I was fortunate enough to meet Torrey during our Vanderbilt visit, and I must say if you have not had a chance to visit Vanderbilt or any college your child is interested in, you must make the effort. The visit alone is eye opening for your child and it is a wonderful family experience. It will definitely encourage your child to review colleges on line and to seek marketing material to review as they consider their college choices.
During our visit to Vanderbilt, the day was beautiful and weather pleasant for our campus tour. We checked in a little after 8am in the Student Life Center. There were many information booths available from the different colleges at Vanderbilt, as well as the many clubs and organizations Vanderbilt offers. We were happy to find the religious life organizations included Baptist Collegiate Ministry, Catholic Community, United Methodist and Presbyterian (both U.S.A. and P.C.A.).
They began their opening remarks with Torrey Morgan and Frank Wcisla, Dean of the Ingram Commons. I was happy to hear that each of the freshman common houses has not only a resident advisor but also a professor or dean of the university living with the students. Both professors and deans seem to make themselves very approachable and available to the undergraduate student body.
We headed off for our academic presentation to hear more about the School of Engineering. Burgess Mitchell, Assistant Dean spoke to us about the all concerning numbers for test scores, program structure and their commitment to have EVERY student that they admit succeed at Vanderbilt.
After completing our break out to learn about the Engineering program, we headed back to the Student Life Center to learn more about the Admissions process by John Gains, Director of Admissions at Vanderbilt. During his presentation he shared some interesting things to keep in mind if your child is applying to Vanderbilt. First, a visit to the campus does not make your child a more likely or less likely candidate. Often, colleges prefer a visit as it expresses an interest and so families often assume this is what every college prefers to have a better position for their application.
Secondly, John shared that a Legacy candidate, a son, daughter or grandchild of an alum of Vanderbilt, does not really increase the possibility of your child being accepted to the University. They like to know if the applicant is a Legacy applicant but the child will still be evaluated based on his or her own merit and application.
The concern over college application essays was another area that John addressed. He strongly encouraged students to make it their own as it is one of the few areas in the application where each student can personalize their application. He suggested to not use cliche topics such as discussing about your family or telling about your greatest moment in sports. Instead he encouraged applicants to become familiar with the colleges they are applying to and to discuss why they would make a good fit within that university, yet keep it personal and not to make it something that they thought the admissions counselor just wanted the hear. He encouraged everyone to take a look at the Common Application on line and to look at the options available for essays and to begin preparing them over the summer.
Once we began our walking tour of the campus the fun really began. The dorm room and free lunch at the Ingram Commons dining center were the highlights with my daughter and her friend who was visiting Vanderbilt with us. The dorm room was one of the newer building of the ten that house all of the freshman. The room was bright with large windows and it is the nicest dorm room we have seen during any of our college campus visits. I asked our guide about wireless internet and was told that most of the campus had wireless availability. She shared with us that there are eight libraries on campus and we visited one of them alone later that afternoon.
The grounds of the campus are beautiful although there is a lot of summer construction going on. The campus itself is close to downtown Nashville, however it is nicely situated so that students do not need to cross major traffic roads to get from one build to another for classes or to dorm rooms. I guess you could refer to it as a “campus bubble” but I prefer that for both safety and aesthetics. In regards to safety, there are emergency posts throughout the entire campus and we were told that if activated that police would arrive within 90 seconds of the alarm. They also have a late night and early morning shuttle service for students throughout the campus. This is for students who are do not wish to walk alone late at night or in the early morning hours and need to get from one part of campus to another. The campus is easy to walk throughout the day hours and we saw student enjoying games on the lawns as well as lectures in the classrooms.
During lunch, Torrey Morgan joined us at our table and I had a list of questions all prepared for her. Vanderbilt has an assigned Admissions Counselor for each state and depending where your child lives will determine which counselor is assigned. The only exception to that is for homeschooled applicants, regardless of your state of residency there is one admissions counselor, Torrey.
I began by asking Torrey her suggestions for recommendations. Vanderbilt’s requests two teachers and one guidance counselor recommendation be submitted with the application. This posses a problem for many homeschool families who are both teacher and guidance counselor. She suggested searching for outside sources who may teach your child, a music teacher, athletic coach; anyone who could address how your child works in an instructional setting. Of course if you have a homeschool group or co-op then you should have other sources, even if it is a community college instructor or an online teacher. These would all be potential sources. In our case, we have teachers but I would have been the only individual assigned as a guidance counselor, so we will use her coach as a replacement for me.
Next, I asked Torrey about the dreaded high school transcript. She had a lot to say that confirmed my opinion on the importance of transcripts. She suggested noting who taught the class, listing the text books used and giving a clear course description. Torrey stated that the transcript for home schoolers is unique and one of the most important components of the application for them. (No pressure for us parents!) She also mentioned that a poor transcript means she has to add addition weight in evaluating SAT or ACT scores. Where as a complete and thorough transcript will allow homeschooled applicants to be evaluated more like their traditional schooled peers, meaning the test scores are only one of many important components to the application.
I think one of the most important pieces of advise Torrey gave me was to encourage all applicants to apply early. She suggested that a rushed application to meet a deadline was always apparent. So start your application early! Don’t wait to the last minute. Become familiar with the Common Application that Vanderbilt, and so many other schools for that matter, use for their application process. She also confirmed that the number of home school applicants is increasing each year and that they are being admitted to Vanderbilt, although she could not address how they performed as a homeschool student transitioning to college, as she does not evaluate performance of admitted students. Torrey mentioned to me she is available if anyone ever has any questions and to feel free to contact her. I should mention however, that she and her husband are expecting their first child and so she will be on maternity leave come this fall when most 2012 Seniors will be submitting their applications and she will be temporarily replaced.
We wrapped up our visit at Vanderbilt with a Student Panel question and answer time. Then visited a few places on campus on our own which of course included the book store. My daughter like so many students was dreaming of if she might be one of the few selected and if she would be hanging black and gold colors on her bedroom wall next spring. If you have any suggestions as to how I might make our college visits more informative and beneficial to you and your family, feel free to email me at mameader@gmail.com with your suggestions.
Blessings,
Melissa Meader
