Chance me for Vandy RD? :)

Colleges and Universities A-Z Vanderbilt University
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<p>I'm a white female, Methodist, just middle class enough to not get federal aid, living in suburban Oklahoma. I go to a 6A high school that is good for the state of OK but crappy in national comparison. Want to go pre-med but possibly major in something weird or have a music double major/minor.</p>

<p>GPA: 4.0 UW/ 4.42 W
ACT: Comp 32, Reading 36, English 34, Math 28, Science 29, Writing 7
SAT: Comp 2010, CR 740, Math 620, Writing 650
PSAT: 213 (National Merit SF)
APs: Euro 3, US 3, Eng Lang 4, Chem 2 (in my defense, my teacher SUCKS. highest anyone made was a 3). This year taking lit, stat, bio, calc AB, US gov.
National Merit Semifinalist
AP Scholar
Nominated for academic all state
3rd place in USAO World History</p>

<p>ECs:
Marching band, flute 2 yrs. & drum major 2 yrs
Concert band, 1st chair wind ensemble since 10th grade
Jazz band, in our top group (pianist) since 10th grade, we were selected to perform at Oklahoma All-State convention this year
Superiors in district/state solos since 7th grade
In Oklahoma Youth Orchestra & Philharmonia since 9th grade, principle flute of OYO this year (very prestigious organization, played at World Creativity Forum and going to Dallas this summer for a national orchestra convention)
CODA honor band 4 yrs
All-state band 10th, orchestra 11th, band 12th (3 year All-Stater, kinda rare)
Drama from 9th-11th grade, several plays/musicals/speech tournaments
NHS 3yrs
Church member, volunteer in childrens Sunday school
I teach flute to several middle schoolers</p>

<p>Essay: pretty awesome, if I do say so myself
Recs: from my stat & lit teachers, both love me
Hooks: Being from Oklahoma?
I also applied to the Cornelius Vanderbilt Scholarship. I think my essay was pretty amazing, too.</p>

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<p>Sorry, but being from Oklahoma isn’t a hook haha. Other than that, you seem to have an inflated ego on your essays, but go you I guess. Really low AP test scores, and no teachers are not an excuse. I hope you didn’t send those in cause those might actually hurt your application. Below average test scores with okay GPA. Your ECs are also fairly average. Decent chance though if your essays are as good as you say they are. Weird you want to do pre-med when you don’t do well in science or math and have no competitive contests in them?</p>

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<p>Thanks for the input. I’m wondering, though, why you said my GPA is “okay.” I have a perfect 4.0, all A’s. Weighted, I have even more because of AP classes. Just curious.
Also, I want to be a doctor because I want to help people. To me, that doesn’t involve a whole lot of math. I love science. I have not had the opportunity of engaging in any competitive contests in those subjects because of where I live. Believe me, if I had heard about them, I would have done them.</p>

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<p>Wow the above poster was pretty rude. It’s really disheartening to see people respond like that to someone lookin for a self esteem booster. But anyways, IMO you seem to have an above average chance. If your really into premed, doing some kind of engineering could make you a stand out. Especially since you’re female. Applying to the school of engineering as a female would also really increase your chances. Other than that, good luck! You seem to have a pretty good shot!</p>

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<p>Average chance at best, significantly below average if you sent in your SAT and AP scores</p>

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<p>Hey atxnickg, if you want someone to boost your confidence, go to a psychologist or something and tell them your problems. They’ll seriously help out with that. Other than that, I’m just trying to give honest input. I apologize if it was rude, or seriously hurt some fragile feelings in some way.
As I was saying, DrumMajor, I only said okay GPA because it seems like your GPA is seriously inflated. I rarely see kids with 4.0 UW and then get below average test scores on the AP and the SAT. However, you might’ve improved significantly from last year. I wouldn’t know. Good luck regardless though. By the way, premed anywhere almost always requires at least 2 semesters of math I would guess.</p>

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<p>I have to agree with paupowpew on this one. You’re GPA is good, but you’re test stats don’t seem to be very consistent. As this is just a student’s input, you can’t take my word for anything, but i would have to think that this one is going to come down to your essays.</p>

<p>Your scores on APs are poor. There’s nothing really getting around that, unless your self-studying for them (even then, most elite students do very well on APs). However, it does show good effort. I would hope that you didn’t report your AP scores, seeing as those scores wouldn’t be taken for credit by Vanderbilt (JUST A TIP FOR EVERYONE: Check what Vanderbilt require for AP scores… My rule was that if i didn’t make the score to get credit, i wouldn’t send it.).</p>

<p>Looking at your ECs, those are really great. You seem to have a cool interest in something not directly related to your major. If you talked about that/had that come out in your essays and application, I can definitely see that as being a strength.</p>

<p>Tl;dr: poor standardized scores, good gpa, interesting ECs. Average.</p>

<p>Best of luck (and as said above by paupowpew, sorry if this isn’t a confidence booster, I try to give an honest opinion. @atxnickg CC is for input, parents and Teen Mom are for self-esteem.)!</p>

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<p>The GPA and ACT Comp/Reading/English look fine, as does EC’s…however I agree that the AP scores will weaken your application. Best of luck though!</p>

<p>Did read your comment regarding math and disagree on its importance for Med School. As I found out a “few years” ago, math is very integrated with science on the college level. As a prospective science major, you will find that in addition to required courses in Calculus, Trig and College Algebra…Chemistry, Biology, BioChemistry, Physics, et al are all very math intensive on the college level. You cannot succeed in a premed program without a solid foundation or performance in math. </p>

<p>For example…in Cell Biology you will spend a lot of time studying the chemistry of the cell wall, which requires an understanding of chemistry, which requires substantial math. You will find that chemistry involves both a conceptual understanding of the processes AND math calulations to find answers to questions.</p>

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<p>One thing I would add…is being a physician is about helping people…but it is first and foremost about being a scientist. That is what differentiates a physician from a nurse. A physician acts as a scientist analyzing a patient’s condition and applying scientific principles to provide cures. A nurse carries out the physician’s plans (orders) and documents the results. Both help people.</p>

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<p>If you come off as a “me-monster” in your essays, as far as acceptance goes, it doesn’t matter what major you want to be :)</p>

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<p>but besides that, you have a good chance of getting in. Good luck!</p>

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<p>“Also, I want to be a doctor because I want to help people. To me, that doesn’t involve a whole lot of math.” I suggest you don’t repeat that to anyone on the Med School admissions committee or you’ll get automatically dinged. The fact that you scored a 2 on AP Chem suggests a poor scientific foundation and you’ll most likely have to work your tail off in college. Anyway, decent chances (depending on your essays.) Average/below average test scores. 4.0 GPA somewhat discredited due to poor scores (your classes are likely easy.) Best of luck.</p>

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<p>Hey! Wow the last posts have been a bit rude. I’m also just a student, so I’m nowhere near qualified to chance you. However, I think that a 4.0 GPA takes a load of hard work no matter where you went to high school, contrary to previous post. You have as good a chance as any of us! Good luck :)</p>

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<p>Being honest is not rude. Being honest gives people a chance to correct shortfalls. Would you rather have someone on CC tell you the truth giving you time to make corrections or have the admissions committee give you a final no with no second chances? Personally, I want to correct as much as I can before I get to the final decision makers.</p>

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<p>Some of you guys have misunderstood me. When I said being a physician doesn’t require a whole lot of math, I meant the actual job of being a doctor. Yes, I realize undergrad will require math & med school will scoff at me if I suck at math. But think about it. I will NEVER EVER use calculus once I leave college. That is what I meant. If I’m sick, I don’t really care how many math classes my doctor has taken. All I want is someone who will make me better.
One person made a comment about how my classes must have been “easy.” It must have been awhile since they’ve been in school. It’s easy to degrade younger people if they have had less experience than you, but it CERTAINLY doesn’t mean they haven’t had to work extremely hard. I realize my test scores are low, but honestly I don’t care. I will be worth more to a college than a test score statistic. I hope they realize that, because some people on here honestly don’t think you’re worth a crap if you don’t get celestial scores on the SAT or ACT. And keep in mind that here in Oklahoma we aren’t as die-hard academic as most. My school cut some advanced placement funding so we could have a new football stadium. There’s only one other national merit semifinalist out of the tons of smart seniors at my school, and she happens to be my best friend. I realize I will have to work hard in college. Do you think I’m applying to Vanderbilt for fun? I’m serious about this school. So don’t think for a second that I can’t live up to the Vanderbilt criteria. That’s my two cents. It will probably just offend people, but whatever. This whole college process makes me so angry sometimes.</p>

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<p>^Drummajor</p>

<p>Remember your on CC. your in a SICK, TWISTED world where a single flaw will be an automatic denial. Your fine. Trust me. Remember CC is not reality. PROMISE.</p>