<p>There are some other merit scholarships at Vanderbilt that are not widely advertised. Depending on where you live, there is a Top Tenn scholarship which is available to all TN students, some areas of Arkansas and the Houston, TX area if your school GC has identified you as either number 1 or 2 in your class at the end of your junior year. I think it is either $10,000 or half tuition merit aid for 4 years.
If you live in a state that has a lottery scholarship, as does TN, GA and a few other states, if you are accepted you might want to at least ask if they will honor your home state lottery scholarship if you would eligible for it if you choose an in state school.
I think the National Merit Finalist merit aid may actually be 4,000 or 5,000 per year for 4 years, not 2,000! But I am not completely sure of this. I think you of course must list Vanderbilt as your number one choice school once you have been named a finalist. Fortunately, the deadline for this is after acceptances have been mailed so it easy to list any school you want that accepted you.</p>