Vandy Transfer

Colleges and Universities A-Z Vanderbilt University
1

<p>I'm a freshmen right now at Ole Miss, and I'm looking to apply for transfer to Vanderbilt after not getting in as a freshmen applicant. Here are my HS stats and prospective college stats. </p>

<p>College:
Computer Science/Physics major
Taking 18 credit hours
Enrolled in the honors college (which happens to be very competitive)
Speculative GPA for 1st semester is 4.0. Most classes just had midterms, and nothing is too challenging so far
Also, I've been involved in several academic groups and programs and will continue to be active. </p>

<p>High school:</p>

<p>ACT: 32 (I may take ACT/SAT again)
SAT: 2130
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.7</p>

<p>Extracurriculars: Band (president/section leader), Cross county, youth group (leadership), track, math and science team, finance team</p>

<p>Job/Work Experience: Worked in a fast food restaurant, a factory, and in construction</p>

<p>Volunteer/Community service: Lots of church stuff and a few local park ecosystem projects. I also acted as a sort of intermediary for Korean Students</p>

<p>Essays: My essays are typically pretty good, but sometimes unorthodox, so I guess it could go either way. </p>

<p>School Type: Average public school
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: Low, less than 40k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): first gen college</p>

<p>So basically, I'm wanting to know if I have a chance of being accepted from a school like Mississippi even if I do have a 4.0. Also, I will be applying for fin aid. What do you guys think?</p>

2

<p>4.0 for the whole year at ole miss’s honor college and consider yourself accepted (as long as you don’t screw up the application). vandy’s transfer admissions isn’t nearly as competitive.</p>

<p>have you given serious consideration toward staying at ole miss? i’m assuming you’re attending almost for free and a 4.0 goes a long way toward pre-professional admissions (law & medicine). vandy is great but the grass isn’t always significantly greener on the other side.</p>

3

<p>if you nail it, a 4.0 is something to be proud of regardless of Vandy’s taking you in as a transfer or not. Good for you. You have avoided the “freshman follies” that most people trip up in at least once or twice. Keep your eye on the long view of life…grad school admissions and the relative paucity of funding for graduate education and the necessity of taking out loans in phase two. In a bad economy. In a bad job market. Are you interested in marching band at Vanderbilt? One of the marching band leaders posts here sometimes. Just thinking about ways you might contribute at Vandy. Do they allow Alum Interviews for Transfer candidates? Just another thought re formulating your reasons for hoping for a transfer and finding someone to speak on your behalf.</p>

4

<p>I thought about the marching band at Vandy, and my high school band director said he knows one of the directors at Vandy and could put in a good word if I wanted to audition. </p>

<p>I have thought about staying at Ole Miss because we do have a respectable honors college and I’m actually getting a pretty nice refund check every semester, but I’m going to apply to Vanderbilt regardless and see what kind of financial aid I can get.</p>

<p>If for some reason I don’t have a 4.0 after first semester, I probably won’t even apply, but right now I’m optimistic, and I still want to go to Vandy as much as I did last year, so if I get in, it’s going to be hard to turn it down</p>

5

<p>I don’t think the 4.0 is the dealbreaker, so apply regardless. Tenacious is a good quality in a tough world, but don’t neglect to stay open-hearted, Vandy or no Vandy. Good things also happen to grads of the honors college of Old Miss if you distinguish yourself by contributing to your department and by maxing out the opportunities and professor support right in front of you. I remember you last year, so of course only wish that all your dreams come true. There is always grad school at Vandy…put your best foot forward on your under grad transfer application, stay on a positive message and enjoy work and life.</p>

6

<p>Thanks for the support. I won’t be devastated if I have to spend the next 4 years at Ole Miss, but I’m still hopeful for Vandy, so I guess for now I just have to keep up my grades and work hard on my application</p>

7

<p>I think admissions officers like to admit emotionally healthy people who have something to contribute. Demonstrate your emotional health but staying positive about the best of Ole Miss in your essay, while giving them a clear reason or two why you are attracted to things available in the community that is Vanderbilt and Nashville. I don’t think you have to reinvent the wheel. Veracity is always the best thing, and adcoms know it when they read it. I always tell my son that the shorthand for mental health is maintaining a generally high opinion/valuation of others while maintaining a high opinion/valuation of yourself. In other words, you can respect Ole Miss in your essays while conjecturing that you wish to be part of the Vandy community. The other thing I tell my sons is that compliments and feedback are not meaningful if they are not specific. So get specific about Vanderbilt and Ole Miss. There is a joke in our house about first grade birthday cards in their school. The boys would come home with 22 students age seven having written on a “classroom Bday card”
You are Nice. Happy Birthday.</p>

8

<p>Yeah that’s good advice, and I always make a point to write with optimism. I think by acknowledging the good things Ole Miss has going for it I’ll be strengthening my case just by demonstrating that I know exactly what I’m attempting to leave behind. Then, of course, I can point out why I’m more suited to Vandy/Nashville without ever admonishing Ole Miss.</p>