Another Chances Thread

Colleges & Universities A-Z Vanderbilt University
1

<p>White Female from northern Illinois...about half of my class is going to a 4-year university and the other half is going to a 2-yr community college.</p>

<p>ACT: 31 (English-29 Math-29 Science-33 Reading-33 Writing-10)
GPA: about a 3.9 out of 4.0 (my school doesn't really have weighted and unweighted)
Rank: 21 out of 236</p>

<p>Classes throughout high school</p>

<p>9th Grade: *not allowed to take AP's as freshman
Honors English
Honors World History
Algebra II (advanced for freshman)
Honors Biology
Concert Band</p>

<p>10th Grade:
Honors English
AP US History (exam score of 4)
Geometry (advanced for sophomore)
Chemistry (advanced for sophomore)
Honors Band</p>

<p>11th Grade:
AP Biology
Pre-Calculus (advanced for junior)
Physics (advanced for junior)
Honors Band</p>

<p>12th Grade:
AP Literature & Composition
AP Calculus AB (highest math class offered at my school)
Human Anatomy
Honors Band</p>

<p>**I know that I'll only have 4 AP's by the time I graduate but my school only offers 7 AP's and my counselor told me to take only one of the AP English classes so it's more like 6 AP's. I didn't include those classes like gym and interior design (hey, I needed them to fulfill graduation requirements).</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:</p>

<p>9th Grade:
Volleyball
Club Volleyball
Varsity Track
Marching Band
Niabi Zoo Junior Zookeeper Volunteer</p>

<p>10th Grade:
Volleyball
Club Volleyball
Varsity Track (All Metro All-Star Honorable Mention)
Madrigal
Marching Band
Niabi Zoo Junior Zookeeper Volunteer</p>

<p>11th Grade:
Varsity Volleyball (All Metro All-Star Honorable Mention, All Conference Academic)
Club Volleyball (Co-Captain)
Varsity Track (All Metro All Star, Most Improved, MVP, All Conference Academic)
Madrigal
Marching Band</p>

<p>12th Grade:
Varsity Volleyball (All Metro All Star, Panther Invite All Tournament Team, All Conference Honorable Mention, Co-Captain, All Conference Academic)
Club Volleyball (selected to play on Platform Elite volleyball club team, they're the best team in the area)
Varsity Track
Madrigal</p>

<p>Academic Awards:
Who's Who Among American High School Students, National Honor Roll, National Society of High School Scholars, NHS, Academic Letter Recipient, Illinois State Scholar</p>

2

<p>Who’s Who Among American High School Students, National Honor Roll, National Society of High School Scholars</p>

<p>sweet, aren’t those the things that i got in the mail in like 10th grade that asked for $50</p>

3

<p>What other schools are you applying to?</p>

<p>(Also, Who’s Who and NSHSS are both scams. I fell for it, though.)</p>

4

<p>wow, you guys are so helpful</p>

5

<p>What do you want us to say? We don’t have much information at all to fairly judge your chances. How good of an athlete are you? (I have no context for those awards, so I wouldn’t know - ie: are you being recruited?) How strong are you in music? Are you applying to A&S, Blair, Peabody? What makes you stand out, interesting, a compelling candidate, etc? Because I can’t tell by looking at the info you gave. You have a good ACT score, but your course load is extremely light and you have only three extracurriculars - volleyball, track, and music. Nothing special at all. You really need to make yourself stand out in this process. What about your essays and recommendations?</p>

<p>I asked what other schools you were applying to because I wanted more information about your application. I also didn’t want to be a jerk and say outright that Vanderbilt seems like a huge reach for you. Your course load is not rigorous (you only have three academic classes this year??), and even with a light schedule your ranking is really low out of the 100-something kids you say will be going to a 4-year college.</p>

<p>I’m not saying this to be harsh/mean. If I didn’t care, I wouldn’t take the time to comment. But you really need to find some way before January to boost your application a notch before you apply - supplement it in any way you can and write INCREDIBLE essays. You should consider applying ED, if Vanderbilt is a top choice (I don’t know if it is). I hope that helps.</p>

6

<p>Also: what did you get on your AP Biology exam, and what do you mean exactly by “advanced for..”?</p>

7

<p>If those are the only courses you’ve taken throughout high school, you won’t have the minimum requirements to be admitted to vanderbilt. You didn’t even take english in 11th grade? You should contact an admissions rep from vandy to sort that out…</p>

8

<p>ok, wow…lets sort some things out</p>

<p>Yes I took English in 11th grade, it just wasn’t honors or AP, I only listed the honors and AP classes I took. Btw, I also took Honors Gov’t junior year. </p>

<p>As for classes being advanced…I took Algebra I in 8th grade so going in to high school I took Algebra II and it’s all sophomores in that class. Therefore, it is advanced for a freshman. Same with Chemistry and Physics…no they aren’t labeled as an honors class but Honors Biology put me a year a head of everyone else so therefore they were advanced classes. Most of the kids in my grade are in Physics now and pre-calc now. I’m sorry but that is just the way my high school works.</p>

<p>My high school is dumb. Ranking is so stupid…there are multiple kids ahead of me in rank only because they’ve never even taken so much as an honors class. The only thing that gets weighted at my school are AP’s…not sure how different that is from other high schools.</p>

<p>My AP Bio Exam was a 4</p>

<p>Yes, I have been recruited, but by small schools. I love playing vball but I don’t want to sacrifice the possible opportunity to go to a top school like Vanderbilt.</p>

<p>I’m also applying to Duke, U of Michigan, and Villanova</p>

<p>Here is my complete list of classes since that seems to be causing some problems:</p>

<p>9th:
Concert Band
Honors English
Honors World History
Honors Biology
Algebra II
Health/Gym (1 semester each…requirement at my school)
Study Hall</p>

<p>10th:
Honors Band
Honors English
AP US History
Chemistry
Geometry
Gym
Study Hall/Driver’s ED</p>

<p>11th:
Honors Band
Pre-Calculus
English
Physics
Spanish I
AP Biology
Honors Gov’t/Interior Design (1 semester each)
Gym</p>

<p>12th:
Honors Band
AP Calculus
Managing Lifestyles/Sociology (1 semester each, both fulfill graduation requirements)
Gym
AP Literature and Composition
Human Anatomy
Spanish II</p>

9

<p>I’m also not trying to be harsh/mean but just letting you know some more info</p>

10

<p>Honors Band is BS basically, so they wont look at that as an honors course. So unless you are taking your schools highest rigor of courses, they wont be too impressed by that.</p>

<p>ECs are consistant, which is good, means you are thoroughly interested in something and not just resume filling.</p>

<p>ACT is fine, pretty much at any school you are looking at a 30-31 wont count against you or for you, so they will really be looking at your grades. As long as they are in the A to A+ range, you should have an above average chance, provided you are taking as strong a course load as possible.</p>