Inside View: Vanderbilt University

Vanderbilt University is a top 20 research university located in Nashville, Tennessee. Known for its beautiful tree-lined campus and top notch programs in English, engineering, the sciences, math, history and political science, Vanderbilt is attracting an increasingly national student body. Admissions is highly competitive, with only 38% of applicants accepted last year. Ari, a sophomore computer science and mathematics major, recently answered my questions about his experiences at Vanderbilt.

What were the most important things you wanted when you were looking at colleges?

Price, experience (by this I mean people and contacts I meet, the life I lead), academics, distance from home (at the time, not anymore). In that order too, probably.

Why did you choose Vanderbilt?

Best combination of all the factors under consideration.

What other schools did you consider?

I seriously considered - Yale, UCLA, Berkeley, Harvey Mudd, UC Irvine.

What has been your biggest surprise about Vanderbilt - something you didn't expect, or expected but didn't find?

The amount and quality of like-minded and different-minded people here - the genius mathematicians, the programmers, the videogamers, the researchers, the sports, and the social. Every possible interest or activity is represented many times over.

How have you found the academic atmosphere at Vanderbilt?

Challenging, engaging, and fascinating - rewarding to individual thinking and analysis. These days I generally spend about 32-35 hours a week preparing for class, about 10 hours in the lab, and around 15 hours in class, but my workload is pretty hard. The faculty are very accessible - I am personal friends with a few of them and have eaten at their houses, eaten lunch with them, and generally we have a good time together. I've never had an issue where I couldn't set up a meeting with a faculty member no matter what day or time of day it was. The advising system is fairly decent - at least in engineering, each student is advised by a faculty member in that area (all students in a year are advised by the same faculty member in a given department). I've been blazing my own path for the most part though, so guidance is a little harder to give. My contact with faculty helped me get a summer fellowship. I worked in a research lab this summer and am going to have a paper published based off of the research which I'm continuing this semester. How cool is that for a freshman?

How would you describe the typical Vanderbilt student? Is there a type of person who wouldn't fit in at Vanderbilt?

Hard working and conscious of both work and play. Conformity is somewhat of an issue - I don't know how well being a real rebel would go over here, although there would be plenty of people to share that experience with.

How was your dorm freshman year? How are the dorms in general? How is the food? What's your favorite menu item?

I got a single, which was nice, but the laundry was far away and the building had no amenities (like vending machines. The dorms are much better once you get out of freshman year. There is plenty of housing for everyone and many people also live off campus. Even with the large Greek population, the fraternities/sororities are not residential (except for the officers) and so they live in the dorms with everyone else. Food is alright; I used to think better things of it but then I got sick of it. I love the Chicken Carbonara at Quizno's which is on the Meal Plan!

What's the social life like? Is it necessary to go Greek to have a social life? What do people do for fun on the weekends, both on campus and off? Would someone who isn't into drinking and drugs feel comfortable at Vanderbilt?

I personally don't drink or do drugs and am not affiliated with a Greek organization, so maybe I can help with this question. There are many fraternity/sorority organized parties, but there are also many dorm-run parties. People go to downtown Nashville (about 5 blocks away), various events on campus, and my favorite thing to do is to go take over a lecture hall and watch a movie in awesome surround sound on about 30 feet of board space.

What's your favorite place on campus? Where do people hang out on campus? What's the surrounding area like? Is a car necessary to get to stores and restaurants?

My favorite place on campus is the engineering building - it's got wireless Internet, I've got a computer up in my lab there, and it's perfect for studying. When I'm not studying, I usually hang out either in the dorms or just chill on Alumni Lawn, throwing frisbees or chatting or something. Most people do similarly. The area is clean and most shops you could need are within walking distance. There's a small grocery store about 3 blocks away, but it's not great and I usually go to the Kroger's a couple miles down the road. There are plenty of restaurants within walking distance, although getting to a real movie theater (we have a campus one and an "alternate" one close by) requires driving.

What is the biggest misconception or stereotype that people have about Vanderbilt? Why isn't it true?

That the people here are only here to party and live on Mommy and Daddy's dime. It's not true because my friends and I, and most other people here, aren't like that.

If you were giving advice to a high school student looking at colleges to apply to, what advice would you give them?

Keep your mind open - don't listen to the stereotypes. Visit, visit, visit - this is very important. Listen to what your parents have to say (I know it's hard). You'll have a wonderful time anywhere you go.