chance a worried Californian

Colleges and Universities A-Z Vanderbilt University
1

<p>I am a junior from California, reasonably competative high school; probably top 4%, no rank</p>

<p>GPA: around 4.6 weighted (using only 10th/11th, tell me if they do 9th too), 4.0 or 3.98, unweighted, depending on if 9th is used</p>

<p>APs: 10-AP Euro; 11-AP US, AP Lang, AP Chem; 12-AP Physics, AP Calc AB, AP Comp Gov, AP Music Theory; is all this enough, especially since most of them are senior (due to misinformation by school administration....)?</p>

<p>SAT: 2150, will retake, with hopefully a 200-250 point increase (really stupid mistakes)</p>

<p>SAT IIs: 770 math, 790 chem, 800 us</p>

<p>ECs: -section leader in school band
-coprincipal oboist in major youth orchestra, play English Horn as well
-Part of 2 county honor bands
-jv/varsity track for two years
-3 years of robotics (including FIRST events)
-Cofounder of Dissenters Club, club at school to discuss and extoll virtues of political dissent/debate (3 years in a really convoluted way)
-NASA online community, a selective program where NASA experts teach and lecture online to admitted students (2 years)
-CSF (5 semesters)
-May get a job fall of senior year, though not guarenteed</p>

<p>Leadership: -Founded private charity and website to raise concern for humanitarian and social issues
-As mentioned, bunch of leadership for oboe (instrument)
-Again, cofounder of Dissenters Club
-Probably will start another club begining of senior year</p>

<p>Community Sercive: -400+ hours peer tutoring
-100 hours volunteering at local thrift shop to provide affordable mechandise to the underprivileged (profits </p>

<p>Other- Some other random things such as a few music and academic awards and that I translated a book from my native language into English.</p>

<p>I know compared to all of the people who have internships, intel awards, etc, my stats are nothing too special, but there have been certain familiy obligations that have prevented me from entering too many contests, etc...a summer internship or job would have been impossible....Additionally, my current ECs do in fact take up almost all of my free time. </p>

<p>Vanderbilt is probably my 2nd/3rd choice, so I was wondering if it would be reasonable to keep it there. Also, will race affect/hurt me?; I am East Indian ethnically.</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

2

<p>you should be very happy with your high school transcript and test scores, and by all means retake your SAT and try the ACT. You have time. Apply to schools with varying selectivity, and make sure you are happy with a school that will definitely admit you that you can afford and all else is gravy. Your ethnicity won’t hurt you a bit at Vandy, which is undergoing intense levels of new diversity and is recruiting from a national footprint now. Nashville is a huge asset to Vandy…a very pleasing city/school setting compared to many others.</p>

<p>By all means have crushes and preferences for schools that are your top choices, but keep an open mind and heart at all times. I would even recommend that you don’t post your favorite list in any order on this board or anywhere ever because admissions are so unpredictable in the Reach group… that is is counterproductive to fall hard for one college. Neither of my sons attended the schools they named (at home) as their top choice as juniors or even early fall seniors. Much changes when you actually see a college and things tend to alter. Even more changes when you see your financial offers, and contemplate the costs of any graduate school education on your horizons in what could be a long ugly recession. </p>

<p>Comment: for your final decisions once you find out where you are admitted and what each college costs…some colleges have lesser selectivity factors in their orchestras with fewer music majors where people who only want to rehearse twice a week can fit in. Re your regional/county oboe, you will need to decide if you want to play in college, and where your instrument might fit in at Vandy, or if you are giving it a rest for college. You don’t have to decide now, but this is a factor for “fit” later on. You would likely get a fantastic oboe teacher at Vandy. Blair is a fine conservatory and auditions for the Symphony chairs are demanding although many non music majors take seats and have a wonderful experience in performance groups on campus. The music scene at Vandy is pretty wonderful for merely attending if you don’t perform. I only mention this because my son who will attend Vandy in the fall will leave his instrument at home although he was section leader and regionally placed in his home state. He wants to try some new things that Vandy offers instead for his ECs and does not believe he has a true performer’s heart. My elder son chose Duke–a college with a less serious orchestra (Nashville has so much talent in music everywhere)…where he fit in for four years playing faithfully and he would never give up playing during college…it was essential to his mental health to play among peers to be happy even though he is no big talent at a conservatory level.
If you love your oboe, you may want to audition and pay attention to that process and how to do it. You can see the symphony play on line on the VU Casts. They are pretty great and I am sure you get a sense of friendship/community in that group no matter what your major is.</p>

<p>Read the Vandy papers online, and watch the videos you can locate online. I wouldn’t worry about starting a new club. I would worry about writing great essays that show who you are and what you might contribute to campus and to academia. Everyone has a story to tell. Tell yours. good luck.</p>

3

<p>You look like a very competitive applicant who (in my opinion) will probably make it in, contingent on your essays and recommendations and that you don’t make silly mistakes on your application.</p>

4

<p>Thanks for all of the input, anyone else?</p>

5

<p>Anyone else?</p>

6

<p>vandy’s definitely a reach for you. great stats, just need a good essay and it should be very reasonable to get in. But then college admissions are weird sometimes. But yeah, increase the SAT score as much as you can. Hit above a 2200 and you’ll be fine. Good luck next year.</p>

7

<p>^Did you mean reach or match? If reach is it because SAT still far too low?</p>

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<p>With your stats, if you can reach a 2300 on the SAT it should be match, but above a 2200 would a very likely reach.</p>

9

<p>I don’t agree that a 2300 is necessary or even definitive to make you a sure bet. I think that although Vandy isn’t Yale, the same “rules” apply as at a Yale where more qualified people apply than could fill two classes. The adcoms after a certain point, are picking a CLASS. Be someone everyone else ages18-23 could benefit from knowing, growing up with and going to class with. Work on telling your story well. You speak two languages! Great. Think about who you are and where you will contribute exactly at Vandy if possible. Your SATIIs are fantabulous and indicate to me that you could further up your ACT or SAT scores with a little more concentration, but in the end…you still need to be someone on paper who will add something to the community that will be Vanderbilt class of '14. Keep in mind that readers of your application are only human and they have like ten minutes to meet you on paper. Also, go ahead and ask for a referral to a Vandy alum in your region and get an interview…order the Vandy DVD and soak that up. Always apply to each school with an open heart…be yourself above all.</p>