ACT: 31C (31Eng, 34 Read, 30 Math, 30 Sci)
GPA: 4.0 (School only allows 4.0)
Rank: 2 out of 120
AP: AP U.S. History(2), AP Chemistry (2) Both classes were with first-year AP teachers.
Senior Course Load: AP Calc AB, AP Gov, AP Bio, AP Eng. Expect to pass all 4 exams.
My school only offers 6 AP classes.
Subjective:
FBLA (President)
Class Officer (Secretary)
Service Learning Club which is 25 service hours a semester
National Honor Society (Vice President)
Spanish Club (Secretary)
Science Club
Yearbook (Editor)
Youth Leadership
Local Audio Engineer (75+ Hours)
Tutoring Service at local Elementary/Middle Schools for about 250 hours
I.T. Department Summer Technician
Started a program allowing high school students to intern at a local medical office
Volunteer/Service hours in the 500-hour range
Recommendations: Waived my right to view them, so I am just guessing
1 (9/10)- From my math teacher who has taught me since freshman year, I am one of her best students and was also able to work with her through my summer job. She is the hardest teacher in our school to get to write a letter and she was ecstatic to write mine.
2 (8/10) - From my science teacher who is known to write very good letters. I have known him for 10+ years inside and outside of school. Said I am in his best percent of students.
3 (8/10) Counselor Recommendation- I think this essay was pretty generic, but she probably exemplified the work I do voluntarily around the school and community.
4 (10/10) Optional Recommendation from my principal- Probably the best of my letters, he never writes letters and he also knows me outside of the school. I am his go-to student for all his needs and the letter should have reflected that.
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Biomedical Engineering
State (if domestic applicant): Alabama
School Type: Rural Public
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Gender: Male
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): First generation
Strengths: First Generation, underrepresented school, class rank
Weaknesses: No major national recognition, low standardized test scores
@Chandler0524 You have great ECs and recommendations. It is also helpful that your school does not send a lot of kids to Vanderbilt and that you took all of the hardest classes your school offers. My school counselor said engineering is harder to get into at schools like Vanderbilt because the program is so small (300 kids). Did you indicate on the common app that you would be willing to attend another school (e.g. CAS or Peabody) or are you sure about engineering?
@finnb I indicated that I would be willing to attend CAS, and am impartial when it comes to which one as I have majors in both that seriously interest me.
Has it officially been confirmed that decisions will come out on Dec. 15 (this Friday)? I saw that last year, decisions came out on a Thursday from another thread, so I was wondering if there’s any chance of that happening again. Also, good luck to everyone out there - I know everything that happens will for a reason and it’s out of our control now
^partly me trying to cope with the fact that I won’t get in. I know there’s other schools out there, but there’s something about Vandy that makes it so incredibly charming
@“anotherbrickinthewall!” They send out an email the day before decisions come out usually, so until we receive the email I think we have to plan for Friday at 5:30 CST.
Still coming to terms with the fact that there’s less than a week left! Good luck to everyone! Based on what y’all have been posting everyone is so qualified and any school would be lucky to have y’all. Guess it rlly comes down to the luck of the draw! Will be thinking of everyone this week:)
@Chandler0524, I think it is really good that you listed a second choice because engineering seems to add another layer in an uber competitive process. I think you have a good chance and hope for the best for you.
@finnb@amominaz This question was brought up on a Vanderbilt Blog post a while back and the official response was, “If a student is not offered admission to his or her first choice school, he or she is then also evaluated for the second choice school. If a student is admitted to the first choice school, then we don’t do the second evaluation.”
@slurpeee99 I doubt it at this point just because it has specifically remained the 15th on the website rather than saying mid-December like a lot of other top 20s, but we could get lucky. Either way, we’ll be getting an email the day before, at the very least.
You think they tell the G.C.s early? I have heard of other schools (not Vandy) calling a kid’s GC in advance to make sure the college is still the applicant’s first choice. However, those anecdotes apply to EA or RD. I don’t think any college would have need to call a GC early and thus there would be no hint in advance of their decision. Anyone heard otherwise?
^^^ Highly unlikely and completely unethical. How does the counselor know what the student is thinking? If you applied ED, they are assuming it’s your first choice. Why would they check to see if you’ve changed your mind and again, how would your counselor know? This is how rumors get started.
Just to add a bit of info. - not saying that schools call GC to find out if still #1, but schools sometimes send GC’s an email letting them know decisions are coming and also have some facts and figures about the application cycle, etc. My son’s GC forwarded me such an email 2 years ago when my S was accepted to Northeastern. Not sure what schools do this, but my point is, if you are friendly with your GC, they might be willing to share official info. that comes from a school with you. Good Luck! I’ve been reading this thread because my D is an RD applicant.
