Vanderbilt University Top Questions

For the northerners you will find that many from the northeast/west (LA) are jewish and very wealthy. They do party a lot but you'll def find northerners who stay in and hit the books as well. There are a lot of jewish people. Many northerners only dress the part (i.e. wear sundresses, cowboy boots, pearls) because they're at Vanderbilt not because they actually dress like that There are some typical wealthy country club southerners and they do have their own set of beliefs and mannerisms. They see Vandy as "the Harvard of the South". The prep image is actually what they wear on a daily basis. They do party, but it's a different type of party in comparison to the northerners In general the stereotypes will be fulfilled by some but there are a lot of people who don't fit in these stereotypes. give everyone a chance and you'll find people you like. The student body also has a large portion of very religious kids.

for very few people who go here

For the most part, everything is true. Except the part about Vandy students being smart; most of them just weren't challenged enough in high school so they made good grades or they let athletes in for far lower standards. As always, not everything applies to every single student. There are some good ones out there, too.

To an extent. It's more like an image the students like to try on. I've enjoyed playing up the preppy stereotype on occasion, but I'm far more comfortable in jeans and a T-shirt, and I think that's the case for a lot of students.

There is more Old Money on campus than I've seen anywhere else in my life, but there are thousands and thousands of normal, middle-class kids. The stereotype that everyone's a Bible Belt Christian is pretty unfounded; Vanderbilt has a thriving Jewish population, and a pretty visible Muslim community, and I have many friends who are anti-religion as well as those who are very outward about their beliefs and those who are strongly religious or spiritual but keep it all private. No, not everyone is southern, but if you come from a background unfamiliar with southeastern Americans, you will most likely find your peers from that area to be very different from yourself. Everyone will say that you miss out if you don't join a Greek organization; it's definitely a huge part of Vanderbilt's social scene, but it's not as if all the cool kids are Greek and all the losers didn't make it--there are plenty of loser Greeks and plenty of cool non-Greeks, though you can definitely feel the distinction. As a freshmen girl, most people will say, "Oh, when you rush..." as if it's unfathomable that you wouldn't. And as you get older, it doesn't matter what house you're in or even if you're at all involved with your frat or sorority, but it does go noticed if you're not in a house at all and people might wonder why not.

*See Note Above

They are accurate for a large chunk of the student body but the stereotypes also leave out a large chunk of the student body.

Very much so.

This is certainly false. Despite the fact that the student body is less ethnically diverse than most colleges, Vanderbilt still has enough diversity for it to be easily recognizable. Also, the student body is very intelligent, and it's hard to meet someone who doesn't impress you in and out of the classroom.

There are people that fill the sterotype of the school - but it all depends who you surround yourself with.