Do I even have a chance?

I come from a much lower ranked high school so when I got a 31 on the ACT I thought that it was pretty good. We have a special wall at my school for kids that get a 30 or above. That is how few of us there are. My parents suggested I look at Vandy, and of course I fell in love with it. Naturally I started to consider applying to Vandy ED, but after looking at all of the other qualifications kids have on here that I have not even heard of–my school has barely anything compared to all of these other schools I’m hearing about. I hadn’t even heard about things like mock-UN until I went to Girls State. Vandy says their admissions process is holistic, and I do have a lot of extra-curriculars going for me, but I am starting to wonder if I am making the right choice. My point is, with this low of a score do I even have a chance?

GPA??? Likely a reach

I would retake the ACT and try to get a higher score.

4.1 weighted and 3.8 unweighted

How about class rank? Probably retake the ACT, but you’re close. 31 is a good starting out point. Get the 5 real ACTs book and the princeton review one. Read up on strategies and math+grammar rules during the weekdays. Take the full timed tests for practice and review all of the questions on the weekends. You can still take the September and October ACT dates for EDI. You can easily bump it up a few points; aim for a 33-34.

If you can’t retake/get better than a 31, chances depend on your background. If your high school is actually in a disadvantaged community, like either very rural or inner city, you’ll get leeway. If it’s just a kind of mediocre suburban high school, you won’t. With a 31 and good class rank/ec’s it’s still worth applying EDI, since it’s not that far off the mark of what accepted students have, but it’s a little on the low side.

3.8 GPA is fine, but 31 on the ACT is right around their 25th percentile score for admits. If you could get that up to a 32 or 33, I think it might help. Vanderbilt appears to be pretty score-sensitive these days, not unlike Washington U and some others.

Vandy must be seeing increases in the number of apps – either that, or they are shrinking their first-year class size – because their admit rate has fallen to around 10% overall. Vandy is now solidly an admissions reach for even most highly qualified applicants.

I’d run the NPC for Vandy and any others you are interest in, to see if you can afford them. And if you do not go to Vandy, what else are you considering? In the South? Emory or Wake Forest. And other great schools easier to get into, like Furman and Sewanee. These are only suggestions. You do need a list of school, maybe 10, with some safeties.

I’ve heard of Furman and Sewanee but I do not know much about them. I have looked at Wake Forest and I really like it but I don’t know if I’ll be able to afford it. I would like to stay in the south just because it is closer to home so it will be less expensive, but if I got a good enough financial aid package I would love to go up north or out west. @PetulaClark

ACT of 31 puts you in the 96th percentile, and with your GPA, in the running for a great college. As mentioned above, I would prep for the Oct 22 ACT (Assuming you are a Senior?) as its scores are available by Nov. 8. Prepare by getting an ACT book with mock tests, or I also recommend tutoring if that can be afforded. Because if you raise your ACT even a point or 2, that can help at the very top schools. It can help get merit aid. Getting into a group of colleges is one thing; affordability is another, and it is great to be able to compare fin aid packages. Depending on parents’ income you may also qualify for some need-based aid.

https://www.higherscorestestprep.com/act-and-sat-test-dates/

Vanderbilt is now a high reach for everyone - even those with stellar stats. If you can possibly re-take one or both of the standardized tests and deliver a 98th percentile or higher SAT or ACT score, that will clearly help some. But realistically, admission to Vandy for you would likely come down to the strength of your ECs and Essays. Your preference as to major could also be a factor. If Vandy is your clear top choice, I would also consider applying Early, as that does offer a slight advantage or the regular decision cycle - but only a slight one potentially.

Good luck…

Sewanee is definitely worth a look. They put significant weight on a campus visit, so it would only be a match if you’ve been on campus. It’s only 10 minutes off the interstate–not hard to get to at all.

Piggy-backing on @PetulaClark 's post #6, if you are interested at private schools in the South for your undergraduate years, there are many good schools you could shoot for, among which are:

Reach: Duke, Vandy, Rice
Low Reach: Emory, Washington & Lee, Davidson
High Match: U of Richmond, Tulane, Wake Forest
Match: Sewanee, Rhodes, SMU
Lower matches: Furman, Wofford, Belmont, plenty more

@Singer101 prezbucky above does a great job of organizing a list of colleges according to degree of difficulty. You can try ED on a Vandy or a Rice, or play it safer with ED to Wake or Richmond. The matches and lower matches are great schools as well. I’d only use ED1 and ED2 for schools you have visited and liked and can afford.

Personal bit: my D’s dream school was Chicago, and her stats are not as good as yours. There are so many smart kids out there. So now she is focusing on other schools, with a new dream school within reach, maybe helped by ED. She has a match she really likes as well, and some safeties. Again, you may perceive the gist of these posters, myself included, as encouraging looking beyond Vandy. With a higher ACT you could be in play there, but it’s never a sure thing. If your HS is lacking in academics, any college will take that into consideration.

At least based on kids in my year that got in ED, your numbers (31ACT) are somewhat competitive if you apply ED.