9:19 here. As with any school, it is what you make of it. Did any of you go to Vandy or are you reading from the guide book? fWIW: I'm a (very) liberal Yankee who didn't go Greek and I had a great experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:9:19 here. As with any school, it is what you make of it. Did any of you go to Vandy or are you reading from the guide book? fWIW: I'm a (very) liberal Yankee who didn't go Greek and I had a great experience.

You evidently thrived despite the culture shock from the cultural differences, but that doesn't mean that the differences you acknowledge don't exist. Some might be troubled by the "culture shock" while others might thrive, as you say you did.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Rice is very well-known, particularly in STEM fields, music, and social sciences. My DDs friends a year ahead of her (she is a rising senior) seemed to do great getting into graduate schools, internships, jobs. And not just in Texas. If you really care what your friends in DC who went to school in northern New England think, and some might not have heard of it, then maybe a problem for you, but with one DD at Rice and another at an Ivy, the one at Rice is getting a MUCH better education and is in a much saner social scene.

Very helpful; thanks, PP. FWIW, our 2 older kids graduated from/currently attend an Ivy, and both have encouraged their sister's interest in Rice.

[Anonymous]

I think the look is more Nashville than Belle, but if you don't know the difference there might be a problem.

[Anonymous]

Our son just graduated from Vandy. He's a Midwestern kid and did have some culture shock when he got there (although he did know what he was getting into from doing research), but he adapted quickly and found wonderful friends there. He absolutely loved Vanderbilt -- the rigor, the friendly, social student body and work hard/play hard atmosphere, the challenging classes, SEC athletics, the city of Nashville. He is not wealthy and did not go Greek (he did join a Christian fraternity and loved that). He said it was no problem being himself and not conforming to the rich, preppy stereotype, and has lots of friends who are Greek. There truly is room for every type there. (Check with parents of girls though just to make sure. Our son said that there's more pressure on girls than guys there, especially those that want to be Greek). That being said, his girlfriend did not go Greek and also had a phenomenal experience at Vandy-- was active on campus and very integrated into college life.

He got a fantastic education. He and his friends had lots of doors open to them because of their Vandy degrees. It was very rigorous and stressful, but he says it was worth it. (The only drawback we could find was the academic/career advising was practically nonexistant. Students really are on their own there in that regard).

Has your daughter been on campus yet? If not, definitely do that. Go to cafeterias and talk to students, stay overnight if you know someone who goes there, go to classes. That should give you a good idea of the "vibe" on campus and she'll probably be able to tell if it's a place she would feel comfortable. Also spend some time in Nashville, our son loved being in that city.

Good luck with your decision!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our son just graduated from Vandy. He's a Midwestern kid and did have some culture shock when he got there (although he did know what he was getting into from doing research), but he adapted quickly and found wonderful friends there. He absolutely loved Vanderbilt -- the rigor, the friendly, social student body and work hard/play hard atmosphere, the challenging classes, SEC athletics, the city of Nashville. He is not wealthy and did not go Greek (he did join a Christian fraternity and loved that). He said it was no problem being himself and not conforming to the rich, preppy stereotype, and has lots of friends who are Greek. There truly is room for every type there. (Check with parents of girls though just to make sure. Our son said that there's more pressure on girls than guys there, especially those that want to be Greek). That being said, his girlfriend did not go Greek and also had a phenomenal experience at Vandy-- was active on campus and very integrated into college life.

He got a fantastic education. He and his friends had lots of doors open to them because of their Vandy degrees. It was very rigorous and stressful, but he says it was worth it. (The only drawback we could find was the academic/career advising was practically nonexistant. Students really are on their own there in that regard).

Has your daughter been on campus yet? If not, definitely do that. Go to cafeterias and talk to students, stay overnight if you know someone who goes there, go to classes. That should give you a good idea of the "vibe" on campus and she'll probably be able to tell if it's a place she would feel comfortable. Also spend some time in Nashville, our son loved being in that city.

Good luck with your decision!

That's a huge negative. Where do vandy grads who don't go directly on to top law or grad schools go? It is one of my huge negatives regarding Hopkins and why I would never recommend hopkins to a student unless they are sure they want to directly go to some form of graduate school.

I think for schools like hopkins and vandy it is unacceptable given the resources per student these schools have.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: academic/career advising was practically nonexistant. Students really are on their own there in that regard).

. . .. That's a huge negative. Where do vandy grads who don't go directly on to top law or grad schools go? It is one of my huge negatives regarding Hopkins and why I would never recommend hopkins to a student unless they are sure they want to directly go to some form of graduate school.

I think for schools like hopkins and vandy it is unacceptable given the resources per student these schools have.

Yes, I agree . . . I was very disappointed in that, and surprised as well. My daughter at Elon has had great advising in her first year there.

The Vandy students are very resourceful and most know what they want to do and how to plan for it . . . a lot of my son's friends are working at top consulting firms like Deloitte and Bain, or at other companies(he was in the HOD program), and most are making great money and have no complaints. My gripe with it was in terms of signing up for classes, creating a plan for their 4 years. My son navigated it OK but did end up taking the wrong stats class and having to take another one later because his advisor didn't take time to work through his program with him, and he didn't take some other classes he should have had for the career he was interested in. It's working out fine for him, but he was rejected from one grad program because he didn't have some necessary prerequisite classes, which never should have happened, so it could have been better. I think that's probably a drawback of the "research university" thing. . . professors are paid to publish and students are secondary. My son did have a better experience with professors in the HOD program than he did in Arts and Sciences (he double majored in Econ).

That is my one gripe (that and the "non-discrimination" policy that discrinates against religious groups but that's a whole different discussion). Overall Vandy was a great experience for him and he'd choose it again in a heartbeat.

[Anonymous]

In our experience (parents of 2 students) undergrad advising is also very weak at Columbia. Can anyone comment on this regarding Rice?