Vanderbilt Fall 2017 Transfer Chances.

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hello! I just graduated high school and I’m thinking about applying to Vandy for admission for the Fall 2017 semester as a sophomore, class of 2020. I’d really appreciate it if you chance me! Here are my stats and activities (college stats and activities are just predictions since I haven’t started it yet):

High School Stats:
Unweighted GPA- 3.92 (I took mostly college prep classes freshman year, but from sophomore to senior year I only took honors and APs)
SAT I: 680 CR, 740 M, 720 W = 2140 Total (All in one sitting)
SAT II: Math I 730
Ranking: 38/535 (Top 10%)

High School Activities and grades participated, order of importance:
Piano since I was about 6 years old, participated in multiple recitals and high school talent shows
Track and field 10-12 (Varsity lettered junior year)
Cross country 10-12 (Varsity letter senior year, scholar athlete)
Indoor Track 10-12
Democratic Society 11-12 (Treasurer)
Lancaster Science Factory Volunteer Summer before senior year- 25 hours I know it’s not that much
Scholastic Writing Contest for Novel Writing 10th grade (Although did not receive an award)

Awards:
National Honor Society
President’s Award for Educational Excellence (upon graduation)
Society for Academic Excellence in Foreign Languages

LOR- Biology teacher: 10/10, Math teacher: 10/10 Counselor: 9/10 (This is just an assumption)
(Idk if high school LORs are involved in transfer admissions)

College Stats:
Current University- University of Richmond, a highly ranked LAC (with a unit system instead of a credit system)
GPA (hypothetical)- 3.8

College Activities (prediction):
BARK Club- Club members take care of dogs and provide transportation from Richmond to Ashland, VA
Green UR- Environmental sustainability club

College LORS- Both 10/10 (prediction)

Other info:
State: PA
Ethnicity: Asian
Intended Major for Vandy: CAS Biology

Also, I know I should give my first school a chance and I definitely will, but I’ve always liked Vandy so I’m still thinking of applying. At the time I applied for freshman admission, I thought I would want to go to a small LAC but my mind has changed since then. I now think I would rather go to a slightly larger (but not too large) research university. Thanks a lot for those who respond to this post!

2

Hey! Okay so it’s really difficult to know anything based on predictions for your college career… Nothing ever turns out how you expect, nothing is consistent in your first year. Give your school a chance to surprise you. That being said… I just finished my first year in college and am about to transfer to Vandy next year. Here’s the kind of bottom line that I think was helpful for me to keep in mind throughout my process:

Schools like Vanderbilt and really any top 50 school are getting all the top applicants with all the 4.0s and the great letters and the highest test scores. What’s going to set you apart is your essay and the sense they get of you as a person through your application. I personally didn’t have a perfect record in terms of all As or perfect testing, but I poured everything I had into my essays and crafting a resume that really showed off who I was outside of the numbers and the names of schools.

Bearing all that in mind, if your grades, letters, and ECs meet your predictions and you can put together an application that really shows you off as a person and a student, I think you are on the right track to be accepted. As we’ve all kind of experienced by now, college admissions are kind of a crapshoot, but you can make them more and more reliable the more you help yourself out. For you, I’d say so far, so good. Just keep your nose to the grindstone and make it happen in your first semester. It’s going to matter the most when you get to your app.

Good luck!