I’m a high school senior. I’m applying through early Decision and I’m wondering if I even have a shot.
I have an unweighted gpa of 4.0, and a weighted gpa of 4.36. I have a 32 ACT right now, but it should go up once I get my newest set of scores. I will say what I got when I know more. I’m in the top 10% of my class at around 20th I believe. I’m the section leader in the marching band, and I have go to All-State almost every year. I’m a member of NHS and the Vice-President of my school’s Beta Club. I would really love to get in, so I want to know what everyone’s opinions are on my chances. Thanks!
you have a wonderful high school record but you cannot expect your ED to get you in just due to the nature of the 30,000 applicants and how many of them are fully qualified as you are fully qualified. Your essays and letters of recommendations are always important. Although this may sound obvious, do not throw away your ED “advantage” until you have calculated your family expected contribution (EFC). Are you certain they will pay it for you? For some families, Vandy is much more expensive than their flagship honors colleges. For other families, Vandy is going to cost less even than public universities due to their No Loan financial aid package. Money is a critical part of your decision making. Also if ED is important to you, make sure you have weighed using ED at a school that would most likely gladly pull you in. Vandy will respect you but the competition is mighty in sheer numbers.
You have a good shot ED. As you addressed, it would be best to raise your ACT score. Vanderbilt’s middle 50% of ACT scores is 32-35. Vandy does NOT superstore the ACT, though it does for the SAT. How is your “fit” for the school? Your marching band experience might be very helpful if you were going to join the marching band. Have you shown interest in this? Maybe you can reach out to Vandy to learn more about its academic and extracurricular offerings so as to inform your application and essays. A campus tour and information session would be helpful if possible. If your regional Vandy rep visits your high school, make sure you greet them, attend and let them know who you are! Ask informed questions. Be sure to look for scholarships that might fit your experience. Good luck!
Yes, we’ve calculated it. Even though it might not be an exact measurement, it would be affordable for me and my family. I do intend on joining the Spirit of Gold, and have shown some interest in joining. I’ve been on a few tours now, and a college rep is coming to my school at the beginning of October.
See, something that Vanderbilt has for me over other colleges of a similar caliber is the distance from home. Vanderbilt is about two hours away from my home, so that I could drive home when I want. Duke, although farther away is near other members of my family. I would love to go to Duke as well, but Duke’s financial aid is not nearly enough for me to afford, so I would have to get a lot of scholarships from them, which is unlikely
DaisyBT, I could be off, but I believe Duke and Vandy both have quite similar financial need resources with no loans in packages offered. Duke may offer fewer full tuition scholarships? But Duke has their own signature scholarships for merit, including some that create “collaborative spirit” programming with Chapel Hill. They both require all the data from your family on the CSS Profile as well as the FAFSA. How each institution comes to a conclusive number on what your fair share contribution will be is rather unique to each university. They don’t all come up with the same figure for the same student. I had sons at both colleges.
Yes, the info above is good. Duke’s full scholarship is known as the Robertson, though it is an outside scholarship shared with Chapel Hill. The deadline for applications is insanely early so beware. Also, here is the link. https://robertsonscholars.org.
I think Vandy has many more full tuition merit scholarships than are available through the Robertson. But it may be worth a shot as well! I guess if you are applying for the Robertson it would make sense to also apply to University of NC at Chapel Hill just in case you win the scholarship but don’t get in to Duke.