Updated: Tuesday, September 16, 2025
If Vanderbilt University, also known as Vandy, is one of your top-choice schools, you may be wondering how to craft your admissions essay to help you stand out. Vanderbilt is incredibly selective, so they look for students who demonstrate what they can contribute to the diverse campus community academically and otherwise. Your response to the essay prompt contributes to the holistic review of your application, so it’s important to give it a lot of thought.
Keep reading for more information about the Vanderbilt essay, along with some writing strategies.
When you apply to Vanderbilt, you can expect to write at least two essays — additional essays may be required if you apply for scholarships. The first essay is a response to one of the personal essay prompts on the Common Application, Coalition Application, or QuestBridge, and the second is a response to a supplemental essay question that is unique to Vanderbilt University.
The Vanderbilt supplemental essay is designed for the admissions committee to get to know you on a deeper level and gain a better understanding of how you’ll fit in on campus. It’s important that your essay does not repeat information that admissions readers will find elsewhere in your application. However, it is in short answer format, so it needs to pack a punch.
Unlike your personal essay from the Common App, Coalition Application, or QuestBridge — which is sent to every school you apply to — the supplemental essay prompt is exclusive to Vanderbilt University, allowing you to tailor your response to Vandy’s unique culture. Follow these tips for writing the supplemental essay:
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.
The prompt is built around a central theme: growth. You’re being asked to connect the dots between your past, present, and future.
Answering this prompt in 250 words or less is challenging. Every word choice should be intentional to truly make an impact. Here are four tips for writing the essay:
Don’t just pick something for the sake of it. Select an element of your identity, culture, or background that has genuinely been a catalyst for growth. This could be your family’s cultural heritage, a tradition you’ve upheld, a unique background like growing up in a bilingual household, or even an aspect of your identity you’ve had to navigate or stand up for. The more personal and specific the story, the more compelling it will be.
Use a narrative structure. Start with a specific moment or experience where this aspect of your background came into play. Describe the challenge, the perspective shift, or the lesson learned. This story should be the anchor for the first part of your response. For example, instead of saying, “I learned to be a good communicator from my family’s tradition of hosting large gatherings,” you could start with a specific anecdote about a chaotic family dinner where you had to mediate a conversation between relatives with opposing viewpoints.
The transition between the two parts of the prompt is crucial. You need to explicitly link the personal growth from your past to your potential contributions at Vanderbilt. Think about specific clubs, classes, research opportunities, or campus events you can connect with. For instance, if your essay is about learning to be a good mediator, you could write about how you’ll use that skill to contribute to a student government organization or a debate club at Vanderbilt. This shows you’ve thought about your place on campus and how you’ll enrich the community.
The final part of your essay should circle back to the university’s motto. Explain what “daring to grow” means to you within the context of your Vanderbilt experience. This is your chance to show intellectual curiosity and an openness to new ideas. You might mention how you’ll seek out differing viewpoints, explore a new field of study, or challenge your own assumptions. This demonstrates that you see college not as an endpoint, but as the next step in a lifelong journey of learning.
If you’re applying for any of Vanderbilt’s merit-based scholarships, you may need to write additional essays. The Vanderbilt scholarship fall 2026 essay prompts give you a good idea of what to expect, though the prompts are subject to change each year.
Here are our scholarship essay tips:
For the supplemental application essay prompt, your response should be approximately 250 words. It can be a challenge to write a meaningful essay with such a limited word count, so it’s important to be as informative, focused, and concise as possible.
The scholarship essays are mostly from 250 to 500 words:
For fall 2026, the Chancellor’s Scholarship requires students to fill out a chart instead of writing an essay.
Vandy is among the most selective schools in the U.S., so when considering how to get into Vanderbilt, your academic performance in high school will matter more than your college essays and extracurriculars. They receive thousands of applications each year and had an admission rate of 5.30% for the class of 2029, making it a reach school for most students.
More than 90% of the students who are accepted graduate within the top 10% of their high school class — the average high school GPA is 3.89 for the class of 2028. They also tend to have high standardized test scores, with the middle 50% scoring 1510-1560 on the SAT or 34-35 on the ACT for fall 2024 admission.
As a prospective student, you would also need to submit a letter of recommendation from your guidance counselor and two from teachers who can speak to your academic abilities and other valuable qualities. And since extracurriculars are one factor considered in the holistic admissions process, it’s important to write impactful activity descriptions.
Is Vanderbilt on your college list? It can be difficult to gain admission, but our expert counselors are available to help you present yourself as a compelling and desirable applicant. All IvyWise counselors have worked as admissions officers at some of the top schools in the U.S., so they know how to help you stand out. Schedule an Initial Consultation today to see how we can help you gain admission to your top-choice schools.
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For many high school seniors, the fall semester can feel particularly stressful. Between maintaining top grades, putting the finishing touches on personal statements, and applying to colleges, there are a lot of important items on students’ agendas.
As the sun sets on the summer and we enter another academic year, seniors are less than a year away from the induction into adulthood and independence that awaits after high school graduation. Before that new journey begins, seniors must contend with graduation requirements and post-high school plans.
Founded in 1873, Vanderbilt University is a private research institution known globally for its strong academic programs and research opportunities. This close-knit campus community is located in the heart of Nashville, Tennessee, and offers a college experience unlike anything else. While not an Ivy League school, Vanderbilt is known as a “Southern Ivy” because of its highly selective admissions process and stellar academic reputation.
