Chance A Confused Senior

Colleges and Universities A-Z Vanderbilt University
1

<p>Hey guys,</p>

<p>Recently, I have been looking into a few colleges (Rice, Washu, Vandy, Yale, and Princeton). My goal is to major in bio with a minor in economics and eventually go on to med school. As of now Rice is my number one choice; however, Vandy is not far behind and I haven't visited it yet. So, do my chances at Vandy look ok? Additionally, do I stand a chance at any merit aid if my chances look decent?</p>

<p>GPA: 4.0 UW and 4.1 Weighted
Rank: 1/327</p>

<p>Freshman Year:
Human Geo- A+
Civics- A+
Hon Geometry- A+
Hon Eng- A+
Spanish 1-A+
Band- A+
IDS/P and IDS/L- Both A+s
Health and Gym- A+</p>

<p>Sophomore Year:
Anatomy- A+
Spanish 2- A+
Hon Alg 2- A+
Hon Eng- A+
World History- A+
Personal Finance- A+
Biology- A+</p>

<p>Junior Year:
AP Bio- A+
AP US- A (he doesnt give A+...but I' not bitter = D)
AP Eng- A+ first Sem A second semester (99 percent)
Chem- A+
Hon PreCalc- A+</p>

<p>Senior Year:
Calc BC
AP Chem
AP Eng
Ap Euro
Physics
Gym (ugh)
Stats</p>

<p>ACT: 34
SAT:2250
Recs: GREAT!
State of Residence: NE
Race: White (I HATE Affirmitive Action with a passion!!!!)</p>

<p>ECS:
FBLA- Executive board member, historian, and treasurer (9-12)
SADD (9-12)- Class Rep 3 years
Science Club (11-12)- President and Founder
AcDec (9-12) Captain 2 years
NHS (11-12)
Quiz Bowl (9-12) Inactive though..prbly wont put on app
Olympus Club (9-12)
Philosphy Club- Cofounder and VP (11-12)...I didnt love this club much though so prbly wont put on app</p>

<p>Volunteer Work:
Red Cross- 300 hours
Cancer Society- 100 hours
Sunday School Teacher- 300 hours
Congressman Office Volunteer- 150 hours
Founded organization to raise money for Serbian Orphans who lost parents during Balkan Wars (personally raised 1000 dollars)</p>

<p>Awards:
1st Place in Cell Bio and 3rd in Health Science at State Science Olympiad
1st in Health Science and 3rd in Disease Detectives at NE Regional Science Olympiad
1st in State Econ Challenge...flew to Houston for free and got 5th Place in Midwest
---at Econ Challenge also won first in state at microeconomics
2nd in State Finance Challenge
3rd in Regional Economics Challenge
4th in state at Cyber Security Competition
Friend of Alexander Hamilton Merit Award Winner
President's Gold Volunteer Award
Represented my HS at state leadership seminar
Local Radio Station and News Station's volunteer of the year award
At least commended for National Merit
Won Like 16 regional AcDec Awards (was a top scorer at all of the competitions we were in)</p>

<p>--Have a paid internship at local med center this summer as well...will send in abstract with app and may submit a research report to Siemens</p>

<p>So, how do my chances look guys?!?</p>

2

<p>I feel most people will look at your grades and test scores, and automatically tell you that you will get in anywhere. Yet, I am not most people. </p>

<p>Vanderbilt stresses well roundedness, and while you have many extracurriculars, everything on your application is extremely academic. My thought is compounded by your sigh of disgust next to your one gym class. Try playing a sport.</p>

3

<p>Hey Vandyclassof2013-</p>

<p>Ya…I am not trying to pretend I love the “physical education” aspect of school. I did cross country for two years (did even mention it because I didnt win anything there). I hated it and just am not passionate about sporting events. So ya…I appreciate your feedback, but dont think I’ll take your advice.</p>

<p>Best regards,
Robbie</p>

4

<p>Yeah, same here affirmative actions sucks…
Vandy’s definitely going to accep you, especially if you post great AP grades too. But I can’t agree w/ vandyclassof2013 in saying that you will get in anywhere, especially since places like Princeton and Yale would rather accept an african american w/ an SAT of 2130 and bascially no extracurriculars over an caucasian w/ a score of 2360, perfect grades, and captain of track team. I don’t mean to sound angry, since both of them are my friends, but where is the fairness in that? I’m glad I didn’t apply to either since I’m asian and probably would’ve been shot down faster than both of my friends.
Lol. I don’t mean to rant. But yeah, definitely write down your two years of crosscountry. They look at you thoroughly and anything counts. Put down any activities you did in Highschool and especially focus on your grades (they look really nice) and commitment to studying and you’ll probably receive a scholarship along w/ that acceptance letter. Good luck!</p>

5

<p>Friendly advice - you are posting too much information here.</p>

6

<p>Holy crap, you’re smart.</p>

<p>Vandyy - Safety
Rice - Match (Lowish Match)
WashU - Match
Yale + Princeton - You’ll get into one of them.</p>

7

<p>Don’t get me wrong, you have amazing stats (better than mine when I applied this last year), but please take these chance threads with a grain of salt. It sounds trite, but the whole college admissions process truly is a crapshoot…I thought I would get into at least one HYPS and all I got were waitlists and rejections. (But I got into Vandy, and I couldn’t be happier with my choice!) The best piece of advice I could give to anyone venturing into the college application process is to 1) stay driven (not just for prestige, but because you are truly passionate about what you do), and 2) be realistic. Shoot high and shoot low to cover your bases. Are you a truly accomplished applicant? Of course, that’s obvious from your resume. But you’ve done basically everything you can do up to this point, and the rest lies with the admissions committee. The most important thing for you to do in the meantime is to remain level-headed and focus on what makes you tick (which is the whole purpose of a college education to begin with).</p>

8

<p>You are definitely in at Vandy and Rice, maybe/maybe not at WashU-at least waitlisted, probably not at Princeton or Yale.
You will not get merit aid at Vandy,Rice or WashU. You would have to be in the top 1% of applicants to these schools, which you are not. To get a great merit scholarship you need an SAT of well over 1500, and probably less than 1550 will not get you those super competitive scholarships either. WashU is not need blind, they are need aware, so if you don’t apply for need based aid then you are probably in there.
I am just trying to be realistic for you,not harsh on your stats because they are competitive for admission, just not merit money.</p>

9

<p>hope3freeride-</p>

<p>I appreciate the fact that you are being realistic! Ya…if my some miracle I get into Vandy or Rice I prbly wouldnt expect much aid (National Merit and Century Scholars might b cover like 8,000 a year though).</p>

10

<p>You will probably get into Vanderbilt and/or Rice, quite possibly WashU as well, but Princeton and Yale are less likely.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>With regards to affirmative action, I don’t think that’s entirely true. Yes, affirmative action makes a difference, but I think its impact is really overstated, at least from what I’ve observed in my school. Based on my classmates’ experiences, an “african american w/ an SAT of 2130 and bascially no extracurriculars” is probably not going to get into Princeton, Yale, or an equivalent school. Maybe Cornell, Chicago, Columbia, or Dartmouth, but not HYPS/MIT. </p>

<p>To get into schools like Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, etc, being a minority can help you but it will not carry you. If you are a minority who is an equally strong student as some other white kid or possesses some exceptional talent, you probably have the edge. For instance, a black kid with some outstanding musical or athletic talent, albeit with weaker grades, may get into an Ivy League, or a Latino kid with strong academics may get the edge over an equally strong white kid, but being a minority isn’t a guarantee. I have a black friend who got a 2380 on his SAT and had fairly solid grades who was rejected from UPenn ED and Princeton Reg. He had some extracurriculars but not too many. Both of the people who got into UPenn ED from my school were white. In comparison, a Latino girl from my school got into Dartmouth ED. She was an excellent tennis player who also had very solid academics. In her case, race was a tipping factor, but it was hardly the prime consideration for her admission.</p>

<p>I don’t know the internal mechanics of college admissions, but these are just my thoughts.</p>

11

<p>To Killerangel: hey I’m just reporting what my friend’s college decisions were. Plus not only did he got into yale and princeton, he also got a full ride, courtesy of the gates foundation. And guess where he’s going, a state university. I do see your point, but from my high school, almost everyone in the top 5% applied to HYPS or combinations of these schools (that’s about 25 students). And the only one who got in was my friend who applied as a joke. It is kinda funny, a slap in the face for those pompous know-it-alls, but still it’s not fair for those people who studied all their lives to try to get into HYPS only to have someone who barely passed regular geometry and us history to be accepted and them refused.</p>