ED 1 Chances at Vanderbilt

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hi everyone, I am a rising senior and am absolutely in love with Vanderbilt. I know it’s a really great school but I was wondering if I have a shot. Please let me know what you think. I will chance back and I be brutally honest, I can take it!
STATS:
Gender: Female
Ethnicity: Asian American (Indian)
School: Average public school in the suburbs of Chicago (White dominated)
GPA: 4.76 Weighted (School doesn’t do UW)
Class Rank: N/A (School doesn’t rank)
ACT: 34 (Science 36, Math 35, English 34, Reading 31
SAT: N/A
SAT Subject Tests: Math 2 (800), Chemistry (790)
Past AP Classes: World History, Biology, Chemistry, Calc AB, English-Language and Composition
Senior Course load: AP Physics, Calc BC, AP English- Literature, AP Psychology, Honors Government, Honors Econ, Honors Band

Work Experience:
-Tutor at Kumon (teach reading and math through calculus) - finished kumon math program when I was a student

  • Internship at Local Hospital shadowing doctors in different departments- 1 out of 10 students chosen from hundreds of applicants (maybe a big hook because I want to go into medicine?)

Volunteer Work:

  • Volunteer at local hospital (150+ hours)
  • Relay For Life Charity event
  • Local church food pantry
  • Local Church Emmaus House (Dinner one a week for poor people)

Extra Curricular’s:

  • School Volleyball 7th-10th grade
  • Club Volleybal 8th-10th grade
  • School Track and Field 11th-12th grade
  • Science Team- 11th- 12th
  • Math Team- 11th-12th
  • Medical Sciences Club- 9th-12th
  • Student Class Board- 9th-12th
  • Student Council- 9th-12th
  • Interact Club- 9th-12th
  • NHS- half of 11th and all of 12th (we got inducted in the middle of our junior year)
  • Classical Indian Dance- 6th-10th grade
    -FAME Leader (freshmen mentor)- 11th-12th (we started the program my junior year so we help build it came up with a mission statement, curriculum, etc)

Awards:
-High Honor Roll

  • All Academic Team for Windy City Power League during 10th grade club volleyball season
  • 11th grade Science team season: 2nd in sectionals for biology, qualified for state in both biology and chemistry, 6th at state for chemistry*** (might be a hook?)
  • District Student of the Month

Leadership: (Probably biggest asset)
-Started a program in India, forming and educating people on the large gender inequality problem
-Vice President of National Honor Society - In charge of tutoring
-Science Team Chemistry Captain
-Became a certified stroke educator and educated the entire freshman class on strokes
-Medical Sciences Club Officer (2 years)
-FAME Leader- Mentor Freshman 3 days a week
-Alto Saxophone Section leader in concert band (freshman and senior year)
-Alto Saxophone Section leader in Marching band (senior year)
-Band treasurer
-T-shirts for a cause- 1 of 3 students to design, advertise, and sell t shirts for football games to the entire student body. Proceeds go to charity

  • IDSA Leadership Conference
    -RYLA Leadership Conference
    -Youth chair on committee for Relay for Life (4 years)
    -Student Council- Planned 2014 Talent Show, 2015 Charity Bash Assembly, 2016 Homecoming Assembly
    -Captain on 2 club volleyball teams

If you got through all of that, thanks!

2

I think that you have a very good shot at Vanderbilt, especially if you apply ED. Your grades and test scores are very good. I doubt that working at a hospital is a hook at all even if you want to go into medicine because frankly it’s quite common for students to work in hospitals, but it’s still a good thing that you are doing it. A few of your extracurriculars are good, but many seem like they are just resume fillers (and I don’t think it looks to good to just list things you did and then stopped in the middle of high school to be honest). To be brutally honest (like you said), none of your awards will make a difference (and none are hooks again, sorry), and high honor roll is not an award. Your leadership, while some of it looks decent, a lot of it also looks random. I do think your biggest goal will be to have your passion shine through without adding a lot of clutter ec’s (there are some that you have that don’t seem to help you at all). Regardless, because it’s Vanderbilt an because it’s ED1, I think you have a good shot. Vanderbilt - High match/Low Reach Please chance me back! http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1796275-what-do-you-think-of-my-chances-are-at-these-universities.html#latest Good Luck!

3

This application is one of the toughest/most difficult to gauge that I’ve ever seen. At first glance, this seems like a near-perfect application for Vandy. When we dig down, though, it loses clarity. The ACT is good (at about the 70th percentile), but not excellent. The weighted GPA is excellent, but it will most assuredly go down some when colleges do the recalculations. The EC’s seem to focus more on quantity than quality, as do the leadership positions. This is not a killer, but colleges want to see in depth passion as opposed to being in every club offered. There is no passion that I can see here. None of your EC’s seem to focus on the medical field, mathematics, etc. Also, the community service doesn’t look spectacular. Now, don’t take this comment the wrong way. This is a very good application. The problem is that everyone applying to Vandy has a “very good application.” I don’t think that your chances are more than 20% or so. That doesn’t mean that you aren’t good enough; that is just a representation of how hard it is to get into the school. I wish the best of luck to you. Keep up the good work.

4

I really have nothing constructive to add on admissions, but, just so you know for next time, around here hooks are usually limited to under represented minority, legacy, and first generation college student. Hope you get in!

5

Stats are amazing! Admittance is 13% with average ACT being 32-34, but with your ECs and awards, you should be fine. You have a high chance of getting in. Good luck!