Academics:
High School is ranked as one of the most challenging in the state of AL
Unweighted GPA - 3.6
Weighted GPA - 4.8
ACT Composite - 33 (34 Superscore)
PSAT - 207
National Honor Society Member
Athletics:
Varsity Wrestling 4 Years
Club/Varsity Lacrosse 2 Years
Varsity Track & Field 1 Year
ECs:
Volunteer youth wrestling coach
Chamber of Commerce volunteer
Assistant to the Mayor of Madison for his State of the City Address
Published author
Work Experience:
Pre-law/Finance (both potential majors) internship over the past summer
Retail job at a local small business
I’m black, if minority is worth anything.
My family’s ability to pay is going to be a real issue, so they aren’t willing to let me apply Early Decision due to the binding impact of it. Just out of curiosity though, what do you guys think my chances would be for ED I in addition to regular decision? What should I do to strengthen myself? My essays and recs will be solid, as I already have them written out and ready. Vanderbilt is my #1 school, and I’m also going to apply for the Chancellor’s and Cornelius scholarships. Any criticism is welcome and much needed
Whatever your race, you should “make” your parents do their FAFSA now and do their CSS profile now, even if they don’t “turn them in”. We know how balky parents can be but with a 33 and with your status as a recruited minority with a high test score to offer, you may be tempted to take the first good deal you get. Don’t. Spread out your applications to Reaches, High Reaches and Who the Heck Knows reaches like Vandy. Absolutely try not to say yes to everything that sucks up your time between now and winter break because as a minority recruit, the quality of your essays, the quality of your letters of reference etc will have impact on merit offers.
There are calculators online. Keep in mind that Vandy gives a much better deal (no loans) than many colleges (don’t waste you time on schools you cannot afford at all but DO try for all merit) but if your family owns a farm or a business, you must accept that the CSS profile is going to count its value “fer” or “agin” you at all top schools. A school like Harvard or Princeton is going to have even more attractive need options if your family is middle or upper middle class thus the deluge of applications. They are able to charge a percentage of your parent’s income with limits more generous that even Vandy and Duke and its peers can offer.
It is terribly difficult to “tell a story” and to project yourself in essays when you are a very busy senior and you are getting so much information at this time. But your most important things are going to be your essays, your letter of reference, and any course of action you may believe you are going to take at a university academically and extra-curricularly.
Our son was a WASP and still was selected for a Chancellor’s merit offer to his absolute shock but he did put forth great effort in his essays and in his communications with those who wrote letters of reference and he did have a clear vision of how he would use Vanderbilt that came across in the essays. That said, he only did half of what he thought he would do but he did uphold his extra-curricular direction that he forecast in his essays. His academic path totally altered from his ideas in high school.
Treat Vandy’s CV and Chancellor’s essays with great thought and insight. Our sons didn’t apply till midnight on deadline night but by that time, the essays finally emerged from them. Don’t send in a half baked essay ever. Wait wait wait till you feel pleased with it. If possible get someone to give you honest feedback on them (admittedly my latenik sons didn’t have time for that).
So buy Henry Bauld’s short sweet 25th Anniversary College essay book and make yourself do all the exercises and keep it under your pillow. Treat Vandy’s merit essays with respect but do the same at least three other colleges. Vandy is great but no institution has it all and they all have their special gifts to share with students. Also, gun for your honors state college offer and do not discount going to the honors program in your state flagship. Surely you have seen the outcome of the young URM student from your state who turned down every Ivy to attend U Alabama Honors. He was smarter than a fox. You have no idea now how truly elusive money is for graduate school and how hard it is to pay off loans.
Play your long game. Show love not only to Vandy but hit up a couple of Ivies, a Swarthmore or Chapel Hill Honors program (they have a good program for honors students too). Never ever discount your state flagship if you are going to grad school.
That was great information, but it didn’t really answer my question. I’ve done the net price calculator for all the schools I plan to apply for, (most of which have the total cost being over 60K a year) and the price my family has to pay will be about half of that, usually within the 30-39K price range. I’m just wondering if anyone thinks I have a good chance at being admitted for Vanderbilt regular decision, or if I should start applying for more outside scholarships and try to convince my parents to go early decision.
If your parents (wisely) want you to go Regular Decision as a URM applicant with a fine ACT and solid recs etc, then you are in the Who the Heck Knows group re who will be picked for the remaining seats in the spring. You are qualified for admission, and you have the boost of URM status. You have a decent shot but no one can say for sure. Also, you will have multiple offers. Vandy son had it as 9th on his list …at the bottom. But once he had his offers and visited he totally changed his mind and matriculated to Vandy. Stay open.
If your family can afford their EFC in the mid 30s range, then and only then can you fret over the increased odds of admission for ED applicants. That is great that you actually have a good solid estimate of your EFC on hand.
35 grand a year is a bargain for some families for Vandy, a chosen sacrifice for others and not possible for others. Vandy is definitely “worth” it but so are many fine colleges. Depending on your long term goals, you should or you should not be blowing 120 grand plus on undergrad school. These factors are things you must weigh with your family. Our family did full private pay for Duke for eldest son (recession hit his senior year). In retrospect, UVA would have served our family finances much better. As it stands, he is a happy Duke grad who must work full time and go to night school to get his graduate degree. It is not possible for him to go to grad school full time and at a full price point. Every family is an entirely different story in these decisions.
Also just got National Merit Commended notification, will that help boost my academics? (due to low end GPA) People have been telling me my EC’s are fine, my ACT is pretty average for a Vanderbilt applicant, but my GPA seems low. Does the National Merit bit help much?
Is your school widely known for being tough (or have other people in your school made it to Vanderbilt)? If yeah that will help offset the lower GPA. Class rank also helps but some schools like mine didn’t rank.
We are the #3 hardest public school in Alabama, ranked by The Washington Post I think. We have two alum in school history who got admitted to Vanderbilt, both last year.
High school difficulty has the smallest of effects in admissions. Honestly, can you tell me the top 5 high schools in america? Nobody really cares. It’s all about rank.