Vanderbilt VS Northwestern

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hi everyone so I’ve been perusing this thread for a long time and trying to get a gage on my chances for getting accepted regular decision to Northwestern and Vanderbilt but things seem so all over the place I wanted to make this post and hopefully get a few more opinions on my chances at each.
I am a senior girl from a pretty reputable public school in Michigan.
ACT: Composite(34) English(35) Reading (36) Math (31) Science (34)
NEW SAT: 1510 Composite English:780 Math: 730
UW GPA: 4.0
W GPA: 4.147
AP Classes
APUSH (5)
AP English Language and Composition (5)
AP Gov (5)
Took AP Environmental but did not take the test
Senior Schedule
AP World History
AP Calc B/C
AP English Literature
Spanish 4
Yearbook

ECs
JV lacrosse one year varsity lacrosse 3 years, voted a senior co-captain
Yearbook two years, co-editor-in-chief one year
National Honor Society
Freshman and JV basketball in 9th and 10th grade
Vice President of my schools International Travel Club for two years, president for one year
Member of Senior Advisory Board (Planning committee) in 12th grade
I work a retail job but it is a retail job that employs mostly adults with developmental disabilities so I work alongside and help them.
Awards
National Merit Semifinalist (hopefully I will get finalist at least but decisions for that obviously haven’t been made yet)
AP Scholar (11th grade)
Academic All State for Lacrosse
Essays
CA: I think my common app essay is very strong I’ve had a lot of people including an AP English teacher read over it
EC essay: have not written yet but will try and make it very good will probably write about my job working with the disabled adults.
Letters of Rec

1- My math teacher she has had me for three years so she knows me well, math is not my best subject so she's seen me work hard for my A's so that will hopefully be good

2- APUSH teacher who knows me quite well, history was also my favorite class so he's seen me learning something I'm passionate about so I think it will be good

3-My yearbook advisor who loves me and knows me really well. She has seen me in a leadership position so that's good. I think she will write me a really good one

I do plan on applying for financial aid
I plan on majoring in Political Science or History
Also, I have very few schools I’ve decided to apply to so if anyone has any more suggestions of schools similar to Vanderbilt or Northwestern or that I may match with I would I would love to hear about it.
Thanks!

2

So you don’t even need to chance me but if anyone has any insight about these schools, opinions, experiences, or advice I would love to hear it

3

I am facing a similar dilemma between whether I like Vandy or Northwestern better, but from what I took in from visiting both is that Vanderbilt is more of a laid back and “collaborative-feeling” environment, whereas Northwestern has a more intense kind of vibe academically speaking (but current students would probably argue in either direction; this was just my initial reaction). Also, Nashville weather >>> Chicago weather, but since you are from Michigan the Chicago weather probably won’t be an issue. But then again, both cities are radically different and have their advantages and disadvantages, so my best advice to you is visit both if you haven’t already. As for chances you seem pretty solid for both, but remember that Vandy has ED2 which probably has a higher admit rate than applying regular (assuming you don’t plan on applying to either ED1). I hope some of this helps

4

Hey @frazzledsenior17 , im also considering to apply to vandy, and i think you have pretty good chances for either of the colleges tbh.

5

@seaotter17 thanks so much from your input. Everything that I’ve read seems to point to the same thing as far as Vandy being a little more laid back and Northwestern more intense. I do know about the much higher chances for early decision but even though Vanderbilt is definitely towards the top of my list I have unfortunately not been able to visit and will not be able to visit unless I get in so I wouldn’t feel comfortable committing early decision.

6

@Dreamitdoit thanks so much for your feedback!