Please Chance Me For Vanderbilt University RD Class of 2025

Colleges and Universities A-Z Vanderbilt University
1

Hi! I would greatly appreciate any honest thoughts and opinions of my chances for being accepted to Vanderbilt RD 2025. I’m from a super small rural town in Kentucky and have very limited access to college admissions resources and support. I really wanted to apply ED1 or ED2, but was unable to due to financial concerns.

White female
Class rank: 1 of 190
GPA: unw 4.00, w 4.357
ACT: 33 composite (submitted my scores)
AP Classes: Human Geography 5, Biology 4, Environmental Science 3, European History 3, US History 3, Physics II 3, Eng Language & Comp 3, ( I know only getting 3s on the majority of these exams may not look good, which is definitely a concern of mine)
I will also take AP Calc AB, AP Chem, & AP Spanish Lang

Dual Credit Courses: Psychology, Sociology, Communications (aka public speaking), Writing II, Nursing Assistant Skills 1

EC’s:
Co-manager & Assistant Fitness Class Instructor at a local gym (9,10,11,12)
Varsity Softball - team captain (9,10,11,12)
Superintendents Student Advisory Council - Class of 2021 Student Delegate (11,12)
Student Council - Class of 2021 Representative (11,12)
Women In Leadership Program - Junior Class Member (11)
Employee at a local bed & breakfast/wedding venue (11,12)
Lifeguard & Pro-shop employee at a country club (12)
Varsity Soccer - Starting Midfielder (9,10,11,12)
Youth Softball Pitching Coach (9,10)
Nursing Home Volunteer (11)

Common App Essay: about how growing up in a rural, remote community has influenced my values and aspirations

I would absolutely love to hear any thoughts/opinions/feedback you all have! It’s basically unheard of for students in my area to apply to out of state schools, especially a school as prestigious and academically rigorous as Vanderbilt. I understand that I don’t have “stand out” EC’s or test scores, but am hoping that being from a rural background will help make me a more unique applicant.

3

How is this helpful? Your advice is quite literally impossible. Her EC list is fine.

Take my opinion with a grain of salt, but I think a waitlist is likely. College is such a crapshoot this year, and although by most standards you deserve to get in, there are just too few spots for too many applicants. Though I suppose being from a rural background helps.

4

Your scores are in-range and your ECs are over time which is good (I didn’t have any super-competitive ECs either, but did make sure to emphasize that I had put time and effort into them).

Definitely make sure to schedule an alumni interview, if interested, you should be able to request one once you submit your application and gain access to your applicant portal.

For the majority of applicants, selective admissions is random, so while no one but Admissions can state for certain your chances, I’d definitely recommend applying if you can afford the application or have a fee waiver—just make sure to apply widely to safeties, matches, and reaches. Good luck!! :slight_smile:

Note: Vanderbilts meets 100% of full demonstrated need for ED applicants as well, so if Vanderbilt is your top choice, I’d definitely recommend taking a look at the FA Calculators on the financial aid website. While they’re estimates, not guarantees of aid, they’re the closest you’ll get to your actual aid award if admitted and Vanderbilt will let you break the ED contract if your award is extremely different from the estimate to the point where you can’t afford to attend—just make sure that the calculator is being done with as accurate of data you have and that you understand how much you’ll likely be paying if admitted. If the predicted cost is still a major factor, however, I’d recommend waiting for RD to shop around aid offers.

5

Good luck to you! Vandy’s selection is a literal coin toss where they add those results into a hat then pull names out of that to put on a dart board and throw darts at them. No one can be certain of your chances unless you’re famous or a published author/poet. MIT’s regular decision average before this year was around 5%, and their ED dropped from nearly 20% to 5%, so it’s safe to say Vandy’s average ED rate of 25% dropped drastically.

Vanderbilt, along with very selective schools, are looking for passions with extracurriculars, not a diverse plate. You could do everything right, but it’s just too hard to tell. Especially now since all these schools that depend on test scores like oxygen went test-optional, the numbers skyrocket like crazy. You could be at an advantage though, submitting a 33 ACT.

Remain optimistic and hopeful, but also look around at other places.

6

MIT’s EA admission rate was ~the same as the overall acceptance rate: Admissions statistics | MIT Admissions

Also, MIT doesn’t have early decision, only early action.

7

Someone said a waitlist is likely and I agree, I don’t think you’ll be flat out rejected. You could even get in but it’s a long shot for everyone. One thing I would recommend though is seeing if Vanderbilt tells you who your admissions counselor is and their contact info. If they do, send them an email. Introduce yourself informally, different than your application, thank them for reading over your application, and let them know you’re excited to be one of a small few in your town who venture out to these larger schools. Say something along the lines of growing up in a town like yours its uncommon to go to a large competitive university which is why your excited to have a chance at turning that stereotype in your community around. Most admissions officers don’t know you beyond your application so it’s nice to email them with a brief, yet nice introduction since most kids don’t do that. At the end of the day, they want the best for you, and making yourself stand out in this way will make them more likely to put your application aside and give it a little extra attention.