I have a 29 and have one more chance to improve before I send in my application to Vanderbilt. I’m super worried. Did anyone have a low test score? If so, what was your application like?
People over estimate the “leeway” they have applying to schools that practice holistic evaluations. Unless you have something extremely valued by the target college that can offset a lower end academic profile, your odds are practically non-existent for schools with such low admit rates such as Vandy.
The accepted kids on the lower end of Vandy’s ACT spectrum all have something extremely valuable to Vandy. Do you have something like this?
Vandy is not is the Ivy League
@TheSardine:
You can come here looking for someone to tell you that your score of 29 is OK so you can feel less worried. Or you can do something about it yourself.
How badly do you want to improve your scores? Don’t laugh, but are you spending every waking hour in the local library with ACT self help books practicing exams over and over again relentlessly? I’ve seen many do just that with adcoms noticing it.
You got your 29 last March and said you would raise it to a 33. Here we are 5 months later and it’s still a 29.
You can do it. (I happen to be speaking from experience).
Yes, as the Common Data Set will tell you
http://virg.vanderbilt.edu/virgweb/CDSC.aspx?year=2014
However, it is likely that those applicants were “hooked” (athletic recruits, URM, legacy, etc)
Also, the Ivy League is an athletic conference to which Vanderbilt does not belong.
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The accepted kids on the lower end of Vandy's ACT spectrum all have something extremely valuable to Vandy. Do you have something like this?
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Study hard and score 30 or more this time.
Low test scores and grades in HS can be offset, but your offset has to be really spectacular. Example: an applicant with an ACT of 28 and GPA of 3.4 applies to University. Numbers aren’t stellar, but the student has 3 years of experience doing research with faculty at the college nearby, has appeared on publications, shows promise in mathematics or science, and wishes to continue doing research at University. Your essay would talk about these things while attempting to explain away bad numbers elsewhere. You’d also ask to have the application read by someone in the department of your prospective major. The application would likely be forwarded to a professor in the department (and given a brief look), and you might end up getting a phone call so you can chat about your research.
You can get out of “numbers jail” by doing something really creative and valuable outside, but what you do has to be spectacular and you have to write about it the right way.