Help getting into Vandy Early Decision??

Colleges and Universities A-Z Vanderbilt University
1

Stats:
11th Grade, currently
GPA: 3.3 UW, 3.8 W
Class rank: school doesn’t rank
SAT: 1550
ACT: 33
AP Scores (so far): AP Bio (2, not going to send), AP Human (4), AP European History (3), AP Comparative Politics (3)
School info: Public, one of the top five schools in my state, very rigorous and competitive, Vandy gets A LOT of applications from this school.

ECs: Debate (going to the national competition), Mayor’s Youth Council (selective group of students who consult with the mayor and representatives in Congress directly on policy; a lot of community service, implementing and facilitating a mass youth voter registration, public transportation reform, representing the mayor at events, community outreach projects, collaboration with huge, international businesses for community development), student school board member (consulting on education policies with the school board, lobbying members of state legislature on issues), volunteering on numerous political campaigns (local, state and national), Model UN, Mock Trial, internship at Vanderbilt over the summer after sophomore year.
Plans for Future ECs: entering the Scholastic Arts and Writing Competition, hoping to make it past the state level and hopefully get an award at the national level).

Current Courseload: AP Physics 1, APUSH, AP Calculus, AP Computer Science Principles, AP Language and Composition, Journalism
Senior Courseload: AP Statistics, AP Government and Politics, AP Macroeconomics, AP Environmental Science, Honors English IV, AP Psychology, Journalism

Main concerns: I am AWFUL at math. I have two Cs on my transcript because of it (pre-cal second semester, AP calc AB first semester). Not majoring in anything STEM-related however, planning to go into political science. Also, the obvious weakness is the GPA. 3.3 UW/3.8 W probably isn’t going to cut it, but I’ll try anyway because Vanderbilt has been my dream school since day one and I’ll do whatever it takes. This is why I’m applying early decision. If I get accepted, I’m going, zero doubts about it.

Tell me what you think my chances are, and what I could do to improve my chances. Thank you so much!!

2

Test scores are good, I would send the SAT rather than the ACT. ECs could go either way; it will be important how you describe them in the activities section. Since this is just a short chances post, the level of commitment, time spent, and achievement in those public service/student gov type roles isn’t really clear (besides the national debate comp). If you don’t have a lot to show for it ECs could be a little bland, but if you can show real results of your work, it could be worth something.

Grades are a bit weak. If you are coming from a school that doesn’t rank/is competitive then adcoms take that into account, as long as you demonstrate that you are still mastering the material, and it’s just the curve that is getting you. However, the mediocre AP scores across the board don’t really help your case here.

As for what you can do, try to keep your grades as high as possible, and perform better on this round of AP exams. You still have an entire 2 semesters to raise your GPA and 5 more APs, so you can definitely demonstrate an upward trend. I’d also work on further developing ECs so that you have some real distinctions or tangible achievements (not just time spent/participation trophy type stuff). Also work on developing strong relationships with letter writers over this year, and start thinking about how you want to write your essays (maybe in the late spring/summer), to make sure all those components are solid too.