<p>Chances for early decision and regular decision, if any?</p>
<p>-GPA: 3.56uw
-SAT: M 720, CR 740, W 740, Total: 2200
-PSAT: National Merit
-Subject tests (not so "good"): Lit-660, USH-650
-Taking as many AP's and honors as my school will allow me to take</p>
<p>-White male from Arizona, family makes <60k
-Prestigious college preparatory
-School does not rank, but I'm in the 'Summa Cum Laude' program- the most regarded, most competitive diploma- (<a href="http://www.notredamepreparatory.org/honorsprograms.asp%5B/url%5D">http://www.notredamepreparatory.org/honorsprograms.asp</a>) which is typically a good indicator of top 10%
-Prospective major is philosophy/neuroscience</p>
<p>-Founder and president of Philosophy Club
-Vice president of Politics Club
-Diversity/International Club board member; went with the club on a three-day 'cultural exchange' trip to our sister school in Kingston, Ontario, Canada
-"Friends of the Orphans" Club President; went on an 8-day volunteer trip to an orphanage in Mexico in March; going back for another week in July
-Over 100 hours community service</p>
<p>-3 years varsity track for school
-Scholar-Athlete Award
-Club track during the summer and off season (Track Athlete Year Round)
-Qualified for and placed 27th overall in the USATF Junior Olympics National Championship for 110m hurdles (basically nationals for club track) (regionals came before this)
-Very good recommendations
-Past employment as a lifeguard</p>
<p>If anything would create a chance for me, I would think that it would be my EC's. Thoughts?</p>
<p>You have nice ecs, and your sat scores are good, but honestly it Vanderbilt, among the other top schools in the nation, will be impressed by the standout scores. And when it comes down to it, you get in based on how much you impressed them. Their 25-75 sat percentile for admittance this year was 1440-1590 and those are real tough odds to be in the lower section of. If you still have time, try to bump into the 1500s. </p>
<p>But even more important than scores, and really I think people will agree with me as the most important thing, are the essays. The best ways to improve your chances are to make sure the admissions counselors see you as a person, not a set of numbers. The essays are one of the only areas where you are uncensored and for the most part unfiltered. If you can successfully develop a relationship through just the essays then your adcon will most likely have an attachment to you when they are fighting for your admittance. Everyone applying is going to have stellar scores and be involved in many impressive ecs, but not everyone will connect with there admission officer. If Vanderbilt has the same application next year they won’t have a supplemental essay to the common application, which honestly hurts the serious applicants. It attracts more of the polling type applicants who just throw there stats in every school on the common app’s face. And it further restricts your ability to reveal yourself and why Vanderbilt is perfect for you to the admission team. So I guess that whole little rant boils down to, knock your common app essay out of the park and just be extremely genuine, put everything you have out there and best of luck, applications are rough and you can never take anything for granted.</p>
<p>address your grades yourself and give reasons in short sound bites…as your GPA is too low in general for Vanderbilt but the admissions staff reads your essays carefully and they know that talented people are not perfect…and have bumps in the road…you do not have to be perfect to be admitted but you need to show a learning curve re waking up to the challenges of keeping up with the peer group at Vandy who were by and large A students in tough rigorous classes.</p>
<p>write about any employment you have had that is for real no matter how humble…</p>
<p>be real! </p>
<p>Retake your SATIIs. You have PLENTY OF TIME to nail two SATs in the 700s which any National Merit Scholar is capable of doing. These are one hour tests that correlate quite nicely with their prep books. YOU CAN DO IT. My son actually retook his Math Level 2 exam in January after his application was already filed… to get it into the 700s to make it commensurate with his perfect Math ACT score. He was simply tired when he took his SATII math test and was under-prepped. </p>
<p>Your SATIIs are indication of naivete about the importance of showing that you can take in data and put it out which you have to see is absolutely necessary as a skill set at a school like Vandy where the top quartile has perfect test scores and everyone else has simply great test scores. Your classmates are all going to be test ready and rigor-ready</p>
<p>Retake your SAT on another date in the late fall if you can (NOT on the same day as your SATIIS which you can space out one at a time during your busy senior fall)</p>
<p>Another idea…is to take the ACT and to prep this summer by doing the Red book of Real ACT exams…these tend to serve as SATIIs as well. You might surprise yourself on the ACT. </p>
<p>If you have your heart set on a highly selective private school that has the means to pay your way on financial need (and Vandy has this ability)…you are NOT done with testing…</p>
<p>Testing is still in your control. Put your energies in what you can change…your grades and your letters of reference and your essays.</p>
<p>Your past grades are history and can’t be improved…only explained as part of your maturation as a young adult. Tons of brilliant people blew off grades at one time or another. Or perhaps you have other reasons to have not focused on perfect grades. Don’t be mysterious…explain to them. Be honest and have your GC back you up. </p>
<p>I wish you happy outcomes. Clearly your current SAT and NMS status will get you into fine honors programs in state schools. Now focus on your chances at colleges that will give you a no loans private education. Spend the summer test prepping. You won’t regret the improvements you will get.</p>
<p>I wanted to add that I am always meeting up with smart, talented students who don’t recognize that when 25 thousand people apply to a school like Vanderbilt or when admission rates are under 30 to 25%, you have to actually prep for your standardized exams. So many kids we know with 4.0s locally who walked in cold to SATIIs after taking their AP exams and were disappointed to see that their scores were only in the average “among the students who actually bother to take the SATIIs”…and those students are all looking for fine points on their final reviews for scholarship money and admissions. Look up the actual mean on these little exams on the college board website and you will see that tests like the SATII math level 2…is only taken by a certain subset of highly prepped students etc. Vanderbilt expects you to recognize the fine points of your peer group when you arrive. </p>
<p>I see you made your scores with little to no preparation besides your normal engagement in the classroom. That 214 PSAT is great, but it is not NMS cut off standards in many states with strong high schools.<br>
Not because you aren’t bright enough to learn and do well at Vandy (or sub any highly selective school name) but because you have to be a work horse to keep up with the mainstream at Vanderbilt. You have to be a workhorse to keep up with your Vandy peers since a percentage of them are highly gifted learners at a rate not even measured by the SATs.</p>
<p>You have to imagine taking exams in a classroom where a huge percentage of the people in chairs next to you aced the APs, SATIIs, and other standardized exams because they are disciplined or they are super gifted or both. </p>
<p>My eldest son upped his SATs by a whopping 200 points in October of his senior year and went to Duke. He was testing “fine” but he simply wasn’t motivated till he took a serious look at his actual odds, bothered to read the actual admission stats in the Common Data Sets you can pull up at any college. He was coasting when he took his standardized exams until after he turned 18.5. This was a reflection also of his not good high school and the culture around us that does not focus on testing or college prep.</p>
<p>Then he suddenly got serious! He did the SATII exams prep books and aced those. He retook the SAT at the last minute. You know you can get into honors state programs with what you have going on now. Getting into colleges with no loan financial packages is more about the intangibles. Essays and signs of excellence. I am confidant that you can up all your test scores. Get the Real SATs and the Testmasters fuller better answer book guide that matches the blue book. Or switch to the ACT. This is your moment and your summer and last opportunity to alter what is sent to your colleges in the fall.</p>
<p>Apply ED. You will get a lot of financial aid. Also I know a lot of people who got in ED that would never get in RD and people who should have got in RD who didn’t. I think it’s funny to me to hear the rate of acceptance, when I know the caliber of some students they have accepted. Does not make sense to me. It’s not hard to get in ED. I would be shocked if you didn’t. I would not be shocked if you don’t get in RD.</p>
<p>admission early decision is not what I would call easy at all, it is just easier. </p>
<p>here are threads and stats for 2010 and 2011. remember that many subgroups come early decision including athletes, special slot talents and students who are going to be full pay, have strong ties to Vanderbilt and therefore don’t care about shopping for better offers.</p>
<p>4: Yes, there is a statistical advantage to Early Decision. For Fall 2010 admission, the overall admit rate was 17.9 percent; the Early Decision admit rate was 32.5 percent. However, those numbers dont reflect the true nature of the applicant pools. Early Decision students are highly qualified and highly enthusiastic applicants who receive consideration amongst a smaller pool of students; thus, the higher admit rate. </p>
<p>[Early</a> Decision Quiz | The Vandy Admissions Blog | Vanderbilt University](<a href=“http://admissions.vanderbilt.edu/vandybloggers/2010/08/early-decision-quiz/]Early”>Early Decision Quiz | The Vandy Admissions Blog | Vanderbilt University)</p>
<p>Class of 2011 ED rates
[2011</a> ED II Decisions Mailed and Total Applications Update | The Vandy Admissions Blog | Vanderbilt University](<a href=“http://admissions.vanderbilt.edu/vandybloggers/2011/02/2011-early-decision-ii-decisions-mailed-and-total-applications-update/]2011”>2011 ED II Decisions Mailed and Total Applications Update | The Vandy Admissions Blog | Vanderbilt University)</p>
<p>We report admissions statistics for Early Decision I and II combined; at the conclusion of Early Decision, here is a first glimpse of our incoming Class of 2015:</p>
<p>Early Decision Admitted Student Profile, Vanderbilt University Class of 2015</p>
<pre><code>Middle 50% SAT: 1380-1510
Middle 50% ACT: 31-33
Percent of students in the top ten percent of their graduating class: 91.62%*
Average rank in class: 4.76%*
Early Decision Admit Rate: 25.54%
</code></pre>