Demographics
white female (she/they), AL, public hs (in a well-off area), not first gen
Intended Major(s)
Music (either performance or education)
Cognitive Sciences/Psych
GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
4.0uw/4.53w
school doesn’t rank
36 ACT one sitting (35 on eng and math, 36 on science and reading, didn’t take writing portion)
Coursework
AP Human Geography (5)
AP Psychology (5)
AP English Language (5)
AP US History (4)
AP Chemistry (4)
AP Calculus BC
AP Music Theory
AP Biology
AP English Literature
Took 4 years of french 7th-10th grade
Awards
National Merit Semifinalist
Performing Arts Scholar Award (9th gr)
Adv English and AP HuGe Department Awards (9th)
AP Scholar w/ Distinction (11th)
National Honor Society
French Honor Society
Mu Alpha Theta (math honor society)
A honor roll
Extracurriculars
Marching Band (held field captain and trumpet section leader positions)
Jazz Band
Symphonic Band (made district band in 11th grade, principal flute all years at hs)
Youth Orchestra (principal flute last semester)
volunteer counselor at christian sleepaway summer camp
varsity swim 8th-10th grade
interviewed at school TedX event (9th)
Essays/LORs/Other
I’d guess that my essays are pretty strong; I wrote them abt developing my confidence as a musician and how that translated to an overall boost in confidence
Cost Constraints / Budget
no super restrictive cost constraints, although scholarships would be nice bc I have younger siblings
Congrats on your acceptances! I don’t know much about Vanderbilt, but I do know that UNC Chapel Hill is a reach for out-of-state applicants, no matter how great the stats and EC’s. For the 2022 entering class, the OOS acceptance rate was 8%.
I would say the same for Vanderbilt. The ED acceptance rate was something like 16 percent. Even though your stats are awesome (congrats!) and you are competitive anywhere, it’s a high target/low reach at best just because of the low acceptance rate. Good luck to you!
Are you applying to Blair? Your academics are more than adequate so it is 100% dependent on your audition. If not your application looks great and ED is certainly a better option than RD. (And all of your matches are reaches)
I applied to Blair initially and didn’t pass the prescreen round (rip), but I switched schools and made it clear to my AO that I’m still 100% committed to going.
Many schools want to see 4 years of foreign language in high school, so you could be at a disadvantage unless your high school didn’t offer FL beyond what you already took. They won’t count 7th or 8th grade.
I knew my chances were pretty low there but I didn’t realize how low! I based few of them off of the scattergrams for my school. A lot of people with my stats get in when they apply, but I know there’s a high chance I may not.
Why are you applying ED to Vanderbilt when you already have great options (acceptances to Auburn & to Alabama presumably with generous scholarships) and your reaches Yale & Northwestern are within reach ?
My oldest daughter (Class of 22) had a nearly identical application - unhooked female from a suburban public HS in the south, 4.0uw, 33/36/36/36 ACT, multi-instrumentalist considering music/art major but also interested in social sciences, 12 APs with mostly 5s, etc. etc. Based on her experience, I’d say you have your list correctly sorted. Yale is still a high reach - they will have thousands of unhooked females with this same app and only a handful of spots - but Northwestern is a more attainable reach, and I think your matches are truly matches. The raw number of applicants make them look daunting, but you will be close to the top of their pools academically, so the chances are better for you than the reported admit rates. Your school’s scattergrams are suggesting this also, and that’s a good sign.
Among others, D22 applied to UVA OOS and Rice, which have similar profiles to UNC OOS and Vandy; we were cautioned that these were longshots statistically (true), but our Naviance Scattergrams indicated that past students with her stats from our school had fared very well (4 out of 4 for Rice), so we essentially treated them as matches. She was admitted to both (one EA, one RD - no ED). As you know, “match” doesn’t mean “likely,” so it’s very possible that these matches won’t work out (particularly UNC, where legacy is meaningful and some academic high-flyers have been rejected in recent years). But you seem to have a good handle on the process, and I’m cautiously optimistic. Wishing you the best!
Maybe, maybe not regarding a preference for Vanderbilt. Students often use ED apps as a way of playing the odds strategy rather than just to one’s top preference school; this is why I asked OP why she applied ED to Vanderbilt.
Unfortunately, while multitasking I read the second post in this thread too quickly and am mistaken about UNC.
For me it was mostly about where I’d be happiest the next 4 years. Nashville has a lot to offer to me as a musician, and while Alabama and Auburn are great schools (that’s why they’re on my list), they’re a bit close to home.
Vanderbilt loves 36s and your entire profile is impressive so your chances are as good as possible considering 90%+ are rejected! If you don’t get in I’m quite certain you’ll be deferred to RD not rejected outright BTW.
Have you considered applying ED2 anywhere?
Guessing you applied to Honors Colleges at Bama, USC Columbia, and Auburn. Well done for securing admission there already!
Your list needs work in the middle: you need excellent colleges where your odds would be better while still being more evenly rigorous or better for music than your 3 safeties.
I’d have seen UVA, USC (LA), Rice or BC on your list, any reason you didn’t include them?
Other, less obvious possibilities could include Washington&Lee (similar vibe to Vandy though much smaller), Colgate (D1 sports), URochester, StOlaf (superlative for music- an academic safety if you send audition materials by Dec 1).
Good luck!
Thank you! That’s definitely encouraging—right now my mindset has been “expect the worst, hope for the best” but it doesn’t make me any less stressed abt decisions coming out
I would also suggest adding Emory to your list. They love musicians and it isn’t too late to meet with the music department head to discuss music department scholarships (although you have missed their Woodruff Scholarship deadline). Atlanta is a wonderful place and we were very impressed by Emory as a whole. My S24 is applying as a music major to similar schools and we thought it was an excellent option.
I considered Emory early on in my search process, but I ultimately decided that marching in college is important to me, so I cut everywhere that didn’t have a band
Shoot, I didn’t realize “music” meant “marching band”… (though many colleges listed would either have a non marching band or a marching one, check… and then see if your instrument is part of the concert or marching band!)
Did you audition for the marching band anywhere?
tOSU has a famous marching band but USC honors would be better academically.