Vanderbilt is ranked #13 in the country for National Universities, and is an enormously popular school for students who want a combination of top-tier academics and a pretty raucous social life. All undergraduate students at Vanderbilt are required to live on campus — including transfers — and Greek life places a huge role. Around 20% of students are involved in Greek life, and more are in its orbit through events, fundraisers, and parties.
Accessing this enviable combination of A+ parties and even better academics isn’t easy. The acceptance rate for first years at Vanderbilt has dropped precipitously to just over 6%, and 100% of accepted students had received one or more major honors or held major leadership positions.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Vanderbilt is an equally hot ticket for transfer students (so it helps to, well, have help). The university uses transfers to balance out the classes as students take leaves or semesters abroad, and they bring in 220-240 transfer students annually. Most transfer students enter as sophomores, and they look for students with a minimum B+/A- average. Admitted transfer students are required to attend Vanderbilt for at least four full-time semesters (60 credit hours), so prepare to spend a solid chunk of time there even if you’ve already put in two years at your current school.
ESSAYS
Vanderbilt doesn’t have a transfer-specific application. Instead, prospective transfers complete the same essays as other applicants and it’s up to them to give it a transfer twist. There are two essays you’ll have to tackle — so take notes.
The Common App Essay
If this looks familiar, it’s because you’ve done it before. Transfer applicants to Vanderbilt have to complete the standard common app essay. As usual, you’ll have a lot of prompts to choose from, but you’ll notice that none of them speak directly to the transfer experience. This means that it’s your job to make your essay a transfer essay. Luckily, Vanderbilt gives a little bit of guidance: “Your application essay is often a good place to help us understand your reasons for transfer and why you feel Vanderbilt can better help you achieve your academic goals.”
In this essay you need to pinpoint why you want to transfer, what you intend to pursue at Vanderbilt, and how you are going to positively impact the Vanderbilt community as a student.
Students we work with tend to have the most trouble with articulating why they want to leave their current school — not because they don’t know why they want to transfer, but because they don’t know how to word it gracefully. It’s critical that in your essay you respectfully share what isn’t working where you are now without getting bogged down by negativity. Vanderbilt knows that the attitude you show in your application is the attitude you’ll be bringing onto campus, so you can’t afford to have a bad one.
Check out this post on writing a college transfer essay for more tips on how to approach this essay.
To give us a glimpse into how you engage with your community, we ask you to complete a short answer essay (approx. 250 words) based on one of two prompts.
Regardless of which prompt you choose, with this question you don’t need to address your transfer, but you do need to show a side of yourself that otherwise doesn’t appear in your application. Redundancy is not your friend, so don’t go for a repeat. Instead, highlight something that’s meaningful to you but not obvious.
Option 1: Vanderbilt University values learning through contrasting points of view. We understand that our differences, and our respect for alternative views and voices, are our greatest source of strength. Please reflect on conversations you’ve had with people who have expressed viewpoints different from your own. How did these conversations/experiences influence you?
If you choose this prompt, it’s important not to get too political. We often find students veer towards contentious subjects when they pick this prompt. But remember, you don’t necessarily share the same opinions or perspectives as the people reading your application, so something that may be so obvious it’s assumed to you might not be the same for them. If you are thinking of writing this essay, look for something small to write about. It’s not about spotlighting a life-changing experience, but a perspective-influencing one. Be more critical of yourself than others in the process, and don’t be afraid to start over if a draft starts sounding something like, “I found myself talking to someone who disagreed with me.”
Option 2: Vanderbilt offers a community where students find balance between their academic and social experiences. Please briefly elaborate on how one of your extracurricular activities or work experiences has influenced you.
We love prompts like this because they let you talk about something everyone in college is preparing to do someday but not everyone in college has experienced yet: work. We like jobs. Normal jobs. Hard jobs. Long-hour low-wage jobs. Not bitcoin trading. Not get-rich-quick schemes. Good old hard work.
Another option is to write about a volunteer position, but we don’t encourage writing about volunteering unless you’ve been working with a non-profit organization or community program regularly for at least six months. Too many students ramp up their volunteering during application season simply to pad out their activities lists, and colleges see right through it. If you haven’t been committed to something for at least six months, it can be a signal that you’re only doing it to have something to write about — and that never reads well.
FINAL THOUGHTS
As you plan your application to Vanderbilt, remember that they have a rolling application process with no hard deadline, but there is a deadline. March 15th is the Priority Application Deadline, and the vast majority of prospective transfer students accepted by Vanderbilt submit their applications by that date. Which is to say that if you’re serious, you better get writing.
If you’re considering a transfer, send us an email. We help students like you defy transfer statistics to find their dream school.