I was planning to ED to Vanderbilt but just found out someone else from my school is also ED’ing there and their parent has a friend in admissions. Does this diminish my chances bc they’ll probably only accept one in the ED round per school/area?
Vanderbilt offers ED1 & ED2. I assume that you & this other person will be applying in the same ED round. It shouldn’t matter; however, if this is a real true friend of the parent in admissions, there could be an admission advantage. How similar is your academic & activities profile to this other person’s?
No, go ahead and apply ED if it is your top choice. And there is zero truth to the idea that they will only accept ONE applicant per school or area.
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It won’t matter. Vanderbilt and other top schools get thousands of ED applications from excellent students. One more won’t make any difference. Whether they will admit zero, one, or both of you is something that no one can predict.
I would only apply ED if it is your top choice, and if either the NPC shows it as affordable or you are fine being full pay. Of course this has nothing to do with whether anyone else from your high school is also applying.
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in 2025-26 Vanderbilt admitted 920 out of 7727 ED applicants.
If your friend were guaranteed admission, that would remove one from both the numerator and the denominator – it would only affect your statistical chances by a miniscule amount.
(so – no, this should not affect you. I trust that Vandy evaluates each application on its own…)
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It’s not pertinent as to whether you apply ED. Your full on desire to attend, and that your family can afford it and is willing to pay is.
Worry about you - not others.
You have no idea why you’ll get in or why you don’t get in. Plenty of connected people don’t get in. And at many places, multiple kids from one school do get in.
You are unlikely for Vandy ED - but not for the reason you mention. Statistically, short of a recruited athlete, everyone is.
But if you don’t apply then I know you’re not getting in. If it’s your top choice, why would you apply ED anywhere else ?
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I had a friend in admissions (on the adcom) at a HYP college. He was encouraging my D19 to apply, but said that as he knew the family he would not be able to be involved in her admissions decision. One would hope Vanderbilt would have the same integrity.
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I have higher GPA but other applicant is veey high. We have same class rigor. Many similar activities but I have some more leadership.
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I wouldn’t compare yourself to the other person to be honest, I have seen with both my own kids that they get in and classmates don’t even though their classmates look better on paper. Who knows what tips the scales -essays, letters of rec that you can’t see? If Vanderbilt is your clear number one choice and the costs work out, then submit ED.
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Was she admitted?
She didn’t end up applying - she decided that tier of school was more intense than she wanted her college experience to be.
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You are trying to analyze to come up with an answer but there is no answer.
It could depend on major or gender or talent someone has or whatever else.
My son goes to a public; a very good one but a public. In his class, one person went Ivy - to Princeton.
Our school didn’t rank at the time (no idea about today) other than to have a top 25 - which wasn’t itself ranked.
The person who got into Princeton - wasn’t a top 25’er.
Did anyone else apply?
I have no idea.
No matter what type of analysis you try and do, admissions decisions at a school like Vandy are holistic - and you will have some kids with lesser stats (on the averages) get in and others with really high stats - not.
If Vandy is 100% your school and affordable and your parents are willing to pay the cost, that’s it.
It’s not a game - well if I have better odds at Emory, Wake, or Wash U, maybe I’ll change my ED.
That person, who isn’t sold on a school, ED isn’t for them.
And these schools accept far more RD than they do ED. In Vandy’s case, near double get in RD vs. ED, per the latest common data set. But when people say, but x % of their class is filled from ED, that may be true - but those that they admit RD often say no, so they have to admit a lot more. Vandy has a good RD yield. - it looks to be about 44% - so of every 2 RD offers they make, less than one student accepts.
Honestly, you’ll just spin your wheels or waste time focused on this.
You simply need to make that decision -is it truly your #1, affordable, and the parents are wiling to pay.
Nothing else really matters - like whose friend from years ago got in or didn’t get in vs. someone they knew.
You likely have homework to do or apps to fill out. That’s a better use of your time.
Good luck.
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IMO, I would expect the same decisions: 2 admits, 2 waitlists/deferrals, or 2 rejections (assuming you both apply in the same ED round). The decisions could be different if one of you is intending a major that is overenrolled at Vandy (they have to admit fewer students this cycle for that particular major interest in the school) or one of you is an environmental mismatch (not going to fit well socially - very unlikely in your case). This happens sometimes when twins apply to the same college. Contrary to popular belief, both twins don’t always receive the same decision from the same college; one could get admitted & the other rejected.
In my opinion, you need to stop discussing college application choices with your classmates. It doesn’t matter if you and a classmate apply to the same college. And her having a “friend” in the admissions office will simply mean the friend cannot read her application (that’s called a conflict of interest). And I seriously doubt your friends friend would have the ability to accept your friend and deny you.
If you want to ED to Vandy, then ED to Vandy. If you do or don’t get accepted, you will never know why.
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They don’t look at it as only one ED per school/area.
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These decisions are made by large committees in almost unanimous manner. One person’s presence on the committee doesn’t make a difference.
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Also, with Vandy you apply into a specific school (Engineering, Peabody, etc). If you are applying to different schools, that will also differentiate your applications.
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First, I would also check Vandy’s latest CDS (not sure it is out yet). Vandy was FLOODED with applications last year—even more than comparable schools. Vandy was already horribly difficult to get into and I think that last year it got way worse–if you can believe that. Just know what you are signing up for.
Situations like this are never an exact science. You don’t have perfect information. But there may be an angle here.
I do think that many AOs feel bad when they relax academic standards for “connected” kids and then reject higher academic performers. They are human, after all, and have a sense of fairness and justice.
To use an example, my D26’s school has a fair number of kids go to Notre Dame. Notre Dame is pretty prolific in admitting legacies and our HS has a lot of them.
Two years ago, ND admitted a highly-connected legacy from our HS whose GPA and test scores were a little low. So what happened?..ND let in 10 kids from our HS which is double the normal number.
Could “guilt” or a sense of “justice” have played a role? Maybe. Maybe not. We will never know.
I do know that my own daughter got into Haverford. She was admitted with an athlete from our HS and my daughter had a WGPA that was exactly 1 point higher (which is a huge difference really) than the athlete’s. Did the Haverford AO feel bad and decide to admit my D26 also? Who knows? Maybe?
If you are CERTAIN that your academics/leadership roles surpass your “connected” peer AND you are CERTAIN that your peer really is connected in a way that brings real advantage (two big “ifs”)…this could be helpful.
The “connected” person in admissions needs to make a case for their applicant. I doubt that the AO will say “oh–I know this student’s mom and she is great” to get the student admitted. She might even recuse herself. But if she doesn’t recuse herself…it might be easier for the AO to sell the connected student if they admit you as well.
Of course, Vandy could just as easily say “oh–this is your bestie’s kid! They meet the basic qualifications. Admit!” and then hand you a rejection or WL without batting an eye. Or they could reject you both…again…nothing is certain. As someone else pointed out…the most likely outcome is probably you and your classmate both getting the exact same decision since you are both so similar.
But I do like the scenario you outlined.
And if Vandy really is truly your “ride or die” and the NPC/your family says that you can afford it…you should take your ED1 shot no matter what the scenario.
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The main thing you have under your control at this point is doing thoughtful and well written essays. If Vanderbilt is your first choice, put a lot of effort into your writing, and hopefully you can get feedback from people who have some experience reading college essays. And be willing to revise! Don’t wait until the last minute.
My S applied to three Ivy schools RD and Brown was the one we thought for sure he wouldn’t get into, especially because during the winter of his senior year a kid from his class was offered a spot on Brown’s football team. We were thinking, like you, that surely they wouldn’t take two kids from our high school. Well, he did get into Brown so you just never know. Btw, my S attended Vandy and loved it! Best of luck to you.