Chance Me for Vanderbilt?

Hi! I’m a junior currently (second semester). I was hoping y’all could take a look at my stats and resume and let me know what my chances are of getting into Vandy.

Here goes:

GPA UW: 3.79 (will go up to 3.81 after this semester)
GPA Weighted: 4.42/5.0 or 5.19/6.0
SAT: 1560
Rank: not in top 10% (school is VERYYYY competitive)

I took 4 APs my freshman and sophomore years combined and 6 IBs and 1 AP my junior year and will be taking 5 IBs my senior year
I know my GPA is low for Vandy but I struggled with confidence issues and motivation sophomore year so I got a couple of B’s but my grades have gotten way better my junior year.

AP Exam Scores:
AP Psych Exam (5), AP Word Hist Exam (4), AP Environmental (4), AP Hug (4)

Extracurriculars:
-Varsity Debate 3 years
-Tutored Bhutanese Refugees
-HOSA Member 4 Years; Made it to HOSA Regionals 2018
-Made it to Intel Science Fair Regionals 2017
-Volunteered at Baylor Scott and White Hospital Car.
-Year Round Volunteer BSW Hospital Irv.
-Intern at Orphanage in India (Got elected as Section Leader)
-Helped Organize Annual Cancer Walkathons 2016-Current
-Helped Set Up Annual Fundraising Event for Blind People 2016-Current
-Student Emergency Response Team 4 Years Secretary (2018-19)
-STIR Club Secretary
-Volunteer at Scottish Rite Hospital
-Class Leader of religious class every sunday to further understanding of hinduism
-NHS member

I started a mental health club through a foundation that is locally based, this is what my essay will most likely be about since this foundation helped me overcome my mental funk in sophomore year and I made this club to help other people like me and it means a lot to me
-looking for research opportunity for my junior year summer

Work Experience:
Tutored at Gideon Math and Reading

Awards:
AP Scholar with Honor
National Merit Commended

Vanderbilt is my ABSOLUTE dream school and I know my stats are kind of low but I’m hoping I can get in. Should I apply ED or RD? The only reason I’m iffy about ED is that although Vandy is my dream school, I don’t think my parents will pay the tuition (we are out of the income bracket for financial aid, though).

Also, what are my chances at the Chancellor’s scholarship?

Thank you so much guys!!

Just from the financial aspect, we all have to sit down and have the conversation about what is affordable/reasonable. You do not want to set your eyes on a school that you know is going to be out of financial reach. It will crush you. In terms of scores, your SAT is great for Vanderbilt. Your GPA is average/below average for them, but there are many factors that go into the transcript (rigor of school, reasoning for grades, upward trend, level of classes).

you did a great job in high school. Keep your anonymity in these boards because so many of your selective schools have ridiculously low admission rates and rejections and waitlist students are often equivalent to admits on stats. You must stay fluid! You must look at a selection of schools with different levels of difficulty re admission. But understand that everyone knows you can do the work anywhere. That is not the issue. You are so right to get realistic about $ now. Get out the FAFSA and the second Financial aid forms schools like Vandy require to come up with their own figure for your Estimated Cost of Attendance. work though it with your parents. You are correct in looking at merit scholarship offers if you do not believe you will qualify for need assistance… The issue though is that you must do that deep evaluation on all schools on your list, and you must have at least one school where you are sure you will be admitted and you are sure you can budget the costs of attendance. Less than 1% of Vandy students are Chancellor’s Scholars or the other two signature scholarships That said, most Vandy students are honors students in their own right. This should not dissuade you from applying. Apply Apply Apply. You never know. And it is good practice to learn to make the effort. I think you need an extra letter of reference but study the current webpage for those details. Do not let “imperfections” in your stats stop you from making the effort. Put the questions on the essays on your desk and ponder. best wishes. Make an excel chart to keep up with each school’s deadlines and financial aid or merit details.

thanks for your replies! bump!

“The only reason I’m iffy about ED is that although Vandy is my dream school, I don’t think my parents will pay the tuition (we are out of the income bracket for financial aid, though).”

You need to have a conversation with your parents about how much they can pay each year. Then you should build your list from there, making sure that the schools on your list are affordable. If your parents have told you they will not pay for Vandy, I don’t know why you would apply ED there.

They will pay for the tuition but they would prefer I choose a less expensive school if I don’t end up getting a scholarship. What do you think are my chances of even getting into the school?

You definitely have a shot. Does your school have Naviance? If so, check to see how similarly situated students have fared.

hey guys! i was wondering how much emphasis vandy puts on grades/gpa/test scores. I was looking at previous vandy ed2 threads and it looked like ppl with low scores or gpa were all denied with a few exceptions. im from va (asian female) and i have 4.09 W gpa but i have really good extracurriculars and hooks. do i have a chance? im so worried

what’s your unweighted gpa? also if your scores pretty good and your ecs are as good as you say, then your gpa shouldn’t be much of a problem from what i’ve been hearing

Congrats on your accomplishments! Before applying ED I would have a serious discussion with your parents about finances. It seems as though they want to compare costs.

What area of the country are you from? What is your school’s history of acceptance? Has that history changed at all in the past few years? Vanderbilt used to take a lot of kids from our HS…some with scholarships…and then …it stopped. Over the past few years they seem to only accept 1 student per year during the ED round.

If you plan a list accordingly, you will have many great options. Congrats on your accomplishments and I wish you the best!

Thank you! I’m from Texas and most of the kids from my school like to save money and go to UTD, UT Austin, or go to really good UC schools such as Berkeley. Not too many people know about Vanderbilt here or care too much to apply since it’s in Tennessee. So because of this, I think there haven’t been a lot of kids from my school go to Vandy because there haven’t even been people applying. What do you think are my chances RD? My chances at Chancellors?

It’s impossible to chance you, but the good news is that if you craft an appropriate list you will have plenty of choices. The year my daughter applied the acceptance rate was 10%. Vanderbilt is a reach for everybody.

My coworkers daughter…next town over…same demographic, same type of school etc…she received one of the big scholarships. Mom told me her stats etc…they were lower than many from our town who were waitlisted. Vanderbilt obviously saw something in her… and they knew somebody else would snatch her. They were right…she attends a Harvard Stanford type school.

It’s really impossible to chance anybody. All you can do is try your best and create an appropriate list. Naviance may be helpful…but maybe not. My daughter was WL ( nobody was accepted despite years of acceptances) and she was very clearly in the green zone. There are other factors that the school considers. Good luck!

Thank you for the information and I agree Vanderbilt and other top tier schools can be unpredictable! Bump!

You have a much better chance applying ED than RD. Make sure your parents are willing to pay.

Bump!

Thank you all for your replies!!