<p>I visited Vassar this past spring and it is definitely my dream reach school. I considered going ED, but doing so is too final, and I want to have options as far as financial aid goes. please let me know if you think I stand a good chance of getting in regular! </p>
<p>Ethnicity: Black/Spanish (biracial)
GPA: 3.8 unweighted / 4.32 weighted
SAT: 720 CR, 730 WR, 690 MT --> Total: 2140
SAT IIs: 640 Bio and 730 US
Class Rank: 30/250</p>
<p>I've been in all Honors Classes every year. During Jr year I was in AP US history, and for this upcoming Senior Yr, I'll be doing AP Chemistry, AP English, and continuing with all the rest being Honors Classes. (My school doesn't offer many APs. The only other AP I could have possibly been in is for math -not my strong suit- so I'm sticking with honors for that)</p>
<p>Activites & Leadership, etc:</p>
<p>School Newspaper- all four years, and have had a leadership position each year. I'm currently the Senior Editor.
Pax Christi-four years (volunteer club)
National Honor Society- 2 years, currently the Senior Representative
Poverty Initiative club- 3 years (running for secretary for senior yr, wish me luck!)
Volunteer summer camp counselor- 2 Summers (200+ hours)
Lab assistant at a local research center- 1 year, going on 2
Paying job as a teacher's assitant at a local karate dojo (I help teach the little kids)- 1 year, going on 2
Student at Local Karate Dojo (of adult class) - 4 years</p>
<p>Honors/ Awards:
I was an honorable mention in the NYU march of dimes essay competition
I was invited to the national achievement forum of medicine
I won first prize in an essay competition for local newspaper
Received full scholarship to Adelphi University writer's program</p>
<p>Thanks tons!!!</p>
<p>Well, theoretically Vassar is too competitive for your stats. So there is about a 5-7% chance you will get in. Your ethnicity may give you somewhat of an edge.so about 17%</p>
<p>can you tell me what it is specifically that makes my chances so low? is it not enough APs? gpa not high enough? i always felt that my chances weren’t high, but i figured that from looking at their student profile, i’d be more of an avg applicant maybe.</p>
<p>I definitely think you have <em>a</em> chance. And, if your essays are as great as implied, it’ll help you even more for a LAC such as Vassar.</p>
<p>but why is the chance so small?</p>
<p>your sat II is a little low otherwise the rest are okay especially your ethnicity which will be a tremendous boost to you.</p>
<p>Hey paperdolls. Well Vassar might be a bit of a reach, but not as bad as you think – I’d say your odds right now are around 35%. The main arguments against you are that your rank should be higher, and that your ECs could be a little more intriguing. The Vassar adcom, especially, is looking for someone with innovation and perhaps even a tinge of rebellion. Have you ever considered starting your own group – perhaps a small literary magazine or a local news blog?</p>
<p>The upsides to your application will be those neat-sounding awards, your volunteer and karate-related work, and your compelling SAT scores. Let’s not forget about your race, either. That factor adds quite some weight. If you put up good grades your first semester and do something cool between now and December, then I’d say you stand a good shot.</p>
<p>I want to make a quick pitch for applying ED, too. ED shows the adcom that you’re serious about attending, and slightly boosts your chances of being accepted. And while it might be a concern elsewhere, I would <em>not</em> worry about financial aid at Vassar. Unless you get a large merit scholarship from a second-tier school, Vassar will likely provide you with the best deal available. Plus, most liberal arts colleges (and I believe Vassar is one) don’t make an ED acceptance binding. While they could legally force you into enrolling, smaller schools generally realize that it’s in neither party’s interests to force a student to attend a school they don’t want to go to or can’t afford. Call the admissions office (consider doing so anonymously, though) to find out.</p>
<p>“Plus, most liberal arts colleges (and I believe Vassar is one) don’t make an ED acceptance binding. …”</p>
<p>They do unless the financial aid they offer is insufficient to enable attendance.</p>
<p>“… While they could legally force you into enrolling, smaller schools generally realize that it’s in neither party’s interests to force a student to attend a school they don’t want to go to or can’t afford.”</p>
<p>Forget it, there’s nothing legal ANY school would or could do to compel attendance. What would be the point of expelling a student when the bill couldn’t be paid?</p>
<p>Here is the rule from the ED agreement of the Common Application:
</p>
<p><a href=“https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/docs/downloadforms/ED_Agreement.pdf[/url]”>https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/docs/downloadforms/ED_Agreement.pdf</a></p>
<p>This might be interesting:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/education/edlife/strategy.html[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/education/edlife/strategy.html</a></p>
<p>You’re a URM with high grades, test scores, and interesting ECs. I think your chances are very good, especially if you are male.</p>
<p>I’m nervous about the whole ED mainly because of the financial packages, but then, I think your (Swat2014) idea to call anonymously to see sounds good, so I’ll try it. I mean, Vassar is definitely my number one, so it might be worth it. I just have difficulty understanding where I stand because of the different opinions I get on just how high or low my chances are. Thanks for the advice though, I know I’m going to try REALLY hard to make my grades outstanding for first trimester, and I’ll have to see if there is anything I can do to make myself stand out more. </p>
<p>oh! and I’m female by the way, though I didn’t know that lessened the chances o.O</p>
<p>I just want to reiterate that you can typically reject an ED acceptance if the financial package isn’t sufficient. However, before doing that, I would suggest negotiating with the college.</p>
<p>You know what would be really, REALLY awful? Applying ED to the school you love, getting a financial aid package that’s not what you expected/hoped for, turning it – and, consequently, the school – down…only to find out during the RD round that all the financial aid packages for the other schools are about the same.</p>
<p>So, yes, you can turn down the ED…but you can’t say, “Let me have until May to see what the other aid packages are like.” And I believe that “negotiating” financial aid – to the extent you can do it – is that much tougher for an ED package. It’s not like you can say, “Peer Institution X looked at the same information and thought my EFC should be lots lower.” That’s an option you might have in the RD round that cannot exist in the ED round.</p>
<p>If financial aid is a big concern, and you really have your heart set on a particular school, you may very well paint yourself into a corner by applying ED.</p>
<p>While it’s true you can get out of the obligation, the goal is to matriculate, not bail out. Advising people to apply to their first choice ED because they can always bail out if the FA package isn’t good is sort of like telling someone they can fly without a navigation because there are emergency exits on the plane if you run out of fuel. The goal is to get to where you want to go most, so maybe it’s wise to wait, when you’re less likely to use the emergency exit.</p>
<p>The usual question is: Can I afford my dream school? It’s not supposed to be: Are they giving me what I expect or want?</p>
<p>So, yes, I agree, do not apply ED if you have the mindset of hoping for a better financial aid package if your dream school doesn’t give you what you want or expect.</p>
<p>Well, it’s just that, even more than I’m worried about the financial aid, is that I dont know exactly where I stand. The whole college admissions process confuses me, but mainly because of the ranges. I look at the SAT ranges and the GPA of the avg admitted student, and I see that I match the higher end of what they usually take, so I want to think “okay, I have a good shot,” but then so many people will say “egh, not really.” That’s why I’m hoping I can get a better idea, of what my chances are getting in on here, just so I know if ED is even necessary as far as being admitted is concerned.</p>
<p>You said “I want to have options as far as financial aid goes.” This is the reason not to apply ED. Give yourself these options and wait for RD time. ED should not be used to increase chances of admission.</p>
<p>I was accepted RD with roughly the same stats (my rank was higher, but I had the same GPA as you). I think you have an okay chance, and I think your race makes up for the fact that you’re a female (to put it bluntly). I just say try and get good grades first semester/trimester of next year and write a kick ass essay to boost your chances. I wish you luck, since that’s most of the college application process, unfortunately! </p>
<p>As far as aid goes, Vassar is officially need blind (unlike lots of other LAC who secretly aren’t), and will give no loans (no loans as in they’ll give you it all as scholarship) if your parents’ income is less than 60k. I don’t know if that applies to you, but it’s nice to know.</p>
<p>So –</p>
<p>a male with Math 660, CR 690, Writing 720, hasn’t taken SATII yet
who plays great guitar and all ECs are about music, interning in the Fall with a famous band, has tutored younger students at his school, has volunteered (school work program) at a prestigious science museum, and that’s about all he’s done,</p>
<p>and is a legacy, but is very white,</p>
<p>has ZERO chance of getting into Vassar, right? Just to be perfectly clear about this?</p>
<p>thanks (should he even apply?)</p>
<p>No, you should give it a shot. What’s the worst that can happen?</p>