Vanderbily Early Decision ?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Vanderbilt University
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So I applied and i guess Vandy has about a 25% admission rate for Early Decision applicants, does anyone know if I could fit the bill this year? I have to go for School of Engineering only because NROTC will pretty much only give scholarships for that, so I know I’m going to have a tougher time. I’m also applying to UMichigan, Ohio State, UMD, Carnegie Mellon, Case Western, WVU, Tennessee, and THE U… of ohio. (miami) if you know anything about those schools

Caucasian male from Maryland (diversity gold mine)
GPA: 3.7 Weighted, 3.3 UW (I have a big ole rising trend tho, my mom had the Big C and my pops was gone my freshman year so I got lazy. I killed junior year tho and that’s when I took my hard stuff so maybe that will help. This is reflected in my application.)
ACT: 35 Comp. (36 Reading, 35 Science, 35 English, 33 Math)
AP Scores: 5 Calc AB, 5 English Lang and Comp, 3 on Physics (lol I took the “L”)
Current AP Classes: Chem, Calc BC, Human Geography, Literature
Project Lead The Way all 4 years (Engineering classes, pretty much all honors, Civil Engineering, Digital Electronics, etc)

Extracurricular Activities:
-Eagle Scout (This is my big one, solid leadership, 1,000 or so hours of com. service)
-SGA Secretary
-SGA Class officer, 2 terms
-NHS
-Varsity Track and Field, Indoor and Outdoor
-JV Lacrosse
-Sailing Club
-Adventure Club
-Worked three different obs during High School, two at a time on occasion
-Captain of a club Lacrosse team
-Member of the NAACP
-AP Scholar
-Honor Role all 4 years (kind of a joke in my county tho)

Letters of Rec: I had the privilege to read one that my neighbor and life coach (She’s a veteran colonel in the marines, taught Physics at the naval academy, got her masters in Civil engineering from Berkeley, could whoop ISIS’s ass by herself) and I almost cried it was good. Probably did not deserve that, but admissions doesn’t know that so ahaha.
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Hooks: not much, I’m a pretty typical American boy. I fancy myself pretty good at interviews so maybe that will help when I do the CoRP’s alumni interview. (Commodore Recruitment Program)

So that’s me. Vanderbilt is my absolute top choice, I dream about this school at night haha i’m sure I’m not alone. If you could chance me that would be very cool, thanks y’all!

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jobs* wow I did a good spell cheek

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The only problem with your profile is your GPA IMO. The upward trend will help, but a 3.3 is very low for Vandy. I think your ACT will help offset the GPA a little, but schools tend to weight GPA a lot more than test scores (although there are some exceptions). Good luck!

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I’ve heard online (so u know its reliable) that they rely on test scores more I guess?? But i don’t think that will change much. Thank u

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Test scores are definitely more important in my opinion, especially in the admissions process for elite schools, and double especially for score conscious Vanderbilt.

You’re a borderline candidate. The key will be writing a compelling essay/having recs that are able to explain your initial poor grades and your subsequent rising trend in a way that provides a satisfying justification, but doesn’t make it seem like you are just making excuses for yourself and not taking responsibility.

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I think you have a chance at Vandy. They do have a very good Naval ROTC program, and a brand new fab engineering building. Vandy engineers are going to get a big advantage with the new investments made in their program and it is a cozy subschool. Vanderbilt engineering pathway is on a beautiful varied campus so you do get a rather traditional college experience while doing engineering. But the same compliment holds at some of your other schools. Your test scores are good enough to offset your grades but can’t be certain if the competition is excellent and that pool gets bigger every year. Nevertheless, Love your school list. Nice and broad and you will get good offers regardless. I am a little confused…the other schools are your RD round, correct? Perhaps I don’t grasp the ROTC pathway which may have “chosen your list” for you. I would drop UTenn and WVU and go with Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech but then I am just armchairing things. Job prospects out of Georgia Tech are mighty sweet these days if you can hack the ups and downs of the work. Ditto Va Tech.

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Faline2, the main reason for Tennessee and WVU is they offer pretty good scholarships in case I don’t get the NRTOC scholarship. I was looking at GaTech for a couple weeks and even sent my transcript there but I decided against it. It seemed to be a little too high stress for me based off reviews and the like, even compared to Carnegie and Case. Thanks though, I haven’t really thought about Virginia Tech.

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Well, I applaud any and all efforts to reduce tuition costs, and Tennessee and WVU are good communities to grow up in so good luck with your admissions rounds.

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Update: Interview went very well, the alumni and I were practically the same person haha NROTC/MechE/Ohio State Family, etc, so that was cool. Feeling fairly confident at the moment but only one person out of 40 have been accepted from my HS in the past lol

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Always good when you luck out and get a good interviewer who gives you a good feeling about a college from his or her experience. Stay the course. Stay open hearted–great job in high school. all will be well.

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Could someone give me my chances? Please Vandy is my top choice so any feedback would be amazing

GPA: 4.562 w
senior year courses:
AP Gov
AP Literature
AP Calc AB
AP Spanish IV
H Engineering and Design (selective class only takes 16)
H Advanced Drama (selective class only takes 14)
Bible (required by my school)
ACT: 34
AP Tests: 5 on European History, 4 on US History, 4 on Lang Comp

ECs
2nd degree Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do
Senior Class Treasurer
Varsity XC (9,10,11,12)
Varsity Track (9,10,12)
Lead in 6 school plays
Nominated for an acting award for role in a musical in a competition between high schools in 4 major Texas counties
Head Editor for school magazine
Founder and President of school debate team
Work at a summer camp for kids with disabilities since freshman year
Leads a bible study for 5th-8th graders
Volunteers at special needs ministry at church
National Merit Scholar Commended
NHS (treasurer although I don’t think that matters)
National Spanish Honors Society
Member of STEM Club
Interned at a health care provider
Plays piano, cello, and sings
Summa Cum Laude all 4 years (GPA of at least 4.3)

Letters of Rec: All should be outstanding, had my english teacher who had me twice and loves me write one, my spanish teacher (used to be an english teacher as well), and my math teacher who is well known for writing the best recs in the school- I didn’t get a chance to read them so I’m not positive, but I feel they will all be great.

Essay: Common app-pretty good, not anything amazing but pretty solid
EC essay- I personally think this essay was really good, but it can only be so good considering the character limit XD

Hooks: Great interview and that I founded the debate club (wrote EC essay over that)

As I said any feedback would be great! Vanderbilt is where I want to go more than anything so I would really appreciate someone weighing in on my chances. Thanks!