<p>Hello, Im a high school junior looking to see if Vandy is a school I should apply to. By the time i apply I'll have around a 3.57 GPA (if not Higher). Ive taken the AP US Gov exam (5) and am now taking 5 AP's. Im the Computer Technology club founder and president, as well as a member of the computer team and smartphone programming club. Ill hopefully getting at least a 2000 SAT score.
Do I have good chances at getting in and being in the college of engineering?
is Vandy worthwhile?</p>
<p>LatinMan, your interest in computer technology is a positive for today’s workforce. Please look up the admissions stats for applicants at your favorite college. You can look online or you can type in Common Data Set at most college websites to see the stats of last year’s class. Congrats on the AP 5! If you want to alter your future, buy the review books for all your AP classes and aim for 4s and 5s on all subjects…this takes sacrifice in the spring of junior year.<br>
If you want to push yourself, you can buy the Blue Book Real SATs, and the Red Book of Real ACTs and practice practice practice. Once you know you have done your best, aim for colleges that accept a lot of students with your profile.<br>
If you are interested in computers, don’t overlook schools like state engineering schools rather than getting discouraged by schools with 28 thousand applicants like Vanderbilt. </p>
<p>Your SAT will need to be higher than a 2000 for Vanderbilt. One of our sons did practice exams at home and raised his SAT 200 points to his surprise. </p>
<p>Students who get into Vanderbilt generally seriously prepare for all exams including optional SAT Subject tests in Math level 2 for engineering. It has a generous curve and you can prep for it.</p>
<p>To get a sense of who was admitted and who was rejected, a few score of seniors post here at the end of March and first of April, so go backwards and eyeball the D-Day posts for admission days 2012 at colleges that interest you. This is what it took for our eldest son to get serious about self test prep.</p>
<p>Thank You @Faline2, This was helpful</p>
<p>As a junior, things are still in play. You may not be able to budge your GPA that much. People will say its not good enough for A B or C. But it is a solid GPA and many colleges know that boys are not ready to buckle down when they are 14/15 etc. And your GPA is below the expectation at Vandy. That doesn’t mean you couldn’t be the exception nor (more importantly) does it mean that you can’t do the work at a school like Vandy. Getting in is the issue. Build a good list with what we call “matches”. Attach to your match college. Make sure your match college is a school that is also a financial match.
What you can alter: Submit one or two SAT Subject tests that are impressive. Fill out the Common Ap with strong AP scores. (it is really hard to be a HS junior and do well on this slew of spring exams if you are busy busy). Try the ACT. But never try it blind. Take open book exams in the Red or blue book and read the correct answers as you go along in timed settings, then without accessing the answers…time the remaining tests. Test prep is what makes most students admittable. Always embrace your state flagship college as a viable plan, and look up their honors tracks and see if you can qualify. Put your head down and realize you can alter your own course by being pragmatic and realistic. You can ace a program in college and it won’t have to be in a top twenty college to get you where you want to go but surround yourself if possible in college with students who are focused, not drifting. Peer learning is a big deal in college and by that I mean spending time with peers who know how to get the job done.</p>