Visit Vanderbilt

Daily Information Sessions and Tours

Information sessions are led by an admissions officer and last one hour. A student-led walking tour departs immediately after the information session from the same location and lasts approximately 90 minutes. Tours are conducted rain or shine so come prepared for the weather and wear comfortable walking shoes.

The combination information session and tour gives prospective students and families an excellent overview of the undergraduate student experience at Vanderbilt. In addition to the admissions process and financial aid, topics covered include Vanderbilt's interesting history, academic life, student life, the first-year experience, the athletic scene, life in Music City, research opportunities, and study abroad programs.

Due to limited seating, availability for these sessions is limited and reservations are required. Please reserve your spot before making travel plans.

Register for an Information Session and Tour

Group Visits

Groups of five or more unrelated students of high-school age require special registration at least two weeks in advance. This is a free service offered by Vanderbilt to help educate high school students about the college selection process and about Vanderbilt University.

Groups interested in this option must complete the Group Registration Form. Prior to scheduling your visit, please keep in mind the following procedures:

  • Group visits are scheduled on most weekdays throughout the year, except for campus holidays. We do not offer group visits on weekends.
  • Campus tours for group visits are available twice each weekday, at 9 am and 3 pm. (These times are well established and cannot be altered for any reason.)
  • Groups may schedule an optional information session with an admissions officer that begins 30 minutes prior to the campus tour, at 8:30 am or 2:30 pm. (These times are well established and cannot be altered for any reason.)
  • Because we block out certain dates due to campus or office schedules, you must use our Group Registration Form to schedule your group visit.
  • After completing the Group Registration Form, please allow five business days for a response.
  • If the date you requested is already filled by another group, we will do our best to offer you an alternate time; however, that is not always possible.
  • Please submit the Group Registration Form at least two weeks prior to the date your group would like to visit. Keep in mind that many groups plan very far in advance so it is possible that even within the two-week time frame, we will not be able to accommodate your request.
  • Spring is the heaviest visit time in our office. If you are interested in visiting in March or April, please submit your request as early as possible.
  • Please do not make travel arrangements before you receive a confirmation from us; remember that submitting your Group Registration Form does not guarantee confirmation of the group visit.

Register for a Group Visit Now

Self-Guided Tours

If you are unable to attend one of our official tours but would like to visit our campus, please feel free to use the information below to take a self-guided tour. You can reference the stop numbers on our Self-Guided Tour Map

Estimated Tour Time: 1 hour and 30 minutes

START: OFFICE OF UNDERGRADUATE ADMISSIONS

1) Alumni Lawn

Alumni Lawn provides the site for Rites of Spring, concerts, movie showings, and commencement. It is a popular place for students to study and play. Surrounding Alumni Lawn are the upperclassmen dorms Vanderbilt/Barnard Hall, McGill, and Tolman. All students (except residents of Davidson County) are required to live on campus. Additional buildings around Alumni Lawn include Alumni Hall (which houses the Writing Studio and the Learning Center), Neely Auditorium (which houses the Vanderbilt University Theatre), and the Sarratt Student Center/Rand Dining Hall.

2) Kirkland Hall

Kirkland Hall is an administration building. It houses the office of the Chancellor, the College of Arts and Science, the Graduate School, and other administrative offices. Kirkland Hall is one of the original buildings on campus, though a fire destroyed a great deal of the building in 1905. Before the fire, the library had been housed in Kirkland Hall. With help from students, 4,000 volumes were saved. The Clock Tower Bell rings on the hour. The statue of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt is located on the lawn in front of Kirkland, near West End Avenue. In 1873, he donated one million dollars, with the encouragement of Bishop Holland McTyeire, to found the University. The first class at Vanderbilt was comprised of 307 students, and tuition was $35.

Looking from the steps of Kirkland, you can see the upperclassmen dorms of Kissam Quadrangle, as well as Wilson Hall (which houses the Psychology Department).

3) Benson, Calhoun, Garland, and Furman

Standing in the circle between Benson and Furman, you can see all four of these buildings. Benson houses the History and English departments; Calhoun houses Economics, Communications, and Political Science; Garland houses Anthropology, Sociology, Religious Studies, and Women and Gender Studies; and Furman houses the Humanities departments including Foreign Languages, Classical Studies, and Philosophy.

Behind Benson Hall, in between Benson and Rand, is Bicentennial Oak, an oak tree which predates the Revolutionary War. Vanderbilt is a nationally recognized arboretum and has every tree indigenous to the State of Tennessee represented on the University's 330-acre campus.

4) Library Lawn / Jean and Alexander Heard Library

The Jean and Alexander Heard Library is the central library on campus. There are seven additional libraries on campus: Anne Potter Wilson Music Library, Peabody Library, Eskind Biomedical Library, Sarah Shannon Stevenson Science Library, Walker Management Library, Alyne Queener Massey Law Library, and Divinity Library. The Special Collections and Television News archives can also be accessed through the library system. The Vanderbilt library system has more than 2 million bound volumes and subscribes to 17,450 periodicals.

Benton Chapel and the Divinity School are to the left of the library. Directly across the lawn from the library is Buttrick, and to the right of the library is Stevenson Center. These buildings will be covered later in the tour. Walk past Frist and in between Godchaux and MRB III to get to the next stop.

5) 21st Ave South / Pedestrian Bridge

The pedestrian bridge is the most common thoroughfare for students traveling between Peabody Campus and Main Campus. From the bridge you can see many dining facilities, some of which are included in Vanderbilt's Taste of Nashville off-campus dining options.

6) Peabody Esplanade / Commons Lawn

Peabody Campus contains both Peabody College and The Commons. Surrounding the lawn are both academic buildings and first-year residence halls dorms. The Peabody Library can be found at the base of the lawn, and at the end of the lawn is the Wyatt Center (the domed building) which serves as a main academic building for Peabody College.

7) Commons Center / Lower Quad

The Commons Center was completed in the summer of 2008 and serves as the main student center to first-year Vanderbilt students. It has a dining hall, workout center (this is not the main Student Recreation Center, which can be found on 25th Ave. S), market, multiple study lounges, mail center, and student organization offices. The Commons Center is LEED certified, a national certification that demonstrates a building's adherence to energy saving and beneficial environmental design.

From the Lower Quad you can see many of the dorms associated with The Commons, Vanderbilt's first year living/learning experience. All first-year students are required to live on The Commons, which is made up of five new and five renovated co-ed dorms (Hank Ingram, Murray, Stambaugh, Crawford, Sutherland, Memorial, Gillette, East, West, and North). All first-year student dorm rooms are doubles and have communal bathrooms on each hall.

Now return to Library Lawn. Estimated walking time: 10 minutes.

8) Stevenson / Featheringill Hall

Looking from Jean and Alexander Heard Library, you will see Stevenson Center to the left. Stevenson is made up of six buildings, all of which are connected. On the map, each building is labeled by its department (Math, Chemistry, Science & Engineering, Physics & Astronomy, Molecular Biology, and the Lecture building).

Directly across from Science & Engineering is Featheringill Hall, home to many classes in the School of Engineering. Feel free to go inside Featheringill and see the main atrium in the middle of the building.

Head towards Buttrick Hall and enter through the doors closest to Featheringill Hall. Buttrick was renovated from 2003-2005 to expand its area from 38,000 to 90,000 square feet. It houses many undergraduate classes in the College of Arts and Science.

9) The Wall / Sarratt Student Center / Rand Dining Hall / Bookstore

Upon leaving the opposite side of Buttrick Hall, you will find yourself at this location, which is a high traffic area for students during the day. The brick wall that runs adjacent to the Bookstore and Rand Dining Hall is called The Wall and is commonly used by student organizations to increase campus awareness during the lunchtime hours. Feel free to stop by the Bookstore if it's open and purchase a Vanderbilt sweatshirt, as they are always in style (regardless of season).

Rand Dining Hall is one of two dining halls on campus (the other is the Commons Dining Hall). On the other side of Rand Dining Hall is the Sarratt Student Center which you saw from Alumni Lawn. The Sarratt Student Center is home to many student organizations, The Pub (an on-campus dining option), the main post office, and a full-size cinema.

From the Sarratt Student Center you can return to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions by heading across Alumni Lawn.

This is the end of the self-guided tour.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Our office recognizes that the Self-Guided Tour does not include the entire Vanderbilt campus. Please use the 2009 Campus Map to help guide you to locations not mentioned on the tour.

Students interested in studying music can find the Blair School of Music located between 24th Ave. S and 25th Ave. S on Children's Way.

The Student Recreation Center is located between 25th Ave. S and Natchez Trace on Children's Way.

The Athletic Department is located in McGugin Center on Jess Neely Drive. All Division I athletic fields can also be found around McGugin.

Various portions of the Vanderbilt University Medical Center can be found between 21st Ave. S and 24th Ave. S.

Thank you for visiting Vanderbilt University. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at 800.288.0432 or admissions@vanderbilt.edu. Our office is open Mon – Fri, 8am – 5pm, Central Standard Time.

Visit Programs for Prospective Students

We offer a number of different visit opportunities for prospective students. These programs range from half-day to full-day and each program is designed for a particular audience: PreVU invites seniors or rising seniors and their families to campus for a full-day program; Black & Gold Days invite high school freshmen, sophomores, and juniors and their families to campus for a half-day visit; DiverseVU invites juniors and seniors of diverse backgrounds to campus for a full-day program; ‘Dore for a Day invites seniors and admitted students to campus for a half-day visit with a current student. All programs require registration.

PreVU

Over the summer and during the fall, the Office of Undergraduate Admissions sponsors day-long open house events called PreVU. These programs are exclusively for rising seniors and seniors, and their families.

The PreVU visit includes sessions led by each of the four undergraduate school deans, an overview of the admissions process, an in-depth explanation of our financial aid policies, an opportunity to learn about the first-year residential experience at The Commons (including lunch at The Commons), and a student-led campus tour of our national arboretum university grounds.

Register Now!

Black & Gold Days

Every spring, the Office of Undergraduate Admissions sponsors open house events known as Black & Gold Days. These programs are geared toward high school freshmen, sophomores, and juniors and their families. Many students attending theses sessions are just beginning their college search process.

This half-day visit includes sessions about academic preparation for college and about navigating the financial aid process, as well as a campus-organization fair and a panel discussion with faculty and current students. The visit concludes with a student-led walking tour of campus.

Register Now!

Diverse VU

Each fall, the Office of Undergraduate Admissions sponsors a full-day program designed to highlight the diversity of backgrounds and experiences of Vanderbilt's student body. Undergraduate students come from all over the world and represent a myriad of cultures, ethnicities, religions, and ways of thinking.

High school juniors and seniors are invited to visit campus and hear from ….. We hope you will join us on campus to experience the diversity for yourself.

'Dore For A Day

This half-day visit is designed for juniors, seniors and admitted students and offers you a chance to shadow a current Vanderbilt student. You will meet your Vanderbilt host at the Office of Undergraduate Admissions at 12:30 CST and eat lunch together at an on-campus eatery (lunch included). With your host, you will attend one or two classes and spend time together exploring campus. Your visit will conclude at 4:00 p.m.

'Dore for a Day is available Monday through Friday, from September to mid-April, when classes are in session and when space is available. The month of April is reserved for admitted seniors only.

To register for 'Dore for a Day, please allow at least two weeks prior to your anticipated visit. Reservations will be confirmed on a space-available basis.

Register Now!

Group Visits

Please see the Group Visit section in the Information Sessions and Tours category

Visiting Classes

One of the best ways to explore academic life at Vanderbilt is to sit in on a class. You'll have an opportunity to meet our dynamic professors and to interact with your future classmates, and you'll get first-hand impressions of the level of instruction you can expect as a student at Vanderbilt. You do not need reservations to visit classes; but you should try to plan in advance by taking a look at our online list of available classes to visit. To make the most of this opportunity, consider the following tips:

  • Select a few different classes that work with your visit schedule in case one of your choices has a test or exam, or is not meeting on the day you are visiting.
  • Arrive early and introduce yourself to the instructor and ask about the day's agenda. If there's a quiz or test, excuse yourself and be glad you have another choice in mind!
  • Please stay the entire class; do not leave in the middle of a discussion or faculty instruction.
  • If possible, take the opportunity to speak with students of the class after the seminar or lecture.
  • Turn off your cell phone; refrain from taking flash pictures and videos.
  • Do not bring younger siblings to class.
  • Please be advised that classes may change location during the semester unbeknownst to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions.

2009-10 Visiting Class Schedule

For arrangements to visit academic departments, please contact that department directly. You are welcome to attend a class in your academic area of interest. Choose from more than 150 classes on the class visit schedule.

Traveling to Vanderbilt

Directions

  • From the north, take I–65 South to I–40 East, exit 209B. Turn right on Broadway. Stay in the right lane and it will turn into West End Avenue. Continue on West End to the stoplight at 23rd Avenue. (Please note that there is no 22nd Avenue.) Turn left on 23rd Avenue into the campus.
    The Office of Undergraduate Admissions and the Office of Student Financial Aid and Undergraduate Scholarships are located on your immediate right as you enter the campus.
  • From the east or south, take I–40 West to exit 209A. Turn left on Broadway.
    Stay in the right lane and it will turn into West End Avenue. Continue on West End to the stoplight at 23rd Avenue. (Please note that there is no 22nd Avenue.) Turn left on 23rd Avenue into the campus. The Office of Undergraduate Admissions and the Office of Student Financial Aid and Undergraduate Scholarships are located on your immediate right as you enter the campus.
  • From the west, take I–40 East to exit 209B. Turn right on Broadway (US 70 South). Stay in the right lane and it will turn into West End Avenue. Continue on West End to the stoplight at 23rd Avenue. (Please note that there is no 22nd Avenue.) Turn left on 23rd Avenue into the campus. The Office of Undergraduate Admissions and the Office of Student Financial Aid and Undergraduate Scholarships are located on your immediate right as you enter the campus.

Parking

While the Office of Undergraduate Admissions offers convenient, complimentary parking adjacent to the building, space is very limited on most weekdays. Upon arrival, parking vouchers can be obtained from the admissions office. During peak times, overflow parking will be available at metered spaces and in the Terrace Place parking garage, located off 21st Avenue South, one block from West End Avenue. For most Saturday visits, complimentary parking will be easily accessible in the Vanderbilt Zone 2 lots adjacent to our office.

Taxi Service

The average charge is $52 for a one–way trip from the Nashville Airport to the university area. Capitol Limousine, Inc., located downtown and near the airport, offers a van limo service from the airport to any hotel or motel in the Nashville area or to any university location. Capitol recommends advance reservations. Call 615-883–6777 or 800–232–1622.
All visitors should allow approximately thirty minutes driving time from the airport to Vanderbilt University.

Hotel Information

Hotel information can be found at CampusTravel.com.

Exploring Nashville

Location may be an important factor in your college choice. For several years, you will be a citizen in a new place—living, eating, exploring, and voting. Located in the heart of Nashville's mid-town area, Vanderbilt has intrinsic connections with every part of this invigorating, growing, cosmopolitan area of 1.5 million people. Getting to know Nashville and taking advantage of all it has to offer are part of every Commodore's education.

Attractions

Sports & Recreations

Dining

  • Nashville Originals is a dedicated band of local restaurateurs, dedicated to the challenge of sustaining the independent restaurant as a feature and a fixture of local culture and community.
  • The Nashville Convention and Visitors Bureau maintains a database of Nashville–area restaurants. Searches of the database can be done based on area of town, cuisine, and price range

Campus Map

A Campus Map can be found at www.vanderbilt.edu/map. To view the location of the Admissions Office, select the Admissions & Financial Aid building on the dropdown menu.

Visit Programs for Admitted Students

Every April, we invite admitted students to visit campus. For some students, this is your first opportunity to visit Vanderbilt and for others, it is one last chance to visit before making your final college decision. Either way, you will join hundreds of other admitted students as you explore Vanderbilt and Nashville from your new perspective!

Admitted Student Open House:

If you were admitted to the College of Arts and Science, Peabody College, or the School of Engineering, you and your family are invited to attend a special open house sponsored by your admitted school. These open houses feature panels by the deans and faculty of the respective school, as well as plenty of opportunity to ask questions and explore campus. Registration is required. For more information and to register, please visit the appropriate site: College of Arts & Science, School of Engineering, Peabody College of Education and Human Development.

Information Sessions and Tours:

Admitted students and their families are invited to attend our daily information sessions and campus tours. Whenever possible, we will hold a separate, informal information session for admitted students, held at the same time as our general information session. Remember that April is our heaviest visit month, so be sure to reserve your spot as early as possible.

Register for an Information Session and Tour

'Dore for a Day

Please see the 'Dore for a Day category for more information.

Visit The Commons
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Schools & Majors

Find Your Major

Listed below are undergraduate majors alphabetized by school. Pre-professional information is included.

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