Fit at Vanderbilt?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Vanderbilt University
1

Hi,

From everything I’ve heard, I would be a borderline candidate (at best?) at Vandy, but my EC’s have mainly centered around developmental psych and development (listed below). I was looking to study neuroscience (pre-med), but I saw on the Peabody website that a number of students in the Child/Human Development program are Pre-Med. Do you think that my fit with this program would make it worthwhile to apply Early Decision to Vandy (as in… do I have a chance)?

Stats:
ACT: 34 with SAT IIs all in the low to mid 700s
Rank: 50ish (might go down to 40) of 650 (BUT with a an upward trend… earned mostly Bs and a C in freshman year (and in 4 middle school classes which count on my transcript) now have almost all As)
URM: Hispanic Female
State: Florida
Rigor of schedule: 9 AP’s (mainly 4s on exams with a few 5s) and 6 dual enrollment classes at the local community college

Extracurricular:
*Summer research in a child development lab at a university for 20 hours/week (conduct observations, etc…)
*President of Future Educators of America at my school (and hold a county-level position)
*Earned a Child Development Associate Certificate through a class at school (involves hundreds of hours working with preschoolers and enables you to be a lead teacher at a preschool)
*Tutor elementary schoolers
*Babysitting business

Also…
Heavily involved in church:
*Junior Youth Leader (camp counselor, help set up for youth group)
*Run slideshow most Sundays
*Go on a missions/service trip each summer to work in an orphanage
Active Member in:
Chemistry Club (run social media)
National Honor Society (help with social media)

Does the upward trend, the fact that I’m Hispanic, and – most of all – my “fit” with the Child Development program at Peabody make me anything more than a borderline candidate? Would you advise I apply Early Decision (finances are something of a consideration, but not a major one)?

Thanks.

2

You don’t mention your GPA, but your rank is comfortably within the top 10 percent, so that looks fine. Your 34 ACT is very strong, and your extra-curriculars are good, so I would think that you would have as good a shot as any at admission, especially as a URM. If Vanderbilt is your top choice and you think you could afford it, EDI would be a good idea for you.

3

Thanks! GPA is just under a 3.7 UW and a 4.8 W (AP/College courses are 6 points and honors are 5). Three of my four early childhood classes were “regular track,” but I thought it more important to pursue my interests than to grade grub. This hurts my W GPA a bit and affects my ranking probably 10 or so spots.