I’ve previously posted to this forum under a different name, but somehow I can’t access that account anymore. Anywho, Vandy is definitely a reach for me, but I am hoping that my “fit” (and perhaps applying ED) will carry my application. However, I’ve begun to worry that the very things that make Vandy such a perfect fit for me are the same things that everyone who applies has. I will be applying to Peabody (which as I understand has a slightly higher admit rare – is that true?). Do my ECs look typical of all Peabody applicants?
I wish to apply to the child development program and go pre-med (it explicitly states on the Peabody website that this is “a thing”) and perhaps minor in neuroscience in the College. Eventually want to be a pediatrician or do graduate work in developmental psych or maybe counseling. My stats:
I’m a URM
ACT: 34 // SAT 2s: all mid 700s
Grades and rank (my weakness): 3.5 UW // Top 6% rank
Note: a definite upward trend with almost all Bs in freshman courses and essentially all As In junior year. Also note that I’ve taken the most rigorous program available with 10 APs and 6 dual enrollment classes.
Extra and Co-curricular:
*Have a Child Development Associate Certificate which enables me to teach preschool as a lead teacher and involves 1000+ hours working with kids (took a 4-course sequence as an elective)
*President of Future Educators of America at my school (2 years) and district-level representative (2 years). As part of club, I tutor elementary-aged English language learners among other things.
*Two summers working In a child development research lab
*Babysit at least once weekly for people from my church as part of a babysitting program I started
Other ECs not related to my core interest:
*VP of Chemistry Club
*Competitive Scrabble player
*Junior Youth Leader at church (run media, camp counselor, missions trips each summer to orphanages)
I did not go about doing any of the above because I thought it’d look good on paper and get me into college. I did it bc I loved it. But now I am a little worried that I’m too typical! Thoughts? Thanks!
Your ECs are definitely the strong part of your application. You’re overthinking this. Most high schoolers have no idea what they want to do in college, so they don’t have tailored ECs. You do, which shows commitment, always a good thing. I would even go so far as to say that in terms of ECs, you would be in the top 10% of all Peabody applicants (although I have no real way of proving this).
With that being said, your chances at Vandy are average. Your ACT is average (unfortunately, anything below a 36 is average for Vandy lol), your SAT 2s are average/slightly below average, your GPA is really below average, and your ECs are good. If you average out all of those, you get somewhere between below average and average. Your best hope is that your ECs will balance out that GPA. I hate telling people this, but a 3.5 GPA applicant to any top 20 school is going to have a REALLY hard time unless they have something stellar elsewhere on their application. I would still recommend applying though. I think you have just as good a shot as anyone else, especially with ED.
That 3.5 GPA may be a problem … but it may not be. I just looked at the admitted stats of the 2019 class and for ED, 95% are in the Top 10% of the class - so you do fall in that range. And your ACT is in the middle 50%.
But Vanderbilt is tough - and getting tougher. It’s a lottery school for EVERYONE.
Best advice: apply ED and show your passion in Child Development.
I know people want to hear “you’ve got a great chance!” in these chance threads … but the truth is, Vanderbilt is hard to get into for EVERYONE.
Thanks, both, for not sugar coating! I know it is definitely a reach. Do you think at being a high-scoring URM and my upward trend in grades (9th: 3.0 UW // 10th: 3.6 UW // 11th: 3.9 UW and hopefully an A in my current summer course and for first quarter senior grades) might help my case?. I also took increasingly difficult classes and earns the 3.9 while taking 3 APs (including the dreaded chem, which I love) and 2 college courses per semester. I know Vandy is still a major reach for anyone and definitely for me with my middling grades, but just seeing if those at all will help my app.
Maybe. And maybe not. Think of it this way: there are going to be applicants who have taken tougher classes who have higher GPAs.
I remember when we visited UPenn two years ago. During questions, someone asked if it was better to take a regular science class and get an A or take an AP Science class and get a B. UPenn’s answer (and it is arguably the same for all the Ivies & top 20 schools) was: it is better to take an AP Science and get an A.
The best advice that I could ever give anyone applying to a highly selective school is this: be passionate about something - but not fake. And let that passion show as a common thread throughout your application.
(Also, cultivate those letters of rec now! Don’t wait til fall when teachers will be overwhelmed.)
I think there’s bad news and good news. The bad news is that I don’t think the rigor of your courseload will give you an advantage. Don’t get me wrong, you don’t have a BAD courseload by any means. It’s just that I haven’t met anyone at Vandy who wasn’t an AP scholar or an IB diploma student. This isn’t really THAT bad of news, since it’s almost impossible for any Vandy applicant to stand out through the rigor of their high school classes.
The good news is that you’re a URM. I remember when I was in high school, I didn’t truly appreciate the advantage a URM has. It cannot be overstated. Example: I’m applying to med school this year and did some research on acceptance rates. An asian student with a 3.5 GPA and a 30 MCAT has a 40% chance of acceptance into med school. A black student with a 3.5 GPA and a 30 MCAT has a 90% chance. Obviously the effect will differ a bit for college admissions, but it is still a HUGE advantage. I think you have a pretty good shot with URM status.
In my opinion, your GPA is not an issue at all. Top 6% of your class is excellent. From my understanding, the numerical value of your GPA is not very important at all. What matters is your performance relative to your peers at your HS. This is why your academic counselor has to grade your academic accomplishments and course rigor not on some “universal” scale but simply compared to other students at your school (http://www.du.edu/apply/media/documents/2012CASSR.pdf).
Peabody’s acceptance rate was 20% compared to 12% in Arts&Sciences in 2014. The 25% and 75% SAT scores were 1420 to 1560. With your highly tailored ECs, I think you have an excellent shot.
I believe Peabody’s acceptance rate is a little higher primarily due due to a “self-selection” bias – that is, Peabody applicants are more likely to be a good fit for the program than applicants to A&S. People in admissions of course love to see students they think will fit well, and being “too good a fit” could never be an issue.
Be hopeful! I had a slightly lower ACT score and GPA and only 7 AP classes in my career and still made it. You’re passion will show in you’re application if you are true to yourself and let yourself shine. From what I see you have that passion in education and I believe that will be you’re greatest strength.
You have done a great job in high school so chin up and apply your smarts to making a calculated list of a mix of reaches and matches. Vandy is a reach for all. That said, you are a contender. Everyone has crush colleges and everyone can alter and shift senior year so we are happy you like Vandy but stay open hearted. Other schools are wonderful as well. If you are lucky enough to afford 6 plus years of college private pay, great. If not, apply to financial safeties and be really really tough with your parents re getting those FAFSA and CSS Profiles done so you don’t make the mistake of a lot of energy in a school you can’t pay for. Vandy has no loans and very good financial need aid. As a URM, you are both “lucky” and “burdened” as everyone will urge you to apply to every URM advantage application out there. Be selective and apply to a broad list of merit scholarships that make solid sense to you personally. I recommend you apply as a Chancellor’s Scholar at Vandy. The odds are never good but our son who is not URM actually won this and enjoyed his peers so much in this set of freshman. That said, selection is pretty random and many deserving applicants are not selected. So apply with those extra essays to merit offers. You will find that it is hard to write those essays so try to work on them this summer.
Haytheir, you are not “too typical”. You are a 1 percenter applicant.
-your EC’s are not typical
-your academic profile is not typical
-your #'s as an URM are not typical
-your career goals as a pediatrician, children psych and counseling are desperately needed and not typical
Yes, Vandy is a reach for everyone now but you are in the game and a competitive applicant. You will have many wonderful opportunities come your way. Good luck.
You have a very solid application; there is nothing that will prevent you from getting accepted. Some have mentioned the GPA as a weakness, but this is negated by the strong class rank.
I would say that your chances at ED II or RD are good. Unfortunately, admissions can be quite random, and there are no guarentees. If you are really set on Vanderbilt and finances won’t be an issue, pull the trigger on EDI: I would say your chances for acceptance in that round would be very good. No matter when you apply, make sure really put the time into your essays, as they can really analgamate and put the finishing touches on the application of an individual who meets all of the other quantitative thresholds.
@Olive007 – some people did speak to it, but you seem to think that it’ll be an especially big plus factor. Do you mean that URM’s are sort of viewed against other URM’s, then? Or do they just get a slight bump when it comes to their stats?
Tbh I think you’ll have no problem getting in, especially if its ED. Your stats are pretty decent even without your URM status(which is just icing on the cake). Write good essays, and you’ll definitely get in.
I think URMSs are viewed against other URMs, though I may be wrong. If one year suddenly all URMs applying had 2400s on their SATs, It’d definitely be harder to get in as URM than a white or Asian. Colleges want diversity on campus, they aren’t trying to “load up” on URMs and accept as many as they can.
Hispanic female. I’ve recently heard that upper-middle income Hispanics from South Florida may not get a big boost bc this is fairly typical of the area. Do you think it will have some impact?
