College admissions is competitive,

Gotta go with a sports answer here. My freshman year, #2 Kentucky came to Memorial. It was the year they had John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins. My friends and I took shifts waiting on line for the game. I had first shift in the morning and when I came back when they were set to open the doors, the line was down the block. I've never seen anything like it since then. When we finally got our seats, the whole stadium was packed. You couldn't even move. It is easily the most ELECTRIC sports atmosphere I have ever been a part of.

Unfortunately, we lost the game by two points after missing what would have been the tying buzzer beater. Nevertheless, it is a day and a game I will never forget.

The Commons is as good a living experience as you will find in America. It's got to be. Built in 2008, the Commons is a cluster of 10 houses that all the freshmen live in. Such an arrangement streamlines you into the process of making friends and getting acclimated. You are constantly meeting new people; nobody is isolated. There is actually a distinct Hogwarts kind of vibe going on. What I mean by that is freshmen take pride in their houses and there is a year-long competition for the Commons Cup.

The rooms are spacious and the bathrooms are clean. At the end of freshman year, moving out is certainly an emotionally demanding task.

There's not too much dating going on at Vanderbilt. It's a pretty casual, hook-up kind of environment. That being said, several of my friends have or have had girlfriends. The difference between them though, and my parents' generation, is that the script has been totally reversed. When you think of dating, you think of a guy asking out a girl, getting to know each other and then becoming serious. In college, it doesn't go like that. People will hook up and then they may or may not "get serious."

Although dating is not a big thing, every fraternity and sorority has formals and date parties where everyone brings a date. Even if you're not dating, if you go to one of those, it usually is a little more serious. Unless of course, you're just going as friends.

I'm not going to lie to you. It's a big deal. As a Greek man myself, it's pretty much my whole social life. That isn't necessarily a bad thing because generally everyone who is interested in joining a fraternity or sorority is able to and even if you weren't planning on it in high school (like me) you'll probably end up wanting to.

Joining my fraternity has been the best thing I've ever done and it's totally shaped my college experience. Also, if you're going to join, Vandy's a great place to do so. We were just ranked the #1 Fraternity/Sorority Scene by Princeton Review. On any given weekend there are multiple fraternity parties that get packed and each sorority has a party or two every semester.

Vandy's a beautiful campus with trees and quads and green everywhere. You would never even realize that you're a five minute ride away from the heart of downtown. It's the best of both worlds really.

I'd have to say one of my favorite spots on campus is Central Library...Just kidding. It's Memorial Gym on basketball game days. There's nothing better than being in the student section when Kentucky or Tennessee comes to town. I, along with many other students, live for basketball season.

Central Library is the most common place people go. There are several floors and it's quiet, but it closes too early for a lot of people's tastes.

The Law Library is meant for grad students and it's by far the quietest library on campus. It's the place to go when you really need to buckle down for a few hours with no distractions.

A popular spot is the Baseball Glove Lounge in Rand Student Center. It's named for the big, comfortable baseball glove-shaped couch. You would think it's noisy because it's in the middle of the student center but everyone who's there really wants to work. It's also right next to the Last Drop Coffee Shop and the Dining Hall so you can't beat it in terms of location.

There was no application fee! Just kidding. I decided on Vanderbilt because it had the best academics of all the schools that accepted me. It also had the SEC sports teams and the beautiful campus. The Southern atmosphere was the final tipping point for me. I was ready to get out of the Northeast and try something completely new.

Football is the university's big-money sport. Vandy has a history of students not going to the games but that is definitely changing with James Franklin. The focus on Saturdays is still tailgating but more people are going to the games. (The tailgating is the best part of fall semester, by the way. Huge parties.) Basketball is a different story. The student section is always packed, especially when Kentucky or Tennessee comes to town. We're more competitive in basketball too so it's a lot of fun.

Intramural sports are very popular too. Their is a fraternity cup that all the guys take very seriously, but you don't have to be in a fraternity to have fun doing intramurals. It's an active campus that likes going to the gym and staying fit.

The best part is definitely that there is something to do basically every night of the week except Sundays. Most people are not going out every night because of schoolwork, but it's nice to know that if you've got a light Tuesday night for example, you can head to one of the two Tuesday bars and have a good time.

The frat parties are great (although I imagine you'd get a little tired of them by senior year) and the fraternity/sorority formals are always one of the best nights of the semester. There's just a lot of variety in terms of social life. When it's nice out, people rent pontoon boats to go out on a lake that's about half an hour away. As for the usual weekend, there are about five or six regular bars people go to, unlike many other schools where it's always the same one or two.

The worst part of the social life is probably that Greek life dominates the social scene. If you're non-Greek, you can still go to bars, but the Greek presence is pervasive even there because fraternities sponsor bar nights every week. Also, there is so much going on that you sometimes feel like you're missing out. Whether it's because of school work or just choosing the "wrong" bar that night, the social life can be overwhelming at times.