TO in ED at WashU or Vanderbilt

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kid is current Vanderbilt student and reports that they are surrounded by not-that-smart students for some reason. Kid is not in engineering or pre-med.

So, a good strategy might be to apply TO with an inflated 4.5w and a bunch of ECs that are available for purchase. This seems to be a winning formula for the time being. Don't submit that score because the school is looking for super high scores from the low percent who do submit scores. Doesn't mean they won't admit you, as kid's current experience demonstrates.

same here, my DC says most kids just above average smarts, which surprised me - DC is rising sophomore who got in TO with scores lower than OP’s kid, and finished first year with a 4.0 - having fun, going greek, concerts, etc. Key is having essays, references and ECs all tell the same story - and if your kid doesn’t have a story, they shouldn’t go TO

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kid is current Vanderbilt student and reports that they are surrounded by not-that-smart students for some reason. Kid is not in engineering or pre-med.

So, a good strategy might be to apply TO with an inflated 4.5w and a bunch of ECs that are available for purchase. This seems to be a winning formula for the time being. Don't submit that score because the school is looking for super high scores from the low percent who do submit scores. Doesn't mean they won't admit you, as kid's current experience demonstrates.

Could not disagree more with this

Because you’re a student there also experiencing the same class contributions, writing and interactions with fellow students as my kid? Do tell.

Kid is clearly not picking the right classes, dorms and clubs. Most of their peers aren’t as bright or interesting as their high school cohort. Big letdown tbh

Bc my kid is having a vastly different experience than yours. Two students do not a study make. Mine is an upperclassman who tells us their peers are extremely bright, hard working students. Fantastic academic environment. Raves about professors. Opportunities abound. Socially found a variety of interests and sports. Brand new residential colleges are transforming the campus.

The only thing you are disagreeing with the PP about is the relative brightness of other students encountered by your child. And the PP even said the problem was that their kid wasn’t picking the right classes, dorms, and clubs.

This is what happens at any school where half of students are admitted TO. The high-scoring kids cluster together in certain majors/clubs/dorms, leaving other groups with quite low average scores. The result is an uneven experience: some bright kids find their peer group, and others don’t.

Are college kids picking their friends based on intelligence these days? That’s depressing. PP may want to encourage her kid to be open-minded. My DD has a range of friends - ambitious go-getters, happy social butterflies, focused athletes, carefree loyal pals. Imagine if everyone was intensely academic? Sounds miserable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kid is current Vanderbilt student and reports that they are surrounded by not-that-smart students for some reason. Kid is not in engineering or pre-med.

So, a good strategy might be to apply TO with an inflated 4.5w and a bunch of ECs that are available for purchase. This seems to be a winning formula for the time being. Don't submit that score because the school is looking for super high scores from the low percent who do submit scores. Doesn't mean they won't admit you, as kid's current experience demonstrates.

same here, my DC says most kids just above average smarts, which surprised me - DC is rising sophomore who got in TO with scores lower than OP’s kid, and finished first year with a 4.0 - having fun, going greek, concerts, etc. Key is having essays, references and ECs all tell the same story - and if your kid doesn’t have a story, they shouldn’t go TO

So interesting. Curious about stories that have worked.
Mine has a story but not sure it flows.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kid is current Vanderbilt student and reports that they are surrounded by not-that-smart students for some reason. Kid is not in engineering or pre-med.

So, a good strategy might be to apply TO with an inflated 4.5w and a bunch of ECs that are available for purchase. This seems to be a winning formula for the time being. Don't submit that score because the school is looking for super high scores from the low percent who do submit scores. Doesn't mean they won't admit you, as kid's current experience demonstrates.

same here, my DC says most kids just above average smarts, which surprised me - DC is rising sophomore who got in TO with scores lower than OP’s kid, and finished first year with a 4.0 - having fun, going greek, concerts, etc. Key is having essays, references and ECs all tell the same story - and if your kid doesn’t have a story, they shouldn’t go TO

So interesting. Curious about stories that have worked.
Mine has a story but not sure it flows.

Are you asking to know specific stories? Not sure how that helps…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kid is current Vanderbilt student and reports that they are surrounded by not-that-smart students for some reason. Kid is not in engineering or pre-med.

So, a good strategy might be to apply TO with an inflated 4.5w and a bunch of ECs that are available for purchase. This seems to be a winning formula for the time being. Don't submit that score because the school is looking for super high scores from the low percent who do submit scores. Doesn't mean they won't admit you, as kid's current experience demonstrates.

same here, my DC says most kids just above average smarts, which surprised me - DC is rising sophomore who got in TO with scores lower than OP’s kid, and finished first year with a 4.0 - having fun, going greek, concerts, etc. Key is having essays, references and ECs all tell the same story - and if your kid doesn’t have a story, they shouldn’t go TO

So interesting. Curious about stories that have worked.
Mine has a story but not sure it flows.

Are you asking to know specific stories? Not sure how that helps…

What type of stories are you talking about? A pointy kid?
Niche interests & awards?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kid is current Vanderbilt student and reports that they are surrounded by not-that-smart students for some reason. Kid is not in engineering or pre-med.

So, a good strategy might be to apply TO with an inflated 4.5w and a bunch of ECs that are available for purchase. This seems to be a winning formula for the time being. Don't submit that score because the school is looking for super high scores from the low percent who do submit scores. Doesn't mean they won't admit you, as kid's current experience demonstrates.

Could not disagree more with this

Because you’re a student there also experiencing the same class contributions, writing and interactions with fellow students as my kid? Do tell.

Kid is clearly not picking the right classes, dorms and clubs. Most of their peers aren’t as bright or interesting as their high school cohort. Big letdown tbh

Bc my kid is having a vastly different experience than yours. Two students do not a study make. Mine is an upperclassman who tells us their peers are extremely bright, hard working students. Fantastic academic environment. Raves about professors. Opportunities abound. Socially found a variety of interests and sports. Brand new residential colleges are transforming the campus.

The only thing you are disagreeing with the PP about is the relative brightness of other students encountered by your child. And the PP even said the problem was that their kid wasn’t picking the right classes, dorms, and clubs.

This is what happens at any school where half of students are admitted TO. The high-scoring kids cluster together in certain majors/clubs/dorms, leaving other groups with quite low average scores. The result is an uneven experience: some bright kids find their peer group, and others don’t.

Are college kids picking their friends based on intelligence these days? That’s depressing. PP may want to encourage her kid to be open-minded. My DD has a range of friends - ambitious go-getters, happy social butterflies, focused athletes, carefree loyal pals. Imagine if everyone was intensely academic? Sounds miserable.

,
Stop being obtuse. Not a single poster has even hinted that their actual friends in college must clear an IQ bar. They are observing that the general millieu is not as smart as promised and this is disappointing because the primary purpose of college is theoretically to advance learning. This is more difficult task if class discussion and work groups are dominated by people who cannot enhance your academic learning and challenge your thinking.

Can they go to a concert with you and act in a play with you and throw a frisbee with you and get a hangover omelet with you on Sunday? Yes!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kid is current Vanderbilt student and reports that they are surrounded by not-that-smart students for some reason. Kid is not in engineering or pre-med.

So, a good strategy might be to apply TO with an inflated 4.5w and a bunch of ECs that are available for purchase. This seems to be a winning formula for the time being. Don't submit that score because the school is looking for super high scores from the low percent who do submit scores. Doesn't mean they won't admit you, as kid's current experience demonstrates.

same here, my DC says most kids just above average smarts, which surprised me - DC is rising sophomore who got in TO with scores lower than OP’s kid, and finished first year with a 4.0 - having fun, going greek, concerts, etc. Key is having essays, references and ECs all tell the same story - and if your kid doesn’t have a story, they shouldn’t go TO

So interesting. Curious about stories that have worked.
Mine has a story but not sure it flows.

Are you asking to know specific stories? Not sure how that helps…

What type of stories are you talking about? A pointy kid?
Niche interests & awards?

sorry for posting without elaborating more - my DC was well rounded sports captain clubs student gov - but the references essay and primary EC all painted the same picture - leadership and passion for something that an AO could easily visualize would be continued on campus - whether thru a field of study, course offering, or club. And it wasn’t national recognition in something - more of a grass roots interest that was conveyed with authenticity - but the passion has to be clear and evident. Sorry for being vague but don’t want to post the exact path - because younger DS will be using it in 2 years lol

[Anonymous]

Vanderbilt TO for next year?
Would you submit a 33?