Today we debuted our newly structured and redesigned website to our prospective students families and high school partners. Features of the new site include:
A streamlined and dramatically simplified structure where all of the admissions/financial aid/Vanderbilt information you’ve asked for is one click away including a “find your major” drop down. No more having to crawl through dozens of websites just to find your major.
A media player where to watch video interviews from Vanderbilt students and faculty.
An Admissions Quick Guide that puts 100% of our application process into simple steps without any buzz words or admissions jargon.
A social media toolbar that lets you take Vandy with you, either through Facebook, Twitter, Youtube or by loading our RSS feed into your feed reader.
Easily share information with your friends through our “Share this Page” section.
Eran Egozy, co-founder and Chief Technical Officer at Harmonix Music Systems which develops the interactive music video game Rock Band will speak 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 17, in Vanderbilt’s Student Life Center. The talk will address creativity in leadership and the cultural impact of the many wildy popular interactive music games on the marketplace today. The talk is a component of Vanderbilt’s Creative Campus initiative meant to infuse innovative thinking and artisitic creation into everyday campus life at Vanderbilt and is sponsored by VU’s Curb Center. Following the talk will be a Rock Band competition open to all students, faculty, and staff. VU OUA is considering an entry . . . oh yes. Rock on.
In the spirit of creativity, it seems as though someone placed a costume mask on the Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt statue yesterday. It is not that uncommon to find various articles of clothing on the big guy from time to time. Have a great Fall weekend.
Your housing application is due this coming Monday June 1st. This deadline applies to any new incoming student (transfer included). Jason Jakubowski from University Housing posted a letter on Commonplace that explains how to apply.
After housing, the next BIG thing is course registration. Many of the VU schools have just recently sent out registration information (don’t worry, those of you who were recently admitted from the waitlist, you won’t miss anything - it will get sent to you too). Registration at Vanderbilt progresses in distinct phases that may take some time to get used to. The Office of the Registrar has a nice description, as well as other essential information for undergrads on the course registration process. The Dean of Students also has some good info available.
Here’s something to get you pumped up for move-in day, but moms be warned, there’s some Kleenex moments . . .
Potential Incoming Class of 2014
For those of you who are rising seniors and are looking to apply to the Vanderbilt class of 2014, the Common App and Vandy Supplement goes live on July 1, a little over a month from now. Yeah . . . I know, I’m sorry.
Incoming transfer students
The registration process operates through your college/school and the request period is June 8-26, just like first-years. Make sure to submit a final copy of your current college transcript (the one you’re leaving) as soon as possible so Vanderbilt can assess your course credit and add it to your official record. For transfer student FAQ’s visit the Dean of Students’ Transfer info page.
Incoming International Students
Hopefully by now you have been in touch with our ISSS Office about your travel arrangements and visa. If not, contact Vanderbilt ISSS soon. You can also start to get to know our community by geting in touch with current Vanderbilt international students through our new Global Ambassadors network.
From time to time I’m asked to serve as a panelist for high schools hosting “junior nights.” These are opportunities for students and their parents to come out and hear from college “experts.” They’re usually fun affairs for us, as we get to put down your employer’s banner for a little bit, field questions and get a pulse for what’s on people’s minds. Not too long ago, I sat on one in Chicago and something happened there that has had me thinking for a while now about the state of the whole admissions field and where our profession has gone wrong.
It came from a simple comment, spoken by a fellow panelist, a representative from a large enrollment school. It was the cliché, one you’ve probably heard: ”you can make a big school small, but you can’t make a small school big.” Having graduated from, and worked for some of America’s largest universities, and now at Vanderbilt (a mid-sized university) I feel I have license to point out that this is an asinine notion. The idea that small schools are inherently limited in the scope of the student experience clearly defines those experiences in quantitative terms. What we know about student success and engagement tells us that quality trumps quantity. It says that a great education comes from the quality of the interpersonal relationships you can build, and the quality of experiences you can have. So it’s the quality of the student experience that matters, or what researchers call student engagement. The non-sexy truth seems to be that greater differences in student engagement can be seen within an institution, rather than between institutions (check out the results of the National Survey on Student Engagement or NSSE). In other words, you will learn far more about a college by investigating what experiences within a University seem to encourage student engagement (for Vanderbilt, it’s likely to be Alternative Spring Break, The Commons, the Kampala Project, The MLK, Jr Commemorative Series, etc) rather than whether college A engages their students better than College B on a wholesale level.
More than the “Big school/small school” comment itself, it’s the perseverance of the sentiment in our admission culture that has made me think of all the ways that culture is dumbing down the college choice process. It points to rankings and says, “see . . . look, good education is happening there.” It tells students to find the differentiating features between the colleges they’re considering and yet colleges publish brochures and websites that all look the same (the guy throwing the Frisbee, the study group laughing over their molecular biology books). It’s like we’re trying to oversimplify things, afraid to let students loose on the notion that a great education can happen A LOT of places.
What do you think? What other “truisms” have been tossed your way as you have been searching for a college? How true do you think they are?
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