<p>My high school is a small public and rural school, and we generally send a large number of our students to the local community college- maybe half. I will be applying to Vanderbilt, and I am not sure if anyone from my school has ever applied there, at least not recently. Will they take that into account aa far as location, or will they only consider location as my state?</p>
<p>Generally yes. The admissions office is organized by region so that they should be somewhat familiar with the area/school. That said, there are a lot of schools in the US. I would recommend talking with your guidance counselor or whoever is responsible for submitting the school report and make sure they effectively articulate that you have taken advantage of what is offered at your school. Good luck. </p>
<p>It helps when no one else is applying from your school. Should give you a boost</p>
<p>Usually, one of the initial parts of the admission process is for the college to compare you with other students applying from your high school, as well as those they’ve admitted from your school in the past. If a college isn’t familiar with your high school then they will have some difficulty assessing how well you’ve done and how much advantage you’ve taken of local opportunities. In such cases nationwide, objective measures, such as your ACT or SAT scores will be especially important. For example, you may want to take the SAT subject tests if possible as well as any AP exams. </p>
<p>If you’re set on Vanderbilt also consider applying early decision to underline how serious you are about attending. In some cases, applying early decision can be a bad deal for students requiring financial aid. But Vanderbilt has an excellent reputation in terms of (no loan) aid and, if you qualify for aid, Vandy is unlikely to offer you less than comparable schools because you’ve applied early and are therefore “stuck” with whatever package they offer. Of course, before applying you should go on their website,figure out your family’s EFC, and confirm with your parent(s) whether it’s realistic. Good luck!</p>
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This blanket statment is too broad. </p>
<p>While schools may desire to cast a wide net, applicants from far flung schools also face colleges who have a harder time discerning their real achievements b/c their schools or school district is unfamiliar.</p>
<p>@T26E4 and @Poohbah29 is there anything I can do to help them get a better idea about my achievements?</p>
<p>@fondmemories I have visited and looked at the net price calculator, so I am set on applying ED1. Vanderbilt is a reach school for me, but it is definitely my number one choice. I know that the school I come from and applying ED won’t give me admission, but I am looking for advice on how to better improve my chances. Thank you for your help!</p>
<p>Adcoms want to make sure you can handle the rigor of the courses at a school like Vanderbilt. If you have started your common app you will see a place to list your courses. You can use the “additional information” section to highlight specific achievements that you think are not clear in other parts of the application - they give you 650 words in that space so you have quite a bit of leeway in making sure you can incorporate whatever information you think is relevant. Make sure you don’t replicate information contained in the school report though, so it is worth taking a look at what will come from the school (school report and teacher recs). </p>