r/Vanderbilt

Analyzed what seemed like a surprising RD rejection from Vanderbilt this year for one of our high school's top students - excellent grades, ECs, awards, LoRs. Reviewed the scattergram with several years of data and then it really wasn't surprising anymore...

• Vanderbilt hasn't admitted anyone from the high school with a 1520 or better SAT (all applied RD). Half of these 1520+ applicants were waitlisted, rest rejected
• Few RD admits with SAT between 1400-1500 and strong grades.
• Couple ED admits with good grades, Test Optional (SAT<1250).

Hopefully this serves as a useful reference to folks considering Vanderbilt in the future.

hi!

i got accepted into vandy ed2 and im very stoked about it

but sadly i was relying on a national scholarship (from my country). and i couldnt get it as they only allow specific majors (mine isnt included) (premed) BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES FOR PREMED

im sooo heartbroken and sad as i was incredibly excited to attend VU and im unsure what to do at this point

i dont have anyone whos willing to pay and im just incredibly heartbroken at the fact that i might not attend. ive never everrrrr been this heartbroken geniunely

vandy is my dream school and it just felt surreal to get accepted and now there is a possibilty i might not attend

what do you guys think?

Looks like I might off the waitlist for vandy, which means full pay. But I have a full scholarship (tuition and room and board) at a private school that includes Business plus premed and honors.

As a recipient myself, I was waitlisted but was one of the 200 (ish) to be offered this pathway where I am guaranteed a transfer sophomore year. Still, vanderbilt encouraged us to stay on the waitlist and I’m wondering if that means those that received these transfer offers were at the “top” of the waitlist. (I wasn’t taken off the waitlist this first round so was wondering yalls thoughts)

I mean Vanderbilt knows we’d end up here sophomore year right? So why tell us to go on the waitlist and then reject us?

am i the only person who still hasn’t heard anything from vandy transfer admissions 😭

completed 3/11, no wave, no wl, no rejection, literally nothing and withdraw button still there

now ppl are already getting off the waitlist and i’m genuinely starting to think they forgot i applied lol

（college of arts and science）

Seems like a dumb question, right?

But in reality I’m very much questioning attending out of fear that Vanderbilt(major: law, history, and society) maybe difficult to sustain a high- enough (>3.7) gpa in. Especially being a student with t14 law aspirations, gpa is not something to mess with whatsoever.

I guess my thought is… is the vandy name worth the risk of the gpa (if there even is risk) if I can go to a state school and retain a >3.9 gpa for law school apps?

I don’t know too much about Vanderbilt academics other than that they are expectedly hard like any other top institution. I especially don’t know about the true rigor of pre-law adjacent majors like Polisci or LHS (I would appreciate any insight)!

So… how hard REALLY is Vandy?

i got in!!!

My friend is still on the waitlist and I’m wondering if I could send an email to the admissions office to help them get in. Would it help or hurt them if I did?

just got off the waitlist for vandy🥹🥹im crying rn thank you God, just randomly got an email from them rn this is CRAZY

does anyone know how to see ur financial aid package as of now?

test optional and had not the highest GPA. EC's and Recs were good

Just curious, whats the profile of awardees?

My kid applied RD, really accomplished academic profile, but not only did not get a scholarship, but was only WL (with offer for Verto which we did not acted upon).

Perfect PSAT, NMF, SAT was 1560
3.98 gpa unweighted, 5.3 or something crazy weighted.
16 APs, 10 of which are all 5s, and 6 more during senior year
Captain of the tennis team
Captain of the academic decathlon that went to nationals 2 years out of Cali (much harder than other states)
Volunteering, BU Rise research poster, etc
Decent essays

Ended up picking between Emory and Berkeley, and will be attending Berkeley since it’s in state tuition and with her twin sister.

I am ok with UCB, but hard to understand how she got WL at JHU, WashU, Vandy, and rejected by Duke/Stanford/HYPB

Just curious if not being FGLI, (though 1 gen born in usa) and upper middle class play any role as to how merit scholarships are awarded.

Congrats to whoever made it in!

I just found out I was rejected again as a transfer applicant.

I applied first as a second-year then again as a third-year transfer student from MTSU. I put countless hours into writing and rewriting my essays. I wrote about my experience as a medic in the military, my upbringing as the son of war refugees, my time at MTSU and my reason for wanting to transfer (MTSU doesn’t offer mechanical engineering).

I also worked with Service 2 School for mentorship on my application and essays, had multiple people review everything, and worked tirelessly to maintain a 3.9 GPA as a mechatronics engineering major.

I get it, Vanderbilt is extremely competitive, and I understand that admissions can come down to factors outside of an applicant’s control. But honestly, I’m struggling to understand what else I could have done. What does it take? I’m so confused, frustrated and disappointed in myself. Has anyone else been in a similar position, especially as a transfer applicant?

Hi! I'm committed to Haverford, but I just got off the Vanderbilt waitlist and only have two more days to decide (😭). I’m stressed and genuinely need help deciding so any personal experiences, thoughts, or comments would be super helpful and appreciated.

I wanted to ask a few questions:

- How is being pre-med / a student in general at Vanderbilt? Do you feel supported, is advising good, etc.

- Would doing pre-med at Vanderbilt give me a good chance at gaining admission to top 20 medical schools? Or would the weed-out classes and grade deflation make me more likely to fail to gain admission?

I’m interested in neuroscience on the pre-med track, so Haverford’s 95% acceptance rate to med school, access to professors, and the close pre-med advising sound appealing. I feel like opportunities to do research are easier to obtain due to the invested faculty and not having to compete so much than at Vanderbilt (please correct me if I’m wrong). I also went to the fly-in program, and I really liked the cozy, friendly, non-stress environment. Although I’m not so sure if I want to be in such a small setting, I feel like I can genuinely be happy at Haverford, feel supported, and find my people. Haverford seems really inclusive and welcome to diversity (I’m Asian and from the Northeast). That said, it is less well-known and a bit more expensive than Vanderbilt by a few thousand for me.

On the other hand, Vanderbilt has great resources and more opportunities for research and experience, vibrant social life, and urban location that I wouldn’t want to miss out on. As a pre-med student, I’d really benefit from the close proximity to VUMC and name recognition from med schools. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to be in the center of Nashville and be surrounded by high-achieving students. Vanderbilt also doesn’t expect me to take loans or do work study. I heard it’s really hard there, especially with the weed-out courses. Vanderbilt is probably a bit more stressful/competitive and has less pre-med advising/support than Haverford as the med school acceptance rate was 68%, and I don’t know if I would find my place at Vanderbilt.

I hope I’m not settling down to safety or limiting myself from valuable resources if I end up choosing Haverford. Again, I’d tremendously appreciate any opinions or experiences right now. I was also waitlisted from Case Western, so any opinion on that would be helpful as well even though I’m not really considering it. Thanks so much for your time

If I took at least two honors/ ap classes a year too some yrs 3 and some yrs 4, can I get in with a 3.75 GPA? Unweighted. Also with this info what test score do u recommend range to compensate for a slightly Belo avg GPA for vandy that I've heardGPA??

In my schools honors and ap r th same weight

How many do we think are on it?

Hi! I'm a freshman transferring for my sophomore year, majoring in political science/sociology, and I'm torn between Vanderbilt and the University of Michigan. Im worried about adjusting socially after transferring- what is the transfer social experience like?

I have been accepted to Vanderbilt as a transfer student but would be paying the 97k a year price tag. These would all be coming out of private student loans as we did not qualify for aid. I am at a mid tier state SEC school right now paying 40k a year in loans. Vanderbilt has everything I am wanting like rigor, small class size, and accomplished student pool except for the price tag. My plan is to go into the dental field. Is the Vanderbilt experience/education/name worth taking on an extra 60k a year? Thanks!

Just got off the waitlist for vandy for political science and debating if I should attend or not as I’m currently committed to rice. Cost isn’t a factor bc they both game me similar aid

I’m a senior rn and I’m taking ap calc ab online through this BYU thing. I’ll have a good grade in the course but ngl i learned nothing. I think I’m gonna get a 1 or a 2 on the actual AP exam. Will I get rescinded for that bad of an AP score?