<p>There just aren’t enough spots for all the qualified students. Vanderbilt has become the most difficult university to get accepted to in the southeast and has SAT scores about 30-40 points higher than the # 2 university in the south. Vandy’s average test scores will be higher than 5 of the 8 Ivy schools as well and there are only about 6-8 universities that are more difficult to gain admission into. </p>
<p>I know how you feel. I cried for two hours last night… Feeling very lost… Listening to Lost stars by Maroon 5 helps @nerdfighter23</p>
<p>@oliviaarpie Thanks, I’ll try that (:</p>
<p>It seems like a lot of people were admitted with 32 ACTs this year. Or, it seems like it. This shows that Vanderbilt truly is holistic and the test score only proves whether you are able to handle the academic side of Vandy or not?</p>
<p>The ACT range for RD will surely be even higher. I do think Vandy is focusing on test scores a little more than most peer schools, but they are wise to do what helps most with the rankings. </p>
<p>I saw a post on Instagram tagged #vu2019 where a guy got in with a 21 ACT. So I think they are definitely holistic but if the have two similar applicants they will probably pick the one with higher scores</p>
<p>See Post #6 under the Regular Decision thread concerning test scores. In my opinion you are giving too much weight to test scores.</p>
<p>O.o Hi there, me a year later…
Interesting that they do that!</p>
<p>@Collegepanda97 On what grounds did you appeal? Or are you just “joking around”, as on the Michigan ED thread when you said decisions are in?</p>
<p>Decision: REJECTED</p>
<p>SAT: 2180 - Math: 710, Reading: 730, Writing: 740
SAT subject tests - Math 1: 730, U.S. History: 740
GPA 3.8/3.9 (unwieghted), 4.0 (weighted)
11 AP classes with many 5’s + lots of honors
Top 3% of high school class
OOS
Extracurriculars: Spanish Honor Society president, president of another community-service school club, board member of two major citywide organizations, varsity cheerleading for 2 years, national honor society, and others. </p>
<p>Weaknesses: SAT score. From what I have seen, barely anyone with below the equivalent of a 34 ACT score will be accepted early to Vanderbilt. Definitely not a holistic process. This school places a higher weight on SAT scores than almost any other school in the country. </p>
<p>On the contrary @coll3geb0und. Look at the results thread. Many people, including myself, got accepted with a “measly” 32.</p>
<p>Same here @CollegePanda96. S accepted with a 32. Thankful for the holistic process!</p>
<p>@coll3geb0und your SAT did not get you. Your EC’s are not very strong.</p>
<p>Let’s be serious here… nothing “got you”, @coll3geb0und, you were just one of many highly qualified candidates for whom the decision was essentially a coin-flip. The flip didn’t fall in your favor. Your credentials look great, and I’m sure you’ll get in someplace great.</p>
<p>“Holistic” is a relative term. The data says Vandy’s 25-75% test score band is higher than most comparable schools. That says, to me, that Vandy puts more weight on test scores, <em>on average</em>, than those other schools. To argue otherwise, you have to argue that Vandy is flat-out more competitive than most of the Ivies, Duke, Northwestern, etc. That’s a tough case to make. Comparable, sure. Tougher, probably not.</p>
<p>It’s speculation, but I strongly suspect what is going on here is that the Vandy pool is less diverse than at some of those other schools. My evidence for that is somewhat anecdotal, and not at all bullet-proof. It’s based on visiting, and on the fact that in “College Prowler” lack of diversity is mentioned as the #3 negative at the school (by the students). And of course I’m talking in relative terms here.</p>
<p>Given a less diverse pool, it is very reasonable to put more weight on the one true objective measure available to the admissions committee: test scores. That doesn’t make Vandy’s process any less or more “holistic”, relative to it’s applicant pool, than, say, UPenn’s. But it does give the appearance of being less holistic, on average.</p>
<p>I think this is going to be a record breaking year in terms of applications in a big way. It’s harder to get into Vanderbilt than to some of the Ivies at this point. While they practice holistic admissions, with the volume of applications received compared to the slots available, it’s something of a crapshoot and the process of building a class becomes ever more complex.</p>
<p>IMHO Vanderbilt did not suddenly start caring more about test scores. I don’t believe Vandy’s peers stopped caring about test scores either. Today, top students apply to the same top universities. Today, more of the top students are electing to attend Vandy.
The term “holistic” means different things to different universities. Vandy’s admission blog talks about leadership, awards, fine arts, community service, and athletic achievement. Another U may be interested in the same or other areas. Most U’s are looking for whatever they feel they need to “build a class”.
I don’t believe any top 20 U’s are more or less diverse than the others. There are too many different ways to measure diversity that make its use…well, useless. You can have more diversity with two students who look the same and attend high schools 10 miles from each other than with two students that look different, live 2,000 miles apart but both attend non-diverse private high schools in the suburbs of a large metro area, play soccer, the violin, attend the same church, same test scores, have the same tax rate, volunteer at a hospital and are pre-med. I also wonder why some universities that say diversity is important admit so many students from the least diverse high schools and so few students from the most diverse high school??? I guess it’s only important for college. </p>
<p>When you look at what adcoms have when deciding between well qualified students you have:
- Test scores. Like them or not they are the most objective part of the application.
- Grades. Useless to compare students from different high schools.
- Letter of ref. All say great kid let him in. Most are form letters downloaded, printed, and signed.
- EC’s. Can help when exceptional but for the most part it’s soccer vs baseball and debate team vs robotics team
- Essays. These are “heavily edited” by Mom, an English teacher, friends, or hired help. If engineers have to write essays why don’t English comp. majors have to solve physics problems???
- Hooks. ??
- Interviews. Not really used much and subjective</p>
Hi guys! I’m super late to this forum party but I was accepted ED to the class of 2019 at Vandy! Hoping to meet some cool people before we all make the trip to Nashville this summer. I’m Kathleen, English major 
Hey, congrats! The party has kinda moved to the Facebook page.
A 32 on the ACT was part of the 50% so that would mean they have a pretty good chance at getting in. I’m going to be quite frank and tell you guys, it seems like they aren’t very holistic. I have very good grades, a solid essay, amazing ECs and a 29 ACT and I was rejected. I hate to say but unless you have connections i don’t think it’s possible to get in under the 50% mark.
It is possible to get in under the 50% mark. My son is an example with a 31 ACT. IMO though the further you are away from the middle 50% the harder it is.