Chance an ADHD/LD URM, high ACT transfer for Vanderbilt, Duke, Georgetown, etc.

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>So I'm lucky enough to have my college essentially paid for--full in-state tuition--but I'd really like to try for a slightly smaller, slightly more prestigious university for the next three years--preferably Vanderbilt, my first-choice school. I was diagnosed with ADHD and an LD before my senior year, which helped to explain my mediocre performance before my much improved final two semesters.</p>

<p>Basics:
Gender--Male
From--Suburban Chicago public school
Financial aid--No
Ethnicity--Hispanic
LD/ADHD--Yes, not diagnosed/treated until end of junior year</p>

<p>College:
Current school--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (College of Liberal Arts and Sciences)
Intended major--Economics/political science/business
GPA (estimated)--3.80
Honors--Lib. Arts and Sciences Edmund James Scholar, Lincoln Hall Scholar ($5,000 per year), President's Award Program recipient ($10,000 per year)
Extracurricular activities (tentative)--Quiz bowl, Daily Illini (student newspaper) staff writer, music blogging, intramural athletics, Obama re-election campaigning, UIUC College Democrats</p>

<p>HS:
GPA--3.05 UW, 3.88 W (upward trend)
ACT--35 composite (36 R, E; 35 M; 33 S; 9 W) <== single-sitting
SAT--2220 (730 CR; 740 M; 750 W) <== not sending
SAT II--Literature (770), US History (760)
AP--US History (5), US Gov't (5), Calc AB (5), English Lit (5), English Lang (5), Macro Econ (5), Micro Econ (4), Biology (4)
Honors--National Merit Semifinalist; National Hispanic Scholar; National AP Scholar; Illinois State Scholar; Prairie State Achievement Award in Math, Science, English, Writing
Extracurricular activities--Varsity scholastic bowl (4-year co-captain, MVP, top scorer, passed online test and auditioned for Teen Jeopardy!), blogging (I write for two incredibly popular hip-hop/EDM blogs), school newspaper (copy editor, production editor), baseball, travel baseball, etc., etc.</p>

<p>Schools:
Vanderbilt (Arts and Sciences, accepted EDII last year)
Georgetown (McDonough Business, denied from Georgetown College last year)
UVa (Arts and Sciences, did not apply)
Duke (Trinity, did not apply)
Dartmouth (denied)
Notre Dame (Arts and Letters, legacy, denied)
Cornell (Arts and Sciences, did not apply)</p>

<p>Long-shots:
Harvard (did not apply)
Williams (denied)</p>

2

<p>Why are you applying for transfer to Vandy if you got accepted last year and chose UIUC over it last year? It couldn’t be due to money because I doubt you’ll get any different money this year. Also, isn’t EDII binding as well, how did you get out of it? This situation just seems pretty peculiar to me. Sorry in advance if I’m questioning you too much.
Also how are your SATs and APs do high with a LD and ADHD, which you said haven’t been diagnosed until late in your high school career? Especially for tests, ADHD can be a real issue.</p>

3

<p>@Divy, it was for money. Vanderbilt gave me nothing and my expenses there would have totaled over $60K per year, while Illinois gave me full tuition. My family decided that, if I were to demonstrate consistent success this year, they’d foot the bill for a better school. And my ACT and APs are high because I’ve always been able to concentrate very well for a very short period of time–a hallmark of ADHD–and I can finish those tests much faster than most people.</p>

4

<p>Okay. I got you. I don’t know if Vanderbilt will give you any money this time around if you didn’t get much at first, it’s worth a try though. You look pretty good for transferring out though; however, I don’t know how difficult this process is.</p>

5

<p>Not really looking for money anymore. Bump?</p>

6

<p>

When applying ED (1 or 2) asking for financial aid, if you are not offered enough to enable attendance, you get out of it by telling the school thanks but no thanks. Here’s the Common Application rule:

</p>

<p><a href=“https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/docs/downloadforms/ED_Agreement.pdf[/url]”>https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/docs/downloadforms/ED_Agreement.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

7

<p>@vonlost, yeah I was assuming OP did not back out for financial reasons, but I guess he did.</p>

8

<p>Bumpseeeeph? 10char</p>