<p>I'm a rising senior from Wisconsin. White male from 60k family income. Gpa is 3.8 or 3.9 unweighted. 4.0 weighted. Currently #2 in my class of 65, but I may fall to #3. (Valedictorian has a solid chance at HYP) I wont have AP classes other than calculus and European History. I go to a small Lutheran school so my options are limited. I have as rigorous a schedule as I can.It's not 100% the most difficult possible but that's due to scheduling conflicts. I scored a 35 on my ACT.</p>
<p>Ive played varsity football since my sophomore year, and will most likely be a captain this year. I was on our FIRST robotics team this year. Im in NHS and will be president of my schools chapter next year. I've been involved in student council years and will be the student body treasurer. I was selected to participate in Badger Boys State.(American Legion leadership program. Don't know how much weight this carries) I also work 20 hours a week during school if that matters.Full time in the summer.</p>
<p>What are my chances at Vandy? I plan on majoring in engineering or computer science. UW Madison, UM Twin Cities, Carleton College, and Northwestern are my other choices.</p>
<p>Hmm… I think a lack of a science AP will really hurt you. Hopefully you can explain why you didn’t make that fit in, but you got in AP Euro, especially since you’re looking at Engineering. If you could nail some of the positions you mentioned as “Maybe,” you might have a shot. And for obvious reasons, rich white guy isn’t exactly your best asset.</p>
<p>The lack of an AP science class isn’t lack of ambition, it’s that my school doesn’t off any. I am taking Advanced Biology (1 semester) and Honors Physics (full year), they’re just not AP. We currently offer 3 AP classes, Euro History, Calc, and Psychology. I couldn’t get Pysch because of scheduling conflicts. (small school only offering it one hour, in which I needed to take Spanish) Clearing up some maybes: I am a captain on the football team, President of NHS, and student body treasurer. My unweighted GPA is 3.89 and I am second in my class.</p>
<p>Don’t worry about AP’s. ADCOM’s understand some HS offer few AP options. An arguement can be made that your ACT in remarkable in light of the academic options you have at your HS. You are a very strong candidate. Your lack of science AP’s will not hurt you if your school does not offer them but you will enter Vandy or Northwestern behind many of your engineering peers who have taken AP calc, AP bio, AP phys, AP chem., AP biochem…AP lunch, AP bathroom breaks, AP drivers Ed., and AP study hall.</p>
<p>Would it be possible for you to self-study and take either AP tests or SAT subject tests? It seems you are a good test taker, so this might be a way to show that you are ready for the courses at Vandy.</p>
<p>I’m not sure if I could work in the time to self study another AP between football, work, and taking 2 at school plus my other classes. My days are pretty booked!</p>
<p>I believe I’ve seen stats that say the ED acceptance rate is around 25% compared to RD which hovers around 12%. So your chances are definitely better for early decision. </p>
<p>Have you visited? While demonstrated interest doesn’t officially play a part in decisions … I do wonder how true that is off the record. </p>
<p>Personally, I find that demonstrated interest doesn’t officially play a part in admissions, but it comes through in other areas. Especially in the interview, I felt that the “Why Vandy?” question was a critical one, and I know I wouldn’t have been able to answer it with near as much confidence if I hadn’t visited.</p>
<p>I will say, don’t forget the little things. Email your interviewer afterwards to say how nice it was meeting him/her, update them on your application status, etc. I was waitlisted my first time around, and had kept my interviewer apprised of the situation, and while she may not have had much leverage, she had some good friends in admissions that she volunteered to talk to them to stress just how much she thought I needed to be at Vandy. Maybe that did it, maybe it didn’t, but here I am! It’s a tough juggling act, talking to the right people, keeping everybody up to speed, but hopefully it’ll be worth it in the end! Good luck!</p>
<p>That’s just as much because of not having any alumni in your area that are signed up to do interviews as anything else. I won’t say that an interview can’t hurt you, but I will say that, in my opinion, as long as you can express yourself semi-well, an interview can be the icing on the cake to a great application, or maybe the difference between rejection and waitlisting-then-accepting</p>
<p>It can’t hurt to do your best with Vandy in the ED round with your good ACT showing. Please do not squander your references or essays. Meet with your reference writers to discuss how you might make use of Vanderbilt academically is my advice. Plenty of people with your ACT do not get into Vandy just based on numbers of applicants. Read a good book on essays and sacrifice time on the weekend to write drafts of your essay and ask a teacher for honest feedback. These are the things you can control. Obviously you will get into honors programs at UWis Madison which is a fine school. Also, Carlton delivers a world class education but I am not sure if they can offer need aid without loans in the package. I am also not sure if Carlton can afford to be need blind. Take Susie Anne’s advice on being politely persistent with all your schools. Make sure to not miss out on doing a strong application to your state flagships if they are your financial safeties. Few liberal arts colleges can offer need blind no loan educations but they do exist. If you are interested in a liberal arts education and you don’t get into Vandy, take a look at Swarthmore which does evaluative interviews in campus in the summers with trained seniors. They have an engineering program. Your application will be stronger if you can show your academic intensity or you can do some predictions on how you would use Vanderbilt’s academic resources. The fact that you have worked for $ full time in summers and steadily part time in the school year should not be overlooked by you so find a way to share that or something you are good at from paid employment. A student athlete with a history of working for $ can be a winning combo with your ACT but make sure not to skimp on your academic interest. Colleges like to admit students who may invest real time in one area in the academic community. good luck. Personal touch in essays and in references is key. That means canceling some weekend activities or paid work till you polish these aspects of your application.</p>
<p>You absolutely don’t need to self study for APs! The tests don’t even take place until after decisions RD come out. So don’t even worry about that. If your school doesn’t offer the course you have nothing to worry about. You look like a very strong applicant and the fact that you’re applying early obviously demonstrates interest. Good luck! (Then when you get in, be sure to join the rugby team.)</p>