Frequently Asked Questions

The Office of Undergraduate Admissions frequently receives additional and supplemental information from students after they have submitted their application. Once the application deadline has passed, students should work with their assigned admissions officer to ensure that all materials are added to their file in a timely manner.

Vanderbilt admissions officers do not conduct interviews and interviews are not a required part of the admissions process. We do offer interviews with local alumni as an optional component of the application for admissions. Through our CoRPs (Commodore Recruitment Programs) Interviewing program, applicants are invited to request an interview from an alumnus/a in their local area. After a student applies, s/he will be sent information via email about how to request a local interview with an alumnus/a. Alumni interviews are completely optional and Vanderbilt cannot guarantee the availability of alumni to interview all students, particularly those living outside major metropolitan areas. In no way will it reflect poorly on students who cannot arrange an interview. Visit our CoRPs Interviewing page for more information.

Vanderbilt requires all students to submit an official score report from either the SAT Reasoning Test or the ACT directly from the appropriate testing agency. At least one of these scores must include a writing section subscore. There is absolutely no preference between the two exams, though students taking the ACT only must remember to sit for the optional writing section during at least one administration.

It is no secret that standardized test results play an important role in selective college admissions. While test results are one key way in which applicants compete for the limited number of seats in Vanderbilt‘s entering class, it is important to remember that it is impossible to predict admissions outcomes on the basis of test scores alone. In our holistic review process, far greater weight is given to a student‘s academic achievement in high school, while other factors such as extracurricular involvement, recommendations, and the personal essays are considered heavily as well. Test scores are important, but they are not used exclusively to either eliminate or admit candidates.

As mentioned above, Vanderbilt expects students to have stretched themselves academically with advanced coursework in high school, and in many secondary schools these courses carry either an Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) designation. Vanderbilt recognized the educational value of such courses by awarding credit and/or placement for students‘ performance on AP or IB exams. Credit is generally awarded for most scores of 4 or 5 on the AP exams, and for scores of 6 or 7 on the IB exams. For more information on what credit is awarded for specific tests, please consult the AP and IB charts.

Vanderbilt does not require students to submit scores from the SAT Subject Tests. If included with the application, these scores will be considered during the application process. For students who enroll at Vanderbilt, SAT Subject Tests are used for placement in first year courses. SAT Subject Tests are strongly recommended for home schooled applicants. Applicants to the School of Engineering who choose to take Subject Tests should strongly consider taking either of the two mathematics exams (Level 1 or Level 2).

No, SAT Subject Tests are optional. These exams can be very helpful in evaluating applicants but are not required. A student with no SAT II scores is not at a disadvantage in the admissions process.

Vanderbilt strives to honor family and legacy connections to the university whenever possible, and admissions officers are keenly aware of the powerful emotional connection that is often behind those applications. However, the admissions office has received no mandate from the university administration to grant preference to the children or siblings of Vanderbilt alumni. When a student‘s record closely mirrors those of other students being offered admission, legacy status may be taken into consideration.

Vanderbilt offers both a paper and an online version of the Application for Admission. In addition, Vanderbilt is among the 300 colleges and universities that accept the Common Application. Students electing to use the Common Application will also submit the Vanderbilt Common Application Supplement. There is absolutely no preference among these application options; students are encouraged to use the application method that best suits their needs.

Vanderbilt is an exclusive user of the Common Application. Students can apply online by visiting www.commonapp.org. Students must submit the following parts for an application to be complete:

• Common Application
• Vanderbilt Part I Supplement
• Letters of recommendation from two academic teachers and one guidance counselor
• Secondary school report and official high school transcript
• List of extra curricular activities
• Personal essay

Homeschooled students, international students, and applicants to the Blair School Music have supplemental forms to complete which are available at www.commonapp.org.

Because Vanderbilt receives so many more applications from highly qualified and capable students than there are available positions in the class, some students in whom the admission committee is very interested will receive an offer to join the Wait List. Once it is known how many students have accepted Vanderbilt‘s initial offer of admission, the admissions office will use the Wait List to fill the remaining spots in the entering class. The Wait List is not ranked; the selection of Wait List students will be based on a variety of factors and remaining needs for the class. For instance, the admissions staff may turn to the Wait List in search of specific attributes, such as Vanderbilt school choice or gender, in order to balance and complete the class.

One goal of the admissions process is to create a dynamic and active campus community, thus it is important that we evaluate how applicants‘ have enriched and enlivened their high school communities through extracurricular activities. What matters most is not the volume of involvement or the number of leadership positions held, but rather the steady commitment to a handful of meaningful activities beyond your required academic coursework. We do make particular note of significant local, regional, and national achievements.

Extracurricular activities are also an important way that we can tell what is important to you and what you value, and to see more clearly how you might bring those values to the Vanderbilt community. The most effective applications are those that clearly and concisely communicate which activities have had the most meaning to a student and also those that explain organizations and achievements with which the admissions officer might not be familiar.

The admissions office believes that the senior year of high school is critical to a student‘s preparation and readiness for the academic rigor of Vanderbilt coursework. We expect students to demonstrate their interest in learning by continuing to take a full complement of academic courses and maintaining a high level of performance.

Vanderbilt‘s admissions process is a based on a holistic review in which a student‘s academic record, standardized test results, personal essays, recommendations, and extracurricular involvement are all taken into consideration in making admissions decision. Of these factors, a student‘s academic achievement in high school always plays the biggest role in our decision-making. However, a holistic review ensures that no one factor along leads to admission or keeps a student from admission. It is also important to note the Office of Undergraduate Admissions‘ proud tradition of positive advocacy, meaning we take seriously the notion of reading an application file looking for the reasons to admit the student, rather than looking for the reason not to admit. The difference is subtle, yet significant. Because we evaluate applications looking for what is good about a student, simple mistakes such word misspellings or grammatical errors will not be what cause an applicant to not be offered admission.

Yes, Vanderbilt is need-blind when reviewing applications for all U.S. citizens and eligible non-citizens. Vanderbilt makes three important commitments regarding financial aid:

• We are need-blind in the admissions process
• We promise to meet 100% of a student‘s demonstrated financial need
• With our Expanded Aid Program, our financial aid packages are comprised of grant and work-study funds only: no loans are included in Vanderbilt‘s financial aid packages.

Read more details about Vanderbilt‘s excellent financial aid policies, including how to apply for financial aid.

Class rank can be an illuminating measure of an applicant‘s academic performance relative to his/her peers and is considered thoughtfully in conjunction with other data the admissions office gathers about the level of competition for grades in a given high school. Keep in mind that the most promising candidates for admission to Vanderbilt have earned grades in a very high range when compared to their classmates, and class rank often confirms what we can otherwise surmise about a student‘s performance.

When evaluating a student attending a school that does not rank its students, the admissions office relies on data provided by the school to gain some sense of the student‘s performance relative to their peers. Such information is always used responsibly and without intent to disadvantage any applicant in the admissions process. It is generally true that students for whom some measure of relative performance can be determined fare better in the admissions process than those students for whom no contextual information is provided.

Vanderbilt‘s application asks students to provide basic and demographic information about their parents and family background. Students are welcome to provide more detailed information in the form of a supplemental statement written by themselves or their school counselor, which will be read and considered along with the rest of the application for admission.

Academic achievement can only be measured meaningfully when considered in conjunction with a student‘s context and environment. The Office of Undergraduate Admissions makes every effort to gather academic information about applicants‘ high schools in order to better understand their performance, course selection, and access to intellectual opportunities. Our process recognizes that traits such as grading and course offerings are by no means standard across all secondary schools. Vanderbilt expects students to have distinguished themselves academically whatever their environment, and to have sampled extensively the most rigorous coursework offered by their high school in most core academic areas.

No. Vanderbilt considers every student individually and within the application pool as a whole, not simply in comparison to the other students applying from the same secondary school. Keep in mind that within one school‘s applicant group students may be applying to different Vanderbilt colleges or under different decision plans, and therefore will not be in direct competition with one another in any sense. The number of students Vanderbilt will accept from any given school will be consistent with the quality and liveliness of the school‘s applicants for that particular year.

Vanderbilt does not prescribe a specific distribution of high school coursework requirements, but most competitive applicants will have completed four full years of coursework in the five core academic areas of English, Math, Social Science, Laboratory Science, and Foreign Language. It is acceptable for a student to drop one of these areas in the senior year in order to take a second course in an area of greater interest, but the admissions committee will likely question a record that falls significantly short of the above curriculum.

By far the best method of preparing for admission to Vanderbilt, or to any selective university, is to take as many rigorous courses as you can healthily manage while working hard to make the best grades possible. Remember that learning is worthwhile for its own sake, not merely as a vehicle for getting into a "good" college. The most compelling applications will demonstrate a genuine love of learning as opposed to the mechanical pursuit of good grades. Participate in extracurricular activities because they have meaning to you, not merely because they will be needed for your college application. Preparing for a selective university begins when you first enter high school, not sometime in the middle of your junior year. By following these guidelines and your own internal compass, you will arrive at the college admissions process as prepared and self-aware as you can possibly be.

Vanderbilt requires the essay from the Common Application. This essay allows us to gain a more complete understanding of a candidate for admission to Vanderbilt. There are a number of prompts available to answer this essay question. We use the essay to assess not only effectiveness in written communication, but also to learn more fully who the student is and what he or she values. There is no secret method to writing an effective personal essay. The best essays are those written in a student‘s authentic voice and that convey the sense that, in formulating and composing the essay, the student achieved a greater sense of self-awareness and self-knowledge.

Vanderbilt has a limited amount of financial aid for international students, and we will take financial need into consideration when making admissions decisions. All students may compete for academic/merit-based scholarships, which can provide awards ranging from $5,000 per year to the full cost of tuition. The remaining costs not covered by scholarship would need to be covered by personal funds or private sponsorship. Students with a strong academic record and greater ability to finance their expenses will have a higher chance for admission. For more information, please go to our Merit-Based Financing site.

The Early Decision program is intended for students who, at the conclusion of a thoughtful college search, determine that Vanderbilt is their first-choice university. Early Decision applications are considered binding; students admitted under the Early Decision program are expected to withdraw their applications to other colleges and commit to enroll at Vanderbilt in the fall.

Vanderbilt offers two Early Decision plans, commonly referred to as Early Decision I and II. These rounds are functionally the same except for the application deadlines. Early Decision I has a postmark deadline of November 1st, with student notification in mid-December. The postmark deadline for Early Decision II is January 3rd, with student notification in mid-February.

For students applying to Vanderbilt under Early Decision I (postmark deadline November 1st), the October administrations of the SAT or ACT represent the final opportunity to take the exams. Students applying under Early Decision II or Regular Decision (postmark deadline January can sit for the exams through the December administrations.

Vanderbilt requires that at least one of an applicant‘s official test score reports from the ACT or SAT include a writing section subscore. The SAT automatically includes the writing section, while students taking the ACT must elect to take the optional writing portion.

Vanderbilt seeks to enroll an entering class which closely reflects the diversity of society. To that end, the very best students from all types of ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds are sought as applicants.

The timetable for admissions notification is December 15th for Early Decision I, February 15th for Early Decision II, and no later than April 1st for Regular Decision. Admissions decisions are communicated via postal mail only until a sufficient number of days have passed for letters to arrive to addresses nationwide. Only at that time will the admission office release decisions by phone. International students and American students overseas will receive their admissions letter first via email, followed by the actual letter and information packet (for admitted students).

Vanderbilt remains committed to offering Early Decision options for application despite the discontinuation of similar programs at other selective colleges. Vanderbilt furthermore remains committed to filling no more than 1/3 of the available seats in the entering class through the ED I and ED II programs combined. Students who have completed the college search process early, and who are comfortable making a binding decision about admission early are encouraged to take advantage of these programs. Applicants desiring to compare offers of admission and scholarship before committing to Vanderbilt should apply under our Regular Decision program, knowing that approximately 1,100 seats in the entering class will be available to Regular Decision candidates.