Vanderbilt University
Responses from the Student Interview
From a student who identifies as Major: Economics and History
Minor: Philosophy
Student Self Identifies as: Caucasian Straight Male
Summary
I was in a fraternity, I was in the environmental club called SPEAR, and I was a tutor for athletes on campus.
Background
Gender Identity: Male
Race/Ethnicity: Caucasian
Sexual Orientation: Straight
High School Experience: Public high school in the North Shore suburbs of Chicago, IL with a graduating class of about 400 students. There was a culture of going to college.
First Generation College Student: No
Major: Economics and History
Minor: Philosophy
Extracurricular Activities: I was in a fraternity, I was in the environmental club called SPEAR, and I was a tutor for athletes on campus.
Did any of your extracurricular activities have a particularly big impact on your experience? In what ways?
Greek life definitely had the biggest impact. It’s pretty big at Vanderbilt, and it takes over a lot of your life.
Academic Experience
Can you describe your weekly coursework for your major?
It depends on the semester and how many classes you’re taking. I typically had five classes, which is about average. History classes are a lot of writing. Some of the classes had tests, but it was more so essay based. In the upper-level classes, you either work on an honors thesis, or you take classes where you have to write 15-20-page research papers. On the Economics side, it’s more math and quantitative based. It’s almost entirely based around tests instead of reading. It feels like two very different styles of learning, but I enjoyed that.
Is there anything that you feel your major’s department does especially well or especially poorly?
I think the History professors are amazing. They’re very engaging, incredibly well researched, and they’re also friendly. One thing I found out about the Vanderbilt professors in general is they are really helpful if you want their help. I go to office hours a ton and have been for most of my classes. It’s not always just for help, but if I’m interested in any given topic they’re happy to spend a lot of time talking about it.
How would you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
It’s very collaborative. I’ve never experienced anything too competitive, which is part of why I chose the school.
What was your favorite class in your major?
Capital, Labor, and Democracy in the United States.
What was your least favorite class in your major?
Intermediate Microeconomics. It was brutal.
How accessible have the professors in your department been?
The History professors are incredibly accessible. The Economics professors aren’t as much. I think it’s because I don’t have a passion for Economics, so there’s less to talk about.
Why did you choose your major? Are you happy with your choice?
A large part of why I picked my major is because I loved my Social Studies, History, and Economics classes in high school, so I went in thinking that’s what I wanted to do. I’ve also enjoyed the classes in college, and I’m happy with my choice. The nice thing about the Economics and History major is you get Economics in your degree, but you don’t have to take too many classes. I find those more boring, but you get to take a ton of really cool History classes. There are these special Economics and History core classes that I’ve found fascinating because they mix with the field, and it’s nice to get more of a perspective on Economics that isn’t just related to changes in the market when the rate technology goes up.
Reasons to Attend
1) It’s a blast. I’ve loved the school itself, and the professors are amazing.
2) I feel like I’m learning a lot, and the students around you are really smart.
3) I’ve found multiple outlets of fun. I can go out with my fraternity or stay in and hang out with my friends.
Reasons Not to Attend
1) If you don’t want as rigorous of a social scene. It’s pretty fast paced at Vanderbilt.
2) The whole fact that Vanderbilt might be diverse in the numbers, but it doesn’t feel like it in the way people actually hang out with each other.
3) Sometimes it feels like there’s this weird emphasis on Investment Banking and Consulting after school. It can be frustrating because I feel like we should be taking this education to solve global problems, but it doesn’t seem like people are doing that.
Around Campus
Where have you lived on campus?
Freshman: Gillette, which is on the Commons. I had one roommate.
Sophomore: Branscomb Quad with one roommate. It was a blast, and it was very Greek.
Junior: Towers IV in a suite of six guys. I lived in a double.
Senior: Off-campus in Wesley Place Apartments. It’s right across from the library.
What is your favorite place to get away from campus?
Wesley Place. It’s nice because I can live with two other roommates, and I’ve always wanted to do that. It’s nice to have the option of three, which you don’t get anywhere else on campus.
How was transitioning from the North Shore suburbs of Chicago, IL to Nashville, TN?
I moved South, which honestly isn’t that bad. It’s a little more Liberal, it’s a fun city, there are a lot of tourists, and I had a blast being in Nashville.
Can you describe the level of safety you’ve experienced on and around campus?
There’s a ton of cops everywhere. It’s super safe.
What is your favorite off campus restaurant?
Before I was vegetarian, it was Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint.
What is your favorite place to get away from campus?
Centennial Park is a five-minute walk from campus. They have a life-size replica of the Parthenon, and there’s a pond. It’s a great place to walk around and clear your mind.
Social Opportunities
What kind of nightlife or weekend activities do you participate in?
Especially Freshman and Sophomore year it’s a lot more Greek-based, and you occasionally go to bars. As you get older people start going to Broadway, which is the big strip in Nashville. I’ve slowed down doing this, and sometimes I’ll just hang out with my friends. We don’t do a lot of outdoorsy things.
What nights of the week do you regularly do things? Are there regular places you go or things you do on certain nights?
This year, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. In the past, I used to go out on Tuesdays a lot too. For younger students, a lot of people go out on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Describe a typical going out night freshman year. How did it differ from when you are now more established socially on campus?
Freshman year you’re not allowed to go to frats for the first month, which is great because you get to know the freshman class better and meet other kids your age before building the social walls that Greek life creates. There’s a lot of partying in your room with your friends, and then you’d either go hang out in someone else’s room or go to a concert or a bar. Later on, during Freshman year, and into Sophomore year, you just go straight to frats and leaving there around midnight to go to the bars, or to go home. Now, it’s a lot more partying in an apartment or off-campus house, then going to bars or just staying in and hanging out. It feels like it’s gotten more relaxed. The Vanderbilt cops have gotten stricter, which is frustrating because it feels like they’re trying to shut down Greek life.
How did the nightlife differ before and after you joined Greek life?
Because of that month [where you can’t go to frats], you get close to the freshman class, and everyone is living on the commons, so you see the Freshman class all the time. It’s cool and it builds comradery, but I think Greek life helps breakdown that comradery, which is part of the reason I have an issue with it. Once we started pledging, you start hanging out with your pledge class more. I will say that a lot of people told me you would lose your friends that aren’t in your fraternity, and for a lot of my friends that’s been true. I think that’s also because they didn’t make much of an effort to stay friends with people outside of it. My two best friends aren’t in my fraternity, and we just made a concerted effort to try and hang out after we joined different houses. You can make it what you want, but your social circles get smaller and tighter through Greek life. I’d say there’s a pretty clear hierarchy because of the school’s size. People know who is in what fraternity, and certain fraternities and sororities hang out a lot more.
What is the impact of Greek life on nightlife?
It runs nightlife. That’s one thing that makes me mad about the tours on campus is that they play down Greek life. It’s very important to the social scene and determines a lot of who you hang out with. [42% of undergraduate students are involved in Greek life.]
How happy are you with the weekend activities or nightlife at your school? Is there anything you would change if you could?
It’s a blast, and I love it. There isn’t much I’d change, besides the cops.
What have been your favorite times at Vanderbilt?
One thing I love about Vanderbilt is that because we’re in Nashville, we’re not that far from Florida and Alabama. We take a lot of trips. Every fall break we drive down to Gulf Shores, Alabama. Fraternities and Sororities rent houses, and we hang out on the beach all day. In the Spring for formal, we’ll leave at midnight on a Thursday, drive down to Panama City Beach or somewhere like that, hang out Friday and Saturday on the beach all day, then drive back on Sunday.
Campus Culture
How did you meet your closest friends?
I had gone to overnight camp with one of my friends for a long time. It was easy because we were already so close. I met my other friend in class. He sat next to me on the first day. I’ve also made friends through my fraternity.
To what extent do people of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
This is something that bothers me about Vanderbilt. It feels very separated into different groups, and I think it’s because Greek life is so strong and so White. You have the Greek scene which is mostly wealthier White students, and then there’s the non-Greek scene which you don’t see as much because they live in different dorms or on a different area of campus. [45% of the class of 2021 is minority groups.]
How would you describe the student body?
There’ a lot of different types of people, but you don’t always interact with those people. It feels like there’s a lot of groups. There is some truth to the fact that it feels like students driving Audis and other nice cars, so there’s a wealthy presence on campus. There are also a decent amount of international students, even though I don’t interact with them. Vanderbilt is a school where everyone is really smart, but people aren’t nerds. The student body is also incredibly attractive. [The median family income of a student from Vanderbilt is $204,500, and 70% come from the top 20 percent.]
How do you like the size of the undergraduate population at Vanderbilt? [Vanderbilt has an undergraduate enrollment of about 6,800 students.]
I knew I wanted a medium-sized school. It’s nice that I know a lot of people in social circles relevant to mine. I like that I can walk around and recognize a lot of people, but also it’s not so small that I can’t get away from people. [Vanderbilt students come from all 50 states, and 9% are international students.]
Careers
Has the alumni network helped you find internships or jobs?
Incredibly so. Our career center stresses the alumni, and as a senior I’ve been trying to take advantage of that. I’ve been amazed at how willing people are to help you out and get on the phone with you. We have VU connect, which is our alumni network. People are very responsive to it.
To what extent have you used the career office? How helpful have they been?
They’ll help you with your resume, and they do a lot for consulting and investment banking. They’ve given me positive direction on where to look for jobs in the area I want. They push you to make those connections and help you network, which has helped for the development of my path.