Vanderbilt Class of 2024 RD Discussion

Colleges and Universities A-Z Vanderbilt University
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581

Accepted: Education

Asian American Female, public school in NJ. No hooks

3.91 Unweighted, 4.63 Weighted GPA
School doesn’t do ranking
SAT: 1580 (one sitting)
SAT IIs: 800 Math II, 760 Biology

APs:
11th - APUSH (4), AP Calc AB (4), AP Bio (4), AP Lang (5), AP Psychology (5)
12th- AP Gov, AP Chinese, AP Literature
(Our school doesn’t allow AP’s before Junior year)

Extracurriculars:

  • Founder of an education club at my school
  • Volunteered at Korean school for four years
  • Section leader at school orchestra for four years
  • regional/state level competitive orchestra for four years
  • NHS
  • Selective summer camp for future educators
  • other smaller positions

Awards:

  • Multiple fine art awards
  • Seal of Biliteracy (Korean)
  • Regional/ National solo awards for viola
  • Junior Leadership Award (Nat’l Association for Korean Schools)

Essays:
Common App: 8/10, I really liked mine
Supplement: 8/10, it was focused around my experiences in education

Recs:
One 9/10, I knew she really liked me and we talked a lot in junior year
Other one 7/10, I didn’t have as close of a bond but I think it was okay

Overall very surprised/grateful for this acceptance, I loved campus when I visited!

Accepted - Northwestern, Georgetown, BU, Fordham, UMich, Rutgers

Waitlisted - Case Western

Rejected - WashU, Brown(ED)

Waiting - Columbia, UPenn, USC, NYU

582

If you’re a sophomore or junior, and you’re looking at this because you want to go to vandy or another amazing school like vandy, please don’t place too much value on the stats and brief descriptions that people write on here. I was admitted and the best piece of advice I can give you is to be reflective, think about who you really are, be genuine, and give the college admissions process your best effort. If you show the admissions officers who you are and you’re an interesting or funny or charismatic or thoughtful person, you will yield good results. But please don’t think you need to be some superstudent to get in: just be yourself and try your hardest. =)

583

I think what prospective applicants should know is not necessarily how “random” it is, but how HUMAN the process is. Great stats, like the countless ones seen in this thread, still got rejected despite outstanding academics.
How I see it, the process doesn’t select the best applicants outright, but the best class as a whole. It’s not personal if you get rejected.
You might be the sweetest peach in the world, but someone just might not like peaches!

Don’t take it personal is my advice: I got rejected, deferred, waitlisted, and accepted to a number of colleges but it still worked out in the end with great colleges. It is not about stats, it’s about humans! You’ll be a roommate, a friend, someone’s shoulder to cry on. Colleges want to determine the best humans to form their communities.

Good luck everyone! I wish you the very best.

1 Like
584

@kate0593 Thanks!

585

@DrSenioritis you can’t extrapolate anything from this page. Only a tiny fraction of applicants post on here and obviously people that got in are going to be more likely to share the news on here. This isn’t an adequate sample.

586

@Dug2020 My son is a middle class white male and got in. I don’t think you can conclude that your being a white male was the deciding factor. There are students of color who didn’t get in to Vandy either.

How is your writing? Essays really matter for these schools. He is a very strong writer and I think that made the difference in his acceptances. A lot of these schools have many applicants who look just like you in terms of achievement. We have small social circles so we don’t realize that while we might seem extraordinary in comparison to most people we know, the truth is there are tens of thousands of high school seniors who are just like you and they are all applying to these ultra-competitive schools. The numbers are in nobody’s favor. Is it true that some schools are actively recruiting underrepresented minorities? Sure and as private schools, that’s their prerogative. But even if a school wasn’t doing that, there is no guarantee you would have gotten in.

It’s too bad that you didn’t get in to Vanderbilt but you will get in to a school where you can thrive. Don’t develop a chip on your shoulder because of a rejection. That will only undermine you. Best wishes.

587

DS (post #142) is a white male. In hindsight I should have probably included this information for the sake of providing a more complete picture.

But if one thinks gaining an admission to selective schools as a white male is hard, they should try being an Asian male…

588

Accepted!

White Male, Long Island, New York

ACT: 35, GPA 105.8 out of 100, 99.8 UW

Class rank: 5/495

Education Major

EC: Marching Band Drum Major, Ultimate Frisbee Club Founder, First Chair for All-State Symphonic Band, President of Tri-M, President of Jazz Band, NHS

Awards: NYS Academic Excellence Scholarship, National Merit Commended Scholar, Wells Scholar Finalist, Telkes Distinguished Scholar Recipient

Wrote essays on Jewish heritage and familial values

APS: 5 on previous 5 APs, currently enrolled in 7 APs.

They brought my tuition down to $10,000 a year, so it’s definitely a high contender. Waiting on Ivy Day though. Congrats to everyone, regardless of outcome!

589

I would put Asian female up there along with White male and Asian male…

590

Waitlisted too. Similar stats as you. I think there is a good chance the wait list moves as in previous years (eg. last year over 450 students on the wait list enrolled). Good luck

591

Supply and demand = white female, with many universities now 60-65%+ female

592

I am thinking how many parents out there changing the decision to send their kids to public instead of private due to the unstable economy. Many people just lose their jobs :neutral:

593

OOS publics can be as expensive as privates.

Top privates like Vandy are typically “full need” (though their need formulas differ), so if parents suffer a severe reduction in income, those schools can become less expensive than even an in-state public.

Certainly under the current circumstances many families will be giving less expensive schools at closer proximity another look.

On our part, however, we decided not to change our plans, and son declined Vandy’s CV offer and will be committing to MIT (about twice the total cost of Vandy after CV for us).

Sounds like Vandy is waitlist heavy in their selection process, so there’s going to be one more spot available to someone.

594

Congratulations on those accepted! My son was accepted. Struggling with having not seen this school. Would love to hear some pros/cons from those of you who have visited that he and I can discuss.

595

@864346 You know, @HokieCrazy is right. It just takes one. Looking forward to hearing some good news. My daughter got accepted to a great school. She was waitlisted to Yale and rejected from Northwestern and it bothered her so much. Don’t let it get you down. A year later she is so thankful for where she is. She fits better there.

596

Congrats to your son @TheVulcan ! He had lots of great results, how exciting!

597

@derJudge it became my son’s top choice after a visit. It’s a pretty campus in the middle of bustling city. The buildings were lovely, the students we met seemed down to earth. My son got to chat for an hour with the head of the department he was interested in. She made time for him knowing we’d traveled several hundred miles. It was amazing how accessible she was! Sadly, they seem to think we can afford more than we can so it’s not financially feasible for him to attend. It looks like he is going to have to go elsewhere even though he was admitted.

598

Accepted!!

599

As @Jennibc said, it’s a wonderful campus. It’s actually a designated arboretum with all of the trees and greenery. It’s beautiful! And to be so close to a bustling, exciting city is a great bonus. Look all over the website at the videos of campus and search for YouTube videos to try to get a feel.

We also had a similar experience with the head of a department when we visited with our son back in September. She took time with us and was very accessible, engaging, open and honest. My S20 was accepted ED2 and is thrilled.

600

I applied 2 days after the RD deadline. Do you think this played a factor in me getting waitlisted?