Vanderbilt University | Student Reviews | Best College

Student Profile

Beth

Class: Senior
Major: Other Social Science
Gender: F

High School:
Transfer Student: N

Big Picture

The school is the perfect size. It is made a lot smaller by the division between Greeks and non Greeks, but you always walk through campus and see someone you know and so many other people you do not. Most people in the North do not know about Vanderbilt, they think it is Villanova. Sometimes they might mention that they have heard of our basketball team but overall it is not well known. But this is improving, even in the 4 years I have been here more and more people are hearing that it is a good school. It is always surprising the amount of school pride that we have. During first semester it seems no one really cares about school spirit because football should be our biggest sport but no one really cares about the actual games. But then basketball season starts and its amazing to see the spirit and community at a home game such as against UT or FL. People got to Memorial Gym over 12 hours before to get first row seats for the UT game - if you came any later than 2 hours before the game you couldnt get it!

Academic Life

I can only remember two classes at Vanderbilt where the professor did not know my name- and those were large lectures with a TA who did know who I was. This is probably reflective of the fact that I am a Peabody student, where the classes tend to be a lot smaller and the professors are a lot more personable. People study a lot. But they will study and then go out after that test. There is somewhere to go out and party every night of the week if you want to, but it is looked down upon if you go out the night before a test or paper.

Student Body

Religion was a shock for me. At times it is very clear that we are in the center of the bible belt and there are alot of people who do not drink or have sex for religious reasons. They tend to be friends with each other, and often Greek houses will be divided by who is very religious and who is not. Everyone gets along - there is never any big problems, but the bible belt exists. Most students do not dress up for class. You will be looked at strange if you show up for your 9am in a dress with heels - or at your 3pm. Casual dresses are fine because it does get very hot here in the beginning and end of the year. At first I thought it was a sign of the school following its stereotype of being stuck up and southern, but skirts and dresses really are helpful when its 90 outside - or maybe I just got caught up in the culture. It is definitely thought about , and sometimes talked about how much people will earn. You do not go to school for 40,000 a year if you cant earn it back!