If you wouldn’t mind looking over my stuff and helping me out!
BASIC STATS
GPA:
UW: 4.0
W: 4.44
Rank: 1/150 ish
ACT: 36 C 12 W
SAT Subject Tests: 800 Math II, 780 Physics(mentioning on application that I self-studied)
AP: 5’s in Bio, Eng Lang, HUG (self-studied), Psych (online), US History
Taking 6 APs this year, one online.
HONORS
National Merit Semi.
AP Scholar w/ Distinction
Math Team County Tournament individual 1st place, 2nd place
13 Awards of Excellence from my teachers
School Essay Contest Winner
EC’s
Math Team
Physics Club Founder
SGA Pres.
NHS Pres.
Key Club Sec.
Scholars’ Bowl
My LORs should be pretty strong. My Personal Essay should be pretty good.
It looks too perfect that either you got accepted with a scholarship offered or get rejected because the school would not like to be treated as a safety for the ivies. Apply ED II or have something in the personal essay on why Vandy to avoid being put in the second pile (rejected due to look to good).
Yes, it does. I got that from looking at last year’s RD’s posters’ final posts on accepted, rejected, and waitlisted and traced back to their earlier posts on their states. You will be surprised that many of the rejected were high state (both GPA/SAT/ACT) kids. High state in RD is no guarantee. I think the tread is still there, and you can check with it.
@JerseyParents Haha I hope so! I neither of my parents completed colleges, so I’m kinda on this college journey alone. I just didn’t know if my EC’s were weak. I truly can’t tell.
@amNotarobot I’ve toured twice and sent an email asking questions. I’m also from the South, so I don’t know if that shows any sway to the college. I really don’t wanna apply ED II just b/c I don’t want something binding me from applying to other private colleges in case I don’t get it. But is that a legit thing?
I don’t think a school like vanderbilt would consider itself anyones safety. With a 10% acceptance rate, they were probably rejected because there are so many high stats kids that apply.
You have a very good chance of being accepted. Your ECs aren’t weak, but they are typical. If your essays and recs are great you should be fine. Good luck!
@C TMorris1999 ED II dosen’t binding you from applying to other private colleges in RD. It only binding you if you got accepted and then you have to withdraw all others. But you definitely need to consider if you can afford the cost in attending (family contribution, private scholarship, Vandy’s financial aid (using net cost calculator at the admission website) before applying in.I am saying this because your statement “I really don’t wanna apply ED II just b/c I don’t want something binding me from applying to other private colleges in case I don’t get it.” is not a correct reflection of how ED works.
@a20171 It’s my observation. The recently published Vandy’s admission yield rate for Class 2021 that I read was 47% (or maybe 49%), the highest ever. But comparing to Harvard’s 83% and Stanford’s 82%, it is still much lower. When taking in the about 800 almost fully committed acceptances from EDI and EDII, the yield rate for the RD was even much lower (a little less than 30% as 800 enrolled from 2,500+ accepted from the RD; and if some of the 800 spots have to be filled from the waitlist, the yield from RD could be even lower). For top schools like Vandy/Rice want to raise further the ranking, it has to keep raise the yield rate. Why 2,500 accepted students, but only less than 1/3 of that wanted to enrolled because many of these students were very high state and had many choices, and Vandy were competed for them with ivies and other top 20 to 30 schools. It is for Vandy’s advantage to weed out those high state kids that it doesn’t see any preference in attending Vandy in the process, and gives the acceptance to those with similar state but have things to say about why Vandy, even accept a bit lower state (but still in the normal range of its admission standard) with totally intention to attend. And if the admission see some very special kids (special awards, talents, and potential), it will give out acceptances with scholarship to entice them to commit and away from other top schools. This is a must for the school because by able to make a reasonable measure on who is like to attend and make an more accurate estimate yield rate ahead of time, a school like Vandy can maintain higher yield rate (not to over accept) or avoid over-enrollment (like U Chicago this year) or under-enrolled (so it has to pick more from the waitlist in which the applicants may be less desirable or have already decided to go to other accepted schools).
@amNortarobot right, but not all schools care about yield. And 47-49% is still very high. In order to weed out kids that are using it as a safety, their average accepted SAT, GPA, and class rank would also be lowered which would lower their ranking as well. Sorry, I still disagree with you. I don’t think vanderbilt worries yield because I don’t think they need to. Their yield is very typical of schools in their range and their acceptance rate is very low as it is. Vanderbilt does not have a reputation of rejecting kids because they think its a safety for them. With a 10% acceptance rate its a safety for no one and they know that. 4.0s are rejected for 3.8s at Harvard and its not because the 4.0 was overqualified. It’s because the 3.8 has something the 4.0 didn’t that Harvard was looking for.
If OP is a good fit for vanderbilt which essays and recs will surely show, he/she will not be rejected because stats are “too high”.
And to that last point about less desirable candidates on the waitlist… you’re basically suggesting that the schools accept these less desirable candidates initially in order to not have to accept them later. Doesn’t make much sense.
@20171 In no way, I am dissing Vandy or thinking it is lower than any other top 15 schools. I am giving the @CTMorris1999 a realistic picture why people having his similar state could still be either rejected or accepted with an academic scholarship (if they applies to the three main scholarships). I was encouraging him to show in his personal essay and supplemental essay which could add some indication that he loves Vandy and would definitely attend if being accepted. Like my previously post, the 47-49% yield rate though was high, but that was included the 800 EDI &II committed students. Take the ED 100 yield rate, the RD is less than 30% yield rate. The lower the yield rate, the more difficult will be for the admission office to know how many students they have to accept in order to get the 800 kids from the RD. Will it be 2,500 this year? Or will it be 3,000 this year? By able to use past experience and from reading the personal essays, the admission office will be able to accept 2,500 (with many of them having some indicators that they are more likely to attend) and than 3,000 (with no indication of more or less likely to attend if being accepted) for the RD. With less accepted students in RD will also lower the risk of over enrollment (as the U Chicago did this year, which will cost school resource problem).
Again, please read my previous post that the weed out in Vandy’s case may not be picking lower state kids, but the same state of kids with more likely to attend attitude, and that’s may not be a bad thing. As a frequent CC reader here, you can sense there are many students and parents that have the thought that anywhere not the HYPMS or U Chicago would be a failure, so to avoid having to deal with them could be a good things.
This is only anecdotal, but I also think Vandy exercises some yield protection in the RD round. I know of three kids with very very high stats who were each waitlisted RD.
there is NO sure thing on admission even with near perfect stats. Anyone whose parents can’t pay cash for their graduate school educational pathway (be realistic…your parents are aging) and full price for your private or public education should be applying themselves now to make COST a primary consideration. Vandy has near the tip top best financial aid based on need with Zero Loans. For parents who will pay a portion, you might pay less at a few (not all) of the hugely endowed Ivies. If Vandy is your first choice, say so! If not, Vandy isn’t going to be upset with you. Students can’t really afford to have a crush on one school and must pursue multiple options. You must be open hearted in this process if you do not do ED. With your stats, you can likely get a nearly free education at your state flagship or be in the running to do so. Many professional pathways have very little merit money to offer. The exception would be hard sciences and PhD stipended programs for those who excel in their undergraduate departments. Some discounts are offered for top test scores in graduate professional schools but your parents’ income is considered in many graduate programs.
If you are serious about being a contributing member of your college for four years, dive deeply into optional essays and into merit scholarship applications. Why would anyone not at least try even with a very small chance of landing free tuition.
