<p>true. but keep in mind the other kids in your school are probably applying to different programs than the one you're applying to. these programs could be much more competitive. thus smarter kids could actually get rejected, and you could get accepted.</p>
<p>this is what happened in my case. a few of the people from my high school had much, much better stats than me and were rejected because they applied for the more competitive programs. and they were minorities.</p>
<p>I think everyone left is applying into CAS, but maybe one or two may be applying into ENG. The two Asian MOSAIC acceptees from my school got into engineering already (ORLY, right?).</p>
<p>Or are you saying there are different levels of difficulty WITHIN each of the 4 colleges?</p>
<p>yea i'm saying there's different levels of difficulty within each college (and between colleges for that matter). the easier programs to get into are usually the smaller ones because they are always wanting to attract more students to these departments. within A&S, some of the foreign languages are like this, as well as majors like studio art, women's studies, theater, etc. some departments may only have a few people majoring in them (like 1-2 ppl), thus they are much more likely to take people for that major (they are always trying to better each department, and they can't do that if nobody majors in it). the harder programs to get accepted to would be like the premed majors, econ, poli sci, etc.</p>
<p>Vanderbilt does not have specific school quotoas or limits. We do not favor in-state or out-of-state students. We do not favor female engineers or male educators. Our decisions are based on how well a student has performed in the environment that he/she comes from. </p>
<p>Naturally, as Vanderbilt gets more selective, fewer students (as a percentage of the total number of applicants) are admitted. If we're doing our job well and building a class representative of the entire applicant group, then all high schools of all types from all regions should experience roughly the same level of selectivity.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice, vandyadmissions!</p>
<p>Except I don't quite understand what you mean. :)</p>
<p>*If we're doing our job well and building a class representative of the entire applicant group, then all high schools of all types from all regions should experience roughly the same level of selectivity. *</p>
<p>I think you're saying that you don't compare students against other students at their school, but just against the applicant pool as a whole. Am I correct?</p>
<p>^^"Our decisions are based on how well a student has performed in the environment that he/she comes from. "</p>
<p>If that is the case then all students with a 4.0 that have taken demanding classes should get accepted. I hope there is room for all of them.</p>
<p>Elrod,
Your statement will only be true if all schools are equal. Unfortunately, that's not the case. Other threads on this forum have addressed the concept of grade deflation at Vanderbilt and covered the whole idea of grade inflation/deflation and how it impacts professional school/grad school admissions, etc. The same thing goes on in high schools. I live in a state where lottery money has been awarded for the last decade to high school grads based on their gpas and their ACT/SAT scores. I have noticed that our area high schools have made Bs very easy to come by in response to parental pressure because their little darlings need the money to go to college (and in many cases they do). When you have a 4.0 and have taken the most demanding courses the school offers, that is great. However, AP scores and standardized testing can bring context to those results in judging the quality of the school.</p>
<p>2VU0609 is right. Two of my friends, the valedictorian and salutatorian from a neighboring high school, took 4 APs last year. They got straight A's, and so have a perfect 4.0. But what did BOTH of them get on their AP exams? Straight 2's. Perfect example of grade inflation.</p>
<p>Obviously, other students who also have a 4.0, but who get 4's and 5's on AP exams will fare much better in admissions.</p>
<p>^^ This is exactly my point. All high schools are not equal. With that understood, should the student who has studied in a school that does not have the best teachers be penalized or denied admission to a top school ? Using Hilsa's examples should the vale and salutatorian not get accepted because their school did not do a good job of presenting the academical material - - how does a 16 year old have the resources and experience to know what should be covered and in what depth ? They do not, thus they rely upon their school system and, in this example, their school may have not done the best job in preparing them. In fact, this seems to be happening in the majority of public school systems. The students enroll in AP Calculus, Physics, Bio, Chemistry, etc. but the teachers may not be up to speed on the subject matter or the schools have crammed in another 20 students who are not as capable and thus slowing down the pace of study. Then when the students do not do well on the AP test and what does that tell us? </p>
<p>Does this mean that these two students who got a "2" are not capable? Not at all. Should they be denied admissions to Vandy or another top school because they had a teacher or program that was less than ideal (vs. other students who had a better high school program). They both still did the best under the circumstances and earned the top grade at their school. And since admissions is largely based on "...decisions are based on how well a student has performed in the environment that he/she comes from", then they both performed well in that environment. I think that is what the admissions people are trying to figure out and I think these are the type of situations that make the job difficult.</p>
<p>Elrod - sorry, but your logic of the 16 yr old not being capable of determining whether the teacher is adequately covering the material does not hold water with me. In several cases my son had AP teachers who did not effectively teach the material so my child bought the AP review books and studied them (a lot). He made 5's on all 5 attempted so far. In fact, he would tell you that in most of his classes, he has taught himself the material. (He'll be the class Valedictorian)</p>
<p>^ I second pumpkin's post.</p>
<p>Self-studying for APs isn't impossible. In fact, it's not even that difficult. Colleges reward kids who see their crappy school system and rise BEYOND it by self-studying or taking college classes, etc. They do NOT reward kids who just sit in the quagmire of poor education for 4 years, expecting to get into one of the most elite schools in the country. It just doesn't work that way.</p>
<p>Elrod, you said: They both still did the best under the circumstances and earned the top grade at their school.</p>
<p>Yes, but the question is "Are they prepared enough to do well at an elite college?" If they don't have the high level critical thinking skills that are needed to do well on AP exams, despite having as much knowledge as they can acquire, then it doesn't matter. Cognitively, they can't keep up. And if they transferred to an elite HS, I don't think their grades would be close to a 4.0. </p>
<p>And these two students I mentioned could have gone to my school, since it's public (you just have to show good grades in elementary school and take some other sort of intelligence test). They live closer to my school than I do, but they chose to go to the normal local HS, and that is their fault for choosing the lesser option.</p>
<p>hookem and pumpkin are right.</p>