would you say Vandy is a reach or a match for me?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Vanderbilt University
1

<p>Basics:
-RD
-First Generation
-Montenegrin/ Greek
-From Illinois
-Very Low Income
-Intended major: American studies</p>

<p>Stats:
3.7 UW, 4.5 W
9 AP Exams/ courses through senior year
30 ACT
Sat II's in October</p>

<p>EC:
4 leadership positions
2 varsity sports
lots of community service/ other volunteer stuff
volunteer at history museums</p>

<p>Other:
took classes at a top school and received A's
Essays should be good, probably not spectacular, but good
Recs will be good</p>

2

<p>also, i took 2 ap exams already but 7 next year. the 2 ap exams were us history and euro history and i got 4’s in both</p>

3

<p>reach with that test score. A lot of 32’s were wait listed this year…</p>

4

<p>Yeah, I know it says that 30 is the bottom 25% on College Board, but those are dated. They told us yesterday at the Founder’s Walk that 31 was the 25% mark for this class (2013). </p>

<p>Just from the speech they gave - they’re really looking for people that stand out in terms of their course rigor, teacher recs and unique contributions to society/EC’s. They read us excerpts of teacher recommendations (ex: “this student is the catalyst that joins together diverse students who otherwise wouldn’t socialize.”) and gave some of the more spectacular EC’s people did - which varied from starting a national sexual harrassment program to being in some high-level dance company thing for 6 years. They did not read us excerpts of student essays or tell us how many 1600’s/2400’s/36’s they got. They also didn’t mention AP scores, but they did tell us that this year’s freshmen took the most rigorous/challenging classes they had ever seen. I think what they told us reflected what they value in an application. When you ask the admissions office straight up what the most important part of a student application is, they’ll say everything, it’s holistic, etc, but I don’t think that’s true.</p>

<p>Scores won’t get you in, but they can keep you out. A 30 is a bit low. Shoot for at least a 32… It won’t get you in, but it has a better chance of not keeping you out.</p>