<p>I was just wondering what the typical qualifications are for people who obtained this scholarship. Is it harder than becoming an Emory semi-finalist? Or about the same? or lower?</p>
<p>Would my superscored SAT of 2190 (760 CR, 710 M, 720 W) be competitve enough?</p>
<p>Along with my good gpa/ecs, etc.?</p>
<p>You can get a rough idea of your chances by going to the common data set (search on the Vandy website). You'll see how many students were accepted last year with your SAT scores. That will give you an idea of how competitive you are.</p>
<p>where do u find that at</p>
<p>Go to the Vandy website. In the search box, type "common data set." When you go to the cds, look for first year student info. It will give you a breakdown of # of students for each score grouping. Every college has this info (sometimes it's hard to find, but Vandy's is not). It's a great way to see where you fit in the applicant pool.</p>
<p>See section C9 for information about the SAT and ACT scores of students in the current freshman class. However, I do not see any information in the CDS about the students who were awarded the Cornelius Vanderbilt scholarship.</p>
<p>You won't find info about the scholarship there, but it will give you an idea about how many people you would be competing with for a limited number of awards. The Vandy website says, "Recipients of these awards are usually in the top 1% of their high school class while enrolled in rigorous academic programs. While recipients typically score in the mid-1500s on the SAT Reasoning Test (not including the writing section) and/or above 34 on the ACT, only approximately half the applicants with test scores in those ranges will receive merit-based scholarships."</p>
<p>so Vanderbilt doesn't consider the writing section? I realized on their app they only had you list your R and M too. this is good news for me.</p>
<p>I'm assuming the other half with top scores didn't get the scholarship because they were lacking in other areas (notably EC's)?</p>
<p>so Splintercell, your scores a on the low side then. they work for admissions, but for the scholarship they might be lacking. did you get Emory scholars?</p>
<p>Emory says its scholars score above 1500, so that's basically the same as around mid 1500s, so I'd say Emory and Vanderbilt are neck to neck in many ways</p>
<p>I doubt very much that not getting the scholarship has anything to do with not having good ECs. I'd say it's more like the ones who get it walk on water! There are most likely far more applicants who would be good candidates than there are scholarships. That is the way it goes.</p>
<p>As for writing not being important, I couldn't say. I do know that you must submit a writing score, either SAT or ACT (meaning that you could skip the ACT writing if you took the SAT). Whether or not it's "important" is another matter. The adcoms could better address that.</p>
<p>I still think EC's play a major role... why wouldn't they? I'm not disputing that luck plays are rather large role.
If I remember correctly, on their scholarship apps, they only have you list R + M... so what does that mean?</p>
<p>A lot of schools require a writing score, but they don't seem to hold it against a student if it's not top-notch. They kind of downplay its importance. But they DO require it, so it's hard to say. Maybe it makes a difference when the committee is on the fence about a student.</p>
<p>We can argue all day about what is most important for the scholarship, but none of us know for sure! All you can do is submit what you have & hope for the best. There is no sure way to know one way or the other. You could be sure you will get it & be disappointed ... or be sure you won't get it & be overjoyed. You just don't know. It's that way for all schools.</p>
<p>Remember that Vandy has awesome need based aid. If your family has need, then it will be met with minimal self-help compared to many other schools.</p>
<p>JohnC, look at the link in post #5 above. Section C8c: writing section is considered for admission, placement and as a check on the essay.</p>
<p>That doesn't mean the writing section is equally important as the CR and M. However, the 75th percentile on the writing section was 730 for this year's freshman class, not too far below the 75th percentile for CR and M.</p>
<p>Splintercell50, your question led me to look at the updated merit scholarship pages of the Vanderbilt web site, and I realized that the whole program has been revamped just this year. Hence, there is little anyone can offer in the way of predictions. Even the application rules have changed.</p>
<p>Regarding the writing section, I recently saw this posted on the Vanderbilt admission blog:</p>
<p>How do you spell SAT?</p>
<p>The SAT and ACT writing score. What do we do with it? Not much. We collect it, to look at later, like people who collect beanie babies or stamps. At some point down the road it might be worth using for something. For now, we ask students who take the ACT to take the optional writing portion, and of course, the SAT has it as a required part. For admissions decisions, we lean more on testing sections that are at least old enough to drive (Math and Critical Reading).</p>
<p>fyi. (and I don't know if that is also the philosophy of the scholarship committee).</p>
<p>haha that's a funny response. Do you know how dated it is? Is it still on the admissions blog? link?</p>
<p>to clarify, I checked the scholarship apps. the Chancellor and Cornelius don't ask for test scores on the scholarship app. The Ingram, which does, only asks for Reading and Math. So I have a pretty strong impression that writing is kind of shoved aside.</p>
<p>I don't know if it was the case this year, but last year you could apply for the Ingram before you actually finished your Vandy app. That may be why the Ingram app asks for test scores (the committee looks at the scholarship app & not the admissions app). The other scholarships have a later due date, which coincides with the RD date. I am sure they use the Vandy app info & don't need the test scores for that reason.</p>
<p>^^^ yeah good point, that must be it Kelsmom</p>