Chance me for Regular Decision

Colleges and Universities A-Z Vanderbilt University
1

<p>Just got Deferred from Duke :( Anyways, I would appreciate any input you could give me!</p>

<p>Common app essays:
My extracuricular essay was about Boy scouts/eagle scout
My personal statement was about my twin brother with learning disabilities, and how he has influenced me, and how I have had to help him all throughout high school, basically helping him learn everything he doesn't understand in school. Hopefully will compensate a little bit for my gpa which is good, but probably sub-duke material. </p>

<p>Cummulative GPA: 3.56
Freshman Year:
2 Honors courses, Geometry and Bio
3.4 GPA
JV Crew, JV Ski Team
Boy Scouts</p>

<p>Sophmore Year
204 PSAT, without studying
2 Honors Courses: Algebra 2-3, Chemistry 3,
Latin, Spanish
3.62 GPA
Varsity Crew(Spring and Fall), Varsity Ski Team, Debate Team, Boy Scouts, Volunteer Hours
SKI Team Class S State Champions
Camp Counselor</p>

<p>Junior Year
2 AP's: AP Gov, AP Environmental Science, 5 on Gov, 4 on APES
3 Honors Courses: Spanish, Latin, Great Works(English),
Varsity Track, Varsity Cross Country Varsity Debate, Varsity Ski Team, Co-Founder of school hiking club,
3.63 GPA
Worked as a si instructor, and camp counselor
Tutor
Ski Team Class S State Champions again, and third in Entire State(As a team)
Writer: Working on first Book
Political Campaign Volunteer</p>

<p>Senior Year:
6 AP's: AP Spanish, AP Euro, AP Lang, AP Statistics, AP Micro-Economics, AP Macro-Economics, independent study in physics + ALSO TAKING AP LATIN TEST
Honors: Latin,
Varsity Cross Country, Varsity Track, Varsity Debate, Varsity Ski Team,
Co-Founder/secretary of Hiking Club,
Eagle Scout!
Ski Instructor and Lifeguard
Writer: Working on first Book
Political Campaign volunteer
Started a free SAT tutoring service for those who ordinarily wouldn't be able to take a SAT class</p>

<p>Additional Details
Eagle Scout
2310 SAT's: 750 CR, 760 Math, 800 Writing: I am thinking about taking again, as Vanderbilt is known to be a big test scores school
720 Math 1, 770 Literature,
Also, left rowing due to an injury, and never went back as I met a whole new group of people i enjoyed competing with, and I was good at it </p>

<p>I am getting recommendations from my Latin teacher of three years, and my English teacher of two years. Both should be good.
Guidance counselor will probably be standard.</p>

2

<p>anyone wanna help a chap out?</p>

3

<p>If you look at past results threads, Vandy seems to takes kids with adequate GPAs but stellar test scores and extracurriculars. You seem to fit this profile with UW GPA 3.56, 1510 CR+M SAT, and Eagle Scout. If you applied ED II, I think you have a great shot. Regular decision is always dicey, especially since this year will be even more competitive.</p>

4

<p>When one door closes a better one often opens. Shake off the deferal. You have a great well rounded app. and there will be several elite schools that will welcome you into their freshman class. I suspect you will have a good chance with Vanderbilt as Vandy values test scores, leadership, and community service.</p>

5

<p>haha, thanks for that! Could anyone else offer me their input?</p>

6

<p>I would agree with bud123 ^^ and ignore jgoogle–I think your application sounds well rounded (other than your GPA) and Vandy prides itself on its writers/English dept so that may help. And I have seen them mention Eagle Scouts when touting how accomplished the incoming freshman class is. I am guessing from the skiing and rowing that you are from VT or NH maybe?? if so that could help since those areas are not well represented at Vanderbilt. If you are from Mass. or Colo., then that might not be as advantageous :-)</p>

<p>You should definitely apply to Vanderbilt, you’ve got nothing to loose! (And as a back up, I throw out Wake Forest as an alternative.)</p>

7

<p>are you a snow or water ski instructor?<br>
Just thinking of the Lake Life at Davidson and the Snow life at Dartmouth and Colby.<br>
Personally, I think you would be very happy at Davidson, one of the sportiest student bodies plus one of the toughest most respected bachelor’s degrees anyone can earn. Our tour guides were from CT and California and I know a talented guy there now from Chicago and someone from Atlanta. It is in a small quaint town 20 miles north of a sprawling southern city.</p>

<p>Re your Vandy application…if for any reason you are interested in teaching/coaching, the HOD program is exceptional at Vanderbilt and so are the field placements…just got on that track thinking about your innate understanding of your Bro’s issues with learning. </p>

<p>Davidson gets a LOT of respect in grad schools and tends to max out your potential to learn. No place to hide when there are 12 people in your class. Professors and coaches are very close to the student body. </p>

<p>Make sure to apply to a couple of schools less selective than Duke…I don’t think Vandy is a much easier admit in all honesty. with your GPA being low, your essays must shine and you should be looking hard at how you might use a college re curriculum and write about this with some illumination as well…because your GPA is a negative. That said, I also think you should apply to Dartmouth–you can still put out a couple Reach applications but you should consider Vandy a Reach just based on the number realities and all the perfect number kids who will NOT be admitted. Wake is very very sporty and a fine university where I feel certain you will be accepted. Very rigorous place. Work Forest. But in this economy it is a blessing to have a college that forces you to perform at your best.</p>

<p>I have a Duke grad, who loved Duke. But no school has it all. Duke is not as personal as Bowdoin or Davidson…neither is Vandy! So get out there and get ready to put your heart on your sleeve some more. Maybe you would like to pay for UVA? (not good unless you can afford it as OOSer)</p>

8

<p>Ya they did seem to look past GPA for test scores, which is lucky for you! Eagle Scout also looks really good on an app, also you have a really aggressive senior year, kudos</p>

9

<p>Thanks for all of that you guys! Could any of the rest of you offer any more input? Also, what do you guys think I should do to demonstrate interest? Should I write an extra essay, perhaps about why I want to be a district attorney, or something else? I have already sent an email to the debate team coach about my desire to compete on the team, which probably isn’t a big impact, but every little bit counts! I would appreciate it. Thanks!</p>

10

<p>Bump. COuld anyone else give me some advice?</p>

11

<p>You have the academics to get in but…Make sure your essays are about you and not just highlighting positions and things you have done or held. Let the Ad Comm’s learn about you as a person, your personality-how you think, feel, react, good and even not so good sometimes… that kind of thing. They should be able to feel they know you and your personality after reading all the essays. Be honest too because it shows through. You can you use the addition information section on the Common App writing section to add information about why you want to attend Vandy, why and how you think it is a fit for you and what you plan to get involved in at Vanderbilt if accepted. Remember there are a lot of qualified candidates for roughly 1600 spots so you want them to know exactly who you are and then they can figure out if you fit into and add to the community they have already begun to build for the class of 2017. Best of luck to you!</p>

12

<p>As a fellow Eagle Scout with good test scores and a sub-par GPA applying RD, I wish you the best! Maybe we will both get in!</p>

13

<p>Haha, right back at you dhar!</p>