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What is the Middle 50%?

Posted by on Tuesday, September 15, 2015 in Application Process, General Information, Standardized Testing.

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Responses

  • TT

    October 11th, 2015

    My daughter is really struggling to decide about early decision 1 because her ACT score is below the middle 50% by 3 points. All other aspects of her resume and recommendations are great but she’s scared since there is no option to be wait listed. Vandy is her one and only top tier school she is applying too.

  • Jay Watson

    October 15th, 2015

    Thanks for your question! You are correct that with Early Decision at Vanderbilt students are either admitted or not, with no waitlist option. Your daughter might also want to consider EDII, since it would allow for another round of testing, as well as including her first semester grades (which she couldn’t do with EDI).

    Ultimately, the decision to apply early is really about deciding if a school is truly your first choice. If so, and if you know you will enroll if admitted, then ED (1 or 2) are a good fit, even without the waitlist option.

  • LO

    October 22nd, 2015

    Curious as to the reasoning behind there being no wait list option. It shouldn’t be a disadvantage to apply ED.

  • Jay Watson

    October 22nd, 2015

    With our Early Decision plans, students get a definitive decision earlier in the process … if you have to wait until wait list, it’s no longer an early decision. And, in general, an applicant’s chances of admission are stronger at ED than at RD. But as I mentioned in a previous comment, the decision to apply early should really be about deciding that a school is truly your first choice. Thanks for the question!