Hey everyone! I’m a rising senior who is very interested in Vanderbilt, and I was wondering if anyone could give me a realistic idea of whether I’m a competitive candidate for Vandy or not.
GPA: unweighted 4.0, weighted 4.421
ACT: 34 composite (9 writing)
AP classes/scores: AP World (5), AP Human Geo (5), I also took AP Lang, APUSH, AP Psych, and AP Calc AB this past year but haven’t gotten scores yet
SAT Subject Tests: Biology M 720, Math 2 750, Us History 640
Extracurriculars: Key Club Editor (3 years), Student Government (I have been spirit chair, historian, and secretary), NHS, I helped start a writing enrichment program at my city’s middle schools, I’m a member of a Youth Services Citizens Board (affiliated with my City government), and I volunteer at my local science museum and in the city libraries. I’d say my most notable ECs (and those that take up most of my free time) are the Youth Services Board and volunteering.
Thanks for the help!
You sound like a great candidate. Your chances will be better if you aren’t from TN or KY, because Vandy gets an abundance of qualified candidates who are “near” Nashville.
Wonderful qualifications in the realm of test scores and grades. Rigorous schedule, presumably great AP scores to come. All good stuff. Your ECs also look good, nothing extraordinary or especially long term, but you have leadership positions which helps. I would say you have a good shot.
However, I would not send that US History score. Math 2 and Biology both look adequate, but if the first digit of an SAT section or subject test is not 7, then you just shouldn’t send it to certain schools that are hyper sensitive to test scores traditionally (Vanderbilt, MIT, UChicago, Caltech, WashU etc.) These schools have been known to say at public admissions events that they look for this, generally speaking, even though test scores are just one component, so just be aware of that. But otherwise, you’re an excellent candidate for many schools, Vanderbilt included.
@maddyduv I think a 34 is avg for Vandy. I would apply ED2 or retake for a 35. Vandy is hypersensitive to stats and that 1 point can make a difference.
@VANDEMORY1342 @Senior2016M Thanks for the input! And yeah, I definitely was not planning on sending the USH score. Unfortunately, I did not prepare well enough for it and it definitely shows! Thanks again!
@deborahb Thanks so much! I’m from VA 
Vandy has a thing for high test scores. 34 ACT might well be good enough, but they’d dig you more if you could turn that into a 35. Practice/prep over the summer and take the ACT again in early September.
@northwesty thanks for the advice!