The online companion to First View

Every campus has a hidden curriculum. Here's yours.

Vanderbilt has more resources than anyone can keep track of — and almost no one tells you which door to knock on, or when. Foresight knows what's here, learns what you care about, and tells you what's worth your time this week.

Built for first-generation students, by the Data Science Institute with the First View program.

Thursday, September 17Today
“You don't have to know how it all works yet. You only have to ask one question today.”
BSCI 1510 · Intro to Biological Sciences
SC Lecture Hall 4327
10:00
First-Gen Student Mixer
Student Life Center · free food
Tonight
Summer research applications open
VUSRP · in your major
3 weeks
You haven't been to office hours yet
Here's how to start that conversation

Four things worth getting right

First View is organized around four parts of finding your footing. Foresight follows the same shape, so what you learn in the program keeps going all year.

Personal

My Strengths

What you're actually good at, in your own words and from the assessments you've taken — so you can name it when it counts.

Social

My Crew

The people around you: the ones you're assigned, the ones you choose through clubs and orgs, and the family you brought with you.

Professional

My Future

Research, internships, study abroad, fellowships, careers — what exists, who runs it, and when you actually need to apply.

Academic

My VU

Requirements, majors and tracks, plus the help that already exists for you — the Writing Studio, tutoring, office hours.

It actually knows Vanderbilt

Foresight isn't a chatbot guessing about your school. It reads a knowledge base built from public Vanderbilt sources and refreshed on a schedule.

3,700courses in the catalog
262majors, minors & programs
1,014student organizations
725events & deadlines
175campus buildings
765offices & departments
132study abroad programs
89fellowships & research programs

What you'll use it for

📅 One calendar

Academic deadlines, campus events, club events and application windows in one place — with plain-language explanations of what "add/drop" actually means.

🗺️ A map that explains itself

Every building, who's inside it, and what you'd go there for. Directions to your next class in one tap.

✍️ Help starting hard conversations

Emailing a professor, following up after a career fair, raising something with a roommate. First drafts for the messages that are hard to begin.

🔔 A nudge before it's late

Timely, specific, and based on what you've told it you care about — not another newsletter you'll skim.

💬 Someone to ask

Ask anything about Vanderbilt and get an answer grounded in real sources, with links so you can see where it came from.

📔 A record of your path

What you've explored and done, kept for you. Worth a great deal by the time you're writing an application years from now.

Who's building this

A project of Vanderbilt's Data Science Institute and the First View program, built with the 2026 Data Science for Social Good summer team.

Dr. Jeremi London
Principal investigator · Creator and director of First View · Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Associate Provost of Academic Opportunity
Umang Chaudhry
Project lead · Senior Data Scientist, Data Science Institute
Solmin Kim
University fellow · Program resources and coordination
DSSG 2026 fellows
Daiming "Dennis" Zhou
Avash Aryal
Sadie Kesten

Start with what's happening this week

Make an account, tell it a little about yourself, and see what's actually worth your time.