Official Vanderbilt Class of 2020 Results Thread

Colleges and Universities A-Z Vanderbilt University
21

Decision: Accepted
College of Arts and Sciences

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2400
ACT (breakdown):
SAT II: 800 Math II, 760 Chem
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.90
Weighted GPA: n/a
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): n/a
AP (place score in parenthesis): not offered
IB (place score in parenthesis): not offered
Senior Year Course Load: won’t disclose for privacy reasons
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Pretty lightweight ones – National Merit Finalist, Presidential Scholar Candidate

Vanderbilt Merit Scholarship: n/a

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Literary magazine (editor-in-chief), debate (won some awards), some CS stuff, some econ and CS stuff, golf, tennis, tutoring/community service – definitely the weakest area in my app
Job/Work Experience: 2 summer internships, 1 at a bank and another at a commodities company.
Volunteer/Community service: 250 hours of tutoring
Summer Activities: Went to Stanford’s Summer Institutes, Princeton’s Philosophy Seminar, interned, taught myself some CS, traveled around Europe.
Essays (rating 1-10, details): CA was 9.5/10. It really spoke to my identity as a multiracial kid growing up in a really white neighborhood, and how that shaped me. Very heartfelt, zero pandering (I discuss how I loathed my culture at one point), and I think they liked the honesty. Supplement was meh, maybe 6.5-8.5/10. I took a very cliche topic, tutoring/service, and imbued it with social analysis. I’m sure they’ve heard all of that stuff before, but it was very well-written, so I think I got my points off better than most. It definitely wasn’t the moneymaker that my personal statement was, though.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: English teacher, didn’t see. I’m not really friends with any of my teachers, but I did great work in this guy’s class. At worst, it was tepid, generic praise. Probably 6-9/10.
Teacher Rec #2: Physics teacher, didn’t see. Same blurb as above^.
Counselor Rec: Didn’t see. He knew me a bit better than the teachers, though. He probably delivered a solid rec.
Additional Rec: n/a
Interview: I really love how Vandy let you handpick your interviewer. I scouted out the alums in my area (like a creep, tbh, but whatever) and checked them out on LinkedIn. I picked a young, Asian dude who looked easy to connect with, and i* he was easy to connect with. Told me essentially everything there was to know about Vandy, from where to get wasted to what majors were the chillest. He treated me like a confidante, which was nice. He seemed really impressed by my resume, too, and told me I’d likely end up at a nicer place than Vandy, which felt weird coming from a Vandy alum. Anyway, I’m rambling at this point but it was probably 9.5/10. That said, I don’t think it mattered that much.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: no
Intended Major: econ maybe? or cs. or philosophy. probably put econ, though.
State (if domestic applicant): ny
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: private
Ethnicity: white/hispanic/asian
Gender: XY
Income Bracket: Let’s just say my parents aren’t lacking in the shekel department
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM, maybe.

Reflection

Strengths: Academic credentials, essays, summer activities
Weaknesses: ECs definitely, recs possibly
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Academic credentials. Vandy in the RD round is also very much a standardized testing arms race, and that’s one that more than plays in my favor. URM status might’ve helped.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted at Notre Dame, Duke (LL), Cornell (LL). Waitlisted at Williams. Rejected Stanford SCEA because I didn’t cure cancer or solve world hunger.

General Comments: Vandy seems very much about scores in RD. And of course, congrats to those accepted and my condolences to those waitlisted/rejected. I really wish there was some real-time application withdrawer so that I could’ve pulled out my app after I got into Duke. I feel like I’m taking the spot of someone who really wants to go here, and that upsets me :frowning:

22

Decision: Wait-Listed (Blair)

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): Not reported
ACT (breakdown): 29
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.83
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 10%
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Human Geo (3), AP English Lang (3), AP Psychology (5), AP Music Theory, AP Cal AB, AP Lit, AP US History
IB (place score in parenthesis): School doesn’t have this
Senior Year Course Load: AP Music Theory, AP Cal AB, AP Lit, Anatomy and Physiology H, American Gov H, Economics H, Writing I/Computer Graphics (req), Religion (req)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Academic award for Math analysis honors, first honors all 4 years

Vanderbilt Merit Scholarship: No

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Harp playing, violin playing, composition and arranging, community orchestra (highest level), space club (pres and founder), chess club (Pres), debate club (sec), NHS, NSHSS, Mu alpha theta, rho kappa
Job/Work Experience: None
Volunteer/Community service: 200+ hours
Summer Activities: Frost Young Musicians’ camp for 1 summer
Essays (rating 1-10, details): I think my common app was 9 and vand essay was 8
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 10/10 He knows me very well and read me the letter, I teared up!
Teacher Rec #2: I guess 9/10 because he also knows me very well
Counselor Rec: I really have no idea
Additional Rec: Music reqs were 9/10
Interview: Went EXCELLENT, best one

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Double major music with astronomy
State (if domestic applicant): FL
School Type: Private catholic
Ethnicity: Hispanic
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: $50,000-70,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM, immigrant w/ tragic backstory and the such, harpist

Reflection

Strengths: ECs with the music and all that, hispanic
Weaknesses: Oh where do I begin… GPA, scores, lack of APs, lack of ECs, lack of community service
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Read above
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: U mich & SMTD (accepted), U Miami &Frost (accepted), UF (rejected), JHU (rejected), UCLA (rejected)

General Comments:

What can I say? My academics are way below average, and I know this when I applied. This was my dream school, I seriously am bummed out about it. As a blair applicant, this was the only school I chose to audition live for and I guess all that monetary investment for nothing. I did mess up a bit in my audition though which is probably why I am in this position. Oh well I still got U Mich and I love it. Go Blue suckaz

23

Waitlisted to CAS with a 33 ACT and 3.89 UW

24

Decision: Waitlisted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2130 (680CR/750M/700W) Didn’t send
ACT (breakdown): 33 (34 E, 35 M, 27 R, 35 S, 33 W) I ended up having to send an earlier 32 (with a reading score of 32) because of a QuestBridge time complication
SAT II: Math 2- 790, Physics-700
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.87
Weighted GPA: 7.03
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 4/437
AP (place score in parenthesis): Human Geo, Psych, World History, APUSH, Physics 1, Stat, APES, Lang (4s on all besides Human Geo, which I got a 5 on) this year I’m taking Chem, BC Calc, Micro, Macro, Comparative Gov, U.S. Gov
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Micro/Macro
AP Chem
AP Gov
TV Production
AP BC Calc
Dual Enrolled American Literature

Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): QuestBridge Finalist

Vanderbilt Merit Scholarship: Nope

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
•Class Government (VP-11th, Treasurer-12th)
•Varsity Basketball
•Social Studies Honor Society (VP)
•Science Honor Society and Competiton (Treasurer, chemical balancing captain, and quiz bowl starter)
•Math Honor Society (no offices available)
•NHS (treasurer)
•Student Body Gov (executive board-11th)
•Political Debate/Discussion club (President and founder) This is what my essay was on

Job/Work Experience: Private Tutoring
Volunteer/Community service: ~300 hours
Summer Activities: Engineering camp (had to apply, competitive admission) at Purdue University
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Common App-7.5/8 Passionate but perhaps not as cleanly written as I’d like. About science in politics, themed with my application ECs and academic strengths.
Supplement-7/7.5 Topic was common and boring, I felt like I had written this essay a million times and it was painful to write. Wrote about the political club I founded.
My ratings may seem mediocre but essay writing is my strongest trait when it comes to crafting an application. Maybe I’m being rough on myself.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
•Teacher 1: no clue, but she loved me and I worked my butt off in a class where everyone else seemed to give up, also I was the only junior in my class to pass the AP exam
•Teacher 2: 9/10 fantastic and spoke volumes on my character and shed light on youthful fallibility; I feel as if the essay humanized me.
•Counselor: no clue, sure it was fine/great
Interview: Nope, I really wish I did. I dropped the ball on this.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Electrical engineering
State (if domestic applicant): Florida
School Type: Large Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: ~60k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Low income?

Reflection

Strengths: QuestBridge finalist, maybe my essays weren’t as bad as I thought?
Weaknesses: Test scores, no wow factor or beautiful piece of writing attached to my application. Overall mediocre.
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I whole heartedly thought I was getting rejected so I really don’t know, I think being a QuestBridge finalist who ranked Vanderbilt highly on my match list may have played a factor. If they remembered my writing from my QuestBridge application maybe that helped me.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted- UCF, UF, Georgia Tech
Rejected: Northwestern, Columbia

General Comments: Wish I was given more unique essay prompts, oh well. Really wish I would’ve interviewed.

25

.

26

Decision: Accepted (School of Engineering)

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): didn’t take
ACT (breakdown): 32 (36 English, 27 Math, 34 Reading, 30 Science) Writing idk, 8 I think?
SAT II: didn’t take
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.6, never paid attention to weighted
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): n/a, assuming top 25%, maybe 10% if I’m being generous but our class is really small so
AP (place score in parenthesis): 5 on Lang, 4 on Bio, 3 on World History and Calc BC
Senior Year Course Load: AP Music Theory, AP Computer Science, AP Psychology, AP US Gov, AP Macroecon, AP Lit, Wind Ensemble, taking all exams except Gov (gov 1st semester, econ 2nd semester, both required)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): none
Minor Awards: AP Scholar with Honor

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Varsity Softball junior and senior year, district champs junior year
Debate sophomore and junior year, outstanding debater award both years
Mechatronics Engineering Internship at TSU summer before senior year
Wind Ensemble all 4 years
French Honor Society all 4 years

Volunteer/Community service: none (yikes i know)

Summer Activities: Paid Internship at TSU in mechatronics engineering lab

Essays (rating 1-10, details):

Common App - 7/10, about performing one of my songs at the Bluebird Cafe, english teacher and classmates gave me good feedback on it
EC/work experience - 6/10, about my internship, pretty basic and straightforward

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

AP Bio and AP Calc BC teachers, 10/10 I’m assuming, they both love me
Counselor 6/10, she’s new so I’m guessing it was pretty generic

Interview: didn’t request one, my social anxiety was not allowing that haha
Other:

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Computer Science
State (if domestic applicant): TN
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public magnet
Ethnicity: African-American
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: >100k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): can’t think of anything at all, maybe not many AA females applying to school of engineering???

Reflection

Strengths: Internship, alright essays and rec letters
Weaknesses: Not great GPA, not the best ACT, barely any ECs, no leadership roles, no volunteering
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: literally no idea but I’m very excited to attend my dream school!
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: accepted to MTSU, Austin Peay (both guaranteed admission), and University of Washington-Seattle. Rejected from Georgia Tech. Waiting to hear back from Yale, definitely a rejection but I really don’t care lol

27

Decision: Accepted
College of Arts and Sciences

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): N/A
ACT (breakdown): 35 C (36 R, 36 S, 36 E, 33 M)
SAT II: N/A
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.4-3.6-ish (7 point grading scale); 4.39 W
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 10% (17 out of 184)
AP (place score in parenthesis): School doesn’t offer too many. APUSH (5), AP Calc, AP Physics
Senior Year Course Load: All possible honors classes, AP Calc, AP Physics

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
-4-year Varsity Lacrosse player (Captain)
-3-Year Soccer Player
-President of the Service Team (Oversee ALL charities/drives/service programs done through the school)
-Model UN member
-Play the drums, guitar, piano, banjo, bass, and vocals; recorded music in-studio and performed live
-Play music at a children’s camp in the summer
-Artist, all kinds of mediums, took classes at the Art Institute
-Broadcast club Founder (announce sports games)
-Youth Initiative (Run different programs for improving student life)
-School Ambassador (Selective program where students are chosen to represent the school at different functions
-Eucharistic minister
-National Honors Society
-National English Honors Society
-Math Honors Society
-Italian Honors Society
Awards, etc:
-National Merit Corporate Scholarship Candidate (don’t know yet)
-Illinois State Scholar

Essays: 8-ish. Wasn’t too creative, but I talked about leadership which I think they liked.
Teacher Recommendation: 8. Pretty good I think.
Counselor Rec: 8. Bad at gauging how good these are
Additional Rec: 9. From private art instructor, very good.
Interview: 10. Went really well and he said he liked me a lot.
Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major: Put down art history, most likely not that.
State (if domestic applicant):
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Co-Ed Catholic
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket:
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None

Common App Essay: I talked about how my design was chosen for a Veteran’s Memorial in my area, culminating in a 600-person attendance for the unveiling and a Congressional Medal of Honor speaker. I talk about how it came about through my desire to use my art to impact the community.

Reflection:
Strengths: ACT, Leadership Roles
Weaknesses: GPA.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Accepted to UVermont and Villanova (honors colleges), deferred/rejected from Boston College, rejected from Northwestern, waitlisted Uchicago, deferred from Georgetown (waiting to hear), still waiting on Brown, Dartmouth, Georgetown, Cornell, Tufts, and Swarthmore.
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: ACT, Apparently they like good test scores.

In serious shock right now, so happy to have gotten accepted! Kind of out of the blue after being rejected at Boston College, but I would choose Vandy over BC any day. I thought this was one of my weaker applications; I couldn’t use a creative essay I used for others, and I couldn’t submit a portfolio. But grateful for the outcome. Congrats to the rest who got in, good luck to those who didn’t.

28

Decision: Accepted (Engineering)

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): Best Sitting: 2320 (770 CR, 770 M, 780 W), Superscored: 2330
ACT (breakdown): 36 C (36 E, 36 M, 35, R, 36 S)
SAT II: 800-Math II, 800-Biology, 730-US History
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.93
Weighted GPA: 5.3/56.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 12/531
AP (place score in parenthesis): Calculus BC (4), English Lang (4), US History (4), Statistics (4), Music Theory (5), Biology (5), Physics 1 (4), World History(5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Chemistry, AP Physics C, AP English Literature, AP Economics,
AP Goverment
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP Scholar With Distinction, National Merit Finalist,

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Chamber Orchestra(President), Academic Decaltholon 4 years, Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra 2 years, All State Cellist 2 years, NHS , Mu Alpha Theta, Chess Club, Rotory Youth Leadership Award.
Job/Work Experience: Tutor at Gideon
Volunteer/Community service: over 500 Hours
Summer Activities: Went to overseas under privilige area to teach english to elementary school kids.
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
CommonApp: 9/10, Worked very hard on it; some of my best writing

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): Didn’t Read Them

Teacher Rec #1: Physics Teacher 10
Teacher Rec #2: Us History Teacher 10
Counselor Rec: Should’ve Been Good
Additional Rec: Cello teacher
Interview: Yes and great

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Chemical Engineering
State (if domestic applicant): Texas
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Mid Size Public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: M
Income Bracket: >100 K
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): No

Reflection

Strengths: Test Scores, EC’s, Well-rounded
Weaknesses: Didn’t participate in many engineering/technology activities or internships; not many major STEM awards
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Luck?
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted: University of Texas , SMU
Waitlisted: Caltech , Northwestern.
Rejected: MIT, U of Chicago, Johns Hopkins
Waiting for: Harvard, UPenn, Rice, Cornell, Princeton, Duke, Stanford

29

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30

Decision: ACCEPTED! (Engineering)

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2120 (690 W, 690 M, 740 R)
ACT (breakdown): 33
SAT II: 710 Math I, 700 Literature, 670 Biology E
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.95
Weighted GPA: 4.329
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1 of 311
AP (place score in parenthesis): Art History (4), European History (4), Biology (3), Calculus AB (3), Literature (4), Psychology (5); currently taking Language & Comp, Physics II, and Government
IB (place score in parenthesis): none
Senior Year Course Load: AP Language & Comp, AP Statistics (dropped after 1st semester), AP Gov, AP Physics II, 3 Dual Credit computer classes
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Letter of Commendation (PSAT), AP Scholar with Distinction

Vanderbilt Merit Scholarship: none (did not apply)

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): tennis (#1 singles, captain), FCCLA (secretary), Voice–antitobacco club (secretary), NHS, Spell Bowl, Quiz Bowl (captain), Green Team–recycling (officer), Freshman Mentoring (council member)
Job/Work Experience: Charming Charlie since December
Volunteer/Community service: 85+ hours every year for NHS, Adaptive Swim (helping mentally handicapped children learn to swim)
Summer Activities: Engineering camp, took three courses on engineering and biology on edX, staff at tennis summer camp, went to UK with a group from school
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Common App (8), Extracurricular (7)
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 10, AP English teacher who went on Europe trip, loved me, I cried when I read her recommendation
Teacher Rec #2: no clue, never saw it, from AP Bio teacher
Counselor Rec: no clue, never saw it
Additional Rec: 8, from tennis coach (although he had me write most of it)
Interview: 7, stumbled on a few of her questions although she was really nice and friendly and I thought it went pretty well

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Of course! (got almost $30k)
Intended Major: Biomedical Engineering
State (if domestic applicant): Indiana
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: small public school in hicktown, IN (no one has ever gotten in from my school before!)
Ethnicity: White Hispanic (mom born in Mexico)
Gender: female
Income Bracket: $150k+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Hispanic, female in STEM

Reflection

Strengths: good extracurriculars, good grades, a few hooks
Weaknesses: did not found a company or do anything significant, go to small public school, got B’s and A-'s in calculus, only got a 3 on biology and calculus AP test
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I do not know if they take into account interest, but I did Dore for a Day and went on multiple tours, asked for the interview, overall I am a good candidate
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Accepted: UColorado, UWashington Seattle, William & Mary, and Cornell
Waitlisted: nowhere
Waiting on: Brown

General Comments: Ask for the optional interview! It shows you really interested and allows them to see past the application. I honestly thought I was going to get rejected because I am nothing special to a school like Vandy. Do not let your belief that you are not good enough deter you from applying to reach schools! You never no what could happen!

31

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2320 superscored, took 3 times
ACT (breakdown): nah
SAT II: 740 chemistry 800 math II
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4
Weighted GPA: 4.5
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1
AP (place score in parenthesis): ap bio, ap english, apush, calc bc- all 5’s
IB (place score in parenthesis): none
Senior Year Course Load: ap english lit, spanish iii pre-ap, anatomy and physiology, and dual enrolled at a local college for chemistry and calc iii
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):

Vanderbilt Merit Scholarship: nada

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
9th and 10th: FBLA, 10th place at nationals
9th and 10th: Science Olympiad, placed some at district
11th: state qualifier for UIL Science
Job/Work Experience: worked at old navy
Volunteer/Community service: volunteered at the hospital
Summer Activities: job shadowed at the hospital
Essays (rating 1-10, details): common app was maybe 8/10
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: ap calculus teacher
Teacher Rec #2: chemistry teacher
Counselor Rec: was ok, she wasn’t too sure what to write for a top school and neither was I but looks like it worked out
Additional Rec:
Interview: tried to get one but never actually did

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: yes
Intended Major: biomedical engineering
State (if domestic applicant): tx
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: rural public
Ethnicity: asian
Gender: f
Income Bracket: ummm over 100k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): nada

Reflection: It is possible to get into top schools from the middle of nowhere!

Strengths: not really sure, i think i’m pretty average in the pool
Weaknesses: nothing too special
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: accepted to duke, cornell (likely), ut austin, georgia tech, rejected from mit and northwestern so far and waitlisted at washington u, johns hopkins, and case western

General Comments:

32

**Decision: Rejected Engineeering **

Objective:

[ul]
[] SAT I: 2370 (800 CR, 770M, 800W) (two sittings)
[] ACT:
[] SAT II: 800 Math II, 800 Physics, 800 Chemistry
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 14% (<60 in grade)
[] AP (place score in parenthesis): Calculus AB (5), Chemistry(4), English Language(5), Physics 1(5), Physics 2(5), Statistics(5), US History(5), Art History(5), Computer Science A(5), World History(5), Human Geography(5)
[] IB (place score in parenthesis):
[] Senior Year Course Load: AP Physics C Mechanics and E&M, AP Biology, AP English Literature, Advanced Computer Science, AP Spanish Language, AP Government, AP Macroeconomics, AP Calculus BC
[] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Semifinalist [/ul]
Subjective:

[ul]
[] Extracurriculars: Mock Trial, Robotics (build team leader), Destination Imagination (co-founder), Piano, Boy Scouts (Eagle Scout, Senior Patrol Leader), Student Council (VP)
[] Job/Work Experience: Paid intern at large engineering company, waiter at restaurant
[] Volunteer/Community service: Managing AV at Church, Program for taking care of special needs children
[] Essays: Common app (7, essay about leading Boy Scout troop and how I developed personally)
[] Teacher Recommendations: AP Chemistry Teacher (7, glowing but probably generic), AP Literature Teacher (9, all of his are very good)
[] Counselor Rec: Main Counselor (7, liked me but we didn’t know each other that well)
[] Additional Rec: (8, very positive, highlighted by leadership in the program)
[] Interview: [/ul]
Other

[ul]
[] State (if domestic applicant): TX
[] Country (if international applicant):
[] School Type: Small, competitive public magnet
[] Ethnicity: White
[] Gender: Male
[] Income Bracket: Around 150k
[] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): haha nope[/ul]
Reflection

[ul]
[] Strengths: All standardized testing, GPA
[] Weaknesses: Low class rank, no earth-shattering awards
[] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Honestly, I think it’s impossible to say why anyone is accepted to a given college.
[] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Accepted: Duke Engineering, UT Austin (Plan II Honors), UNC Chapel Hill EA, Tulane EA, WashU RD
Rejected: Caltech EA, MIT EA then RD, Northwestern RD, Waitlisted Vanderbilt RD [/ul]
**General Comments: To be honest, this entire process is like a game of roulette. The only way to increase your chance of “winning” is by “playing” more: I was rejected by schools generally accepted to be “less selective” than Duke yet I got into Duke. I hate to say this, but my only advice to other students is to apply to as many schools as you like given that you genuinely are interested in each one. **

33

@rach22 , Congrats on UT Plan II. Is that your leading contender?? What would you take at UNC and Tulane, seeing as they don’t really have much engineering there??

34

Decision: Accepted – Engineering (Cornelius Vanderbilt Scholar)

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 800 M, 800 CR, 740 W, 11 Essay (1 sitting)
ACT (breakdown): Didn’t take
SAT II: 800 Bio M, 790 Math II
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: 4.44
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/500
AP (place score in parenthesis): Stat (5), Euro (5), Biology (5), Computer Science (5), Psychology (5), Language and Composition (5), Calc AB (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Macro, AP Calc BC, AP Chem, AP Physics C: NM, AP Physics C: E&M, Honors English
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): None
Awards:
Scholarship from Local Hospital, Various Science Fair Awards (didn’t qualify for ISEF), National Merit Finalist

Vanderbilt Merit Scholarship: Cornelius Vanderbilt Scholar

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Computer Science Club (Founder/President), Science Research Club, Key Club (Officer), NHS (Website Designer), FBLA, Science Olympiad, Environmental Club, Spanish Honor Society, Computer Science Research
Job/Work Experience: Developer at Local Web Development Company
Volunteer/Community service: Local Hospital (~400 hours)
Summer Activities: Governor’s School, Research
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Common App: 8.5 – I think it’s good, but I was never completely happy with it, CV Scholar Essay: 9.5 – Really happy with this, one of my better essays. Wrote about my research and connected it to my life decisions.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 10 – Math Teacher
Teacher Rec #2: 9 – Computer Science Teacher / Advisor for my club
Counselor Rec: 8 – Knew her pretty well, but probably somewhat generic given that she writes so many recs
Additional Rec: 9 – My boss at the web development company I work at
Interview: 8 – Pretty short, nothing spectacular. Nothing bad either though.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Computer Science
State (if domestic applicant): PA
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Medium, Suburban, Public, Not very competitive (500 students per class)
Ethnicity: Asian (Indian)
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: <70,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):

Reflection

Strengths: Stats as far as scores and GPA were about as good as they could be. Teacher recommendation were probably great. Research and computer science ECs.
Weaknesses: CA Essay could have been better. ECs weren’t too spectacular.
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I think my CV essay was really good, stats were great, teacher recs were great, and focus on computer science was a plus.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Accepted: Pitt, Georgia Tech, Drexel, Vanderbilt
Waitlisted: Caltech, Case Western (lol), JHU
Rejected: MIT
Pending: Penn, Cornell, Princeton, Stanford, Rice, and CMU

General Comments: I always thought my scores/grades were my greatest asset, but I’ve come to realize that showing uniqueness in any way possible (particularly essays and really cool ECs) is really the most important in today’s college admissions process. This is so because many students have similarly great stats. I may not have done this as sufficiently in my other applications, but we’ll see :-/! In any case, I’m ecstatic to have the opportunity to attend such an amazing school free of charge :D!

35

Decision: Rejected

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1980 (640CR, 680M, 660W)
ACT (breakdown): 33C (33E, 31M, 32S, 35R // 36W)
SAT II: 610 Bio E, 670 Math II, 690 US
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: 6.76
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 7/567
AP (place score in parenthesis): Human Geo (4), World History (2), Biology (4), US History (4), Statistics (4), Calc AB (3), AP Lang (4), AP Psych (4).
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Macro/Microeconomics, AP US Gov’t/Comparative Politics, Creative Writing III H, Journalism II, AP Calc BC, AP Lit, AP Environmental Science.
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): N/A

Vanderbilt Merit Scholarship: N/A

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Literary Magazine (Editor-in-Chief), School Newspaper (Opinion Editor)
Job/Work Experience: Ran my own video editing business.
Volunteer/Community service: National Honor Society, BETA club (additional honor society),
Summer Activities:
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 8 (Essays were good, but not exceptional).
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 10
Teacher Rec #2: Don’t know (never read).
Counselor Rec: Don’t know (was probably a form letter, not personal, we have a big school).
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: 10 - Interviewer was great and really personable, said she would put a good word in for me.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes.
Intended Major: Political Science.
State (if domestic applicant): Florida.
Country (if international applicant): N/A
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: $100,000+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): N/A

Reflection

Strengths: GPA/workload, leadership positions.
Weaknesses: Test scores.
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Test scores weren’t high enough.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Accepted: UVA, George Washington
Rejected: UChicago

36

Decision: Rejected

Objective:
ACT: 33 (35 W, 31 M, 34 R, 34 S)
SAT II: None
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.96, 4.34 W
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 10%
AP (place score in parenthesis): US History (5), Government (5), Bio (4), LA (4)
Senior Year Course Load: AP Statistics, AP English Literature, APES, Yearbook Editor
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP Scholar with Distinction

Vanderbilt Merit Scholarships: Applied but didn’t get.

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Founder of a food blog with over 5,000 followers, Swim Team (4 years), Yearbook Editor, National Honor Society (Senator)
Job/Work Experience: Public Library Student Assistant (2 years), Travel website start-up (1 year),
Volunteer/Community service: Service club president
Summer Activities: Trek to Haiti, traveling
Essays: 9/10
Teacher Recommendation: 9/10
Counselor Rec: 5/10 (large school, very generic)
Additional Rec: 8/10
Interview: It went pretty well. Talked a lot about about travel opportunities, professors and greek life

Other:
State (if domestic applicant): WA
Intended major(s): Political Science
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: Upper-middle class
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none

Reflection:
Strengths:
Weaknesses: Low test scores
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Didn’t show a ton of interest besides interviewing
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted Wash U, University of Denver, Wake Forest and Fordham, Waitlisted at William and Mary, waiting on Tufts and Yale

General Comments:
I honestly think Vanderbilt would have been a huge change for me coming from the Pacific Northwest, and I am happy to be going to WUSTL. It sounds like a great school though so congrats to everyone who got in!

37

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2340 800M/770CR/770W
ACT (breakdown): N/A
SAT II: 800 Math II, 800 Physics, 800 Chem, 760 USH, 680 German w/ Listening
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): N/A
Weighted GPA: N/A
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top5%
AP (place score in parenthesis): Calc BC (5), Phycis C Mechanics (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: Chinese, English, Math, History
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): 1st Prize in local Chem competition

Vanderbilt Merit Scholarship: No

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Tennis Club(Co-Founder), Student Union (Chief Secretary), MUN (VP), Chem Research (Team Leader), Traffic Light Research (Leader), Exchange Program in Japan, I also studied 4 years of Deutsch :slight_smile:
Job/Work Experience: N/A
Volunteer/Community service: Did not put in Commonapp
Summer Activities: Bio camp at Stanford
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 8.5, talked about my Chem research
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): 9/10- My teachers like me

Teacher Rec #1: 9
Teacher Rec #2: 9
Counselor Rec: 9- My counselor wrote a very good report of me
Additional Rec: didn’t have
Interview: had one, suppose to last half an hour but turned out to be more than 1 hour. I think this interview experience helped me with my admission decision.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?:Nope
Intended Major: Chemistry
Country (if international applicant): China
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: M
Income Bracket: 200,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Nope

Reflection

Strengths: Test scores, interview experience, Chem research (my essays)
Weaknesses: Could have taken more APs
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Rejected Stanford, JHU and Northwestern. Accepted- CMU, UVa, UCB, UCLA and waiting for ivy schools including Columbia and Brown

38

Decision: Accepted – Neuroscience
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): N/A
ACT (breakdown): 32 (32 E, 32R, 31M, 33S)
SAT II:
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: 5.8 (on a 6.0 scale)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 3%
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Psych (5), AP Lang (4), APUSH (3) - I don’t like history
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Calc BC, AP Comp Sci, AP Lit, AP Chem, French IV
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP Scholar, State Scholar, Gold Award State Science Fair

Vanderbilt Merit Scholarship: None

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Varsity Cross Country, Varsity Track, NHS, Chamber Orchestra (violin),
Job/Work Experience: Babysitting, McDonalds
Volunteer/Community service:
Summer Activities:
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1:
Teacher Rec #2:
Counselor Rec:
Additional Rec:
Interview:

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Neuroscience
State (if domestic applicant): Ilinois
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: African American
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: 110,000- 130,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None

Reflection

Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Because I am freakin’ awesome
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Accepted: Ohio State, Purdue, Loyola Chicago, Northwestern, UCLA

General Comments:

Just remove the ‘a’ in the bold, size and color in your decision.

MODERATOR’S NOTE: Please only post results using the given format so that this thread can serve as a valuable resource for future applicants. There is another thread provided for discussion, congrats, etc. Non-result posts will be deleted.

39

Decision: Waitlisted

Merit Scholarship: N/a

School/major: Biology

Objective:
ACT (breakdown): 33
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.6
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School doesn’t rank
AP (place score in parentheses): 5 APUSH
Senior Year Course Load: AP Bio, AP English, calc, History, Molecular Biology of Disease, Spanish V

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): NHS, Cross Country, Track, Quiz team.

Essays: good?
Teacher Recommendations: Don’t know - good?

Interview: no

Other:
State (if domestic applicant): TN (Nashville)
Country (if international applicant): USA
School Type: Private
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: $150k
Reflection:
Strengths: ACT
Weaknesses: GPA, slow processing speed disability
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected/waitlisted: Surprised I was waitlisted. Visited, met with admission rep
Where else you are applying or have already applied: UTK, Saint Louis U, Clemson, Miami (OH), UNC-CH, Rhodes, Tulane
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: Financial aid will be a big factor in the decision if admitted.

40

Decision: Accepted College of Engineering

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): Didn’t Take
ACT (breakdown): 35 (35 english, 34 math, 34 reading, 36 science, 9 writing)
SAT II: Didn’t Take (I didn’t even really know what these were until I started the application process!)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: 4.174
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1 of 125
AP (place score in parenthesis): APUSH (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Calc AB, AP Chem, AP English Lit & Comp, Speech, Personal Finance, Traditional PE, AP Studio Art 3D Design (Independently taking the exam). I am taking all the AP courses my school offers.
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): 3 National Medals in the Scholastic Art & Writing Competition including one Gold Medal in Ceramics, one Silver in Fashion, and a Silver Medal for my art portfolio (I didn’t get a chance to add this award to my application though… but I included other art awards). Various athletic honors in cross country/track

Vanderbilt Merit Scholarship: None

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Cross Country (3 year captain), Track (3 year captain), Scholastic Bowl (2 year captain), FBLA (2 year treasurer, 1 year chapter president), NHS (president), Worldwide Youth in Science and Engineering
Job/Work Experience: Tutoring several people (mainly ACT prep)
Volunteer/Community service: Unpaid internship with Clinical Engineering Dept at local hospital, tutoring third graders at local elementary school, various other activities
Summer Activities: Didn’t include anything on application
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Common app essay was about a failure in cross country when I was in 8th grade and how that moment taught me the value of hard work. (9/10 I guess… It is hard to give it a numerical score, I would be willing to share it if anyone is interested)
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: AP Chem Teacher: I have had her as a teacher the past 3 years and she is my scholar bowl coach. The letter was super detailed and very well done (10/10)
Teacher Rec #2: AP English: I had him my sophomore year and for senior year and also as my track coach for 2 years. I thought it would be really good, but it was kind of generic and recycled (8/10)
Counselor Rec: I have no idea but she really likes me (9/10 maybe)
Additional Rec: My College Physics teacher that I had my junior year. He teaches at a local community college and he really liked me as well (9/10)
Interview: I had competed in track with her son so we shared that common interest. I also shared my art with her and since Vanderbilt doesn’t allow art portfolio submissions, she said she would include a website link with my art on her report (10/10)

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Biomedical Engineering
State (if domestic applicant): IL
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Small, Rural Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 100,000-150,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Strong Interest in art as an Engineering major (my goal was to demonstrate a high level of creativity), high level varsity athlete (I hope to run for the Vanderbilt xc team)

Reflection

Strengths: Test scores, well written and personal essay
Weaknesses: I don’t think my extracurricular essay was the best, don’t know if they even looked at my art portfolio
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I really think my interview helped, I also put a lot of passion into my application and I think that was very evident
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Accepted: Duke, UVa, UNC-CH, Arkansas (with Honors Fellowship), Clemson
Waiting: Harvard and Yale
General Comments: Very excited and right now Vandy is my top choice!