Vanderbilt Merit Scholarship Chances Please!!!

Colleges and Universities A-Z Vanderbilt University
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<p>Academic:
ACT- 35
SAT II- 780 (biology), 750 (Math II)
GPA- 4.9610/5.0000
Rank- 6/354
Awards: Excellence in Latin, Excellence in Math, Excellence in History, St. Michael's College Book Award, AP Scholar
APs: AP Bio (4), AP World History (5), AP US History (5)
Senior courses: AP Calculus BC, AP Chemistry, AP Statistics, AP Psychology, Silenced Voices (honors), Contemporary Issues Facing the Global Economy (honors) </p>

<p>Extracurriculars: Varsity cross country (captain), varsity outdoor track, NHS (VP), Save the Children Club (President and Founder), Peer Mentors, Best Buddies, Science Olympiad, Global Learning Initiative, Steering Committee, Athletic Council
Work; Farmers' Market vendor, babysitting
Volunteering: Volunteer once a week at a place for people with intellectual disabilities, soup kitchen once a month, teach CCD every month, peer tutoring, mission trip to Mississippi
Athletic Awards: Cross Country MVP, Track Rookie of the Year, League All-Star, School records in 2 mile, mile, 4x800</p>

<p>Other:
Gender: Female
Ethnicity: White
Applied for financial aid? No
Intended major/plan of study: Biology/ Pre-Med
Solid essays, great recommendation letters, alumni interview went well</p>

<p>I LOVE Vanderbilt, but won't qualify for need-based aid, so am hoping for any sort of merit-based aid! </p>

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<p>meggy123, you are blessed. You have the profile of thousands of the 28 thousand plus applicants to Vanderbilt, and your scores, rank, all round performance as an athlete and etc are all in your favor. No one can tell you “chances” on merit. I have seen a stat of less than 1% of students receive the full tuition merit scholarships and some of those students would have gotten generous financial need anyway or will receive the full tuition plus help with their room and board if their EFC so dictates. Vandy factors in a guess on yield so some recipients will be accepting other school offers and these scholarships are no longer in play. Anyone who gets into Vanderbilt is likely eligible for offers from their state flagships for honors programs and possibly discounts. You may get a merit offer at a school that was not in your top two crush colleges. You may, like many students in say --Georgia or Virginia or Texas— decide to go to your state flagship in order to be more prepared for the slam bang high costs of medical school loans later on. Other families sacrifice and pay for a great private like Vandy on the front end and are perfectly happy to attend their state flagship med schools. My advice is to have a serious sit down with parents with figures on a state college medical school plan and a private medical school plan…then also factor in that a high % of premeds do not follow through. PS You will not win any merit scholarship without serious work on the essays and requirements, so do the work and throw in your hat. It is good practice no matter what the outcome. You will be interviewing as a college freshman somewhere before you can blink for internships and activities. Good job on your high school years! Think now about your long game.</p>

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<p>Faline2, very-well said! Thank you so much for such a solid and insightful response :slight_smile: Will keep that in the back of my head for the next couple of months until it’s time to make a decision! </p>

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<p>Your parents need to understand that some graduate schools will not view you as financially autonomous until you are ages 27-29. Some med schools have big statements on a medical education being a “family responsibility”. We are about to turn in a new FAFSA for law schools for a Vandy grad who has worked full time for two years post grad. This somehow never comes up at high school college planning meetings. Some pathways are more likely to result in underwritten masters or PhD programs (hard sciences if you excel). Some pathways in undergrad end up with you working for a significant number of years first before professional school (MBA). Some paid jobs help you stash money for grad school…most will not. The world is not going to underwrite another law school student in general for instance. When you apply for merit money in a pool of equals like Vanderbilt, it is really about your essays references and your ability to project yourself into the academic offerings of the undergraduate colleges. Being a person with some vision helps. Our son received a Vandy Chancellors and dropped his long sought and won admissions to two top liberal arts colleges --which barely discounted his overall tuition via need. It is important to get out of the fantastical and into your family’s economic reality (we speak from doing it wrong). First son attended Duke full price and is now attending a night school MBA program after working full time for five years. Night school is the only way he could manage to attend an MBA program of his preference financially.
Would a Vanderbilt education be superior to some of your alternatives in premed re med school outcomes? This is a question to raise. We attended the premed presentations on admitted students day six Aprils ago and heard Vandy advisors and premeds discuss this very question. I can still feel the strain in the room as some parents were doing the math in their head, not wanting to deny or discourage their admitted student from attending.<br>
These issues are more for April. The question now is “getting in” at Vandy and at other colleges that are not as selective as Vandy. You have time to sort out pros and cons later. But it is important to understand that although having a 35 is a plus for review for scholarships, a 35 is not rare in the applicant pool. So you have to do your best to introduce your voice and your vision in your essays. Not easy! But a worthy use of your time. </p>