The Vandy Admissions Blog

Thom August 27th, 2008

Question: What are you left with after 12 hours of driving across the Greater Midwest with OUAer Brad Weiner?

The Midwest Road Show last week was a blast, if nothing else because of the wonderful new friends we made in the cities we visited.  The programs we attended were full of bright & interested students and families and it was a great start to the fall travel season.

If you know Brad or me very well, you know that we love a good conversation/debate.  It’s kind of our thing.  So what better way to pass time in the car as the corn fields fly by than to discuss the following actual topics of discussion (listed in no particular order):

• Most influential rock album of all time (Brad says Dark Side of the Moon, I say Pet Sounds)
• Spirituality and the existence of God
• Whether Brad should attend his 10-year high school reunion
• Whether Michael Phelps is part fish (8 gold medals, seriously?)
• work/life balance
• Blackberry: modern efficiency or just digital handcuffs?
• The exact nature of existance and truth: “If I punch you in the face, can you prove to me that I just punched you in the face?”
• The place of religion in politics
• Debated merits of the US highway system while noshing Italian beef and Polish sausage sandwiches over I-94
• Kids and family and how they forever change you
• The purpose of higher ed in American culture
• Jalapeno poppers: better with cheddar cheese or that strange white cheese?
• Nashville: how many musician/baristas are just too many?
• Is it Indi-ucky, or Kentuckiana?
• Jack Kerouac’s best book not being On the Road
• Jimmy Buffett, musical phony or simplistic songwriting genius
• Ernest Hemigway’s tell like it is writing style
• Whether to eat at yet another suburban ”O’Ruby Fri-bees”

Gearing up for Reading Season

While applications are coming in slowly, we actually do not start to read the complete files for another month or so.  We get through the Fall travel season and will begin reading those files in October after we’ve had a chance to gather our staff for a training session to make sure we’re all reading files the exact same way.

Stat of the Day:  2% The average weekly internet traffic our Vanderbilt admissions page receives from people looking for “Vanderbuilt University” in a keyword search.

• Application Process , College Fairs and VU Visiting Your High School , Nashville , Road Shows , Vanderbilt Blogs
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Brad June 9th, 2008

Random Stranger on Airplane: So, where are you from?
Brad: Nashville.
Random Stranger on Airplane: Do you like Country music?
Brad: Not really.

If I had a dollar for every time I’ve engaged in this conversation, I could buy every record I’ve ever wanted to own from the record store. If only I could pay for the gas to get there.

No question about it: Nashville does have plenty of Country music. Living here gives frequent exposure to the record industry, songwriters, studio musicians, t-shirt companies, hipster restaurants, live music venues, boot outlets, sequin factories, and happenstance encounters with celebrities at the grocery store.

But there is so much more to listen to. For example, take a look at the Next Big Nashville Festival–a five day, multi-venue festival in Nashville showcasing local rock, pop, and indie bands. Vanderbilt itself is a large purveyor of musical opportunities. During the school year there are at least three large concerts including the multi-day, end of the year blowout called Rites of Spring.

It is no coincidence that this blog appears during the second weekend in June on the eve of the largest single-site music festival in North America. It’s called Bonnaroo. I know that some of you are familiar because each year during our online prospective student chats, there is a small but mighty group of students who plan their campus visits around the festival.

If you’re not familiar, it is an annaul event hosted in Manchester, Tennessee, about an hour southeast of Nashville. This year, there are nine seperate stages running almost continually with some of the best touring bands in the world–very few which play anything even close to Country. Add to that venues for comedy, music, art, and karaoke and you have an almost inevitable scheduling nightmare.

Here is what my Friday looks like:

1. Wake up.
2. Eat breakfast.
3. See the following bands: Jose Gonzalez, The Fiery Furnaces, Tegan and Sara, Minus the Bear, The Bluesgrass Allstars (featuring Nashville-based Banjo virtuoso Bela Fleck), The Swell Season (the group from the film “Once”), The Raconteurs (featuring Nashvillian and White Stripes member, Jack White), State Radio, Anders Osborne, Willie Nelson, Chris Rock (I know he’s not a band), and Metallica.
4. Eat dinner.
5. See the following bands: My Morning Jacket (a personal favorite), New Orleans Superjam.
6. If awake, go see a very, very early morning showing of “Sunset Boulevard”. The 1950 Noir classic.
7. Sleep. Maybe.

So why, might you ask, is the Vanderbilt Admissions Blog discussing Bonnaroo? It’s a good question and I’ll have a hard time making a giant music festival germane to the educational values of our institution. But, we want to reiterate that summers are for relaxing, reflecting and enjoying some time off. All of you should enjoy the sunshine and take a rest before the next academic year.

Paint a picture. Climb a tree. Read a non-requried book. See a concert. Try being bored. It’s more fun that it sounds.

As always, we love hearing your comments. Music fans post your favorite bands below. I’d love to know what you’re listening to.

• Balance , Music , Nashville , Rites of Spring , Summer
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Thom April 18th, 2008

At some point today I became a member of the media. I don’t feel different, but I am now a part of the press. We hosted a camera crew on campus today to shoot footage for an admissions video and since Rites of Spring (http://www.vanderbilt.edu/ros) starts today, we all got press passes to film inside of the venue. How rock star do I feel? Quite.

• Rites of Spring
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