If you take the time to read this, thank you. I’m really conflicted.
So basically I want to apply ED to Vanderbilt, but I’m nervous. Obviously, Vanderbilt is sort of a reach for everyone, but it’s a super reach for me. I’m nervous that if I somehow do get in, I’m going to fall behind my classmates. The average GPA at Vanderbilt is supposed to be around 3.3 I think, and seeing that my stats right now are below the 25th percentile of accepted students, I’ll probably be quite a bit below 3.3. I want to go to law school so having a low GPA would be a problem when applying. I realize most people at Vanderbilt have to work really hard, but I also want to have time to do things besides studying in college.
Another thing is that I’m at around the 75th percentile stats for my 2nd choice school so there is a possibility of getting some merit aid there. This is important since I am considering law school, and because I don’t want to dry my parents out. I also think I’d be more successful grade-wise at my 2nd choice school.
One more thing: I want to double major and I think that would be hard for me to balance successfully at Vandy.
Everyone keeps telling me that since Vanderbilt is my first choice, I should apply ED and that the only way anyone with my stats could get in is by applying ED, but I’m worried that if I ~hypothetically~ get in, I won’t be successful because I won’t be on the same level as the rest of the student body. It IS my dream school, but i don’t want to drown if I do end up there. Let me know what you all think. Thanks.
Current Vandy student here, I wouldn’t necessarily assume you wouldn’t do well here. If your HS is very competitive, that could be driving down your current GPA, and average GPA ~really~ depends on major. It’s harder to say about the financials, see what the financial aid calculator says (or call the FA office for better info). Once you have a better idea of your FA package, you can decide if ED is right for you.
The workload really depends on your double majors. For example, if you’re history and polisci, that wouldn’t necessarily be hard to manage, since there’s a lot of overlap. If you want to pursue anything in science or engineering (or music) as a second major, I wouldn’t recommend it. A lot of people here are double majors and do fine, you just have to make sure to plan your schedule well; ie look at the syllabi and don’t take classes with 200+ pages of reading or a paper a week. There’s no shame in dropping or switching out of a class because of a ridiculous workload.
The bigger concern is wasting your ED opportunity. If it’s really unlikely that you get into Vanderbilt, you’d be better off using that ED for a school that is a little bit more in your range.
But if the other schools that you are interested in don’t have ED programs, or aren’t competitive enough that you would need to use them, then I wouldn’t really worry about getting in and not being able to hack it. That’s the purpose of admissions - the adcoms are trying to decide if you can handle the workload here. If you get in, you probably can. So if you have nothing to lose strategy-wise (as mentioned above) then I don’t think I would be overly hesitant due to anxiety over rigor.
It also depends on how far below the 25% you are. Your ACT should probably be around 30, your class rank should be in the top 10% or so (unless you go to some private boarding school or something), and you should have AP classes under your belt (if they were offered). If so, then you should be fine. I knew some kids from small towns/with hooks that didn’t have AP classes and had ~27/28 ACTs, and they still survived. They weren’t superstars, but they still made it, had fun, and went to grad school anyway.
If law school is the goal, then GPA and LSAT are the two most important factors. And, if finances are a consideration, then put your money toward grad school, not undergrad. In this case, I might give serious consideration to my second choice and merit aid.
I agree with twice around as a parent of a current law student who went to Vandy. Law school is uber expensive and merit dollar discounts are hard to come by and almost entirely given out to very high LSAT scores. Not only that, the job market is significantly weakened for all but graduates of law schools with strong reputations, and even then you are limited by your GPA in the initial forays into the shrinking job market. Most internships and jobs have GPA cutoffs.
Obviously everyone who does law school believes they will be the exception and land that job that will pay down loans. And strong students do work this out but it requires a very shrewd outlook and long view. Notice I am not suggesting you cannot perform at Vandy, and I tend to agree with scover that you can find your way at Vandy. There are many roads to Nirvanna and going to a fine flagship university or a less selective-- but still fine private college and excelling there might be the smart plan.
Law school admissions are very GPA oriented which is a bit of a shame as this discourages students from taking on stem courses and makes them averse to taking risks in undergraduate years in order to protect GPAs. Your biggest concern on this path is being realistic about employment, salaries, and the relationship of income to loans taken on for law school. If it is any comfort, a 3.8 GPA from a state flagship with a very high LSAT is just as likely to gain a (modest) reduction in tuition at law schools as the same stats from Vandy. The more important factor of the two is the LSAT, if one is weighed a bit more heavily. Well-ranked law schools are forced to worry about girding their position on the big lists… so they will only accept strong scores. Students are no longer happily attending and shelling out big tuition payments to law schools that have low rankings in this soft job market.
Law school would do better if it moved more toward taking on students with exposure to science and engineering subjects. Have you ever tried to depose engineers when you spent four years in undergrad school avoiding courses outside your comfort zone? Perhaps things will shift somewhat 5 years from now.
A sad reality is that you can’t really spend it all at Vandy and then plan to get a “state school” law education at a reasonable cost. I think our state law school (highly ranked) is 65 thousand a year. For some reason this was a surprise to me. In other words, the years you might get bigger bang for your buck are your undergrad years if money is a concern on the seven year pathway.
