Vanderbilt University

The honor system sucks at this institution. There is no honor in the honor code. Premed students sabotage other students in an effort to get ahead in premed classes that are graded on a curve. Friendliness gives you a false sense of security. The university says many things about how it cares for the students but that is only mindless babble to make them look good. Premeds be careful!

2nd Year Male -- Class 2004

Friendliness: A, Collaboration/Competitive: F

If anything can make Vanderbilt worth its price tag, it's the quality of the teaching. I have had two amazing professors in one year, and the rest, while not as amazing, in general could at least conduct an interesting, informative class. I don't know how dorms are at other schools, but I guess that is one of my biggest complaints. My single room itself was nice enough, but the bathroom was disgusting, and I had to walk quite a distance to do my laundry, eat, or do anything outside of my room. If you're going to Vanderbilt, don't live in Kissam Quad your first year, try for Vandy-Barnard or Branscomb. This year I am going to live in Towers, and my parking SUCKS-it's a dangerous at least 1/2 mile from my dorm that I would not walk alone, which limits my off-campus work opportunities. I also didn't know how big the frat scene was on campus until a couple of weeks into the year, and the sorority thing is pretty big. The frat parties can be pretty fun and outrageous, but if you're female, I would suggest sharing or diluting the rum-and-cokes, vodka-and-sprites, et al. that the guys mix up. This year I'm definitely going to try to get off-campus more on the weekends cause Nashville is pretty fun and unless it's a big party weekend, the frat scene can get monotonous. Sometimes you feel like you're at the country club. There are girls who dress up for class with full make-up and Wonderbras each day, but at the same time, these girls are not the majority. I have many friends, and they're all intelligent, interesting, and multifaceted people. There are many southerners, although I am from the Midwest and have friends there from Minnesota, DC, Oregon, Washington state, California, and New Jersey. Anyways, southerners are not stupid or lazy or have unintelligble accents like the typical stereotype. Many of the students are from Texas, Florida, Cincinnati, and Atlanta. Especially Atlanta. I know someone mentioned hot girls, but there are also plenty of hot guys around campus. I haven't really visited enough colleges to compare, but I know the situation is better than high school (and my high school was about 2,100 people). There's plenty of partying to do here, but you'll also have to work pretty hard writing papers, or if you're an engineer or pre-med, doing tons of lab write-ups and calculus, and if you're education, spending several hours once or twice a week tutoring and volunteering at a special education school. There are tons of campus events and organizations though, and lots of work opportunities available on campus. And while I'm sure that after a semester everyone thinks the dining hall food is pretty nasty, it's not too bad at Vandy. Some people think I go to the "Harvard of the South", and others haven't heard of Vandy, but those who have affirm its good reputation.

1st Year Female -- Class 2005

Faculty Accessibility: A+, Friendliness: B