Chance at Vandy ED l

Colleges and Universities A-Z Vanderbilt University
1

Hello all,

Should I even try? Vanderbilt is my dream school

Major: Neuroscience
State: Ohio
School: Very Competitive Public
Ethnicity: African American
Gender: XY
Class: Junior currently
GPA: 3.97 W and 3.6 UW (Yikes)
PSAT: 1420/1520, track to be commended
ACT: 30
Subject test: Math 2 - 700 (retaking, took in 10th grade), US History - 720
AP: AP US History (4)
Awards: Honor roll, Scholar athlete, academic medallion, Salute to Excellence

Freshie

Honors Algebra 2 - A
Honors English 9 - B
Physical Science - A
World History - A
Spanish 2 - A
Electives - A

Sophomore

Honors Pre Calc - A
Honors Bio - A
Honors Chemistry - A
Honors English 11 - B
Spanish 3 - B
AP US History - B
Electives - A

Junior

AP Calc BC - B
AP Physics 1 - B
AP Economics - A
AP English 11 - B
Spanish IV - A
Electives- A

Senior

AP Statistics
AP Psychology
AP Chemistry
AP Spanish
AP English 12

As one can tell, my GPA is on the lower end.

EC:

In school

Basketball - lettered sophomore year, won division 1 districts, really big part of my life, takes up LOTS of time
Track - lettered sophomore year, won division 1 districts, takes up LOTS of time
African American Culture Club -Vice President,
Diversity Acceptance Program - Vice president,
Youth For Christ - Vice President,
LabLink - research club
Selected freshmen mentor
S.P.L.A.S.H - Selective program for leaders within my school

Out of School

Partner at Be The Change Venture - diversity and inclusion movement within Cleveland
Junior Ambassadors - Volunteered 109 hours at Cleveland Clinic main campus in the summer
Research Assistant - Assisted post doc at Case Western Reserve’s biomedical engineering lab
Student Board for DifferentLikeYou.com - summer internship at non profit - website for kids with disabilities
Interned at Artificial Intelligence Laboratories - Interned at firm based in San Francisco
Council Member at the City Club of Cleveland - year round
Food bank - Volunteering
Ron Brown GPS Program
Started my own lawn care company 2 summers ago

Thanks for the help everyone!

2

As I’m sure you’re aware, grades and test scores matter the most to schools like Vanderbilt. Your course load seems heavy which can make up for a low GPA, but you need to hit first semester senior year out of the park to have a shot. Do not get any Bs first quarter next year as you will probably be sending those grades to Vandy. You should also retake the ACT and shoot for at least a 32. Being URM is definitely helpful, but your stats need to be a bit higher

3

I can’t chance (really who here can with any certainty?). Check out their common data set to see where you fall numbers wise. Vanderbilt seeks diverse applicants and has MOSAIC, a multicultural student recruitment program. If your numbers are anywhere in the range, even toward the bottom 25th, I would say yes, you should apply. You have a lot going for you including curriculum rigor, two varsity sports, research and just overall interesting and solid ECs.