Hello, I am from Tennessee and I looking to get into Vanderbilt University as my dream school, applying with Early Decision I, a 4.65 GPA, a 32 ACT, and looking to major in English and Creative Writing. I have taken 10 AP courses and all honors with a diploma in AP Capstone. I have also won a creative writing competition, been a part of two National Honors Societies with 100 hours of volunteer work, two bible study groups, and had a job 3 out of my 4 high school years. I have also done independent research, and I am looking to publish it soon. I believe my essays are very strong, both the personal and supplemental, and I have met my admissions officer. I have attended campus tours, open houses, and have shown my interest in several other ways. I am very much looking to get in, but I was told that I should apply test optional with my 32 ACT which could lower my chances of getting in. The only thing is that I am worried it might be portrayed that I am trying to hide something, and I would like to submit my score.
Thank you to anyone who helps with advice. I appreciate it very much!
need to know your unweighted GPA to decipher whether a 32 would weaken your application
Hello, I have a 4.0 unweighted GPA
@LukeBoudreaux14 Have you looked at Naviance or Scior to see what scores have gotten in to Vandy from your school? 32 is very good and likely borderline at Vandy. The rest of your file seems excellent. Is Vandy a school that is test optional but favors submitting. From what I can see 33 is the 25th% at Vandy. You may want to ask AO what percentage of accepted students were TO. Sounds like 32 is borderline but you definitely have a shot. I have heard of kids applying ED with scores below 25th at schools like BC and Vilanova which are a step below Vandy.
I can see why you are on the fence. Vanderbilt 25th percentile is 34 in their most recent CDS. 50th and 75th percentile are both 35. But only about half of the admitted applicants submitted standardized test scores. So there were probably a good number of 33s submitted and plenty of people got in without submitting scores at all. Your grades are great and that’s probably what’s most important. Congrats on that!
My DD is in a similar situation at a different selective school and our high school counselor asked the admissions officer directly if she should submit a 32 given that their 25th percentile is 33. The AO said it would neither hurt nor help. We decided to submit since we are just 1 point below. I’m not sure we would have if we were 2 points below. So there you go…not very helpful advice…sorry! Maybe your counselor can ask the Vanderbilt Admissions Office for advice? Good luck!
Hello! Thank you for your response. I have a friend a year above who is currently attending, and he had a 34, but I do not know many others from my school who have attended - being so close to the school. Vanderbilt does have a test optional option, but I am worried that if I do not submit my scores, it would put me at a disadvantage in seeming like I have an even lower score and that they probably have a lot of 36’s to choose from already from students who are submitting their scores. My teacher, who went to Vanderbilt, says that I should definitely send my scores, however, a counselor ,who was a Vandy admissions officer has said not to submit if I do not have a 34 or above. I can’t tell if submitting or not submitting would be worse.
If a Vandy AO said not to submit, I would listen to them.
I do agree. My only concern is that if I am applying test optional, then it is apparent that I don’t have a 34-36 or else I would apply with those scores, and they might suspect I could have lower than a 32 without knowing my scores.
Thank you! Yes, that situation is very similar to mine. The AO for Vandy will be visiting my school the 19th, so I think it would be a good time to ask then. It is just my dream school, so I am very conflicted! I wish you luck as well.
They might: that’s a risk. Sending a 32 is a risk too, though, and it’s a more quantifiable one. The guidance you’ll hear pretty regularly, and your counselor/ex-AO gave, is that if your score is below the 50th percentile, don’t send it. That’s frankly a lot more valuable than a teacher who attended there some years ago.
FWIW, every AO I’ve heard publicly speak about TO applicants is that they don’t make assumptions about the applicant’s score - TO really means TO and they just proceed without it. Given the volume they’re managing, they probably aren’t sitting around speculating.
I totally understand your stress on this, but I think you have a pretty easy choice. Good luck with it!
(And BTW, I would not ask your AO that question directly. That’s the person who will be primary on your application, and you’re essentially sharing your result without sharing it. No real win coming from that. You could ask a more general question about when the school recommends you send, though I don’t think you’ll get any more detail than here.)
I would not submit.
It can only hurt, not help you.
We need more context about your HS (e.g, affluent/middle class/low income, rural), your rigor, avg test score of your HS class, and class rank. Do you have a hook, for example first gen to college, or underrepresented minority?
If you do ask the Vandy AO in a few weeks (which is exactly what you should do), do what they say. If you are on the fence with other schools ask those AOs too. Good luck.
I agree he should not ask directly but having your college counselor ask still allows you to remain anonymous and hear what they have to say. I attended a campus visit at Northwestern last spring (not applying) and the AO said that people ask her all the term whether to submit and that she has sometimes told people with a 35 they should not submit. I found that kind of ridiculous TBH. But the key takeaway I got from that is that people ask this question all the time and they are used to it.
FWIW, my dd applied RD, did not submit scores and recieved full tuition merit. Vandy is actually test optional. I do not think you need to worry about not submitting the scores. The 32 does not strengthen your application - you have very strong stats. Focus on all of the other parts of your application and make them as strong as possible, including strong letters of recommendation. Good luck!
Thank you! It does stink, because I’ve taken the ACT 5 times, and I am waiting on my last results to come in, so it has taken a lot of time to not send my scores. I think it would be good to ask my AO when they come, since I have some other general questions to ask. This was very helpful, and I appreciate your time.
Thank you! My school does not do ranking, but I know I would be in the top 10 percentile of my class. There are 500 people in my class, 2,000 in my whole school, and there are a lot of academic options at my school. It is not urban but not very rural, I would say its in a pretty suburban area (but College Board gave me an award for being a national rural student). I have only ever taken AP’s and Honors, taking a science each year (so I will have the honors diploma), 5 years of foreign language, completed the AP Capstone program (AP Seminar and AP Research), and I have had a job for 3 of 4 of my school years. I have taken an extra AP each year (1,2,3,4) and dropped my study hall senior year to take Yearbook and write all of the theme copies. My hook is that I am the son of a single mother, who is a recovered alcoholic and in my personal essay, I emphasize on the many years of going through that while still performing as one of the highest in my class. I feel confident in both of my essays as my experience with this is unique and is solely mine
Thank you for your advice and encouragement. I have asked my AP Language teacher who went to Vandy to write one and my AP Research and Honors Anatomy teacher to write one, too. My counselor, separate from the one I have been talking about, coincidentally went to Vandy for Grad school, so I have a lot of connection to the school ha. My optional letter is from a coworker I worked with when I had a job at a tourist music venue in a small town in the woods, so my letters and essays feel pretty strong. That is also great to hear about your DD, I hope she is enjoying it! Thank you!
If you would like a comment directed toward your greater college list, you may encounter the opportunity to submit your ACT score to colleges at which it matches or surpasses the posted 25th percentile. Vassar and Kenyon, as examples, meet this criterion and would be excellent for your intended emphasis on English and creative writing. Some of these schools also may be of interest:
I wouldn’t send a 32 with a 4.0 unweighted