Current College: State school that I hate with literally all my heart
Credits: 36
Major: Computer Science
HS GPA: 4.11 W
ACT/SAT: 33 (34 Superscore)
College GPA: 4.00
EC: Tons and Tons, Captains, Created clubs, etc (personally I don’t think these matter thatttt much)
LOR and Essays: Excellent, I read both, helped write 1. Essays were also pretty good though by no means amazing.
The first application decision for Vanderbilt transfer this year was April 18, my decision came in the 1st wave.
I also applied to Duke, Penn, Northwestern, Georgetown and Brown. Haven’t heard from any of them.
Gender: Male
State: Colorado
Current College: Creighton University
Credits: 37
Major: Economics
HS GPA: 3.5
ACT/SAT: 34 ACT
College GPA: 4.0
EC: (no particular order)
member of Financial Management Association.
Work paid - assistant manager
Climbing/mountaineering pretty extensively - leader of multiple trips
Volunteered for a month in China
Volunteer at home for at - risk youth
LOR: 3 of them
Economics professor - strong
English professor - excellent/strong
Financial Advisor that I know well - excellent
Essays: Nothing too special. Basic reasons. Elaborated on volunteering in China.
The first application decision for Vanderbilt transfer this year was April 18, my decision came in the 1st wave.
Gender: female
State: international
Current College: top 30 LAC
Credits: 36 (probably) with some AP credits
Major: psychology
HS GPA: 4.10 (weighted)
ACT/SAT: ACT 31
College GPA: 3.77 (1st semester) did not submit mid-term report
EC: student government, mock trial, a lot of varsity/club sports, leadership, work experience etc
LOR and Essays: (Excellent/Strong/Average) Content was excellent, but I would say that the essay in general was ‘strong’ rather than excellent. I didn’t proofread my essay a lot.
The first application decision for Vanderbilt transfer this year was April 18, my decision came in the 1st wave.
Gender: Female.
State: Illinois
Current College: College of the Holy Cross
Credits: 36 (that’s the credit I got at another school). 2 AP’s.
Major: Chemistry
HS GPA: 3.7
ACT/SAT: 32
College GPA: 3.7
EC: Name of club (type of club) Position, # semesters: Volunteering Club (Weekly) for 2 semesters. School radio station DJ for 2 semesters. Member of American Medical Students of America for 2 semesters. College Republicans for 1 semester.
LOR and Essays: (Excellent/Strong/Average): Common App essay was strong, mostly informational and to the point about why I wanted to transfer. Extracurricular essay was excellent in my opinion. I wrote about working at the radio station, and I honestly think it’s one of the best college essays I’ve ever written. One letter of rec from my advisor, I’m pretty confident it’s pretty strong. The other from a professor I knew kind of well, so I’ll only say average for that one.
I also got into University of Illinois at UC, Butler University, and Purdue University so far. Denied at University of Minnesota (not going to take it personally). Still waiting on 3 more schools.
Congrats to everybody that was also accepted! I’m so proud of myself because I was honestly expecting a rejection.
Gender: Male
State: Tennessee
Current College: UCLA
Credits: 42 (Quarter System)
Major: Mathematics
HS GPA: 4.0
ACT: 32
College GPA: 3.74
EC: ROTC, political club, some community service
LOR and Essays: Strong
The first application decision for Vanderbilt transfer this year was April 18, my decision came in the first wave.
Gender: female
State: CA
Current College: Emory
Credits: 35
Major: political science and spanish
HS GPA: 3.51 UW
ACT/SAT: 2090
College GPA: 3.94
EC: Name of club (type of club) Position, # semesters: college deans list/honor society
LOR and Essays: (Excellent/Strong/Average) excellent
Gender: Male
State: California
Current College: Community College
Credits: 115 (quarter system)
Major: Economics
HS GPA: 3.1
ACT/SAT: 34
College GPA: 3.93
EC: Member + officer of two campus honors societies, student senator, political internship with state assemblyman, community service, full time job, a couple of academic clubs on campus,
LOR and Essays: Excellent (First LOR came from professor that went to Vanderbilt)
The first application decision for Vanderbilt transfer this year was April 18, my decision came in the first wave.
Other schools I applied to:
Accepted: UC Irvine with Regents Scholarship, UC Davis
Waiting on: UCLA, Berkeley, Emory, WashU, Penn, Cornell, USC
Rejected: None (Hopefully it stays this way)
Gender: Female
Race/Ethnicity: Asian (Hmong) and White
State: Wisconsin (Counselor is Garth Parke)
Current College: WI community college
Credits: 60 - rising junior
Major: Cellular and Molecular Biology
HS GPA: 3.3 UW
ACT/SAT: 30
College GPA: 3.597
Midterm: 4.0
EC:
Phi Theta Kappa (honors society) President, 3
-Organized and developed a teaching curriculum in finding housing for Appleton COTS, a homeless shelter
-Attended Fall 2017 Leadership Conference
Universal Multicultural Association (cultural club) Vice President, 2
-Ran gently used clothing drive
-Founded and funded a multicultural scholarship on my campus through fundraising by selling eggrolls and popcorn
-Hosted campus wide potluck
-Attended MAASU 2017 Spring conference at UM-Ann Arbor
Nursing and Allied Health Club (career club) President, 4
-Hosted, developed, and ran a workshop for young girls at GEMS, a one day program aimed at elementary to middle school aged girls to get them interested in STEM fields
-Organized for other colleges to host transfer informational sessions
-Also ran gently used clothing drive
LOR and Essays: Essays were thorough but not very creative. Excellent LOR from my Philosophy professor who let me peek at his rough draft letter that was very specific as to how I excelled in his class and gave at least four specific examples of things I did throughout the semester that impressed him. One LOR from Microbiology professor that was probably pretty generic, but might not have been. I came to class and was one of the only people who ever spoke up and did well. Last LOR from my academic advisor/professor of multiple classes/advisor to all my clubs.
The first application decision for Vanderbilt transfer this year was April 18, my decision came in the 2nd wave.
I’ve also applied to Northwestern for Biology (Rejected) and UW-Madison for Microbiology (Accepted). I added the information about my ECs so others can understand the depth of involvement I had in each EC, which was a lot, especially for my small and uninvolved 2 yr.
This is the third time I’ve applied and the second time I’ve gotten waitlisted.
Gender: Male
Race/Ethnicity: Latino - First-Gen - Low income(an additional hurdle since most waitlists are need-aware, woot! <3)
State: Florida
Current College: FL community college
Credits: 32
Major: Physics and/or Mathematics
HS GPA: 8.7/10 [rough estimate]
ACT/SAT: 32
College GPA: 4.0
Midterm: 4.0
ECs: A few of them, but they all revolve around my desire to teach. They mostly consist of outreach events I’ve organized, along with my experiences as a language instructor in a few countries.
LOR and Essays:
2 LORs. One was slightly generic from my Physics/Geology professor. The other was from my humanities professor who is possibly one of the best writers I’ve known. Even though it’s not my major, I have a passion for writing and had the highest marks in his class of the entire year. This LOR was significantly stronger than the other.
I made the essays unique for Vanderbilt and thought they were solid. It’s hard to evaluate one’s own essays in all honesty.
The first application decision for Vanderbilt transfer this year was April 18, my decision came out in the second wave, which was on 05/08/17.
I’ve accepted the spot on the waitlist and damn sure I’ll be fighting tooth and nail to get off of it.
Gender: Male
Race/Ethnicity: Black/Kenyan. 1st Gen-- Lower-class.
State: Tennessee
Current College: University of Tennessee, Knoxville (Chancellor’s Honors College)
Credits: 65
Major: Mechanical Engineering / Minor in Mathematics
HS GPA: 3.5 Unweighted
ACT/SAT: 31
College GPA: 3.96
EC: (In order of importance to me)
Undergraduate Research – 3 Semesters. 10 hours/wk
Habitat for Humanities / Food Recovery Network – 2 semesters
Two Summer Jobs – 1 summer / 50-60 hours a week.
Space Technology Association – 3 semesters
Tutoring/Mentoring (unofficial) – 4 semesters
App Development (“Tappers” by King’s Foundation if you’re actually interested).
LOR and Essays: I think the content of my essay was great, but the style was just alright. I made it very clear exactly what I wanted from transferring and how it would affect my career if I get in. I also got to talk about myself and my path to engineering (I enjoyed natural science + I truly enjoyed helping others).
I got along very well with my two professors that wrote my recommendation letters. I did not see the letters.
The first application decision for Vanderbilt transfer this year was April 18, my decision came in the 2nd wave.
Other Applications:
Northwestern (Pending)
Cornell (Pending)
Washington University in St. Louis (Pending)
I was rejected when I applied to Vanderbilt in high school.
I think what got me in was a few things:
My GPA comes from taking the most rigorous courses (and maxing out on credit hours in one semester) my school had to offer.
While I don’t have many EC, those that I am in are the few I’m heavily involved in. Especially research–which I talked extensively about in my essay and have mentioned how I’ve given presentations on my projects at meetings and at annual conferences hosted at my university.
I did have leadership position in my engineering class, where my team won 1st place twice out of 100+ engineering teams (300+ students)
What I did not mention in any part of my application was how I came from a low-performance high school. How I’ve had mental problems that interfered with my academics (Including missing 10+ days my junior year, inability to complete ACT exam my junior year, and missing 25+ days my senior year). I wanted to showcase my success more than the barriers I’ve had to overcome.
Vanderbilt is such a great fit for me. I am so relieved that I got accepted.
Gender: Female
State: California
Current College: Foothill College
Credits: 83
Major: Communications
HS GPA: 3.4
ACT/SAT: 1740
College GPA: 3.93
EC: ZTA VP1, 2 jobs, community service, started nonprofit
LOR and Essays: Excellent from 2 professors
The first application decision for Vanderbilt transfer this year was April 18, my decision came in the 2nd wave on May 8.
UNC Chapel Hill - accepted
American University of Paris - accepted
Boston University - accepted
University of Oregon - accepted
Still waiting on: Duke, Dartmouth, UT Austin, USC, and Brown
Gender: Male
State: Illinois
Current College: Rend Lake College (community college)
Credits: not entirely sure. Maybe in the 70s/80s at this point
Major: Chemistry/Pre-Med
HS GPA: 4.0
ACT/SAT: 32 ACT
College GPA: 4.0
EC: Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society Rho Xi Chapter (President), Sigma Alpha Pi Honor Society, Student Ambassador, Concert Band, Jazz Band, volunteer for local musicals to play in the pit.
I work as a pharmacy tech on days I don’t have school, as well as tutor middle and high schoolers in Math and Science. I also have coached a little league baseball team during the summers. Super fun
LOR: I waived my right to view them so I have no clue. I’m confident they are great. They are from my biology and chemistry professors who I’ve had in class for 4 semesters now.
Personal Essay: Average. Not very extravagant but mainly talked about how I absolutely have to transfer somewhere to finish my degree and how I desire a research-focused school with opportunities for pre-medical advising.
The first application decision for Vanderbilt transfer this year was April 18, my decision came in the May 8 wave.
Other Schools:
Auburn (accepted)
Belmont (accepted)
Union (accepted)
Murray State (accepted)
WashU (haven’t heard back yet)
Not really considering Auburn, Belmont, or Union anymore due to cost.
Gender: Male
Race/Ethnicity: White
State: NY
Current College: NY private around 55 in us news and world
Credits: 32
Major: Political Science
HS GPA: around a 92/100
ACT/SAT: 2000 (1310 two part)
College GPA: ~3.5
Midterm: ~3.5
What got me in: Certainly not my grades. While my grades were good enough to make me a serious candidate, my extra-curriculars and recommendations are almost certainly what separated me from other candidates. I’m really glad Vandy saw around my not-so-vanderbilt grades.
Lesson to other transfers: If you are thinking of applying but are also intimidated, apply. The only thing that you have to lose is the application fee. Also, this is a clear demonstration that Vandys admissions pays a lot of respect to the whole person and not just the numbers. It’s worth noting, however, that i didn’t just have one or two extra-curricular. I had two internships, two jobs, two long-term volunteer positions, was president of two clubs in high school, class president in high school, and participated in over a dozen extra-curricular research projects. Almost all of that participation related to my interest in poli sci.
ACCEPTED: Vanderbilt, UVA
DENIED: UNC, William and Mary, Georgetown
I am still debating which school to choose and my decision is due in two days.
Gender: Female
State: Michigan
Current College: University of Michigan (Just finished freshman year)
Credits: 48
Major: Human and Organizational Development
HS GPA: 3.979 unweighted 4.604 weighted
ACT: 32
College GPA: 1st semester- 3.92 2nd- 3.85 Cumulative- 3.89 (University Honors/Dean’s List)
EC: (Included a couple of relevant HS ones)
-Billy Bear Hug Foundation Youth Advisory Board- President- Freshman year of HS-Now
-Senior Class President- 1 year
-West Quadrangle Hall Council- Vice-President- 2 semesters
-Delta Gamma- 2 semesters
-Musket Marketing Team and Performance Cast- 1 semester
-University of Michigan Lions Club- Secretary and Charter Member- 1 semester
-Younglife- 2 semesters
-Future Business Leaders of America- Phi Beta Lambda- 1 semester
LOR and Essays: (Excellent/Strong/Average) 2 LORs from college professors and 1 for HS teacher(/Long time neighbor/We the People coach) Feel that all were strong-excellent. I would say each of my essays were strong-excellent (Common App essay probably stood out well as I applied to only Vandy and could make it specific)
The first application decision for Vanderbilt transfer this year was April 18, my decision came in the May 8th wave (the second wave).
Gender: Female
State: Michigan
Current College: University of Michigan
Credits: 48
Major: Human and Organizational Development
HS GPA: 3.979 unweighted and 4.602 weighted
ACT: 32
College GPA: 1st- 3.92 2nd- 3.85 Cumulative- 3.89 (University Honors/Dean’s List)
EC: (Included some relevant HS ones)
-Billy Bear Hug Foundation Youth Advisory Board- President- Freshman HS-Now
-Senior class president
-West Quadrangle Hall Council- Vice-President- 2 semesters
-Delta Gamma- 2 semesters
-Musket Marketing Team and Performance Cast- 1 semester
-UofM Lions Club- Secretary and Charter Member- 1 semester
-Younglife- 2 semesters
-Future Business Leaders of America- Phi Beta Lambda- 1 semester
LOR and Essays: 2 LORs from college professors and 1 from HS teacher(/long time neighbor/We the People coach) that all were probably excellent-strong. My essays were both excellent-strong as well. I only applied to Vandy so I was able to make my Common App specific to HOD and Vandy!
The first application decision for Vanderbilt transfer this year was April 18, my decision came in the May 8th (the second) wave.
Hello,
This is not a decision, but a little information that I think would be helpful to people going through these threads in the future.
1.Most people, unfortunately, did not post their decisions in here. However, if you go to other thread(find link below), the first wave of decisions start on page 131, the second wave is on page 179. The first wave was mostly all acceptances, while the second was mostly all waitlists and denials. It seemed that, for a junior transfer, a 3.9+ GPA from a four year school made you very likely to be accepted.
It seems vandy's financial aid was what is purported to be: very generous. Mostly everybody seemed to be satisfied with their package. The NPC, for me at least, was extremely accurate in predicted financial aid for Vandy and the other schools I applied to.
3.Vandy was also very generous when it came to transferring credits. All of mine transferred and it seemed most people had good experiences with it. Did seem like people from community colleges had more issues with transferring credits.
If anybody has any questions feel free to message me.
Gender: Female
State: Maryland
Current College: Stevens Institute of Technology
Credits: 76 after this spring semester
Major: Computer engineering with a minor or concentration in nuclear engineering
HS GPA: don’t remember exactly, but i think around 3.7 unweighted and 4.5 weighted (had a 5.0 my senior year)
ACT: 32
College GPA: cumulative after this semester is a 3.365, though i’ve been taking over my required course load
SAT: 2020
EC: unified sports for all of high school (with special olympics), as well as treasurer of FNHS, member of NHS, took both IB and AP courses. Not too much in college, but I work 3-4 days a week at the local Mathnasium as well as with the math department on campus
LOR and Essays: 1 LOR from a college professor and one from a high school teacher, both should be strong. Essays were very personal
My decision came in the second wave!
Note: I applied during high school and was denied, not sure if that helps or not!