Hi, I am a junior in high school and am really interested in Blair. I have a 1950 SAT and a 3.4 unweighted GPA. I am a mezzo-soprano and want to get into the school of music. I am very involved in the music programs at my school and will be Chorus president next year. I will also be graduating with a pink chord. I have done quite a bit of volunteer work. However, I am afraid my musical resume is not long enough since I have really only been building it since Sophomore year. Do you think it is feasible for me to get in, and do you have any advice for me about things i can do to stand out to Vanderbilt and Blair. Thank you.
I am also thinking about applying early decision.
I heard from my blair friends that blair students are also judged by their audition scores. Take that as you will.
@Itsthemezzolife Hi there! Not sure if you still need information, but I thought I’d give you my understanding of the matter since I am actually going to Blair next year.
Blair is more competitive than I realized before my interview/audition day (less than 20% of people get past prescreening apparently, and of those about 20-30% are admitted, yielding an acceptance rate of anywhere from 5-10% depending on the program/instrument). So, if you get that far, know that you’re admittable and that they’re just looking for fit at that point for students from their elite pool. Blair only admits about 50 people each year total, split between all different instruments and composers and what have you, so know going in that it’s difficult to get accepted, and it’s a crapshoot as well. But, audition weekend is a wonderful time (they wine and dine you very nicely and Nashville is a great place).
I think you are academically in the ballpark for your GPA (assuming your school is challenging/private or what have you) but I’d aim for SATs to go above a 2050 at a minimum. If you can, finish the year strong, select challenging courses next year and make sure you succeed semester 1. It’s hard to balance everything, but I found that senior year S1 is just as much crunch time as is junior year, so don’t slack off. Applying ED would help your chances, but even so, academics are at the core of the Vanderbilt experience, and frankly no matter how talented you are musically, you do have to meet basic requirements that show your capacity to fulfill academic requirements and to thrive at the school. I’d aim for 3.6+ if possible and a 2050, or a 31 on the ACT. Granted, numbers aren’t everything, and you could get in as is - my advice in numbers is just a suggestion for improving your chances further.
I hope this is helpful! Best of luck in your college process. Auditions are by far the most important factor, so make high quality prescreening videos, practice hard, and try to enjoy the process. Apply to a variety of schools, knowing that nothing is certain and everything is a game (You could get into Juilliard and nowhere else, or everywhere but Juilliard in this process!)