Vibe on campus: Vanderbilt versus Wake Forest versus Davidson versus Washington & Lee

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn’t find W&L to be isolated at all, VMI is down the street, and a cute little town right outside campus.

You want your kid hanging out with VMI guys? I have 2 daughters and this would be a neg. W&L is in a small town and when I used to go see friends there, we went to parties in literal fields.

You realize you were in college several decades ago.

So now Lexington, VA is a major city (two decades later)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Vandy campus tour was such a disappointment. Bland campus, even blander environs.

Yeahhh. That's exactly how the public views Nashville. So 'bland'

W&L is one of the most isolated campuses I've ever seen. Wake is safe and sedate and in the equivalent of McLean.

While on campus, Wake, Vandy and Davidson look so similar. Vandy has a giant medical center attached to campus -- giant -- and an arterial road abutting campus.

I don't know if you're being facetious but I actually was really disappointed by Nashville and Vanderbilt. The pictures make it look gorgeous but it was not a great setting IMHO. Nashville has Broadway, that one street that gives the whole "Nash Negas" vibe but otherwise, it doesn't exactly have a great urban character. Something about the Vandy campus also feels much more "Bible school" or "megachurch", for some reason.

You must be joking. Nothing about Vanderbilt conveys either feeling.

[Anonymous]

I didn’t find the Vandy campus gorgeous nor did it strike me as a mega church.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Vandy campus tour was such a disappointment. Bland campus, even blander environs.

Yeahhh. That's exactly how the public views Nashville. So 'bland'

W&L is one of the most isolated campuses I've ever seen. Wake is safe and sedate and in the equivalent of McLean.

While on campus, Wake, Vandy and Davidson look so similar. Vandy has a giant medical center attached to campus -- giant -- and an arterial road abutting campus.

I don't know if you're being facetious but I actually was really disappointed by Nashville and Vanderbilt. The pictures make it look gorgeous but it was not a great setting IMHO. Nashville has Broadway, that one street that gives the whole "Nash Negas" vibe but otherwise, it doesn't exactly have a great urban character. Something about the Vandy campus also feels much more "Bible school" or "megachurch", for some reason.

It's not a compact city in the Northeast, or Chicago, this is true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Vandy campus tour was such a disappointment. Bland campus, even blander environs.

Yeahhh. That's exactly how the public views Nashville. So 'bland'

W&L is one of the most isolated campuses I've ever seen. Wake is safe and sedate and in the equivalent of McLean.

While on campus, Wake, Vandy and Davidson look so similar. Vandy has a giant medical center attached to campus -- giant -- and an arterial road abutting campus.

I don't know if you're being facetious but I actually was really disappointed by Nashville and Vanderbilt. The pictures make it look gorgeous but it was not a great setting IMHO. Nashville has Broadway, that one street that gives the whole "Nash Negas" vibe but otherwise, it doesn't exactly have a great urban character. Something about the Vandy campus also feels much more "Bible school" or "megachurch", for some reason.

It's not a compact city in the Northeast, or Chicago, this is true.

It's like an overgrown suburb with some Southern charm and a little dash of Vegas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Vandy campus tour was such a disappointment. Bland campus, even blander environs.

Yeahhh. That's exactly how the public views Nashville. So 'bland'

W&L is one of the most isolated campuses I've ever seen. Wake is safe and sedate and in the equivalent of McLean.

While on campus, Wake, Vandy and Davidson look so similar. Vandy has a giant medical center attached to campus -- giant -- and an arterial road abutting campus.

I don't know if you're being facetious but I actually was really disappointed by Nashville and Vanderbilt. The pictures make it look gorgeous but it was not a great setting IMHO. Nashville has Broadway, that one street that gives the whole "Nash Negas" vibe but otherwise, it doesn't exactly have a great urban character. Something about the Vandy campus also feels much more "Bible school" or "megachurch", for some reason.

You must be joking. Nothing about Vanderbilt conveys either feeling.

I was referring to the architecture and layout of a lot of the buildings. Signage. Things like that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Vandy campus tour was such a disappointment. Bland campus, even blander environs.

Yeahhh. That's exactly how the public views Nashville. So 'bland'

W&L is one of the most isolated campuses I've ever seen. Wake is safe and sedate and in the equivalent of McLean.

While on campus, Wake, Vandy and Davidson look so similar. Vandy has a giant medical center attached to campus -- giant -- and an arterial road abutting campus.

I don't know if you're being facetious but I actually was really disappointed by Nashville and Vanderbilt. The pictures make it look gorgeous but it was not a great setting IMHO. Nashville has Broadway, that one street that gives the whole "Nash Negas" vibe but otherwise, it doesn't exactly have a great urban character. Something about the Vandy campus also feels much more "Bible school" or "megachurch", for some reason.

You must be joking. Nothing about Vanderbilt conveys either feeling.

Okay. Your honesty & candor is appreciated. Guess I'll take another look with your perspective in mind.

I was referring to the architecture and layout of a lot of the buildings. Signage. Things like that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Vany is very hard to get into. If you want a shot there going to need to ED.

This year was crazy. I know many outright rejections of top (Ivy caliber) students.
I think the odds at the other two schools are much higher.

Agree, no one got in early this year at any of the private schools in our city (not DC), which is very atypical, and I know some of the students were Ivy caliber.

are you talking 2-3 applicants that you know of or a larger pool? Think it’s hard to tell on this stuff as kids stay close to the vest for the most part regarding ED app. Is Vandy legit getting Ivy caliber kids for ED1? Granted admit rate probably easier at Vandy for ED1 (than all ivies), so those playing game theory (correctly) may try to use their ED chit there. Will be interesting when they publish ED results, and wonder if they will break down ED1 vs ED2 like they did last year -

Vandy is harder to get into than Cornell, and Dartmouth. That includes ED.

[Anonymous]

In your opinion, would kids from NYC who love the city life be happiest at Davidson, Vanderbilt, or Wake Forest.

[Anonymous]

Vanderbilt first, then Davidson, Wake last.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Vanderbilt first, then Davidson, Wake last.

No, I would put Wake above Davidson. But really, it depends entirely on the kids. My born and raised in the city twins (Chicago) visited Davidson and Wake.
One loved Wake, thought "eh" about Davidson. The other was the reverse. I think unless your "city kid" wants a true urban school like NYU or Columbia then there will be far more things to distinguish Davidson, Vanderbilt, Wake (and a million similar schools) from each other than some sort of vague "better for city kids" vibe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Vany is very hard to get into. If you want a shot there going to need to ED.

This year was crazy. I know many outright rejections of top (Ivy caliber) students.
I think the odds at the other two schools are much higher.

Agree, no one got in early this year at any of the private schools in our city (not DC), which is very atypical, and I know some of the students were Ivy caliber.

My "Ivy caliber" DS was admitted last year. He reports that the freshmen are a very, very serious group.

The whole 'SEC greek party school' thing is definitely dying on the vine, it seems.

Yes, that's in the past. Even those that do choose to belong to the increasingly small Greek community are studying hard Monday through Thursday. Source - have a kid there. Also Ivy caliber who got in ED. It's a very academic school. And the peer group is very accomplished and ambitious. You're not going to find many Vandy students on Broadway mid-week. It's a fun school on the weekends. But I think people underestimate how serious the academics are during the weekdays.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Vanderbilt first, then Davidson, Wake last.

No, I would put Wake above Davidson. But really, it depends entirely on the kids. My born and raised in the city twins (Chicago) visited Davidson and Wake.
One loved Wake, thought "eh" about Davidson. The other was the reverse. I think unless your "city kid" wants a true urban school like NYU or Columbia then there will be far more things to distinguish Davidson, Vanderbilt, Wake (and a million similar schools) from each other than some sort of vague "better for city kids" vibe.

You can walk nowhere from Wake. Davidson is in a small town with restaurants, shops, etc. Neither are NYC, of course.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Vanderbilt first, then Davidson, Wake last.

No, I would put Wake above Davidson. But really, it depends entirely on the kids. My born and raised in the city twins (Chicago) visited Davidson and Wake.
One loved Wake, thought "eh" about Davidson. The other was the reverse. I think unless your "city kid" wants a true urban school like NYU or Columbia then there will be far more things to distinguish Davidson, Vanderbilt, Wake (and a million similar schools) from each other than some sort of vague "better for city kids" vibe.

You can walk nowhere from Wake. Davidson is in a small town with restaurants, shops, etc. Neither are NYC, of course.

+1 Davidson is so much nicer than Winston Salem. Plus, the school is amazing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Vany is very hard to get into. If you want a shot there going to need to ED.

This year was crazy. I know many outright rejections of top (Ivy caliber) students.
I think the odds at the other two schools are much higher.

Agree, no one got in early this year at any of the private schools in our city (not DC), which is very atypical, and I know some of the students were Ivy caliber.

are you talking 2-3 applicants that you know of or a larger pool? Think it’s hard to tell on this stuff as kids stay close to the vest for the most part regarding ED app. Is Vandy legit getting Ivy caliber kids for ED1? Granted admit rate probably easier at Vandy for ED1 (than all ivies), so those playing game theory (correctly) may try to use their ED chit there. Will be interesting when they publish ED results, and wonder if they will break down ED1 vs ED2 like they did last year -

I think last year's overall admit rate was a shade above 5 percent. And ED I was about 15 percent. Regular decision is pretty hopeless for most applicants. Vandy seems to use ED II to catch some of the early Stanford and MIT and similar rejections. It's no ones safety school anymore. If a student really wants to go there and you've done the financial calculator and the number works, definitely apply ED I. But only if the kid has a genuine shot with the academics and ECs and all that.