chance a bro?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Vanderbilt University
1

<p>Hi to all,</p>

<p>Background: I'm a junior at a top Illinois public school. I skipped the second and third grades but went back a grade for athletics when I transferred to a public middle school. My ADHD really affected my freshman and sophomore years as it went untreated, but with medication I've really been able to buckle down and get some really good work done.</p>

<p>Ethnicity: My mother's a second-generation Puerto Rican/Spaniard and my father's a complete mutt--Eastern European/Russian/Ashkenazi Jew, etc.</p>

<p>GPA: (W, since classes were all honors/AP)
Freshman--3.80/5.00 (My freshman year was completely mediocre--see above--with a 3.80/5.00 while in all honors classes. I think that was mostly due to the ADHD, an elongated acclimation period and my immaturity compared to my peers.)
Sophomore--4.05/5.00
Junior--4.90/5.00</p>

<p>AP's: Junior--AP English Lang/Comp (5 on test), APUSH (5 on test)
Senior--AP English Lit, AP US Gov't, AP Comp Gov't, AP Psych, AP Physics C, AP Stats</p>

<p>EC's:
-three year class council member
-baseball soph/jun (being recruited to play D1)
-club baseball every summer
-swimming frosh
-1st chair alto sax in wind symphony frosh/soph
-1st chair alto sax in jazz band frosh/soph/jun
-writer on school newspaper frosh/soph, production editor jun, will be co-ed-in-chief this year
-writer for the teen newspaper of the Chicago Tribune (very, very selective)
-member of Tri-M music honors society
-Project Lead the Way pre-engineering courses frosh/soph/jun
-captain of/leading scorer for scholastic bowl frosh/soph/jun
-volunteered for Habitat for last two summers
-internship at major engineering firm next summer
-eucharistic minister and minister of care for Archdiocese of Chicago
-summer courses at Northwestern University</p>

<p>Standardized Tests:
AP Comp--36
SAT--2380 (800 CR, 800 W, 780 M)
PSAT--236 (National Merit Semi-Finalist)
Will take US History, Math II, and Physics SAT II's</p>

<p>Recommendations:
-Editor for my teen newspaper
-School psychologist
-Former swim coach and/or baseball coach
-Dean of students
-Engineering teacher</p>

<p>Thanks, everybody!</p>

2

<p>you look very qualified. i had to rely on a really evident grade trend also, so be sure to keep it up senior year. I also avoided applying ED1 (i did ED2) because i wanted them to see my first semester senior grades. your standardized test scores are amazing (of course). uh… and you really don’t need that many recs, just 2… 3 tops :] i’m not going to arbitrarily quantify your ability to get it (70%!) but i’d say you have fairly good chances! good luck.</p>

3

<p>exactly what i was thinking of. if they don’t see those first semester grades, i’m screwed haha. and i’m just keeping my rec options open!</p>

4

<p>don’t be pessimistic with your test scores…instead, be ILLUMINATING in your essays. Its not like Adcoms don’t realize some boys or even girls mature on different schedules…Big Deal…just explain. Don’t make them guess why your first two years don’t match your ability and talent. They don’t want slackers or people with attitude who won’t take full advantage of Vandy’s wonderful faculty and facilities so prove to them that you have a thirst for learning and write beautiful essays. Communicate well with your references so they can also put forth their perceptions of your innate talent and your ability to focus.
apply to schools less selective than Vandy as well…you may have some awesome choices…good luck and best wishes.</p>

5

<p>really no offense but with that score and your ethinic background you are bound to get in here. Altho adcom say they look every application equally i dont think that is true. As vanderbilt is in a process of trying to diversify the student backgrounds by admitting and promoting different race students (although i doubt it is successful) i think you have a very very good chance of getting in here unless i guess if it is competitive as hell again this year for admission (like last 2 years)</p>