Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A friend's kid goes there. The student population is incredibly wealthy - think USC on steroids. They have a 7 figure household income and their daughter was one of the poors there, for example....spring breaks on private islands, etc.

DS is in a mid-tier Greek house at Vandy currently. Exactly no one in his mostly privileged house of ~40 guys fits this description. A few are even poor! and on scholarship (ie, Vanderbilt pays their Greek dues for them via financial aid). They even get stipends to travel with the fraternity to weekends away and national meetings.

Are there students there now like Apple Martin amd Alexis Cuban? Sure, but they are the outliers. For better or for worse I have spent a lot of time there in the dormitory hallways, the parking lots, and even occasionally tailgating or eating in the coffee shop. It is most certainly NOT as you describe.

I’m surprised because this is not what I’ve heard from my kids friends who attend there.

Four or five Greek houses dominate the social scene and getting bids from those houses can make or break your time there.

It is a really good spot for kids who are comfortable in a very sheltered closed uber-wealthy environment.

You see a lot of tri-state… Connecticut, New York, New Jersey kids or private/celebrity LA kids. Or Chicago private school or wealthy Chicago suburban kids.

The private high school scene there does connect a lot of kids together before they even even get on campus.

A lot of parents are here seem well intended, but your impressions aren’t necessarily what life is really like. Have your kids talk to kids from their school. Have them meet up with them on campus for coffee and ask about what their days and nights are like.

Not what you are all describing. And campus “impressions” are often wrong…

I am PP you are quoting. The “impressions” I conveyed in my post come directly from my DS who has attended Vanderbilt for the last 3.75 academic years. Plus things I have seen with my own eyeballs and discussed with my current Vanderbilt student.

Admittedly, this is an n of 1. But I don’t see anyone else on this thread who has a current senior. The veracity of that person’s take is likely stronger than a whole bunch of people lurking on Reddit or sitting in their living room in Connecticut on the outside, looking in

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A friend's kid goes there. The student population is incredibly wealthy - think USC on steroids. They have a 7 figure household income and their daughter was one of the poors there, for example....spring breaks on private islands, etc.

Who are your friend’s kid’s friends? What are they like? Does she enjoy them?

Very wealthy. Yes, she enjoys them because she is very focused on making money and being wealthy.

Anonymous wrote:What is Vanderbilt like

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A friend's kid goes there. The student population is incredibly wealthy - think USC on steroids. They have a 7 figure household income and their daughter was one of the poors there, for example....spring breaks on private islands, etc.

DS is in a mid-tier Greek house at Vandy currently. Exactly no one in his mostly privileged house of ~40 guys fits this description. A few are even poor! and on scholarship (ie, Vanderbilt pays their Greek dues for them via financial aid). They even get stipends to travel with the fraternity to weekends away and national meetings.

Are there students there now like Apple Martin amd Alexis Cuban? Sure, but they are the outliers. For better or for worse I have spent a lot of time there in the dormitory hallways, the parking lots, and even occasionally tailgating or eating in the coffee shop. It is most certainly NOT as you describe.

I’m surprised because this is not what I’ve heard from my kids friends who attend there.

Four or five Greek houses dominate the social scene and getting bids from those houses can make or break your time there.

It is a really good spot for kids who are comfortable in a very sheltered closed uber-wealthy environment.

You see a lot of tri-state… Connecticut, New York, New Jersey kids or private/celebrity LA kids. Or Chicago private school or wealthy Chicago suburban kids.

The private high school scene there does connect a lot of kids together before they even even get on campus.

A lot of parents are here seem well intended, but your impressions aren’t necessarily what life is really like. Have your kids talk to kids from their school. Have them meet up with them on campus for coffee and ask about what their days and nights are like.

Not what you are all describing. And campus “impressions” are often wrong…

I am PP you are quoting. The “impressions” I conveyed in my post come directly from my DS who has attended Vanderbilt for the last 3.75 academic years. Plus things I have seen with my own eyeballs and discussed with my current Vanderbilt student.

Admittedly, this is an n of 1. But I don’t see anyone else on this thread who has a current senior. The veracity of that person’s take is likely stronger than a whole bunch of people lurking on Reddit or sitting in their living room in Connecticut on the outside, looking in

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A friend's kid goes there. The student population is incredibly wealthy - think USC on steroids. They have a 7 figure household income and their daughter was one of the poors there, for example....spring breaks on private islands, etc.

Who are your friend’s kid’s friends? What are they like? Does she enjoy them?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A friend's kid goes there. The student population is incredibly wealthy - think USC on steroids. They have a 7 figure household income and their daughter was one of the poors there, for example....spring breaks on private islands, etc.

Who are your friend’s kid’s friends? What are they like? Does she enjoy them?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A friend's kid goes there. The student population is incredibly wealthy - think USC on steroids. They have a 7 figure household income and their daughter was one of the poors there, for example....spring breaks on private islands, etc.

DS is in a mid-tier Greek house at Vandy currently. Exactly no one in his mostly privileged house of ~40 guys fits this description. A few are even poor! and on scholarship (ie, Vanderbilt pays their Greek dues for them via financial aid). They even get stipends to travel with the fraternity to weekends away and national meetings.

Are there students there now like Apple Martin amd Alexis Cuban? Sure, but they are the outliers. For better or for worse I have spent a lot of time there in the dormitory hallways, the parking lots, and even occasionally tailgating or eating in the coffee shop. It is most certainly NOT as you describe.

I’m surprised because this is not what I’ve heard from my kids friends who attend there.

Four or five Greek houses dominate the social scene and getting bids from those houses can make or break your time there.

It is a really good spot for kids who are comfortable in a very sheltered closed uber-wealthy environment.

You see a lot of tri-state… Connecticut, New York, New Jersey kids or private/celebrity LA kids. Or Chicago private school or wealthy Chicago suburban kids.

The private high school scene there does connect a lot of kids together before they even even get on campus.

A lot of parents are here seem well intended, but your impressions aren’t necessarily what life is really like. Have your kids talk to kids from their school. Have them meet up with them on campus for coffee and ask about what their days and nights are like.

Not what you are all describing. And campus “impressions” are often wrong…

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A friend's kid goes there. The student population is incredibly wealthy - think USC on steroids. They have a 7 figure household income and their daughter was one of the poors there, for example....spring breaks on private islands, etc.

DS is in a mid-tier Greek house at Vandy currently. Exactly no one in his mostly privileged house of ~40 guys fits this description. A few are even poor! and on scholarship (ie, Vanderbilt pays their Greek dues for them via financial aid). They even get stipends to travel with the fraternity to weekends away and national meetings.

Are there students there now like Apple Martin amd Alexis Cuban? Sure, but they are the outliers. For better or for worse I have spent a lot of time there in the dormitory hallways, the parking lots, and even occasionally tailgating or eating in the coffee shop. It is most certainly NOT as you describe.

I’m surprised because this is not what I’ve heard from my kids friends who attend there.

Four or five Greek houses dominate the social scene and getting bids from those houses can make or break your time there.

It is a really good spot for kids who are comfortable in a very sheltered closed uber-wealthy environment.

You see a lot of tri-state… Connecticut, New York, New Jersey kids or private/celebrity LA kids. Or Chicago private school or wealthy Chicago suburban kids.

The private high school scene there does connect a lot of kids together before they even even get on campus.

A lot of parents are here seem well intended, but your impressions aren’t necessarily what life is really like. Have your kids talk to kids from their school. Have them meet up with them on campus for coffee and ask about what their days and nights are like.

Not what you are all describing. And campus “impressions” are often wrong…

Anonymous wrote:There isn't much to dislike about Vanderbilt. It's a very sold school academically. It definitely leans pre-professional, but it's also a great place to do a deep dive into any subject. Their sports teams took a huge leap in recent years - football, basketball - both men and women - and baseball are all ranked teams, with all the excitement that brings.

The campus is very nice, like a garden in the city. Dorms are nearly all modernized and new. The student population is 50-50, so the social dynamic is healthy. The Greek system attracts less than 25 percent of students. It's there for those who want it, but joining is totally not necessary. Nashville is a fun city for college students.

My sense from doing one of their weekends for prospective students is that Vanderbilt knows exactly what they are doing. It's an ambitious school with a very proactive administration. I can't really think of anything negative to say about it. I guess maybe the rich kid thing, but around 65 percent of students are on financial aid, so it's not overwhelming. It didn't feel like a barbell school either. It felt very cohesive, and the thing that they stressed over and over again, is that they really want the students that really want to be there. They don't want to be anybody's second choice, and I think that feeds into the sense of community that's there.

Anonymous wrote:A friend's kid goes there. The student population is incredibly wealthy - think USC on steroids. They have a 7 figure household income and their daughter was one of the poors there, for example....spring breaks on private islands, etc.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have heard about more than one pre-med student at Vandy say that it a more competitive environment rather than collaborative, with a weed-out culture that can be fairly brutal.

But I thought classes were easy, according to the posts above?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have heard about more than one pre-med student at Vandy say that it a more competitive environment rather than collaborative, with a weed-out culture that can be fairly brutal.

But I thought classes were easy, according to the posts above?

Be wary of random thoughts. Easy? No

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have heard about more than one pre-med student at Vandy say that it a more competitive environment rather than collaborative, with a weed-out culture that can be fairly brutal.

But I thought classes were easy, according to the posts above?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is vandy like for an Asian kid on a Pell grant

The Asian kids on Reddit who end up at Vanderbilt because of prestige are often unhappy. It's a common transfer demographic--search the transfer board and you'll see.
Vandy is a rich white person's school.

Anonymous wrote:Above poster. For the Asian Pell Grant kid- Emory may be a better choice than Vanderbilt.