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Expanded Aid program: make it plain
Oct. 7, 2008—Sometimes it’s hard to get your brain around financial aid. You may have seen this, but my friend Amy Wolf and the folks with the VUcast have really done a nice job with this video that puts this new aid program into simple terms. Go ‘Dores! 5-0 baby!
Gameday Coming to Vanderbilt: students already making ESPN acronym signs
Sep. 29, 2008—There are two things I learned yesterday that I didn’t know the day before: 1) The largest truck stop in the world is right outside of Davenport, Iowa. I mean it’s huge. Driving to Chicago from Des Moines (for college fairs and high school visits), you can’t miss it. It takes like a full minute...
Get your nose out of a book?
Sep. 26, 2008—Not sure you if guys saw this week’s VUCast but it opens up a nice window into some of the cool things our professors are doing in classes at Vandy. The video chronicles an English class discussion on the history and culture of coal mining held at a professor’s house with music superstar Kathy Mattea in attendance. I find that...
Tenth Day Enrollment Update
Sep. 17, 2008— Recently, the annual “10th day” came and went here on Vanderbilt’s campus. Tenth day, uncreatively referring to the 10th day of the Fall semester when we line up all the students on alumni lawn and physically count them all. Well, not really, but we do take a final snapshot of the current state of...
The College Admissions Essay Part II: Beyond gimmicks and hooks
Sep. 12, 2008—We talked yesterday about the importance of voice in your college application essay. Today let’s discuss the second insight your college application gives our admission officers, specifically, how you put your thoughts together to convey a point. In college a buddy of mine introduced me to a friend of his at a party like this, “Hey...
The College Application Essay Part I: Answers from the wizard in aisle 9c
Sep. 11, 2008—My two year old son likes to ask me to tell him stories right before bedtime. I weakly protest but ultimately acquiesce in the effort to get him off to dreamland. Quite candidly though, I suck at it. He is a tough, but forgiving audience, mostly finding a matchbox car more entertaining after about two...
Answer: Jalapeno Poppers, Kentuckiana, and Existentialism
Aug. 27, 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...
Welcome 2012, hellooooo 2013
Aug. 15, 2008—The Vandy class of 2012 is probably in the process of finishing up packing, getting into the family car and making way to Nashville. Move in is tomorrow and with it CommonVU and more importantly the Commons comes to life. Preparations have long been underway for their arrival. Check out some pictures from Angie Cottrell ,...
Is it ever really goodbye, if you are living a dream?
Jun. 27, 2008—I am leaving, in my estimation, what is the most culturally and intellectually effective and expressive university in the country. Never have I been surrounded by so many people who visibily and intuitively care about uplifting people with the commitment that is incredibly spiritual and other-worldly. For five years, I have inhabited an oasis of...
A Circuitous Route to Understanding Diversity at Vanderbilt
Jun. 27, 2008—At some point last evening, while watching the 2008 NBA Draft, my mind wandered to memories of my middle-school days and my friendship with Freddie Johnson. He was a Caucasian blonde-haired, lanky, but cool kid from the upper middle class side of Houston. I, on the other hand, was an African American kid of slight...
Some Joy in Mudville
Jun. 3, 2008—Vanderbilt was eliminated from the NCAA baseball tournament on Sunday. It was a heartbreaker of a loss – a 2-run homer in the bottom of the ninth – to cap a tough season. I was upset about it at first; I was angry that we lost the way we did, sad that so many of...
This week on the Vandy Admissions Blog
Jun. 2, 2008—Earlier this year, our dear Mr. C went through an extreme makeover of his own, getting a new look. This week’s poll question lets you weigh in on a simple, yet heated topic that was batted around campus: Which look is cooler, new or old? By the way, New Mr. C is on the left...