Chances for Vanderbilt RD

Colleges and Universities A-Z Vanderbilt University
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Objective:
SAT I (breakdown M/ERBW):
ACT: 34 (33E, 36M, 32R, 35S)
SAT II (subject, score): 790 Math 2, 790 Chem, 740 Bio M
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.97
Weighted GPA: 4.56
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 2/370 (unofficially)
AP (place score in parentheses): Chemistry (5); Macroeconomics (5); Statistics (5); US History (5); English Lang and Comp (5); Calculus BC (5); Biology (4); Physics 1 (4)
IB (place score in parentheses): NA
Senior Year Course Load: AP Physics 2, AP Spanish, AP US Gov’t, AP CS, MV Calculus, Honors English IV
Number of other EA applicants in your school: don’t know
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): USNCO 2x Semifinalist (top 1000 Nat’l); USABO Semifinalist (top 600 Nat’l); UToronto Bio Competition Ranked 87/1257 Int’l, Coca-Cola Scholars Semifinalist
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): Columbia University Book Award, National AP Scholar, Debate Awards, Eagle Scout

Subjective:

Extracurriculars: Science Bowl Team Captain (6th place in NE Regional Competition in 2017); Debate Team Captain, Math Team Captain, Founder and President of Science National Honors Society, Boy Scouts – earned Eagle Scout
Job/Work Experience: worked at KUMON from 9th to 11th grade
Volunteer/Community Service: 500+ w/ Boy Scouts + Tutoring kids in Math and Science + Hospital Volunteering
Summer Experience: Took Organic Chemistry I and II w/ lab, did research internship at local university –chemical/bioengineering project

Writing (Subject, 1-10 rating, details):
Essays:
Common App: 9/10 – talked about performing card magic at school and how I learned to deal with unexpected situations/hecklers during performance
EC Essay: 8/10 - talked about science bowl and how I improved our training

Other (teacher’s subject, 1-10 rating, details):
Teacher Recommendation #1: didn’t read, but prob (9/10) - from my AP Chem teacher from soph year and my Organic Chemistry independent study advisor; worked on a lot of Chem Olympiad stuff with her and she was my advisor for Science Honors Society; overall, I was prob one of her best students
Teacher Recommendation #2: didn’t read, but prob (6/10) – from my junior year AP Lang class; did well in class but consistently submitted stuff late; heard he writes good letters but not sure how much he liked me
Counselor Rec: didn’t read; prob generic (6/10)
Additional Info/Rec: additional rec from my boy scout troop leader prob really good – most likely talked about leadership and stuff (9/10)

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bump

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I would say you are a fantastic candidate and have a very good chance. The issue with college admissions is it’s a numbers game. A little bit random. I believe every application is read and assessed. But there is subjectivity and objectivity, too many to read, too little time. It looks like you would fit right in though!

4

Test scores and grades are very solid, ACT is in the right range and you have a very nice set of AP scores and current courses. ECs look reasonable, it’s too hard to interpret them through a CC post though (everything except for eagle scout could vary enormously in time commitment/effort/achievement involved, so your descriptions/recs will be important). All of the awards look great, and should really set you apart/demonstrate that you already have notable accomplishments in the subjects you’re interested in.

Overall, I’d say you have a solid shot at the RD. Unfortunately, a lot depends on the subjective interpretation of your app, so all we can do is give a very broad indication as to whether you’re generally in the right place (you are). All you can do at this point is make sure your essays/recs are really well-polished and compelling. Everything is especially complicated by the competitiveness of the RD pool, where a lot of good candidates end up waitlisted.