<p>Hi, This is my first time posting on CC. Can you please chance my son. He applied ED 1
His undergraduate is the Classics. He has 7 years of Foreign language: 4 years Latin/3 years Greek.</p>
<p>Academics:
ACT Score of: 33
Essay Score of: 10
GPA weighted 4.33 (He had 2 B's his Freshman year - both in Honors courses)
AP Scores: World History (4) US History (4) English Language (5)</p>
<p>Senior Courses: (He is a full IB diploma student) His 1/4 grade GPA is 4.9
Economics SL IB - quarter grade A
Philos HL 2 IB - quarter grade A
T of K IB - quarter grade A
Math Study SL IB - quarter grade B
Greek SL IB - quarter grade A
English HL 2 IB - quarter grade A-
Latin HL 2 IB - quarter grade A</p>
<p>Extracurricular:
He is President of a school club and Vice President of another school club.
He does volunteer work for a non-profit organization.</p>
<p>Recommendations: Should be excellent
State: West Coast
School: Competitive Private School
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
He also attended the PAVE summer program at Vanderbilt this past summer.</p>
<p>Good chance, in my opinion. Not a lock, but a good chance. ED1 will help. Does he have a class rank or does his school not rank? Is he a NMF by any chance? Is there a particular program he’s interested in? Good luck to him.</p>
<p>His school does not rank. However, I know that he is in the top 9% (probably higher) because he is “guaranteed a spot in a UC” which is only offered to the top 9% of HS students. He is not NMF but has been CSF every year. He wants to major in the classics. He has 4 years of Latin and 3 years of Greek. Do you think that will help his chances?</p>
<p>He has a reasonable shot at ED because he is from California and seems to meet the ACT scores middle 50. Planning to major in classics should help.</p>
<p>I agree with texaspg on everything. I would add that his advanced study in in Latin and Greek will show he’s prepared and that he knows what he’s talking about when he says he wants to study classics. It all fits well. So, he’s a good candidate, in my opinion. Having said that, you never know what will happen with Vandy likely accepting around 10% of its applicants overall and average test scores going up and up. Best of luck to your son.</p>
<p>love@bnana - If I remember right, the acceptance rate for ED1 and ED2 is a little over 20%. My son applied ED1 last year and was accepted for the school of engineering. We are from California too. He is really enjoying being at Vanderbilt.</p>
<p>Thanks. That would make a big difference. My sons unweighted GPA is 3.76 and weighted is 4.33 which looks like is on the low side. I am really stressing out about this and getting myself sick over it and I’m not the one applying. Our S spent 6 weeks at Vanderbilt last summer and loved it!</p>
<p>Every kid who visits Vanderbilt loves it, and that partly explains why Vanderbilt is perhaps the hottest school among the top 20 now. Every measurable stat of accepted students has skyrocked, so nobody is quite sure what will happen this year. I believe your son’s impressive resume will make him a strong ED1 candidate, but Vanderbilt is really a reach school for practically everybody these days. Wish you a good luck.</p>
<p>love2bnana: The ED % is a little bit deceptive because it includes must admits such as athletes and merit scholarship level applicants. If he does not get in ED1, he will probably be deferred. In that case, make sure your son has an extrordinary fall semester to pump his GPA as high as possible. Consider taking the ACT test again because Vandy will superscore. All he needs is a higher score in one section and all of a sudden he’s a 34 not a 33. And continue to show interest to let Vandy know that if he is accepted, he’s coming. Good luck.</p>
<p>When our son admitted his app his counselor had us send his ACT score of 30 to Vanderbilt. He took the test again in October and scored a 33. This score was also sent. On his application he stated that he was taking the test again and would submit his score. Do you think the score of 30 will be a problem for him? Or will they not look at it because of the recent score of 33? Each year our sons GPA has improved. He does anticipate having a 4.9 at end of first semester. He struggled some his Freshman year. His dad was in and out of the hospital and our son had a broken tib and fib and was in a cast/wheelchair/crutches for several months. He did not mention this on his app or in his essays. Do they look at Freshman year GPA? If so, will it help that his GPA improved each year? I was not able to attend college. And, like every parent, I just want my son to succeed :)</p>
<p>Freshman GPA: 4.14 Non weighted 3.88
Sophmore GPA: 4.43 (not sure of the non-weighted?)
Junior GPA: 4.57 (non-weighted 3.71)</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure Vandy will take the highest score and superscore. I will never forget the Dean of Admissions summer before last (Class of 2017) saying that Vandy wants to paint the best possible picture for the applicant. But he also said that if you send a score, they have to consider it. To me that meant if you have a Math I SAT II score of 490, make sure you don’t send that. But if you have an 800 you might want to send that, even though Vandy does not require SAT II scores. </p>
<p>The upward trend in grades is what they want to see, I think. Your son’s upward trend is very impressive. </p>
<p>Also, how many future classics majors from CA with a 33 ACT are applying ED1? I’d guess not that many.</p>
<p>The only thing which seems a little contradictory is that your son attended PAVE which is science / technology orientated and he is telling Vanderbilt he wants to major in classics. On the surface it doesn’t quite fit.</p>
<p>Again, best of luck to your son. To reinforce other comments made on this board and others, make sure he works hard on other app’s because Vandy is becoming as selective as some of the Ivies as well as Duke. He’s obviously a great student who loves Vandy, but you can’t be sure. With the current selectivity of the school, there are very few who can be sure.</p>
<p>Thank You. I hope you are right. He has worked extremely hard and he absolutely loves Latin and Greek. He was on the schools swim team and water polo team during 9th and 10th grade. He decided to stop sports his Jr. year to concentrate more on his studies.
He did have an alumni interview on Monday which he said went well. It seems like 12/15 is so far away… Stressed but Hopeful in California!</p>
<p>It is very stressful. I know I was stessed last year. Son was stressed too but neither of us wanted to show it to each other I think!! I am relieved not to have to do it again this year after two consecutive years with a son and a daughter, but I’m close enough to it that I’m very sympathetic to what you and what your son are feeling.</p>
<p>Sure your son is a great kid. Wish him the best.</p>
<p>I can not even imagine doing this two years in a row. Our younger son is a sophomore so at least I will have a year break. Does your son and/or daughter attend Vanderbilt?</p>
<p>Love2bnana: No, son does not attend. Vandy was a close second to where he’s going now. Even so, he loved the school. I had a very good feeling about it myself. Wife loved it because it’s closer to home than where he goes now. I’m big on leadership in organizations, and I think Vanderbilt has a great president, very undergraduate centered, but also strategic. I was blown away by the admissions office and the director. They really had their act together. Their academics are broad based and improving all the time. Great professional schools, particularly medicine. Put that all together with Nashville, which is an up and coming city (even Niclole Kidman lives there!), and you have a very attractive situation.</p>
<p>Love2bnana…I just have to clear up some misinformation. Vanderbilt does not defer on ED. Your son will get admitted or denied. They also do not super score the ACT. This isn’t a problem for your son because his higher score of 33 will be considered. My son was admitted last year ED1 and I know how stressful a time it is. Your sons stats give him as good a chance as anyone else at acceptance so now it’s just up to the Admissions officers and what they are looking for from each applicant to make up the class of 2018. Each student will bring something different and all will have above average academic profiles. So all you can do now is hope for the best and prepare an alternative plan just in case. Best of luck to your son!</p>
<p>Kaukauna - quick question - you mention that the acceptance rate includes ‘must admits such as recruited athletes and merit scholarship level applicants’ - I get the recruited athlete part but didn’t understand what you meant by the merit scholarship applicants. If the Vandy merit apps aren’t due until 15 December - how do they fall in the must admit for ED1? Or is there a different merit scholarship? Thanks</p>