<p>Thank you very much for that feedback about Vandy. Do you believe a 33 is simply too low even with high probability of valedictorian, Eagle Scout, a stacked transcript and spectacular letter of recommendation? I was thinking I may have a decent shot at the Cornelius Vanderbilt Scholarship, so this is very interesting. Also, I’ve heard people here mention a 3/4 tuition Deans Scholarship, though I can’t seem to find anything about it on Vandy’s site. Do you know anything about this?</p>
<p>those scholarships are highly test-score driven. The school has a lot of Vals/Sals/Eagles. That’s not what drives their awards. </p>
<p>Test scores or maybe ethnic diversity drive those Vandy awards. Those other things (val, sal, eagle) help with the down-selection, but not they’re not going to compensate for an average test score. </p>
<p>Vandy’s applicants are top scholars. They’re also applying to ivies. They all are spectacular.</p>
<p>My nephew had an ACT 34, most rigorous curriculum. He was Sal, Eagle, Varsity in two sports, captain for one, amazing recs, gazillion volunteer hours, and didn’t get ONE dollar in merit from Vandy. </p>
<p>You can certainly try, but consider getting a good-sized merit to be a very unlikely. </p>
<p>As UCB says, make sure you have a financial safety. That would a school that you know FOR SURE will give you large merit for your stats. I would recommend that you have at least 2 or 3 of these schools.</p>
<p>the reason I think you should have more than 1 safety is this: If other schools aren’t affordable, then you’ll like having more than one financial safety to choose from. Otherwise you’ll feel railroaded into your one affordable school.</p>