Official Vanderbilt Class of 2021 Results Thread

Colleges and Universities A-Z Vanderbilt University
1

Accepted/Deferred/Rejected

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown):
ACT (breakdown):
SAT II:
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0):
Weighted GPA:
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):
AP (place score in parenthesis):
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load:
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):

Vanderbilt Merit Scholarship: Y/N

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Job/Work Experience:
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?:
Intended Major:
State (if domestic applicant):
Country (if international applicant):
School Type:
Ethnicity:
Gender:
Income Bracket:
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):

Reflection

Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:

General Comments:

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. Non-result posts will be deleted.

2

Accepted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown):
ACT (breakdown): 34 C (34 R, 34 S, 34 E, 35 M)
SAT II: N/A
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.98
Weighted GPA: 4.2 (but I transferred schools and they didn’t accept my weighted credits so in reality it’s much higher)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 10th percentile
AP (place score in parenthesis): US History (5), AB Calc (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP BC Calc, AP Micro, AP Macro, AP Enviro, AP Stats, AP English Lit and Comp
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):

Vanderbilt Merit Scholarship: Don’t know yet

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Cross country (4 years), Model UN (2 yrs), Diversity Club (2 yrs), Car-building club (3 yrs), literary magazine (3 yrs), JROTC (4 yrs)
Job/Work Experience: Coffeeshop, government work
Volunteer/Community service: 50 hrs
Summer Activities: Work, building cars
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 10 - I wrote about a social theory I have developed that relates to economics and how that changed the way I look at people and relationships.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): I didn’t read them, but I’d assume they were both pretty good. I only did teacher recs.

Teacher Rec #1: Probably 9-10
Teacher Rec #2: Likely 8-9
Counselor Rec: Likely 8-9
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: 10

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Y
Intended Major: Mechanical Engineering
State (if domestic applicant): MN
Country (if international applicant): Greatest country in history
School Type: Catholic military school
Ethnicity: Hispanic
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 100-150K
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM

Reflection

Strengths: My engineering-related EC was really good and I was able to show a lot of intellectual interests through minor things in my application. I have published poetry in multiple journals, taught myself statistics and developed various formulae to evaluate baseball performance, and I have built real electric cars. It’s helpful.
Weaknesses: I had very few volunteering hours and I am certain that I came off as somewhat misanthropic in my application, but I guess that was okay.
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I think I was accepted because my extracurriculars related really well to my major. It also helped that I have pretty good stats for a URM in a STEM field and I applied ED
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Since I applied ED, I only heard back from Alabama and Minnesota. I got into both, though I’m sure that doesn’t help anyone on here.

General Comments: Not much to say. Thank you to everyone who participated on the thread so that I didn’t have to. I was surprised that I got in to be honest. The best thing for me mentally was that I had zero expectations and I made my phone send me a message everyday that said, “You will not get into Vanderbilt.” I hope I like the school.

3

I’ll do mine as well to help future applicants.
Accepted (I applied ED1)

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): Did not send
ACT (breakdown): 34C 35/35/33/31
SAT II: 800 Math II, 720 Chemistry
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.93
Weighted GPA: 4.35
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 5/595
AP (place score in parenthesis): Psych (5), Cal AB (5), Chem (4)
IB (place score in parenthesis): Spanish SL B (6)
Senior Year Course Load: IB English HL, IB History HL, IB Biology HL, IB Math SL, AP Government, Accounting Principles, Teacher Aide
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Not major awards, just state awards such as FBLA

Vanderbilt Merit Scholarship: Will submit later

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): FBLA Secretary (3 years), Spanish Club Vice President (3 years), Medical Center volunteer (3 years), Boy Scouts (4+ years), Students Helping Students (2 years)
Job/Work Experience: Lab Intern for one of the professors nearby at an university (was a summer thing)
Volunteer/Community service:
Summer Activities: EFL Cornell, Lab Intern
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 8/10, I wrote about one camping trip incident led to some degree of failure and the lessons I learned from the trip, which gradually were applied to other aspects of my life.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): I did not read them, but assumed they were both well-versed.

Teacher Rec #1: 8/10
Teacher Rec #2: 9/10
Counselor Rec: 9/10
Additional Rec: Did not get an additional rec letter
Interview: Did not request for Corps Interview

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Y
Intended Major: Medicine, Health, and Society
State (if domestic applicant): AL
Country (if international applicant): USA
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 95K~105K
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None

Reflection

Strengths: I think my essays solidified my application as I took a long of time reviewing and editing them, especially my supplemental essay for Vandy. I also think my rec letters were very supportive, and I thank my counselor and teachers for that.
Weaknesses: Did not have a lot of major awards, etc.
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Rec letters, essays, gpa and test scores fit in the vandy range.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: State Schools

General Comments: I would like to say to start early on applications wherever university you want to apply to. I started very early in the summer, focusing on my writing skills for essays. The earlier, the better. I promise you it will pay off in the long run as deadlines approach. Be passionate in what you do and show that passion in your application, thats what colleges look for. I am excited I got accepted and am looking forward to attend next year.

4

**Decision: Accepted Early Decision 1 to Peabody **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2170 (770 Math, 730 Reading, 670 Writing)
ACT (breakdown): 36 Composite (36 English, 36 Math, 36 Reading, 35 Science, 11/12 Writing)
SAT II: 790 Korean, 710 US History, 690 Literature (did not send)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.57 (upward trend - 4.0 GPA Junior year; low grades in Freshman year due to missing school as a result of asthma)
Weighted GPA: 3.87
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
AP (place score in parenthesis): 5 on APUSH, 4 on AP Human Geo
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: 2 weighted (AP Lit, AP World)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): International Awards in DECA (2nd Place, 8th Place)

Vanderbilt Merit Scholarship: Will apply by 1/1 deadline.

Subjective:
Extracurriculars: Won major international, state, and regional awards in DECA, Internship at Sand Hill based Venture Capital firm, School newspaper Editor and Advertising Manager, Stanford Daily University Newspaper Internship (two years), Won state level awards for National History Day, Varsity Golf, Volunteered for Political Campaign (180+ volunteer hours), Public Forum Debate (2nd place at regional tournament - SCU)
Job/Work Experience: Nothing paid. See internships above.
Volunteer/Community service: 180+ hours for political campaign
Summer Activities: Venture capital internship, Stanford internship
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Common App: Wrote about Korean identity. Pretty personable. Past two English teachers enjoyed it. (9/10)
EC supplement: Wrote about journalism and work as an Advertising Manager and connected it to Vandy, Peabody, and my major. (10/10)

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: English 11H Teacher. She knows me well. (10/10)
Teacher Rec #2: AP Human Geo Teacher. Was my favorite HS class and he knew me fairly well. (9/10)
Counselor Rec: Big public school counselor so probably nothing special. Likely explained dips in grade due to asthma, however. (8/10)
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: Was with an alum from my high school. Was very casual and I thought it went very well. (10/10)

Other:
Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major: Human and Organizational Development
State (if domestic applicant): CA
Country (if international applicant): US
School Type: Public (top 10 in CA, top 75 in US)
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 500k+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None

Reflection:
Strengths: Perfect ACT scores, incredible ECs (International recognition in DECA, Venture capital internship, commitment to journalism, etc.), applying Early Decision, strong interview, West Coast applicant
Weaknesses: GPA, GPA, GPA
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: My scores and extracurriculars were good enough to overlook my poor GPA.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted to Indiana University Bloomington (Kelley), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Business), Northeastern University ($12k per year scholarship), Deferred from Fordham.

General Comments: Incredibly excited to be headed to Nashville in the fall! Future applicants: Do NOT let a “poor” GPA get in the way of applying. I am proof that they truly conduct a holistic review.

5

Accepted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1480 (new) 740 Math 740 CR
ACT (breakdown): 35 (36 E 32 M 36 R 36 S) I seriously hated myself for the math score bc math is my best subject
SAT II: 760 Physics
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: 4.79
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/437
AP (place score in parenthesis): Physics 1 (5) Lang (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: three journalism classes for yearbook (1 is an honors weighted class), AP U.S. Government and Politics, Economics Honors, AP Calculus AB, Chemistry 2 Honors
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Literally nothing major. The honors I listed on my app were: National Merit Semifinalist, School STEM scholar (top STEM junior), District STEM Scholar Runner-Up, school-wide speech contest runner-up, District Academic Team (2nd place math, 3rd place english & science), National Honor Society. So basically I didn’t even actually win anything haha.

Vanderbilt Merit Scholarship: I’m applying but I doubt I’ll get one

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):

-Yearbook Staff (4 years): Editor-in-Chief of nationally recognized publication, individually awarded All-Florida (awarded to top 8 sports spreads in the state), 2x Designer of the Year on staff
-Varsity track & field (4 years): Hurdle captain (I teach the younger hurdlers technique because we don’t have a coach), Regional qualifier in 100m hurdles, 6x District Finalist (100m and 300m hurdles)
-Children’s STEM museum volunteer (3 years): 120+ hours, teach math & science to kids through workshops and experiments that volunteers like me help create, named Volunteer of the Summer in 2015
-Graphic Design (4 years): design logos, t-shirts, ads, etc for people + businesses, Certified Associate in Adobe InDesign and Photoshop, it’s mostly unpaid work but I really enjoy doing it
-Volunteer Tutor (3 years): Tutor algebra, precalculus, chem, and physics to other high school students for free
-Math Team: Captain of school’s math competition team
-Academic Team: school A-team representative in English, Science, and Math
-Varsity soccer (4 years)

Job/Work Experience: Nada
Volunteer/Community service: listed above
Summer Activities: took summer dual enrollment college classes, traveled a bit and toured some schools
Essays (rating 1-10, details):

I don’t really know how to numerically grade my own essays or if I’m even qualified to do that, so I’m just gonna talk about them:

My Common App essay was about my experience in high school trying to get out of my comfort zone. It started and ended with me getting ready to zip-line, with various other stories and experiences woven into the narrative. It read kind of like an autobiography, and I thought it really showed my personality.

My EC essay was about running hurdles, but I don’t think it was a cliché sports essay. I wrote about always being the shortest girl at the start line (I’m 5’0"), the attention to detail required to win a hurdle race, and I connected my love for physics to hurdles. I thought it was one the better essays I’d written.

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: AP Physics 1 teacher. He let me read it. It was pretty vanilla.
Teacher Rec #2: AP Lang teacher. She didn’t let me read it, but she’s had me for two years and really likes me. She’s also a brilliant writer so I bet it was good.
Counselor Rec: Generic, generic, generic. She submitted it within hours of me inviting her to the Common App and she barely knows me.
Additional Rec: From my track coach/assistant soccer coach who was also my freshman bio teacher. She knows me better than anyone at my school. She wrote a bunch of anecdotes that showed a lot about my character and personality.
Interview: I thought it went pretty well! I was nervous about it because I typically don’t interview well but my interviewer was extremely nice and we had a good hour-long conversation.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes, got a package that was almost accurate to the dollar to the NPC.
Intended Major: MechE
State (if domestic applicant): FL (panhandle)
Country (if international applicant): USA
School Type: public, not super competitive. Last year, we had one acceptance to Harvard, one to Yale, and one to Vandy RD
Ethnicity: Asian (Philippines)
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: 180K-ish
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): being asian is an anti-hook I assume, maybe female in MechE helped

Reflection

Strengths: Test scores, GPA, and class rank (I bet this literally carried my application), as well as what I thought were strong essays
Weaknesses: I thought my ECs were really vanilla for Vandy’s standards, I have no significant honors, some of my recs were really generic, no engineering interest on app
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I really have no idea, haha. I’m still in disbelief.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: since I applied ED, I’d only heard back from Auburn and Alabama and was accepted with sizable scholarships. I have to withdraw from Georgia Tech, UF, and Rice. If I didn’t get in, I was going to apply to Duke, Northwestern, Penn, and Notre Dame RD.

General Comments: Advice to future applicants reading this: Take everything you read on CC with a grain of salt. The group of applicants on here are outstanding, but do not let them dissuade you from applying. High test scores are great, but they aren’t everything. Outstanding ECs are great, but they also aren’t everything. You don’t have to be an Intel winner or cure cancer to get into Vanderbilt.

One more thing: start EARLY. If you’re a junior, you can be writing essays right now. I’m so happy I started writing early and really had time to think about what I wanted to say.

I’m really excited to call Vandy my home. Anchor down!

6

Accepted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown):
ACT (breakdown): 32C English 35 Math 31 Reading 34 Science 28
SAT II:
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9
Weighted GPA: 4.5
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 2
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Calc BC (5) APUSH (5) AP English Lang (5) AP Psychology (5) AP Micro (4) AP Macro (4) AP Government (4) AP Human Geo (4) AP Chem (4)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: Calculus 3 and 4 Dual Enrollment, Honors Physics, Honors Ancient History, Regular English, Anatomy and Physiology honors, AP World History, Honors French 4
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Not anything really major. 7th place at college calculus competition, 1st in Wind Power and Experimental design at regional science olympiad, 5th in State for Wind Power and 4th for Experimental Design at State Science Olympiad, Governor’s School for the Sciences Attendee, National French Honors Society, National AP Scholar, 3rd place quiz bowl State Beta Convention, 2nd place in East TN PBS Scholar’s Bowl Competition

Vanderbilt Merit Scholarship: Applied

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Scholars Bowl (2, 3, 4, starter for 3,4)
Science Club (3,4)
Mu Alpha Theta Math Club (4, founder and president)
Student Council (4, Senior Class President)
French Club (2, 4)
Recycle Club (3,4)
Cross Country (3)
Track (2)
AP English tutor (4)
DECA (4)

Job/Work Experience:N/A
Volunteer/Community service: N/A
Summer Activities: Governor’s School for the Sciences
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 10. Essay was about how much I struggled after moving to America from the Dominican Republic. Talked about how I was illiterate and bullied and how I eventually developed a love for science as reading and science became my only solace.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 10. AP English teacher, wonderful woman, went to Harvard and has a doctorate’s. Good friends with her.
Teacher Rec #2: 10. French teacher, great person and was more than happy to write me a recommendation.
Counselor Rec: 7. Counselor doesn’t know me well, had to ask my English teacher for things to write about me. She essentially only likes me because I make good grades
Additional Rec:
Interview: 10. Interviewer was pleasant and we hit it off and talked about our interests for over an hour and a half.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Y
Intended Major: Computer Science
State (if domestic applicant): Tennessee
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Hispanic
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: $89k-$99k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM, first generation immigrant from Dominican Republic

Reflection

Strengths: GPA, Essays, Extracurriculars, Recommendations, class rank
Weaknesses: Test scores
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I think my essays and applying early decision really helped
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: UTK

General Comments: Focus more on things that will differentiate you from the crowd. Many applicants with perfect test scores still get rejected because they may not have done much more than just focus on test scores and grades. Branch out and try to dip your feet in different extra curriculars and pursue things that you consider interesting, because you can’t know for sure where they may take you.

7

Accepted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1500/2210 (760R/740M/710W)
ACT (breakdown): 34 (Don’t remember breakdown)
SAT II: 800 Biology, 780 Math 2, 730 Chemistry
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.96
Weighted GPA: 4.99
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 3 of 500
AP (place score in parenthesis): Human Geography (5), European History (5), Psychology (5), Physics 1 (3), Chemistry (3), Calculus AB (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): Philosophy SL (6), Spanish SL (6)
Senior Year Course Load: IB Math HL, IB Biology HL, IB Chemistry HL, IB English HL, Theory of Knowledge, IB Philosophy HL, AP Literature
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Semifinalist, AP Scholar with Distinction, National Chemistry Award Nominee, HOSA State Leadership Confrence Medical Math 4th Place

Vanderbilt Merit Scholarship: No results yet

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Mu Alpha Theta (President), Science Olympiad (President), Student Government, National Honor Society, HOSA
Job/Work Experience: Working summers for family’s business (didn’t include on application but mentioned in interview)
Volunteer/Community service: Teaching at elementary school art classes and summer camp (400+ hours), Tutoring, Miscellaneous stuff not on application but hours on transcript
Summer Activities: See Above
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Common App essay about the worst years of my life and family problems. Not comfortable including details here. Wrote it chronologically originally and my guidance counselor suggested reversing it so that it started with life being good now and went backwards to the point where everything went downhill years before. (10/10)
Vanderbilt essay about teaching art classes to kids. Started with how I don’t like kids and ended with how I don’t like kids but they’re not that bad after all. Added some humor to contrast the serious common app essay, my guidance counselor was actually laughing while she read it. (7/10)
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Math Teacher: Didn’t read it but he told me that he’s had a student get into Yale and the people there said that her recommendation was one of the best parts of her application, so I know he doesn’t just write generic recommendations. Our class also has only 10 people so I think my personality shows through.
Philosophy/English Teacher: Didn’t read it but he’s told me I’m one of the best students he’s ever had, his class is very laid back so I think my personality shows through a good amount.
Counselor: I really went to her a lot for help during the application process and opened up about some hard times I’ve been through. She convinced me to be honest and write about my life in the common application essay even though it was hard to. Didn’t read the letter but I’m sure it was good.
Additional: None
Interview: Really great fun experience, complete opposite of how my interview with a different school went. She had so much to say about Vanderbilt and Nashville and we had a lot in common (both love animals and had similar experiences working for our familys’ businesses).

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes ($65,000 aid awarded)
Intended Major: Biomedical and Chemical Engineering double major
State (if domestic applicant): Florida
Country (if international applicant): n/a
School Type: Large public school
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: $20,000 - $30,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Highest degree in family is mother’s nursing school. (Not sure if that’s considered first generation or not.)

Reflection

Strengths: Essays, Interview
Weaknesses: Test scores are high but I didn’t study at all and could’ve improved them. Extracurriculars are acceptable but nothing impressive.
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Strong essays and recommendations
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted to MIT. Applied to GaTech and Miami but retracting applications in compliance with ED agreement.

General Comments:
Early decision is a big deal but don’t let it scare you. I applied ED never having seen the school (but I toured later on and fell in love with it). I thought MIT was my first choice butbchanged my mind and decided last minute to apply ED to Vanderbilt. A lot of my friends gawked at applying ED because they thought binding was too much for them, but I’m thrilled with my decision. Best of luck to everyone in RD and ED2!

8

Accepted (College of Engineering, biomedical)

Objective:

ACT: 34
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: 4.5
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): n/a
AP (place score in parenthesis): 5 AP Euro, 4 APUSH, 4 AP Lang Comp
IB (place score in parenthesis): n/a
Senior Year Course Load: AP Literature, AP Government, Honors Engineering and Design (only 16 applicant accepted), AP Calc AB, Bible, Honors Advanced Drama (only 14 applicants accepted), AP Spanish 4
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Scholar Commended,

Vanderbilt Merit Scholarship: Y/N

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):

Debate club (founder and president)
Drama club (president)
School magazine (head editor)
Senior class treasurer
2nd degree black belt in tae kwon do (taught for three years)
Stem club (hand selected to run elementary school meetings)
Piano, cello, and voice (8 years, 3 years, 2 years respectively)
Nominated for statewide award for role in “Anything Goes”
Marathon runner (4 years)
Varsity Cross Country
Varsity Track
Sky Ranch counselor
National Spanish Honors Society
National Honor Society (treasurer)
International thespian society (troupe leader)
…more but I’m on break and they all followed the same sort of thing (drama, science, debate, medicine) with a few random things thrown about

Job/Work Experience: taught at Tae Kwon Do studio for three years
Volunteer/Community service: Special needs ministry at church, mission trip to amazon every year
Summer Activities: Counselor at summer camp for disabled people, interned at a health care provider
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Common app probably 7 not amazing, but not bad either- talked about my first tae kwon do tournament
EC essay I’d say was a 9, one of my better essays, talked about having to fight through the administration of my school not wanting to start a debate club

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 10 my school combines history and english so I had this teacher for two class periods a day both freshman year and then again junior year, one of my favorite teachers she cried when I told her I got in
Teacher Rec #2: 8 from my trig/pre cal teacher- known for writing good recs but I wasn’t particularly close to her
Counselor Rec: 8 from guidance counselor ^^ same reason as above
Additional Rec: 10 my spanish teacher loves me and is known for writing amazing recs
Interview: Went really well! My advice to anyone applying is to interview, it can only help!

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?:
Intended Major: biomedical engineering
State (if domestic applicant): TX
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Small private college prep
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: >200,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):

Reflection

Strengths: recs, extra curriculars
Weaknesses: ACT probably could’ve been higher and I wish I edited my essay more
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: From my extra curriculars and interview they could tell I was passionate about what I do and I think that helped a lot, also my essays showed a lot of personality
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Accepted: University of Alabama (fellows program), University of Arkansas (honors college, full ride), Colorado School of mines (full ride)
Because I applied ED I withdrew all my application from other schools but I was also looking at USC (california), Pepperdine, NYU, Columbia, Stanford, Northwestern, Duke, Notre Dame, and UVA
General Comments:
In my personal opinion Vanderbilt does an amazing job looking at your application holistically. Make sure you represent yourself well, show who you are and what inspires you, as long as you do that you’ll end up wherever you’re supposed to be

9

Regular decision applicant

Accepted/Deferred/Rejected: ACCEPTED!!
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): Didn’t send
ACT (breakdown): 32–35E, 31M, 33R, 30S, 31W
SAT II: Didn’t send
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): School doesn’t calculate, average is about a 94% though
Weighted GPA: N/A
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):N/A
AP (place score in parenthesis): World-4, English-4, planned Computer Science A, Calculus BC, Psychology
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load:
Organic Chemistry 2, Multivariate Calculus, Data Structures I, Artificial Intelligence, Endocrinology, Object-Oriented Programming with Java, Electricity & Magnetism, US Foreign Policy in the Middle East, World Literature, Western Civilization
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): N.A

Vanderbilt Merit Scholarship: N

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Several months of biomedical research, (Vice-President) Engineering Competition group, Women in STEM, sophomore class president, key club

Job/Work Experience: Summer job as a lab technician for a chemical engineer
Volunteer/Community service: Counselor at a camp for kids with muscular dystrophy
Summer Activities: Went to a bunch of math and science academies over the years but that’'s it

Essays (rating 1-10, details): 6.5 I thought it was pretty trash
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 10 from chemistry professor I’ve done research and had in class with as well as talked to significantly
Teacher Rec #2: 7 from freshman English teacher that I am very close to. Very generic, though
Counselor Rec: 7 Generic, emphasizes the situation of my school keeping me from having a ton of resume-building EC’s
Additional Rec:
Interview: Didn’t have or request one

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
State (if domestic applicant): Oklahoma
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Small, competitive, STEM-oriented
Ethnicity: African-American
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: ~130K
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM, first generation, woman in STEM

Reflection

Strengths: Very unique profile, class load was way above AP level.

Weaknesses:Test scores, 0 rewards, no demonstrated interest

Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected:Earnest intellectual curiosity showed through in my supplement. Teacher for rec #1 is highly regarded in chemistry circles.

Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Given hefty financial aid from Oklahoma University, University at
Tulsa, and Hendrix. Still waiting on WashU.

General Comments: If you at all have interest in a school, JUST GO FOR IT! I honestly thought that my test scores and essay would make me a laughing stalk but, y’know, this happened. Be confident in your abilities and keep your options open :slight_smile:

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. Non-result posts will be deleted.
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10

@Misseskay How do you know your decision already?

11

@Misseskay how did your decision come out before the release date? And Congrats sis!!

12

Mosaic decisions came out today.

13

Accepted regular decision

Objective:

ACT (breakdown): 35C
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: 4.75

Vanderbilt Merit Scholarship: Yes – Chancellor’s

14

@northwesty, congratulations! Are Chancellor scholarships out already?

15

Accepted ED2
SAT 2250,
SAT Math2 800
GPA 3.96 W.4.35

16

Accepted ED2 (College of Arts and Sciences, Political Science/English double major, Mathematics minor)

Objective:

ACT: 36
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.52 (4.0 in senior year)
Weighted GPA: I don’t know
SAT Subjects: 800 Math 2, 760 Chemistry, 720 US History
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): None, but around top 40%
AP (place score in parenthesis): APUSH (5), AP Chemistry (4), AP Computer Science (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): None
Senior Year Course Load: AP Economics (combines Macro and Micro), AP Calculus AB, Physics, Short Story Writing, Art + Gym Classes, Varsity Policy Debate
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): A lot of debate tournament victories
Vanderbilt Merit Scholarship: No

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):

Policy Debate
Freelance writing
Church
Piano

Job/Work Experience:
Very popular Freelance Writer
Internship at local law firm
Internship at marketing firm
TOEFL tutor online

Volunteer/Community service: Local art programs, tons of church programs (that my school don’t count for community service)

Summer Activities: Debate camp + vacations summer 14 and 15, internships summer 16
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Common app essay easily a 9-10, wrote about freelancing, and combined with good hooks, some light humor, and imagery. EC essay probably a 8; although not as good as my Common App one, it was still very sharp and catchy, about debate.

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Got two, one from US History (9), and the other from Biology (also a 9). Both teachers really liked me, and as a “teacher’s pet”, I’m pretty confident in the recs.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Just FAFSA.
Intended Major: English/Political Science (and a bunch of courses for pre-law)
State (if domestic applicant): MA
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: Upper-Middle Class
Hooks: New England (apparently Vandy doesn’t get a lot of that), very sparkly writer

Reflection

Strengths: ACT, AP scores and SAT Subjects. Essays, debate.
Weaknesses: GPA (!), really short list of Extra-Curriculars and no National Honors Society, not a ton of community service either.
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Honestly not sure how I got accepted, but probably a combination of my ACT/Test scores, and essays. That’s just my hypothesis.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Accepted: UMassachusetts Amherst
Deferred: Harvard, UMichigan
General Comments:
Don’t ever be discouraged! After the deferral from UMich (a substantially less competitive school), I felt really un-confident; just try your best, and see if Vanderbilt likes you :slight_smile: Miracles do happen!

17

Accepted into Engineering

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1490, 800 Math + 690 English
ACT (breakdown): None
SAT II: 800 Math II, 760 Chemistry
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): None
Weighted GPA: 4.333
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): None
AP (place score in parenthesis): Chemistry (4), Calculus AB (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): None
Senior Year Course Load: AP Stats, AP Physics 1, Robotics, Choir, Economics, World Religions, Faith in Films, Creative Wrting, Critical Thinking & Writing
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): 3rd place in TAPPS Competition, NHS

Vanderbilt Merit Scholarship: N

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): International club (founder / president), Chinese club (co-founder, officer), Writing center (co-founder, writing consultant), school choir, robotics club, science olympia, Service club, tutor, theater
Volunteer/Community service: Tutored refugee students, service club
Summer Activities: iD Tech camp on 3D printing, Operation Catapult at Rose-Hulman, ECOES at Stevens Institue of Technology, college tour
Job/Work Experience: None
Essays (rating 1-10, details): My common app essay is pretty good, it’s about how I went to a concert in Nashville and was inspired to take chances. I also mentioned I fell in love with the Nashville, which I thought Vandy would like. My vandy essay was eh, it’s nothing special.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 5. Chemistry teacher: I have no idea. I heard it’s good but Idk.
Teacher Rec #2: 9. Physics teacher: It should be really strong, because he likes me and he’s Vandy alum
Counselor Rec: 7? She doenst know me well but she likes me a lot I think.
Additional Rec: none
Interview: It was ok. My interviewer liked me and said Vandy would be a good fit for me.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: N
Intended Major: Computer Science
State (if domestic applicant): International
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Private
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: F
Income Bracket: dk
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): female in engineering?

Reflection

Strengths: I think going to hs in nashville and recommendation by vandy alum helped a lot. The setting of my essay is also in Nashville.
Weaknesses: SAT II scores, AP scores, no significant awards
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Vandy do love locals and alumni
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Rejected by UPenn, waitlisted by UIUC, I also applied RD to UCLA, UC Berkeley, UC SD, Columbia, GW, Michigan, NYU, Brandeis, Rose-Hulman

General Comments: I didn’t think I had a great chance for Vandy so I never got my hopes up…I guess you’ll never know how they elect students !! Vandy is the only Southern school I applied to because I’m more of a city person, but I visited Vandy a few times and fell in love with it, and Nashville is such an interesting place to live in. I’m so excited to join vu 2021 !!

18

Hi, how were you already accepted under Regular Decision? Thought those were not coming out yet. Congratulations!

19

Decision: Accepted Regular Decision

Note: I applied through regular decision but was notified early in mid-february by getting accepted into the MOSAIC program.

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2390, composite
ACT (breakdown): didn’t take
SAT II: didn’t send
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.8
Weighted GPA: n/a
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 3%
AP (place score in parenthesis): Studio Art Drawing (5), Bio (4), Psych (5), Stats (5), US Hist (5), Calc BC (4), English Lang (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): didn’t take
Senior Year Course Load: not going to go into too much detail in order to stay anonymous, but it wasn’t too heavy. Still had majority AP classes but, other than AP Physics C, they were all known as the laid-back, easier AP courses at my school.
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP Scholar with Distinction, HOBY delegate, had a lot of art/journalism awards but nothing else major academic-wise.
Vanderbilt Merit Scholarship: no

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): not going to go into too much detail in order to stay anonymous.

  • photography/art/design business (founder/owner) – very successful, made a lot of $$$, well-known through my community and outside, featured in art galleries and a few magazines, super passionate about the arts
  • yearbook (editor-in-chief) – nationally-acclaimed yearbook, one of the best in the US. We’re well-known and have won tons of national awards. I personally won a lot of journalism and design awards through this.
  • president of two clubs at my school and VP of another
  • local magazine (photo editor) – they have a program for youth to get involved in their paper after an application program.
  • dance (varsity) – discontinued mid-way though high school in order to focus more on art
    Tip: quality > quantity. I made it my goal not to fill up all 10 slots of the extracurricular part of the common app even. Show that you are special by having a “spike” rather than being “well-rounded”.

Job/Work Experience: I worked at a local art museum and did private tutoring.
Volunteer/Community service: Again, not going to go into too much detail in order to stay anonymous.

  • American Red Cross (regional exec. chair, school pres) – won regional youth volunteer award
  • Church Youth Service Team (arts team founder/director)

Summer Activities: didn’t mention any of this on my application, so I don’t think it’s taken into account.
Essays (rating 1-10, details):

  • Common App – 5/10 I chose the prompt about challenging a belief/idea. Very beautiful, detailed writing but tbh I thought that the concept I was going for was too general to apply to the prompt I chose. I didn’t like my essay one bit after rereading it later on, but I guess Vandy liked it!
  • ECs - 9/10 My unique extracurriculars & clear passion made me stand out from other applicants.

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: 6/10 I read it later for a scholarship – everything she said was nice but it was relatively generic and at times was just repeating some things on my resume.
Teacher Rec #2: n/a – never read
Counselor Rec: 7/10 – probably very nice but generic too. I go to a large public school, so she doesn’t know me well. I know colleges take school size into account when reading counselor recs though.
Additional Rec: 10/10 – from my yearbook teacher. I’ve grown really close to her over the years. I read her rec. letter later for a scholarship, and it was truly incredible. She was super detailed and talked more about my personal character qualities rather than simply my work ethic or academics.
Interview: 11/10 – At the end of the interview, she asked me if I was interested in taking photos at her friend’s wedding later that month (jokingly I’m sure, but it was still nice to hear) and asked me to call her by her first name. Later when I emailed her about my acceptance to thank her, she legit replied, and I quote, “Your interview was far and away the best I’ve ever had the pleasure of conducting.”

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: no
Intended Major: neurosci/psych/HCI – interdisciplinary
State (if domestic applicant): not going to go into too much detail in order to stay anonymous, but my state has one of vandy’s largest applicant pools
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: large public
Ethnicity: asian
Gender: female
Income Bracket: 200,000+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): no

Reflection

Strengths: SAT score, extracurriculars, stellar interview (not sure how much that’s taken into consideration though), asian whose interested in not just STEM but also the humanities (maybe helps)
Weaknesses: grades (had a few B’s but none in the major I’m pursuing), never visited or showed that much demonstrated interest, my school had a lot of applicants, other than my yearbook teacher rec the other recs were generic I’m assuming
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I think I stood out from the other applicants because of my extracurriculars. It’s very rare for people to own businesses in high school and/or to work at an art museum. I’m also v. involved with community service. I also think that Vanderbilt wants to diversify their student body, & they probably don’t have as many kids interested in the arts.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted into the honors program at the top public school in my state (keeping the name private for anonymity, sorry). Still waiting to hear back from everywhere else I applied bc results come out in April.

General Comments: I totally wasn’t expecting to see a huge Vanderbilt package saying “Congratulations” early on Valentine’s Day! I remember seriously doubting myself at the time after rereading my essays (I really thought they sucked and would prevent me from getting into any of my top choice schools), but I guess Vandy liked them heh. I’m not 100% committed yet, but it’s is definitely one of my top choices. Don’t doubt yourself if you truly feel you deserve it, but still remember that we don’t deserve anything we have. It’s only because of the opportunities that we’ve been blessed with that we’re where we are today – therefore stay humble and thankful my friends. #solideogloria

20

Accepted to Peabody HOD ed2

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): none
ACT (breakdown): 32 composite (36 english, 27 math, 35 reading, 28 science, 33 writing)
SAT II: none
Weighted GPA:5.08 on a 5 scale
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 10% of class, school doesn’t rank
AP (place score in parenthesis): World History (4), US History (5), Biology (4)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Latin, AP Environmental, AP Lit, AP Calculus AB, AP Econ (Micro/Macro)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):

Vanderbilt Merit Scholarship: N

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): 3 year varsity volleyball (jr/senior captain), latin club VP, student council, founded/coached summer beach volleyball clinics
Job/Work Experience: lifeguard and pool monitor (2 jobs at the same time in summer)
Volunteer/Community service: volunteered/served on leadership board at a local day shelter for underprivileged children and women, other scattered volunteering (200+ total hours throughout high school career)
Summer Activities: volunteering
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 10- my common app was differentiating, wrote about an experience in class and how it highlighted my passion for reading. this is just a guess, but i’m 90% sure my supplement is what got me in. i wrote a piece about my intramural basketball team that perfectly showed my fun personality, people skills, work ethic, and even explained why i chose vanderbilt and the specific major i’m interested in without explicitly stating them.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 10, been in this latin teacher’s class for 3 years and am definitely one of his favorite students, extremely educated and great teacher
Teacher Rec #2: 6-7, extremely nice teacher who definitely liked me and was my student council teacher volunteer, but couldn’t have been that interesting
Counselor Rec: sure it was fine
Additional Rec: none
Interview: 11/10 i decided at the last minute to do an interview and i am so glad i did!!! i definitely recommend to anyone who thinks they’re on the edge and not sure they’ll get in. the lady i interviewed with was so nice and we had a very informational and interesting conversation! extremely easy and low key. I have no doubt her input helped me get in.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: no
Intended Major: HOD
State (if domestic applicant): IL
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: affluent, competitive high school about 1700 kids
Ethnicity: white
Gender: female
Income Bracket: 200,000+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none

Reflection

Strengths: essays, interviews: personality
Weaknesses: numbers (got B’s in precalc, B+ in AP Bio, ACT score a little low)
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: supplement that was different and showed them my personality, interview that went extremely well with a well-respected woman (searched her on linkedin first, highly recommend before choosing!), applied to peabody which is apparently easier to get into, applied ED2 instead of regular
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
guaranteed transfer to notre dame, deferred from Boston College, accepted to Villanova business