Chance me! EDII or RD?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Vanderbilt University
1

<p>Hey everyone! I'm trying to decide if I should apply to regular decision or early decision II. Vanderbilt has been my dream school for the past several years, and I am really striving to be accepted. Let me know if you think my application would fair better in the EDII pool or the RD pool. Thanks ahead of time!!</p>

<p>Demographics:
- Gender: Male
- Race: White
- Religion: Catholic
- State: Florida
- School: Public (Approx. 3,500 students)</p>

<p>Stats:
- ACT: 32 (English: 34, Math: 30, Writing: 31, Science: 35, Essay: 10)
- SAT: 1380/2140
- SAT II: US History: 750, Biology E: 680, Spanish: 610
- Class Rank: 27/750 (I attend one of the most competitive high schools in the state of Florida. We are academically ranked in the top 50 in the United States).
- Unweighted GPA: 3.96 (out of 4.0)
- Weighted GPA: 4.94 (on a scale of 6.0)
- AP's Previously Taken: AP World History (5), AP US History (5), AP English Lang (4), AP Biology (4), AP Physics B (3)
- AP's Currently Taking: AP English Lit, AP Physics C: Mechanics, AP Physics C: Electricity/Magnetism, AP Gov, AP Psych, AP Calc AB</p>

<p>Academic Awards/Honors:
- Princeton Book Award
- AP Scholar of Distinction
- Senior of the Month: October
- County-wide Senior of the Month: October
- Certificate of Academic Excellence in Biology
- Certificate of Academic Excellence in Chemistry
- Certificate of Academic Excellence in Anatomy and Physiology
- Certificate of Academic Excellence in English
- Certificate of Academic Excellence in Spanish Language
- Certificate of Academic Excellence in Performing Arts
- Certificate of Academic Excellence in Student Leadership
- Certificate of Academic Excellence in Cultural Geography</p>

<p>Clubs/EC's:
- Currently, I'm Student Body President (meaning I oversee all student activities, as well as the Student Government Association)
- In the past, I have been Junior Class President, Sophomore Class Senator, and Freshmen Class Senator.
- Currently, I'm treasurer of NHS. I have been a member of NHS since sophomore year.
- Mu Alpha Theta (Math Honor Society) Grades 10-12
- Rho Kappa (Social Studies Honor Society) Grades 10-12
- Sigma Delta Tau (English Honor Society) Grades 10-12
- Drama Club (I was casted as an actor in "Footloose" (10th grade) and "High School Musical" (11th grade)).</p>

<p>Community Service:
- Catechist at my local Catholic Church for the past 4 years (I earned approx. 200 hours through my service to the church).
- Led a community-wide fundraiser for the American Brain Tumor Association.
- Raised approx. $2,000 through local bake sales
- Organized an "Adopt and Afghan Platoon" project at my local church.
- Organized, with the help of local government officials, several environmental beach clean-ups at the local beaches.
- Participated in Relay for Life (I have organized a team for the past two years).
- Help to organize an "Invisible Children" initiative at my high school. The program assists with the construction of schools in the country of Uganda.</p>

<p>Miscellaneous:
- I have attended 6 different student government conventions (including the Southern Association of Student Councils Conventions, National Association of Student Councils conventions, and the Florida Association of Student Councils Conventions).
- I was selected to attend the National Youth Leadership Forum on Medicine at Harvard Medical School, but was unable to attend due to financial reasons.
- I attended a regional leadership camp during the summer of 2010. I have been hired to return as a counselor of the summer of 2011.</p>

<p>Application:
- Essay: Very Good. About the time that my family and I visited an impoverished Mexican border town and the impact that it had on me.
- EC Essay: About the changes that I have made as Student Body President.
- REC Letters: Didn't read them.</p>

<p>Thank you to anyone who chances me! I greatly appreciate your advice</p>

2

<p>“Let me know if you think my application would fair better in the EDII pool or the RD pool.”</p>

<p>Does anyone think there’s a reason it could fare better in RD than EDII? I sure don’t see any reason not to go with EDII, but then the only thing I know about Vandy is that it was my father’s dream school, and that Vandy often beats Stanford. :eek:</p>

3

<p>I think your resume looks good and you should have a good shot at either ED II or RD though ED is more of a sure thing. The biggest down side to ED is that you are agreeing to go (if accepted) without knowing your financial package. Vandy is usually generous but if money is important you should give this serious thought. Best of Luck.</p>

4

<p>^ Money shouldn’t be an issue for ED yet. Vandy is a Common Application school; here is the ED rule for financial aid:

<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;

<p>So if the FA offer is insufficient, you say “thanks but no thanks” and apply RD elsewhere.</p>

<p>A recent article on the subject:</p>

<p>[The</a> Case for Early Decision - NYTimes.com](<a href=“http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/13/the-case-for-early-decision/]The”>The Case for Early Decision - The New York Times)</p>

5

<p>“So if the FA offer is insufficient, you say “thanks but no thanks” and apply RD elsewhere.”</p>

<p>Except by the time the financial aid award arrives it will be too late to apply elsewhere. Obviously you can apply to other schools while applying EDII to Vandy. The sticking point comes with the rule that if accepted EDII to Vandy you will withdraw all other applications. I don’t know what the time frame for withdrawal is, but if the financial aid award is slow in arriving you could get put in the difficult spot of being asked to withdraw other applications before seeing the financial aid award from Vandy.</p>

6

<p>An estimated award is given with or close to the ED acceptance, based on the estimates submitted with the ED application. If the actual income later goes up, the final award can go down, and vice versa. Schools that give financial aid to ED applicants have already decided that they want the applicant enough to be willing to take a financial “loss” so schools are motivated to make it work, while keeping it fair for all. A month to decide if the FA package is enough seems to be common; you must withdraw the other apps when you decide to accept the ED estimated FA offer. Later problems seem to be rare; they have to be, or the ED FA system would fall apart.</p>

<p>All this is general, not Vandy-specific.</p>