Last week, we released our Early Decision II admissions decisions for the Class of 2030. We are so excited to welcome these new Commodores!  

Now that we have completed Early Decision, we can share a brief statistical summary of Early Decision I and Early Decision II combined.    

Early Decision Admissions Statistics   

Early Decision applications: 7,727, a 14.3% increase in ED applications over last year
Admit Rate:  11.9%    

Early Decision Class of 2030 Admitted Student Profile  

• Number of citizenships represented: 54  
• Percent first-generation: 20.9%
• Percent from a small town or rural area: 10.2%
• Percent of students who received one or more significant honors or held major leadership positions: 100%  
• Percent of students in the top ten percent of their graduating class: 96%*  

*based on high schools that provide rank 

We’re grateful to each student who applied to Vanderbilt through Early Decision this year, and we welcome the new members of the Class of 2029. We invite our newly admitted students to join the Vanderbilt community for admitted students on ZeeMee (check your MyAppVU portal for more information on how to join). We also encourage new students to connect with VU on Instagram and other social media. Go ’Dores!   

 

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Our admitted students were selected from an exceptionally talented pool of over 48,000 applicants, the largest in Vanderbilt’s history. We are honored that so many of you took the time to submit your application, and we recognize your hard work in the applications process. Vanderbilt considers many more excellent applicants for first-year admission than we can possibly admit. Our intentional selection process reflects our thoughtful consideration of each applicant in the context of their academic and personal circumstances and the overall strength of the Vanderbilt applicant pool. 

Below, we provide a brief statistical summary of the results of our Regular Decision admissions plan for the Class of 2029. 

Regular Decision applications:  43,322
Admitted:  1,411
Admit Rate:  3.3% 

Regular Decision Class of 2029 Admitted Student Profile
Number of U.S. States represented: 50
Number of citizenships represented: 87 (including the U.S.)
Percent international: 15.2%
Percent who identify as first-generation: 15.5%
Percent from a rural or small town: 10%
Percent of students in the top ten percent of their graduating class:  91.5%*

*based on high schools that provide rank
 

We’re grateful to everyone who applied, as well as to the family members, teachers, counselors, and others who supported applicants through their advocacy. Thank you. 

To the newest Vanderbilt Commodores, we say congratulations! We invite you to our admitted student programs to join your future classmates and explore all that Vanderbilt has to offer. We’ve also been excited to see many of you sharing your news on social media with the hashtag #vu2029 – we can’t wait to see more! 

From everyone at the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, congratulations and welcome to Vanderbilt! 

Earlier this month, we released our Early Decision II admissions decisions for the Class of 2029. We are so excited to welcome these new Commodores!  

As we’ve wrapped up early decision, here’s a brief statistical summary of Early Decision I and Early Decision II combined.    

Early Decision Admissions Statistics   

Early Decision applications: 6,762, a 16% increase in ED applications over last year
Admit Rate:  13.2%    

Early Decision Class of 2029 Admitted Student Profile  

• Number of citizenships represented: 46  
• Percent first-generation: 22.7%
• Percent from a small town or rural area: 11.4%
• Percent of students who received one or more significant honors or held major leadership positions: 100%  
• Percent of students in the top ten percent of their graduating class: 95%*  

*based on high schools that provide rank 

We’re grateful to each student who applied to Vanderbilt through Early Decision this year, and we welcome the new members of the Class of 2029. We invite our newly admitted students to join the Vanderbilt community for admitted students on ZeeMee (check your MyAppVU portal for more information on how to join). We also encourage new students to connect with VU on Instagram and other social media. Go ’Dores!   

 

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Vanderbilt’s culture of innovation and discovery relies on each of these new students contributing their abilities and perspectives and working together to solve the world’s most complex problems. We are eager to see what they are able to accomplish at Vanderbilt!

Our admitted students were selected from an exceptionally talented applicant pool of over 45,000 applicants. Even for those of you who did not receive good news from us today, we are honored that you took the time to submit your application, and we recognize your hard work in the applications process. This strength of our applicant pool, and our commitment to enrolling 1,600 students, means that our process must be highly selective. It is precisely because these decisions are so difficult to render that we put so much time such careful consideration into our selection process.

Below, we provide a brief statistical summary of the results of our Regular Decision admissions plan for the Class of 2028.

Regular Decision applications:  41,336
Admitted:  1,512
Admit Rate:  3.7%

Regular Decision Class of 2028 Admitted Student Profile
Number of U.S. States represented: 48
Number of citizenships represented: 59
Percent international: 13.4%
Percent who identify as first-generation: 18%
Percent from a rural or small town: 10.6%
Percent of students in the top ten percent of their graduating class:  90.8%*
SAT Middle 50% Evidence-Based Reading and Writing: 750-800**
SAT Middle 50% Math: 780-800**
ACT Middle 50%:  34-36**
*based on high schools that provide rank
**based on students who submitted testing

We’re grateful to everyone who applied, as well as to the parents, teachers, counselors, and others who supported applicants through their advocacy. Thank you.

To the newest Vanderbilt Commodores, we say congratulations! We invite you to our admitted student programs to join your future classmates and explore all that Vanderbilt has to offer.

• Anchor Day Saturday, April 13 – Celebrate becoming a Commodore, connect with faculty and new friends, and learn how you’ll grow at VU!
• MOSAIC Weekend + Anchor Day April 12-14 – The MOSAIC Multicultural Student Recruitment Program is an overnight visit program for a select group of admitted students from diverse backgrounds, offered in conjunction with Anchor Day.
• Coffee with the Commodores Learn more about topics including academics, student life, Nashville, and more.
• ’Dore for a Day Shadow a current Vanderbilt student for an afternoon: attend class, eat lunch, and explore campus.
• Vanderbilt and You Connect with other new Commodores from your area while chatting with VU alumni and admissions representatives.
• Online Admitted Student Events Learn more about topics including academics, student life, Nashville, and more.

We’ve also been excited to see many of you sharing your news on social media with the hashtag #vu2028 – we can’t wait to see more!

From everyone at the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, congratulations and welcome to Vanderbilt!

Now that we’ve completed our early rounds, here’s a brief statistical summary of Early Decision I and Early Decision II combined.  

Early Decision Admissions Statistics  

Early Decision applications: 5,835
Admit Rate:  15.2%   

Early Decision Class of 2028 Admitted Student Profile 

• Number of citizenships represented: 55 
• Percent of students who received one or more significant honors or held major leadership positions: 100% 
• Percent of students in the top ten percent of their graduating class: 96%* 
• Middle 50% SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing: 740-770** 
• Middle 50% SAT Math: 770-790** 
• Middle 50% ACT: 34-35** 

*based on high schools that provide rank
**based on students who submitted testing  

We’re grateful to each student who applied through Early Decision, and we welcome the new members of the Class of 2028. We invite our newly admitted students to join the Vanderbilt community for admitted students on ZeeMee — check your MyAppVU portal for more information about how to join. We also encourage new students to connect with VU on Instagram and other social media. Go ’Dores!  

 

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The Vanderbilt Office of Undergraduate Admissions will extend the current test-optional policy for three more years, covering applicants for entrance in fall 2025, 2026, and 2027. Vanderbilt University will not require scores from the ACT or SAT exams for students applying to enter the university for fall 2025, 2026, or 2027. This applies to both first-year and transfer students. 

The STARS College Network (Small-Town And Rural Students) will build on efforts to create new pathways to college for students who might not otherwise recognize the full range of educational opportunities available to them.  

In addition to Vanderbilt, other universities participating in the effort include: Brown, Caltech, Case Western Reserve, Colby, Columbia, MIT, Northwestern, Ohio State, University of Chicago, University of Iowa, University of Maryland, University of Southern California, University of Wisconsin, Washington University and Yale. 

STARS network efforts may include:  

• Pipeline programs that bring students from rural communities and small towns to campus over summer break to help them prepare academically and socially for college  
• On-campus events for prospective students from rural areas and small towns, including flying students in from their hometowns  
• Expanded visits by college admissions staff to high schools in small towns and rural communities  
• Support for students in the college application process, including workshops and sessions designed to help students throughout their college search  
• Help navigating financial aid and scholarship opportunities  
• Fly-in and virtual programs for counselors, teachers, and administrators from rural and small-town high schools, to help them better support their students on the path to college  
• Creating ambassador and mentor roles for current students, faculty, and staff, to promote a campus community that welcomes and supports students from small-town and rural America  
• Partnering with local and national businesses to provide internships and job opportunities for the next generation of rural America 

Learn more about Vanderbilt’s commitment to small-town and rural students, including our upcoming series of webinars designed specifically for prospective students from small towns and rural areas.  

This week we announced admissions decisions for the Regular Decision applicants to the Class of 2027 and sent admit packets to our new Commodores. We’re thrilled to welcome these new students to the Vanderbilt community!

Admitted students were selected from an exceptionally talented applicant pool of over 46,000 applicants. We are honored to receive applications from such remarkable students. At the same time, such a strong pool of applicants means our process must be highly selective. Because we commit to limiting our first-year class to just 1,600 students, there are many talented applicants we are not able to admit. It is precisely because these decisions are so difficult to render that we put such careful consideration into our process. 

Below, we provide a brief statistical summary of the results of our Regular Decision admissions plan for the Class of 2027. 

Regular Decision applications:  41,501
Admitted:  1,763
Admit Rate:  4.2%  

Regular Decision Class of 2027 Admitted Student Profile
Number of citizenships represented: 61
Number of U.S. States represented: 50
Percent of students who received one or more significant honors or held major leadership positions: 100%
Percent of students in the top ten percent of their graduating class:  94.2%*
SAT Middle 50% Evidence-Based Reading and Writing: 740-780
SAT Middle 50% Math: 780-800
ACT Middle 50%:  34-36
*based on high schools that provide rank 

We’re grateful to everyone who applied, as well as to the parents, teachers, counselors, and others who supported applicants through their advocacy. Thank you. 

To our newest Vanderbilt students, we say congratulations! We invite you to join your future classmates to explore all that Vanderbilt has to offer through our admitted student programs: 

• Anchor Day Celebrate becoming a Commodore, connect with faculty and new friends, and learn how you’ll grow at VU! 
• Current Student Panel with Tour Explore campus and learn from current students what life is like at Vanderbilt.  

• Online Admitted Student Events Learn more about topics including academics, student life, Nashville, and more.  
• ’Dore for a Day Spend an afternoon with a current Vanderbilt student getting to know campus.  
• Vanderbilt and You Connect with other new Commodores from your area while chatting with VU alumni and admissions representatives.  

We’ve also been excited to see many of you sharing your news on social media with the hashtag #vu2027 – we can’t wait to see more! 

From everyone at the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, congratulations and welcome to Vanderbilt! 

 

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Our Early Decision class represents a remarkable group of students with myriad interests and talents. See below for summary statistics: 

Vanderbilt Early Decision I and II Combined, Class of 2027 Summary Statistics 

• Number of countries represented: 29
• Percent of students who received one or more significant honors or held major leadership positions: 100%
• Percent of students in the top ten percent of their graduating class: 99%*
• Middle 50% SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing: 730-770**
• Middle 50% SAT Math: 760-790**
• Middle 50% ACT: 34-35**
• Early Decision Admit Rate: 15.7%

*based on high schools that provide rank
**based on students who submitted testing 

We’re grateful to each student who applied through Early Decision, and we welcome the new members of the Class of 2027. We invite our newly admitted students to join the Vanderbilt Admitted Student Community— check your MyAppVU portal for more information about how to join. We also encourage new students to connect with VU on Instagram and other social media. Go ’Dores! 

With Opportunity Vanderbilt need-based scholarships, we make 3 commitments to making a Vanderbilt education affordable:

1. For U.S. citizens and eligible non-citizens, your ability to pay is not part of the admission decision.
   When we read your application, we consider academics, school and community involvement, and other factors, but not your family’s financial situation. Not all colleges practice this, but Vanderbilt does.
2. We meet 100% of your family’s demonstrated financial need.
   Not all schools commit to fully meeting your demonstrated need, but Vanderbilt does. Some schools use income cutoffs that might restrict your eligibility to receive more assistance. Vanderbilt does not.
3. Your financial aid award will not include loans.
   Our aid awards include scholarship money that does not require repayment. Some Schools include loans in aid awards. Vanderbilt does not.

In addition, Vanderbilt awards merit-based scholarships to applicants who demonstrate exceptional accomplishment and intellectual promise.

The majority of our merit-based aid is awarded through three signature scholarships — the Ingram Scholars Program, the Cornelius Vanderbilt Scholarship, and the Chancellor’s Scholarship. Recipients of these scholarships are guaranteed full-tuition awards for up to eight semesters that include a stipend for research, study abroad, a creative endeavor, or the required Immersion Vanderbilt experience.

With Opportunity Vanderbilt need-based aid and full-tuition merit-based scholarships, it’s no wonder we keep getting recognized for our great financial aid. If you’d like to learn more about your own need-based aid eligibility at Vanderbilt, try our net price calculator. And if you’d like to receive more info on Vanderbilt admissions and financial aid, complete our request information form.

In our Four With a ’Dore series, we’re getting to know Vanderbilt students four questions at a time. In today’s installment, meet Jordan Trost from the Class of 2024, an Anna Maria, FL, native with a major in HOD and a minor in business.

Q: Where did you find your sense of belonging on campus?
A: Transfer orientation was crucial to my sense of belonging here. I met a lot of my friends in those first few weeks of school because we went through all of those introductory experiences together and at the same time. I also found my sense of belonging through my HOD community. The students I’ve met in that major are all so social and personable that it just feels natural to get along with them.

Q: How has campus shaped your Vanderbilt experience?
A: I’ve gotten way more in touch with the natural world since living on campus. The fact that it’s an arboretum really speaks to me. Coming from Florida, we don’t really have seasons, so when I came here I became really in tune with the ways the environment around me can look so different. It’s ironic because we’re in the middle of a big city, but it feels like we’re in a forest.

Q: Where is your favorite study spot on campus?
A: The EBI library. It feels like Hogwarts in there, and I can get so much done because it’s totally silent.

Q: How have you embraced collaboration as a Vanderbilt student?
A: I think that collaboration is everywhere here, primarily because everybody lives on campus. I see so many people every day and it feels like our own little metropolis. It makes it so that we’re collaborating constantly and even incidentally in our day-to-day interactions. Everyone I’ve met here is extremely exceptional, and I feel like that has really brought me up in a way that I never saw myself before. Seeing everyone tapping into their potential and having such passion has really inspired me. My advice is to talk to as many people as you can, because almost every conversation I’ve had here has changed or impacted me in some way.