Race: Asian girl
ACT: 31.5
SAT 2: 790 Chinese, 790 Math 2, 800 USH, 780 biology
GPA: 3.65 unweighted
AP classes (don’t know score for any of these yet): USH, Language and comp, BC calc, bio, Chinese, literature, gov
Extracurriculars:
NHS
Debate club
Volunteering at a hospital and a special education school since freshman year (I really like both)
Summer internship at a Harvard lab growing cells (there’s more but I don’t want to get into the specifics) since sophomore year
I have a job at a local office
Literary magazine editor-in-chief
Basketball varsity
I’ve played hockey since I was really young and I am really passionate about it, so I might write about this as an essay for the common app
I’ve gotten two pretty bad concussions and broke my leg once, which made my GPA drop because I kept missing school
Really good letters of recommendation from teachers who are both excellent writers
Your GPA and ACT will make it more of a reach. See the stats from this year’s admitted ED class. That said, the ED acceptance rate is much higher than regular decision.
bessieg, your SAT subject tests are excellent. Work on things you still have control over, like those good SAT subject scores and your upcoming AP exams, a couple of fine references. Keep identifying information about yourself here private. Why? things get very intense senior year plus you will be doing your best to learn about multiple colleges. Protect your privacy so you can freely ask for input and learn a lot. Even if you had perfect grades and ACT, Vandy is a reach college…just look at the qualities of the waitlisted. They all “deserve” admission. The mental health plan is to apply to reach colleges with all your best effort and the SAME for your match colleges (match financially and selectivity level). Picture yourself acing your match college and moving forward in life. good luck
Unfortunately true. 31.5 is nothing to be ashamed about, as it is still a fantastic score - however when applying to schools as prestigious as Vandy, they are nowhere near strong enough.
@bessieg Yes, you can still have a good chance applying ED if you bump up your ACT to 33+. My Asian D improved her 31 ACT to 33 and got in a year ago. With great essays (her supplemental had figure skating incorporated within) and good recommendations, you can overcome the slightly lower GPA. The school is really uses holistic measure to select its student body. Just keep up your good work.
Hi amNotarobot, I have a daughter that is dreaming of Vanderbilt. She is a senior fall of 2018 and graduating HS 2019.Since your D was excepted, would you please share her stats( e.curriculars, ACT score etc). Also did your D apply for the Cornelius Vanderbilt scholarship? Thank you
Vandy digs high test scores. Their 32-35 ACT range (for the enrolled class) is the same as HYS and a smidge higher than P.
Sure admissions are holistic. But being below the 25th percentile on a metric they value highly makes it reach-y. If you get a 34 and apply ED, then you’ve got a reasonable shot. Good luck.
VU uses test scores the same way its peer universities do and is as holistic as its peers. I think Vandy’s merit and financial aid, quality of life, happiness, administration, and base city helps them attract and enroll more of these students than many of its peers.
Work on the SAT/ACT, apply ED, and be careful on the ice. Two bad concussions for a teen is very worrisome.
you asked for a real person’s statistics. Our D was accepted ED and is joining the class of 2022 in Arts and Sciences. She had a 33 and 3.76, and her extra curriculars were good, but she didn’t cure cancer. She was on 2 varsity sports, was involved in theater and other clubs, etc… She had no real hook. Vandy truly is holistic from our experience. People with 36s and 4.00s are rejected and others with less stellar numbers get in. Dream and apply - and wherever you end up you’ll be happy.
My daughter got wait listed RD with a 35ACT 4.0UW and 4.56W. Some good but not great EC. I never read her essays so I don’t know how they were.
Just based on the numbers and the way they fill the class if you really want Vandy you need to apply ED. My daughter didn’t have it on her radar until after ED1 and Merit scholarship application deadline, so she was behind the eight ball.
Does anyone know how much it helps to be a legacy? (Parent, Grandparent and Uncle all attended Vandy). Our daughter has a 32 ACT and 3.8 unweighted GPA with varsity sport / good extracurriculars. Will the legacy help her if she applies ED?
Does anyone know how much it helps to be a legacy? (Parent, Grandparent and Uncle all attended Vandy). Our daughter has a 32 ACT and 3.8 unweighted GPA with varsity sport / good extracurriculars. Will the legacy help her if she applies ED?
@MamaElf According to this article from Vanderbilt a few years ago (http://stories.vanderbilt.edu/the-big-search), the legacy dose not weight too much (please read the girl’s story at the beginning of the article). I think you daughter is still very competitive in the ED round. A great essay and two great letters of recommendation from her teachers will go a long way for her. Hope this help.
My D18 is at Vandy now as a freshman and applied RD, which had a 7% acceptance rate vs the ED having a 20% acceptance-both had mid-ACT range at 33-35 and both boast 95% of the students are in the top 10% of their class. She had a 33 ACT with 4.5 wtdGPA and ranked 10th in her class of 352, not a lot of AP credits because she was in an IB program and had great ECs with leadership. It’s my opinion that you have to have the numbers to get on the table but once there the big buzz word for them is diversity and that is what they will look for in the rest of the application; and it’s not just about race but also geographical, life experiences, extracurricular, leadership, etc. Although they do look at each application individually and holistically, you will be compared to others with similar stats and especially others from your area. They don’t want the whole campus to look the same or have the same aspirations or the same ‘stories’.
Also a lot of the decision will depend on what school you are applying to: Engineering, Arts & Sciences, Peabody or Blair (music). They work their campus diversity into the individual schools as well. I think you can still be considered with a 31 but a 33+ would be a boost. Also really work on those essays! Let them know how your life experiences shape who you are and who you hope to be! They are looking for world leaders and game changers in addition to students who can handle the work load.
And remember ED is financially binding and merit scholarships are not given out until late January into February, and they are scarce. But they do have strong need-based aid and they are very generous with their endowment. If Vanderbilt is your #1 reach school then I say go for it and apply ED! Also apply to as many EA schools as are on your list. Fortunately my D18 had been accepted through EA to some great fit schools which made our loooooonnnnnng wait for the RD schools a little less tedious. Enjoy your senior year and good luck!