I was recently deferred ED to Duke and I go to a very very small private all-girls catholic school in the northeast. Nobody in our Naviance history has applied ED to Vandy, let alone gotten in. Some with 4.18/35 and 4.31/34 have gotten waitlisted RD. I am white and upper-class.
I personally love Vandy, but if I definitely do not have a chance, I may just ED2 to BC since my HS is a feeder school.
Major: Either HOD or Child Studies (whichever I have a better chance at lol)
Stats:
4.28 GPA (have 1 B+ sophomore year APUSH)
1550 SAT
7 APs in total (5 on APUSH, 4 on Bio, 3 on Lang)
Awards/Honors:
National Merit Commended
AP Scholar
Small Town Recognition Award
St. Mike’s Book Award
Spanish Honor Society
National Spanish Exam 2 Bronze 1 Silver
NYTimes Summer Reading Honorable Mention
ECs:
Student Body Vice President
Founder/Leader of Mental Health Club
Editor for School Newspaper
Varsity Tennis Captain
Wrote, Illustrated, Published children’s book about mental health which I helped put in local middle school guidance offices
Got a federally funded research internship at a local university for child psych (shut down due to data issue)
Started a summer camp for community kids during COVID
Worked with Microsoft in some niche youth events
Worked for town paper for one summer
Worked for a child STEM center this past summer
Spanish club president
Started a blog (mental illness in media) and service initiative (art therapy)
Essay:
Commonapp: 7/10 about how I learned to reach people thru a claw machine, gets the point across
COVID: About how the pandemic affected my younger brother, why I started camp
Add. info: How I learned to prioritize mental wellness and how it influenced my academics/ECs
Vandy EC prompt: Not really sure but definitely want to focus on something that relates to intended major. LMK if you have ideas
Duke has been my dream school but if I get into Vanderbilt or UVA EA I would be so hyped. I also applied to UNC, USC, UMich, and Richmond EA for context. Already accepted to Clemson and Charleston with $.
I think you have a chance but you don’t need to ED. IF Duke is the dream, if you do apply Vandy and get in, the dream ends. Vandy might be better in your major.
You are likely to Richmond but if you have Clemson, C of C, and Richmond, will you be satisfied ? The others could be no. May be yes. Too hard to tell. Personally I wouldn’t do an essay about covid. Maybe about how the yellow fuzz on a tennis ball is fascinating or about the time a bird pooped on your head or anything. But not covid. That’s me.
Clemson is the outlier to me - as it’s rural. Are you ok with that ?
Then your best chance for Vandy is ED2. Assuming if accepted you won’t think twice about Duke go for it.
Your stats make you competitive. Vandy tends to be very stats driven. Please engage your GC to provide incremental advice and support. She/he can be particularly helpful bridging a student’s profile to a college like Vandy that hasn’t previously accepted students from your HS and might not be familiar with its academic rigor.
Not you but your guidance counselor has the potential to contact Vandy to ensure they are familiar with your schools profile given the apparent rarity of kids from your school applying and or matriculating. I am sure your school has a school profile that is available for college admissions to reference but your GC may be willing to pursue other avenues of communication to support a new college relationship.
All of the schools you’re talking about are a long shot for anyone. IMO fact that no one from your school has gone to Vandy is an advantage while the fact that BC has a history with your school (and others like it) might be a disadvantage because it’s hard to stick out from the pack when they see lots of other applicants just like you. And Vandy wants to bring in students from all over the country, so the fact that you’re applying from farther away is a positive.
The Peabody School also makes Vandy the best fit for what you’re interested in. I would definitely apply there ED II, knowing that it’s extremely competitive - as are all of these schools. Even for ED, their acceptance rate is just 18%, same as Duke. Give it a shot but be prepared to move on if it doesn’t work out.
Vandy’s ED 2 admit rate was super low last year… something like 3%. That said, a lot of kids who were deferred in ED1 and ED2 ended up getting in. My daughter is a freshman, and has met lots of people who didn’t get in until May.
Her essay was about tennis and determination. She says everyone she’s met has something very “interesting “ about them. Your ECs might give you an edge as they are a little bit different.
Here is the data, but from the student newspaper… I don’t see a press release.
Approximately 250—10.3% of—applicants in the early decision II (EDII) pool were admitted to the Class of 2026 on Feb. 11. The acceptance rate for the early decision I (EDI) cycle was 24.1%, with the overall early decision (ED) acceptance rate being 17.6%.
