Merit Scholarships

Does anyone know or know where I can find how many students they choose each year for each full-tuition merit scholarship (Cornelius Vanderbilt, Chancellor’s, Ingram)?

this post from admissions is two years old. I think the numbers altered some since then…http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/vanderbilt-university/1607387-cornelius-vanderbilt-scholarship-p4.html

What are your stats / EC?

4.6 gpa 35 act 1560 sat, pretty involved with environmental clubs and research (won awards in both)

I think you have the right strategy in applying for many competitive scholarships across schools.

It just takes one to want you. Just don’t know which one.

@Faline2 thanks! is the ingram scholarship supposed to be even more selective than the other two? and do the people that get it normally have insane amounts of community service? I’ve done service a little throughout high school and i would be able to write about it, but probably not as much or in depth as other applicants.

Don’t beat yourself up trying to analyze your chances for each scholarship at each school. It is out of your hands now. There will be pluses and minuses for your application against the others. Merit is leveraged to change outcomes. They realize you have a lot of choices, and the school does too.

You can study Ingram scholars online and draw your own conclusions on factors that might help. I would not say that any of the merit scholarships are more selective re stats than the other anymore. However, Ingram scholars participate in picking Ingram scholars and service outlook is a key component-- although that word can be defined in infinite ways. Ingram finalists used to be the only ones who received a round of on campus evaluations. Not all are selected. I think it is fair to say that the committee tries to offer merit to students who will contribute to life at Vanderbilt in unique ways. That said, all admittees to Vandy are honors students, there are several ways to graduate with honors at Vandy. While some applicants will receive merit offers from colleges, others will get something here but not there…honestly…there is no way to do anything but to do your best and to not try to predict your chances. My best advice is to devote time to essays and references. If you have ideas on how you would use the academic riches of Vanderbilt, do not hold back. Don’t be a stranger. Stay open to Vandy and equally open to your other short list schools

Kids who get the big scholarships are generally the really “pointy” applicants (ie: not “well rounded”, really amazing at one or two things). They’re people where they adcoms can look at their application and know exactly what this person is all about. They have well developed and obvious passions and have achievements in the one or two things they are into. Some have sky high stats and some don’t.

But I wouldn’t think about it too much, it can be somewhat of a crapshoot. Worry about it if you get an offer later on.