Also if you are nervous and need something to do, check out https://vanderbilthustler.com/ which is our newspaper for a TON of info about everything you could want to know about Vandy!
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There’s absolutely no truth in that statement.
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say what you like but there’s a reason there was a ~30% increase in apps for nearly every top school. I’m not saying that people who applied TO are inherently worse. Just that some people who might’ve gotten a 1200 and a 4.0 might’ve just applied for the hell of it.
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Yes there was about exactly a 30 percent increase in Vanderbilt specifically. But even before the 30 percent increase, it was already so hard to get in.
Sorry to be philosophical on this one: close your eyes and think where would you go if it were not for the money and then go to that place. While in the pragmatic world that we live in, money is and will always be important, where you get your education is once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so go where your heart is. If you’re pre-med and puruse med, then you should be able to make up for the “investment” in yourself in future years…
BTW, are you in-state?
I feel like it takes a lot of motivation to study for the SAT/ACT. If it is optional, there is no motivation. The kids that applied test optional made the best of the situation they were presented with and probably would have gotten the test scores they needed if they were forced with a not test optional situation.
I don’t disagree with you lol
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That statement is accurate as far as people adding schools. But to make a general statement that TO applications tend to be less qualified is not. Especially since a good chunk of the admitted class is TO.
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ya my bad. that was what I meant originally
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Haha ya. As I have said, even when tests were mandatory it was still slim to none chance no matter how qualified of an applicant you were. Now it is just even more slim to none I feel like lol.
Every case is indeed different. My son is TO. We live on the east coast with some of the worse shutdowns. My son is 2/510 gpa 3.97 uw and 4.77 w. He has never had a B and even finished AP physics with a 103. He plays 3 varsity sports, varsity captain, math league, school treasurer and so much more not to mention hundreds of hours in community service. So I will have to argue that TO for some does not equal unqualified.
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Ya and he probably would have gotten the test scores he needed if he was presented with that situation because he seems very motivated. However, he made the best of the situation (test optional).
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I do not think @whippymop meant to say TO kids are not qualified; I think it was just a misunderstanding.
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Devil’s advocate: You will likely get into the same medical school either way. You will have fun either way. Why not go to the one where you have $250k more in your pocket?
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W above made 2 separate statements - one regarding advantage of submitting test scores and the other regarding whether or not those that didn’t submit were less qualified. I have no idea if there was any advantage or disadvantage by going TO. Based on a sampling of friends with similar stats and resumes, this appears to vary by school, so any comment would be a guess. On the second point, it’s hard to say if someone is truly less “qualified” if they didn’t submit scores bc “qualified” is a much more holistic term than just how you did on the SAT’s. If you interpret qualified to mean very narrowly how you did on the SAT’s, then I actually agree with the statement. Most people who did well submitted them and most who didn’t do well did not. The only other variable is likely regional with most people in the northeast having taken them multiple times where some other parts of the country may have shut down faster.
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thanks, yup.
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I’m just saying that most of the straggler applicants will be in the TO category, not that applying TO means you’re an inferior applicant. My original point was that it seemed that vanderbilt basically gave no preference to a submitted test score because of how close the acceptance rates were. I really didn’t mean to offend anyone haha
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I see what you saying. It is also notable that Vanderbilt only has one essay question besides the common app essay!
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did anyone get a financial aid decision from Vanderbilt this morning? i’m wondering if not receiving one means i was waitlisted or denied
did anyone get request of IDOC documents? that is what they do when you are accepted!