<p>I don’t think there’s anyway I don’t get into Vanderbilt. Tell me if i’m being overconfident. (I’m a black male btw)</p>
<p>Unweighted GPA: 3.67
Weighted GPA: 4.02
Class Rank: My school doesn’t rank</p>
<p>SAT I Math Score: 750
SAT I CriticalReading Score: 720
SAT I Writing Score: 730</p>
<p>2200 in total</p>
<p>Activities
Football 4 years
Basketball 4 years
Track 4 years (i’m really involved in sports)
School Newspaper Sports Writer 4 years
Student Council 3 years
Youth Advisory Council 3 years
Intercultural Club 2 years
Dallas Area Diversity Youth Association (DADYO) 1 year
Spanish Club 2 years
Admissions Ambassador 2 years</p>
<p>National Merit Commended Scholar
National Achievement Scholar
3 or 4 Journalism Awards for My sports stories
National Spanish Honor Society
National Spanish Exam Silver Medalist</p>
<p>AP classes:
Junior year
AP U.S. History
AP Spanish Language
Senior year
AP Biology
AP English
AP Stat
AP Calc BC
AP Spanish Lit. </p>
<p>I’m really want to go into some field of science with some kind of minor in spanish and eventually be a doctor.</p>
<p>You have great credentials and the URM part will be a big plus for you as well. You have good reason to be confident. That said, none of us can predict with 100% certainty, so be sure to have a solid selection of backup schools.</p>
<p>Based on all the disgusting affirmative action I’ve seen in my school, I think you’ll get in, especially considering you actually deserve to get in unlike a lot of people that got into places just through affirmative action.</p>
<p>“I’m really want to go into some field of science with some kind of minor in spanish and eventually be a doctor.”</p>
<p>after translating that into english, it sounded like a good plan. i’m thinking about a similar track.</p>
<p>“no you’re not too confident. The question is: Do you really want to go here?”</p>
<p>and that rings truth. you of course have good reason to be confident, but i’m going to go ahead and tell you that you need to bottle that confidence deep inside and work hard (don’t forget to play hard if not harder).</p>
<p>i’ll assume you’re applying to the college of arts & sciences as opposed to the other schools (engineering, blair -> music, peabody -> education). the numbers at the other three schools are lower than a&s and therefore raise the average undergraduate acceptance rate and lower the average undergraduate scores as reported by college board and all those other places you’re surely looking (a&s has a 28% acceptance rate, 90.1% were in the top 10% in h.s.). that being said, you have about a 50/50 shot at admission based on your scores alone (which, keep in mind, are not fantastic, you’re in the middle 50%).</p>
<p>your extras won’t do you any harm but certainly won’t make you a shoo in. you’re all over the place. they look for leadership in a select few.
throw in a couple bits of affirmative action and your chances are potentially raised.</p>
<p>i’d say about 75%. if you feel it’s any higher than that, you’re probably exhibiting some overconfidence, of which the admissions office probably isn’t so fond…because, well, everyone here is either equally intelligent or smarter than you (not you in particular, that’s just the case at all the top schools. add in Vandy’s culture and I can’t find a justification as to why I spent so much time hassling with the decision at the end).</p>
<p>good luck. make sure to have a stunning essay and sell your passions.</p>
<p>If you are applying ED I or II you will get in. Regular is tough… this last year a lot of kids I knew didn’t get in, and it’s harder to predict. They also have to have a reason they to believe that you are going to come there and Vandy isn’t just another application on a list of 16. More and more schools want to improve their yields, and Vandy is in it with all of them.</p>
<p>“no you’re not too confident. The question is: Do you really want to go here?”
if i don’t get into any of my top schools, i could be happy going to vandy but it’s not my top choice. </p>
<p>“your extras won’t do you any harm but certainly won’t make you a shoo in. you’re all over the place. they look for leadership in a select few.”
i’m really passionate about sports. i put that first because that’s where i’ve put most of my effort in highschool and i’m going to be captain of two of those teams next year. student council and newspaper are my other two passions so i put those next. i have more stuff but i chose not to put them cuz it’s really not important to me. </p>
<p>"If you are applying ED I or II you will get in. Regular is tough… this last year a lot of kids I knew didn’t get in, and it’s harder to predict. "
i’m not applying ED. i’ll take my chance RD. </p>
<p>“I know your school doesn’t rank, but can you give us some general idea of how you rank compared to your classmates?”
the school i go to is ranked the best private school in texas consistently every year by nearly everybody that ranks. i wasn’t in the top 10% (cumlaude) but i’d say top 20% for sure.</p>
<p>My son got in with very similar scores, good essays, and nice references and decent ECs. Non minority status. Your status will garner attention. All schools want diversity and so it comes down to how sincere you are about feeling a “match” potential at various places. In my view, it is best to be sincere about every college you send an application to…to be able to visualize a life for yourself as “workable and interesting” in a handful of unique and different places. If you can’t picture it, don’t target a school. It is a waste of your psychic energy and other’s time. It will be hard enough to make decisions among the schools you do respect and like.
Even if you are waitlisted at some reach institutions, if you make a good list of colleges, you will likely have a reach admission or more to consider. Then it comes down to if you are offered merit or need money, other incentives like research or travel options, etc. How you feel about your college list in April 08 will undergo some shifts which are perfectly natural…some schools will begin to warm your heart the more you get to know them, another crush school may not “feel right” on Accepted Students Day. There really is little difference among academic rigor in top schools, but you may be choosing different school cultures. You may have to choose between being among the top academic recruits at some schools and being “average” in stats at others. All this is a judgment call on your part.
If you can spare the time and money to travel and absorb first-hand, consider it. As a minority recruit, you may find there are expenses offered for some school’s scholarship weekends or their themed weekends designed to showcase a college (my son was not offered any of these expense paid weekends but some students of all races did get these invitations.)</p>
<p>I really think you should not be focusing on stats. I also would completely ignore people who growse at AA status. Personally, I welcome the changes at Vanderbilt for instance (we were there 25 years ago) and Vandy is a very happening school in a friendly city (could actually be a better pick than some higher ranked schools if you like the atmosphere.) Vandy Med School and its all of its offshoots for instance are something that will enrich an undergrad experience. Vandy also has a sporty atmosphere and some fun school spirit for alum. Think ahead to issues like how much does it mean to you to attend sporting events at age 40 for reunions.</p>
<p>Your stats are excellent, and if you have references to match, you should be admitted to a selective school of your choice. My son carefully focused on his match colleges, and was waitlisted at his personal crush reach college, and was admitted to two other reach colleges he liked to his surprise. Reach colleges are just not predictable.<br>
My best advice to you is for you to visit colleges ASAP, and to start asking yourself the tougher questions because you can prepare well for medical school at larger or smaller colleges. Do you want an urban environment? How much does racial and economic diversity in the student body impact your happiness from ages 18-22? LAC’s often actually have better med school admission rates and better lab preparation than some larger schools. Do you want college sports that you observe, or college sports that you play? Do you want to be in club sports or to wear your college’s jersey yourself?</p>
<p>wow. thanks! that was really nice of you to take time out of your day to type that up for me. unless you just copy and pasted it from somewhere which i doubt you did. i’ve already started visiting schools and i’m pretty sure what kind of atmosphere i want.
i want to go to a school that has sports. i don’t think i could play at most schools, but i’m not ready to rule it out yet (i think i still have my best seasons ahead of me). also, i love the sense of school spirit that sports gives at my school. my life is sports and i can’t imagine 4years w/o a successful sports team around me. that’s why i’m kinda turned off by some of those small LAC’s that probably would give me a good or even better education than say a northwestern or penn. i’ll think about what you said and come back to it come april. thanks.</p>
<p>yeah, if you like sports, come to vanderbilt. school spirit is amazing at games and whatnot. almost every sport is up and coming. sure, our football team has had a loosing season forever, but this year’s the year. mark my words.</p>