<p>Hey guys!</p>
<p>I'm pretty new to this forum haha, and I'll be applying to colleges at the end of the year! Vandy's been my dream school for years, and I really hope I'll be able to get in :) Can anyone help me look at my stats and see if Vandy would accept me? Thanks!</p>
<p>US citizen living overseas, homeschooled.
GPA: 3.9+ UW
SAT: 1470/2120 (I'll be retaking, I didn't study very hard for that round ><)
Will be taking SAT Subject Tests in a month, anticipating 700+ on Math II, Latin, US History
All my syllabus is college-level work!
Did concurrent enrollment at a local school
I'm still in the process of getting my teacher recs, but they should be pretty good, those teachers were quite close to me :)
Will be taking Dante's tests (AP exams not available here) in several subjects (Do these even count for anything to Vandy?)</p>
<p>ECs:
Local equivalent of Girl Scouts (Vice-president), numerous district and national level awards
Math Society (2 years): Organised various competitions, recognition at some math competitions
Co-authored a Bio research paper on DNA
Participated in GIPS (Future Problem Solving Program): won at national level 2 years in a row, placed 4th internationally in 2011 international conference
Organising team for international conference for asian kids (1st year was member of organising team, 2nd year was as executive committee)
Dance (Competitive, also our team dances for charity events)
Varsity cheerleading
Cultural Programme scholarship (I learned malay language, and did exchange programmes with malaysia and indonesia)
200+ community service hours (I do peer tutoring, help at an animal shelter etc)
Work two jobs part time (Waitressing)
Completed a novel (recently, trying to see if I can get it published!)</p>
<p>I'm intending to major in econs or polisci, and I'm Southeast Asian (Singapore).</p>
<p>Anyone wanna chance me for Vandy? :) </p>
<p>Would I have a better shot if I applied ED or RD? Also I'm hoping to drag my SAT score up to as close to perfect as I can, and would I have a shot at the Cornelius Vanderbilt scholarship?</p>
<p>Btw I'm pretty confused about that, does applying ED lower my chances at getting a full-tuition scholarship? Seems like lots of people on this board think that it does since I'll have already committed to the school anyway.</p>
<p>THANKS GUYS :)</p>
<p>You should never count on the CV Scholarship in this new age where all admittees are coming in with top test scores, interesting ECs and interesting back stories. Make sure that you apply to a few colleges that are less selective than Vanderbilt. Students on Vandy’s waitlist this year were all top students and were randomly getting into other highly selective colleges themselves.<br>
Your current SAT is below the mean of the admitted class this year, so focus. For your final weekends, cancel something or another and really do the practice books on the SAT Subject tests. You would be surprised at how many students walk in and take them with no prep and then are disappointed with their scores. Remember, the group of people taking these subject tests is self selected. You can see the actual percentiles per subject test on the college board webpages and you can gather insight into the realities of difficulty level and the kind of kids taking each exam.</p>
<p>At Vanderbilt, I would draw your attention to applying for the Chancellors Scholarship since you live in Singapore. Do all the essays. Whether or not you get a merit scholarship…you might be someone that the committee gets to know better via your essays. </p>
<p>Keep your attitude up and do not make the mistake of only applying to schools as selective as Vandy. Vandy had over 28 thousand applicants last year so thousands of fully qualified candidates went elsewhere. There are scores of excellent colleges in the US that are more reasonable at the gate re admissions.</p>
<p>Don’t be a stranger in your essays. Be yourself and be lucid and explain what you would bring to the campus. Vanderbilt is very diverse now by region, religion and culturally. It is a need blind college, so applicants are plentiful.</p>
<p>Hey faline2! I really appreciate you being realistic in your reply! 
Actually Vandy is my dream school but I’m applying it as a reach I’ll see when application deadlines come around though. I’m really looking at pulling up my SAT scores (okay to be honest my previous score was that low because I didn’t study and I slept through half the exam cause I was sick) so clearly I’m retaking and I’ve been studying for months so hopefully it’ll be better!</p>
<p>Actually I thought the mean for SAT scores was from 1400 to mid 1500s? I’m not too sure though, but I’ll definitely try to pull it up! </p>
<p>I was looking more of for someone to chance me in this thread actually If I manage to pull my scores up, are my ECs sufficient for me to even consider applying for CV or like you mentioned, the Chancellor’s one. I’ve had quite alot of opportunities here in Singapore to do multicultural work, although I didn’t list that above. I’m trying to get a realistic idea of what I should be doing to get on track to potentially get a scholarship here, so hopefully you could help me on that? Thanks :)</p>
<p>Oh and another question! When it comes to writing personal essays for my application, is it a good idea to mention my struggle with depression? I went through severe depression for the past two years, only managed to get better recently, and I’d like to write about it as a turning point in my life, but I don’t want to seem like I’m trying to get sympathy from adcomms and I’m not sure if it seems like a weakness to them either.</p>
<p>Don’t mention the depression… Adcoms want students to succeed, and are weary of kids with mental health issues. </p>
<p>The 1400-1500 SAT mean is just math + CR. I would retake the SAT. </p>
<p>If Vandy is your first choice, apply ED. It will be a bit of a boost. </p>
<p>The CV scholarship is very competitive and seems out of your reach - usually kids that get the CV scholarship are also admitted to multiple ivies.</p>
<p>Alright, thanks alwaysleah! Ouch, okay I’ll be sure to avoid mentioning it, I wasn’t too sure about it heh I’m scared to apply ED because my family’s EFC can’t be confirmed yet and it won’t remain stable and I don’t want to sign ED agreements only to have to back out it later. Thanks for the opinion anyway :)</p>
<p>Also could someone give me feedback on my EC’s! I’m really more worried about them because I can pull up my test scores but EC’s not so much…</p>
<p>If you can’t afford Vandy with the aid package they give you, you can pull out even if its ED.</p>
<p>It’s not so much about EFC as determined by FAFSA, it’s more of like medical bills for extended family and stuff like that, and how willing my parents are to pay for it as well, because they want to save up for anticipated medical bills but I can’t lower my EFC on that basis!</p>
<p>Vandy also uses the CSS profile. At the end of that form be sure to include any circumstance that will affect your families ability to pay. Regarding your ECs, I think they are in line with admitted students. Keep in mind that Vandy has become so competitive that it is impossible to predict. Your stats and ECs will get you into an excellennt college, hopefully it will be Vandy. Best of luck.</p>