Vandy 2020 here, this thread is why Vandy will never really be considered a tippy top school. They still have this racist southern stigma surrounding them when in reality they have a liberal administrative staff and student body. Vandy is pressured very hard to accept more minorities by its own administration and the student body, yet it simply does not receive the top-tier minority apps that other top schools get because of the stigma. This leads to Vandy scrambling to accept apps that would not be considered competitive otherwise leading to a split between the sub 3.5 and 30ACT minorities and the 3.8+ 34+ ACT Whites and Asians.
I’m Hispanic in STEM and I see it very strongly here. Black and Hispanic kids here don’t do engineering or math or physics or really anything hard here. There is a disconnect between the intelligence of Whites and Asians here and the URMs. Now I don’t believe test scores are the end all be all for intelligence or anything of the sort and I’m not naive enough to tout someone with a 34 ACT as more intelligent than someone with a 30. While everyone here is certainly well above average, the URMs are essentially the kids who did their homework in HS and got good grades while the Asians and Whites are the kids who truly excelled in all aspects of HS. Now I am making huge generalizations and have really intelligent URM friends in my STEM classes while also having legacy admit rich trust fund white kids in them, but I have noticed this discrepancy and obviously keep it to myself in order to avoid conflicts here.
I’d almost feel bad for saying this if it weren’t for so many of the URM kids here being loaded as well.
@Alundari Almost all of the “top tier” schools are going to have some type of lean towards accepting minorities that’s just the way it is. I know a black female who is VU 2020 and her and her family say the school is very supportive of the black community.
I think what @Alundari is saying is that although all top schools have a little bit of lean towards accepting minorities, because Vanderbilt’s located in the southeast it’s stigmatized as “racist” even though it’s not. So all of the other top schools located on the coasts and big cities nab all of the elite minority students, because many of them don’t apply here. This makes a broader rift between the applications of URM and non-URM students than is present at other top schools.
I’m not sure I necessarily buy it since we don’t know the stats for accepted minority students here vs. elsewhere and the evidence is anecdotal, but there definitely is a stigma against Nashville. It’s pretty obvious through CC, because from April-October or so there are dozens of threads posted by prospective applicants concerned that Nashville is like the KKK headquarters and they’ll be called racial slurs and harassed the moment they step foot off campus.
For any future applicants looking at this discussion page and seeing incredibly high test scores/GPAs:
DO NOT let that discourage you from applying. I am living proof. I had good test scores/GPA and a strong course load, but nothing crazy. After being admitted, I realized how truly wholistic the Vanderbilt admissions process is. If you convey who you are through your entire application you will definitely have a shot. I feel extremely fortunate to be attending a school that views students for who they, instead of what their “numbers” are. So go for it. Apply and give it your all, because anything is possible if you work hard and believe in yourself.
Helpful tips for people who are thinking of applying ED in the following years.
-When searching for an interviewer in your area, do not just use local area codes. Look up all area codes in your state and check all of the area codes that you would be able to drive to. I made the mistake of only searching 3 area codes in my medium sized town, and did not find an interviewer. Doing an interview can only help you, which in essence mean not doing one can potentially hurt you.
-Put a lot of thought into who you ask to do your teacher recommendations, and if there is an adult who knows you well through an extracurricular, strongly consider asking them to do a rec. I had problems with one of my instructors who I asked to do it, and he ended up not being able to. Make sure you ask someone who you believe will be able to communicate their opinions about you very well.
-Send you ACT/SAT scores officially. I have a friend applying somewhere else who thought the scores on his transcript were fine, and they were not. His girlfriend went off on him and it was hilarious but please do not be him!
I was rejected from Vanderbilt last year (class of 2020) and I honestly thought my life was over. I was absolutely crushed. I had dreamed of Vanderbilt for years and to have that dream end so abruptly was heartbreaking. I ended up going to one of my last choice schools… And I’m happier than I have ever been. The great experiences in life are going to happen whether you’re at Vanderbilt or a small university.
I know it doesn’t mean much for me to be saying this stuff… I wouldn’t have cared last year if someone said these things to me. It’s too easy let your grief and sorrow bury you. But please know that you WILL be okay. You have every capability to thrive wherever you go to school next year. But… It’s up to you to thrive. You have to consciously make the decision to give Vanderbilt the proverbial middle finger, and tell yourself that you are better than a school that is discriminatory against students unless they are black/asian/Indian. As you can tell, sometimes you also need to be a little bitter to move on, that’s okay. Do whatever you have to do to go on. But, don’t get hung up on your bitterness. Let yourself grieve, then move on to better things.
You’ve got so many amazing things coming to you next year, no matter what college you attend. Enjoy it. Enjoy the freedom, friends, parties. Join extracurriculars. Excel in academics. Then, in 4 years when you graduate, you can laugh at the admissions pricks at Vanderbilt for denying a student that succeeded so thoroughly in their undergraduate career.
@stresseater As a member of the Vanderbilt class of 2020, I agree with all that you said, and hope people take it to heart, except for where you said “tell yourself that you are better than a school that is discriminatory against students unless they are black/asian/Indian”. I am white, as are many of my friends, and I don’t think it is fair for you to characterize Vanderbilt as somewhere that racially discriminates simply because they didn’t accept you, or certain other people not of the races you mentioned. I get that you were trying to make people who are down feel better, but belittling others’ accomplishments is not a fair way to do that.
Hello! My daughter was just accepted ED1 to the Engineering School. She isn’t on College Confidential, but she would like to connect with other new members of the Vanderbilt Class of 2021. Is there a Facebook page for newly admitted students? Thanks so much.
