Chance me?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Vanderbilt University
1

Sex: F
Hooks: 1st gen
School: In the most richest county in the world with excellent schools (Thomas Jeff. High is in the same county)
Race: Asian

Overall UW GPA: 3.6
Freshman Year GPA: 3.4 UW
I take the most rigorous courses in my school: HN Geo, HN Eng, HN Bio, HN History, Chinese 1
Sophomore Year GPA: 3.09 UW
Again, most rigorous courses: HN Alg2, HN Eng, HN Bio, AP World, Chinese 2
the reason why my GPA was so low this year is because i have a C in AP World which obviously brings me down a ton):
Predictions/Goals:
Junior Year: 3.9 GPA
Physics, Precalc/Tric, AP Lang, AP Psych, HN US History, Chinese 3, Peer Helping
Senior Year: 3.9 GPA
AP Physics, AP Calc, HN Govt, HN Eng/AP Lit??, AP Macro/Micro, AP Chinese, AP Stat

I also have extremely unique and great EC’s (I am a very competitive figure skater who skates about 15 hours a week with a handful of medals from local competitions and I am in the highest level possible (Senior). I am also a dedicated figure skating coach who works about 4 hours a week for children, seniors, and people with mental disabilities. I can ask my boss to write me a good rec, because he really likes me and thinks im an incredibly active instructor).

My family has a history of doing incredibly well on the SAT’s because my dad is very good at helping me and my sibs prepare. My oldest sister who graduated HS with a gpa of 3.3/4 UW gpa and went to VT engineering had a near perfect SAT score, with maybe 50 points off (the 1600 SAT) and my sister who went to TJHSST and went to Columbia got a 2350 on her SAT, so my prediction would be:
2200-2300

I am interested in majoring in business, but to increase my chances, I will first apply as an engineer, since they are looking for females in that department, then switch to international-b if i get accepted!

2

You have a strong start and seem very mentally prepared for your final two years of high school. If you are interested in business, I think you should consider (brace yourself)…going to UVA which is where the bulk of TJs end up anyway because of the bang for the buck that then allows them to spend or borrow for graduate schools. UVA’s undergraduate business school is tip tip top. The only problem is that it is selective within the university to get into it. You have to apply after being at UVA…for a year plus…and there are disappointed Hoos.

The reason I am speaking to you about this is not to discourage you from Vandy at all. Our sons are also Virginians, and one went to Vandy. But I don’t think you should ever try to enter Vandy as an “engineer” with the plan of transferring to “international business.” Totally not necessary and not really truthful as an applicant. Vandy expects a lot of students to change projected majors etc, but never game an admission due to rumors of which school you can get into. The smart money would be to attend a great MBA program…and they are expensive. UVA’s stand alone undergrad business program is up there with Wharton’s undergrad program and has an avid alum support system and excellent job placement. You can’t get into most good MBA programs until you have been employed a while.

Another thought is to do undergrad in a type of engineering and then go to get an MBA.

You will find that fewer top 20 undergrad schools have “business” undergrad majors. There are exceptions of course but you may not realize that many undergrad schools do not award business major degrees. Most have clusters of business competency courses that can be used as sort of a minor with many liberal arts majors…the arts, management of health care, premed, engineering, sociology, art. and so on all benefit from business cluster courses or econ cluster courses. Places like Vandy and Duke now offer one year post graduate business programs that are not equal to an MBA.

Veracity adds a wonderful unmistakable glow to your application. Trust me on this. When you are 17.5 and hit send on your applications, you want to feel congruent with what you wrote in essays, said to your references, and said in interviews to your best ability. Good luck…I know how intense your county can be for high school students.

3

@Faline2 thanks for the input! I actually really dislike UVA haha, esp because of all the things happening there now (fraternity rape, hannah graham, etc), my dad used to work there (he now works at gtown) and told me that he hates it there because he thinks the people who run the admin are a bit concieted, and when my TJ sister visited the college, she said that everyone was in a clique like high school. Not to mention that everyone is preppy there, and I am preppy too so I want to stand out in a college instead of being like everyone else. I am attracted to uva academically though, and its such a shame that their b-school is the best in VA since I wouldn’t be a good fit there):

Im not trying to discourage people from applying to uva, its just personal opinion. UVa can be a great school

Also, yesterday I decided that I wouldn’t apply as an engineer major!

4

well, as a VA parent, I am of the opinion that disliking UVA is a luxury that even top students cannot afford. In the run for the money for merit dollars, chances of winning merit money at Vandy are less than 1% as all admittees are potential merit winners. The only reason our son attended Vandy instead of Wm and Mary or UVA is because he got a free tuition merit offer…sort of being struck by lightening as it is really hard to decide who “deserves” that these days. The reason that a pack of TJs, who are called TJs and do all know each other admittedly-- at UVA…enter annually is because the merit offers at other colleges didn’t compete well in the final hour. Your parents need to do both their FAFSA and their CSS profile with whether or not you overlap other siblings in college as a factor. We sent a son to Duke full price ticket in 2005. Seemed like a great idea at the time. He is now getting an MBA at night, the slow and hard way while working a challenging job which is NOT paying his tuition btw. He is paying out of pocket. Night MBA programs are less expensive than two year MBA programs by far.

Play the Long Game on your eduacation is my point. Compete for merit dollars but recognize that economic safety colleges vs high ticket undergrad colleges have to be evaluated on Return on Investment in this economy. Perhaps your father at Georgetown has some kind of exchange privilege re tuition with a circle of colleges. Throwing away the expansive and practically second to none business/job network that UVA’s undergrad business college provides should never be done lightly. Most people that make it into their undergrad business school are very grateful to be there and have hopes of very good post grad jobs that are absolutely necessary to gain admission to an MBA program that is well connected to even better jobs. Just trying to land a good job post undergrad years in business is a serious challenge and is what your eye should be on.

5

@Faline2 ok. And yes since my dad works at gtown for 10 years, I can get better fin aid than my other 2 sisters with is a good thing. I am sure UVA is a great school with great value, I just don’t wan’t to be unhappy my freshman year and then consider transferring. Also, I also heard that UVa, like WM is not much of a holistic college, and mostly cares about academics in admission. I have a low gpa, but good ec’s and hopefully a soon-to-be great SAT score, and still they probably won’t forgive me b/c of my gpa, so I don’t think it would be worth paying them 100$ just to see me get rejected, and maybe having a slim chance of getting in