Chances for ENGAGE program

Colleges and Universities A-Z Vanderbilt University
1

<p>Hi everyone
I never thought I would be doing this here lol but oh well.. it happens..</p>

<p>hokay. I'm planning to apply to Vandy (it sounds cute:)) but i have a bit more complicated story here. here it goes</p>

<p>the one that I'm applying at vandy is the ENGAGE program which guarentees a place for graduate school while applying to undergrad and of course, its' very very selective (hope you guys heard of it) So I've decided to apply to ENGAGE program, specifically one for school of medicine. </p>

<p>and here's my stats so far</p>

<p>highschool info:
location: toronto, Canada
type: private (prestigious girls' school)</p>

<p>GPA/courses:
rank:1/121 during gr 11 ( so I don't really worry about my gpa)
courses: this year i'm taking 5 ap courses, and so far i've taken 2.</p>

<p>SAT1/2s:
SAT1: V 630, M 800, W 580 (oh yeah I'm asian/international student)
SAT2: Math2C 800, Chem 770, Physics&Biology 750+ expected</p>

<p>EC:
Music(violin):I've done lots of violin stuff including many years of being concertmistress for my school orchestra and some canadian independ schools orchestra thing and I've recorded some pieces for application and I'm sure it's quite good.
Math: i've got a number of math contest awards in Canada so u guys won't really know so i won't bother. and I've participated in Stanford Univ math camp which is quite hard to get into and i was invited to u of waterloo for invitational math camp.</p>

<p>Legacy:
my grandfather studied at Vandy as a Fulbright scholar or something like that in late 1960s as a korean lol and later, he recieved Peabody Distinguished Aluma award in 1980s.</p>

<p>let's be honest. I'm pretty sure I can get in. but I'm not sure about ENGAGE program. Also, as an international student, I really need financial aid. So i was thinking of applying ED2 but if I don't get into ENGAGE program, there's no point of doing it..:( people, please help me outttt..</p>

<p>and thank you all for reading this:)</p>

2

<p>oh so the things I wanted to ask were 1)my chances for ENGAGE 2)is Vandy generous to international studs regarding financial aid 3)would my legacy thing help me in both acceptance and financial aid?:(</p>

<p>Thanks TONS</p>

3

<p>As someone who was a finalist and then rejected in the selection of last year's ENGAGE scholars, I give you this advice: Do not apply ED or ED2. This is particularly true if you are looking for money. You see, if you are admitted under an ED program, then you are bound to go to Vandy. There will be no reason for Vandy to try to entice you to come. Therefore, you will not be given merit money. They offer merit money to students who they really want to come in order to make the offer of attending Vandy more appealing. Additionally, the same is true for ENGAGE scholars. They offer students the status of ENGAGE to entice them to come to Vandy if they are exceptional students. However, if you have applied Early Decision 1 or 2, then they will have no reason to entice you, since they are already guaranteed that they will have you as a student the next year. (I was denied because I had applied ED so they had no reason to try to pull me in). Good luck.</p>

4

<p>that makes a perfect sense:)
thank you so much taw19:)</p>

<p>i guess ENGAGE is really really selective:(</p>

5

<p>can someone help me a little bit more?
how competitive is ENGAGE program? and do I have any chance of getting in with ENGAGE admission? also, what's the procedure of selecting ENGAGE qualifiers?(otehr than filling out the application:))
Thank you!!</p>

6

<p>Well, you asked about medicine. Last year for medicine there were about 350 applicants. Of these, 6 were invited to the Med School for a day of interviews. One was selected to receive the early admission. One out of 350...given the quality of Vandy's applicants, that's pretty selective. I was one of the six finalists but was not the one chosen. I never met any of the other finalists so I can't comment on their qualifications. However, I imagine that it was a very impressive group.</p>

7

<p>If you were applying to another graduate school, it would not be quite as selective, as they generally admit about 10 of 600-700 for the entire program. The medical school is the most selective (followed pretty closely by Law).</p>

8

<p>As a fellow ENGAGE medicine applicant, I think your CR and W scores could really hurt you. Medicine requires good communication skills in addition to a strong science background. If you can't demonstrate that you will be a good communicator, then they are unlikely to accept you since there will 2300+ kids beating down the door. My advice would be to work really hard on your ENGAGE essay so that they know firsthand that you can write well. Good luck.</p>