Vanderbilt has soared in popularity in recent years, and the acceptance rate has plummeted in response. For the Class of 2029, they logged a record-low acceptance rate of only 4.7%. They attribute this to both a surge in applications and a rise in their yield rate. With more accepted students committing to Vanderbilt, they don’t need to accept as many students to fill the first-year class. If you are a waitlisted applicant, that isn’t the best news — but there are also actions you can take to make your chances of an eventual admission much stronger. First, though, let’s talk numbers.
If we go back a few application cycles, we can chart some trends with the Vanderbilt waitlist. Even though they do not share the number of students who are waitlisted, nor the number of students who opt-in to join the waitlist after receiving that decision, they do share the number of students admitted off of the waitlist. Over the past four years, that number has stayed fairly stead, fluctuating between 140 students and 279. Again, no other waitlist data was shared by Vanderbilt.
This shows us that Vanderbilt does use their waitlist actively. They affirm this, previously sharing that “over the last five years, an average of 10% of our enrolling class of 1,600 has been admitted from the waitlist.” That would mean about 160 students a year, which sounds pretty good. However, since we have no visibility into how many students were on the waitlist that they pulled from. It could be less than 1,000 students or it could be more than 3,000. It is unlikely, given the numbers that we do have, that the Vanderbilt acceptance rate off of the waitlist is higher than 2%.
So, what does the Vanderbilt waitlist really mean? It isn’t a soft “no,” but it also isn’t simply a delayed “yes.” Most students on the waitlist will not get in. Below, we will help you break through the pack to defy the waitlist admissions odds.
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After receiving your waitlist decision from Vanderbilt, the first step is to breathe. It’s easy to panic. You want to do something fast because that offers a sense of control. The problem with moving fast is that it also tends to break things. What you need right now isn’t fast, it’s smart. We’ve broken down the smart approach into four crucial steps that keep you on the path to acceptance.
Step One: Join the Waitlist
The first step should be obvious, as Vanderbilt emphasized it in their letter to you with your waitlist decision. You need to actually join the waitlist. You’ve been offered a spot, but you aren’t on it yet. So, go back into the MyAppVU portal and respond immediately. Vanderbilt asks students to do this “as soon as possible, and no later than May 1.”
Step Two: Commit to a College
Once you have officially joined the Vanderbilt waitlist, you need to line up an alternative option. Most students do not get off of the Vanderbilt waitlist. For the majority, their Vanderbilt journey ends here. You have the opportunity to set yourself on a path that will actually end up in a Vanderbilt dorm, but you also need to hedge your bets just in case. That means picking a different school.
Choosing a different college is not accepting failure, it’s being strategic. So, pick the best school for you on the list of options you’ve been accepted by and commit. It is neither illegal nor immoral to break this agreement if you get into Vanderbilt. Nearly every college has a waitlist, and so they are all very used to some movement in the first-year class as waitlist decisions for other schools come out — including their own.
If you don’t have a college that you are excited (or even mildly satisfied) to commit to, that’s an unfortunate situation. It is not, however, a reason to not commit to a college while you work on the Vanderbilt waitlist.
Step Three: Update Vanderbilt
The best news we have for you about the Vanderbilt waitlist is that they want to hear from you. Vanderbilt cares a lot about you caring about them, especially when the waitlist is concerned. They want to know new information about you since you submitted your application, and they want to know that you still love Vanderbilt. All of this will be wrapped up in a Letter of Continued Interest, or LOCI.
Your LOCI needs to have four parts, be only one page in size 12 font with normal margins, and it must include new information. “As long as this information is new,” Vanderbilt admissions says, “we will accept it.”
Writing the LOCI
As we said, there should be four parts to this one-page letter. The first is the opening. This is a letter, so it should start with “Dear Vanderbilt Admissions,” or the name of your regional representative if you’ve communicated with them previously. Following that should come three sentences that are the introduction to your LOCI.
Introduction: This truly should be just three sentences. First, a sentence introducing yourself and your status as a waitlisted candidate for the Class of 2030 intending to major in something (but actually name the major) if accepted. The second sentence should confirm that Vanderbilt remains your first choice for college and that you will immediately enroll if accepted. This sentence is not legally-binding, but it is important. The last sentence of the intro needs to set the intention for the letter: to provide important updates to your application and reinforce your interest in Vanderbilt.
Update: Next comes the update. This is the most important section of the LOCI, and Vanderbilt has shared that they are open to information including changes in your academic performance, new leadership positions, and academic honors. We suggest picking 2-4 updates to share such that you can write a few sentences about each. At least one of these updates should connect to your prospective major and they should all speak to how you work with and support others at school or in another community. This letter needs to be about more than just you, as you really must show Vanderbilt that you are working towards the betterment of more than yourself — even as graduation approaches.
Reinforce: The next section will be a short paragraph mentioning a specific program, professor, or academic track at Vanderbilt that makes you excited to attend. They are not going to let you in simply because you know the name of a professor, so spend less time on showing off how much you know about the program and more illustrating connections between what you are already doing now and how Vanderbilt can help you grow into an impactful future.
Close: End the letter with another super short paragraph, this one just two sentences. In the first sentence thank them for their time and continued consideration. In the next, say something a little fun about how you would celebrate once on campus, or a tradition you are particularly excited for. Sign off with “Sincerely,” or “Respectfully,” then edit obsessively.
A Fresh Recommendation?
Some years Vanderbilt shares that they are open to new recommendations to supplement your application, while others they have said that additional recs are rarely impactful as they often repeat things that they already know about you from your application. Whether or not you should pursue a supplemental recommendation, then, really depends on who you would ask. We encourage students to seek a recommendation from a mentor, supervisor, coach, or faith leader who Vanderbilt has not heard from yet and who can write about you from a fresh perspective. They should submit this letter themselves by sending it directly to admissions.
Visit or Call
Vanderbilt does not discourage waitlisted applicants from visiting campus, which is different from most highly-selective universities. However, you will not be able to schedule a conversation or interview with admissions. If you visit, it would be simply to get to know the campus and program better, while also reinforcing your interest in Vanderbilt. Demonstrated interest matters big-time to Vanderbilt when you are on the waitlist, and that includes responding to emails, sending your LOCI, and visiting campus if possible.
If you cannot visit, call admissions after submitting your LOCI simply to say hi, introduce yourself, and let them know that Vanderbilt remains your first choice. Do not — we repeat: do not — ask for an explanation of their decision. Be respectful, be future-oriented, and be optimistic.
Update Grades
The last step is to send Vanderbilt your most recent transcript. Through should be an official transcript sent through your school, not something you can download off the school website. Of course, this assumes that your grades remain on an upwards trajectory. If your grades take a dive, it is unlikely Vanderbilt will seriously reconsider your application.
Step Four: Respond Promptly
The last step is to be on top of your email inbox. First, verify that your email address in the MyAppVU portal is a personal email not your school email. You may hear from Vanderbilt after you’ve lost access to your school email, which would be a major problem should they be trying to reach you.
Historically, Vanderbilt has emailed students on the waitlist as frequently as once a month prompting them to re-join the waitlist to remain in consideration. It is extremely important that you “respond promptly” if you receive an email asking you to confirm that you want to remain on the waitlist, or to send them materials they feel they need to see. And look out for an offer! Vanderbilt will start sending waitlist offers in May, and you will have a limited amount of time to respond if offered a spot.
Getting into Vanderbilt off of the waitlist isn’t easy, but it is possible with proper planning, strategy, and a strong approach. You just need to take it one step at a time, and no panic allowed.
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