Vanderbilt University is known for offering broad opportunities with focused attention on students. There 70 majors and programs students can pick from, and an impressive 7:1 student to faculty ratio. 7,200 undergraduates , and 13,500 students overall. The rate of admission for students who submitted regular decision for the Class of 2029 was %. The early decision acceptance rate for the same year was %.
Vanderbilt offers a world-class education, but it’s also known as a super fun place to be. Students who are fun-kills don’t go there…or, rather, would be a better fit somewhere else. The students who thrive at Vanderbilt are those who want a college education and a college experience. 85 countries, and they are known as a top college for both Jewish and Black students. Nashville, TN is a key piece of the Vanderbilt experience. The city is alive with music, nightlife, and opportunity, and students benefit from those opportunities for exploration and fun, as well as employment.
Once you are on campus, there are four colleges for undergraduate students: the Peabody College of Education and Human Development, the Blair School of Music, the School of Engineering, and, the most popular and populous college, the College of Arts and Sciences. of undergraduates participate in research through labs and more than 100 interdisciplinary centers and institutes. In recent years, Vanderbilt has also become known as one of the most expensive colleges in the country — but remember that the total tuition cost isn’t what most students pay. of Vanderbilt students receive financial assistance.
Vanderbilt has that they will be test optional for the ACT or SAT through the fall of 2027. This means that it is up to you whether to submit your ACT or SAT scores — or even whether to take them at all. We’ve been counseling our students to take this with a grain of salt. Strong applicants with a strong chance of getting into Vanderbilt submit strong scores. Skipping scores may not hurt your application, but it certainly doesn’t help. , 50% of admitted and enrolled first-year students submit scores, and an SAT worth submitting is 1530+ while a strong ACT is 34+.
In this post, we’re really going to focus in on the piece of your Vanderbilt application that is not quantifiable: the supplement. The Vanderbilt supplement is simple, and it is sweet. Let’s break it down.
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Again, the Vanderbilt is short — which we love. That doesn’t mean that it is simple, though. It isn’t something that you should do quickly or last minute either, especially if you are applying Early Decision (which you should do if you like Vanderbilt because the ED acceptance rate advantage is huge). Now, let’s look at the supp.
For both first-year and transfer applicants, we ask you to complete a short answer essay (approximately 250 words) based on the following prompt:
Vanderbilt University’s motto, Crescere aude, is Latin for “dare to grow.” In your response, reflect on how one or more aspects of your identity, culture, or background has played a role in your personal growth, and how it will contribute to our campus community as you dare to grow at Vanderbilt.
250 words may sound like a solid amount of space to work with, but it really isn’t. In reality, it goes fast. The first three paragraphs of this post are, for the purpose of illustration, just over 260 words. In that compact amount of space, you need to say something about yourself that is meaningful, impactful, and that clearly conveys how awesome you are as a community member today — and for Vanderbilt in the future.
Yeah, you have to pack a lot into this supplement. This can lead a lot of students to want to write something super-efficient with as much packed in as possible. We understand this impulse, but it’s actually the opposite of what you need to do. Instead of saying a lot, you need to say a little. This is because humans want to feel connected to other humans, and one of the best ways to connect with another human (aka the application readers) through the screen or page is by telling a compelling and focused story.
So, what should they know about who you are that isn’t anywhere else on your application? This means that you didn’t write about it in your Common App essay, you don’t mention it on your activity sheet, and you don’t include it in the additional info section. For many of our students, this means writing about culture, community, or family here — often through the lens of tradition, ritual, or food (or even all three).
For example, maybe your family has made the same meal as part of a cultural celebration every year for your entire life. Write the story of the taste of that meal, and the secret ingredient. If you have always walked the same route to school since you were 5, and you always get a banana from the same street vendor, tell that story. If you planted a tree when you were 10 and have measured your height on it ever since, tell that story. Tell a story that is only, and unabashedly, yours and yours alone.
Doing this can feel risky — what does it have to do with college, after all? — but it’s also the only way to use this supplement to help you beat the tough odds of Vanderbilt admissions. Getting into Vanderbilt requires an ‘it’ factor, and most applicants wrongly assume that this means having won a big award or something else that is flashy. But that isn’t the case at all, actually. The “it” factor is being you, and communicating that effectively to application readers through story.
Getting into Vanderbilt is hard, but it’s also totally possible if you have the baseline scores and grades to at least get your application taken seriously. After that hurdle is jumped, it’s all about storytelling.
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