Cornelius Vanderbilt Scholarship is one of the merit-based scholarships offered at the Vanderbilt University. This scholarship program covers your full tuition, plus a one-time summer stipend for an adventurous experience after your junior year, and more.
Awarded annually, the Cornelius scholarship is very competitive for both applicants and current beneficiaries. It remains competitive for beneficiaries because they need to maintain at least a 3.0 GPA to avoid termination (which shouldn’t be a big deal, yeah?).
Over 250 students are awarded the fully-funded scholarships at the Vanderbilt University. These students get to enjoy a four year renewable scholarship and benefits of the institution.
Keeping reading to get every information needed for a successful application. For more undergraduate opportunities in USA, Australia, Canada, South Africa, New Zealand, Switzerland, click here.
About Vanderbilt University Scholarships
The Vanderbilt University was founded in 1873 to honor Cornelius Vanderbilt, who donated $1 million with the hope that it would help people affected by the Civil War.
The Private Research University, which has now grown largely, decided to set up scholarship programs to help academically sound students get a free education. Its merit scholarships are not based on financial needs (otherwise stated). This makes it open to all freshmen undergraduates.
Presently, Vanderbilt offers more than 3 categories of scholarships with Ingram scholarship, Cornelius Vanderbilt scholarship and Chancellor’s scholarship the most popular. All scholarships award students a full sponsorship, including project research expenses and summer stipends for study abroad.
The gift from Sartain Lanier Family Foundation of Atlanta birthed the Cornelius Vanderbilt scholarship in 2007. The Lanier Family were of the intention of strengthening and uniting Vanderbilt’s existing full tuition academic merit scholarships.
Cornelius Vanderbilt Scholarship Acceptance Rate
Vanderbilt merit scholarships are highly competitive with an acceptance rate of roughly 1-3% of the entire freshmen applicant. These means, only a few students get to receive the Vanderbilt financial aid.
Who can apply for Vanderbilt Merit Scholarships?
Vanderbilt merit scholarships are open to incoming Freshmen students with outstanding academic performances. The student must demonstrate exceptional accomplishment, leadership potential and a promising intellectual ability.
Cornelius Vanderbilt Scholarship Requirements
Before you are considered eligible, you must also meet all requirements of the Cornelius scholarship for undergraduates.
- Must enroll as a freshman at the Vanderbilt University
- Applicant must apply via MyAppVU after submitting admission application.
- Must provide all additional documents (e.g. scholarship essay, reference letters, school transcript etc.).
Vanderbilt Scholarships ACT Scores
An ACT score of at least 34 is expected if you really want to stand a chance to win any of Vanderbilt university merit scholarships. Approximately 25% of enrolled students score at least an SAT 1540 and/or an ACT 34. Yet less than 3% of applicants receive a merit scholarship.
How to apply
Interested applicants are expected to first apply to study at the Vanderbilt University either through submitting the Common Application, Coalition Application, or the QuestBridge Application to Vanderbilt. This process is required for any of the merit scholarships offered at Vanderbilt.
Once you submit your application for admission, you will receive an email under 24 hours from the Office of Undergraduate Admissions explaining how to create your online MyAppVU account.
After creating your account, navigate to the scholarship tab, then select which merit scholarship you want to apply. This process is done for Cornelius Vanderbilt scholarship and other merit scholarships offered at Vanderbilt University.
Your MyAppVU portal is the only means of applying for any Vanderbilt scholarships. All responses concerning your scholarship application should be submitted in Word document or PDF format online.
After submitting your scholarship application, you will receive an immediate confirmation of submission date and also a green checkmark indicating your application was successful. If you don’t receive a green checkmark under 24 hours of applying, then your application was not successful.
Cornelius Vanderbilt Scholarship Essay Questions
1. For applicants to the School of Engineering, Peabody College of Education and Human Development, and Blair School of Music:
Recognizing that you have applied to a focused area of study, please comment on the reasons you are interested in your chosen academic program. In this context, discuss personal experiences, goals, and interests that relate to your choice of major. Please limit your response to 500 words.
2. For applicants to the College of Arts and Science:
The College of Arts and Science is a liberal arts school committed to introducing every student to a broad range of subjects in the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities. How will you embrace the breadth of courses offered by the College of Arts and Science? How will this fit into your academic journey or life’s passions? Please limit your response to 500 words.
Essay Writing Tips
Your main focus when writing out your essay should be centered on the “Why.” State the reasons why you would like to take specifics courses, why you would like to work with specific professors, why you chose to study in the university (considering location/ratings), school traditions you would like to participate and why, students groups that appeal to you and why.
The goal is to talk about why these things will benefit you, but also how they fit into your overall plan after graduation. Additionally, what you intend to do using these experiences to help the school positively (your contributions).
When you can answer these questions, your purpose for applying for the scholarship should be partially/completely fulfilled. This should give you a good head start. Also remember to be precise and clear in your grammar.
Scholarship Benefits
- Full tuition for four years
- One-time summer stipend after sophomore or junior year
- Project research expenses
- Other miscellaneous college expenses.
Selection Process
Vanderbilt Merit Scholarship recipients are selected based on their academic achievement, intellectual promise, and leadership and contribution outside the classroom. These factors are strictly considered during the selection process.
The selection committee will receive both the applicant’s admission application and Cornelius Vanderbilt scholarship application. After thorough vetting, the committee picks the best of the best students.
Cornelius Vanderbilt Scholarship Deadline
Application closes on the 1st of December 2022 annually. Eligible students must submit all the necessary information regarding their application before the closure date.
Recipients of the merit scholarship will get notified via mail and email in Mid March, 2023.
Contact info
For inquiries on your scholarship, do not hesitate to contact Vanderbilt using the information provided. Only scholarship related issues should be sent to the email.
E-mail: [email protected]
PMB 407810
2309 West End Avenue
Nashville, TN 37240-7810
Tel: (615) 322-3591
Fax: (615) 343-8512.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many Cornelius Vanderbilt scholarships are awarded?
About 50-60 freshmen get the Cornelius Vanderbilt scholarship, and approximately 250 applicants get the Vanderbilt merit scholarships.
Only the most outstanding students who demonstrate commitment to their area of courses and what they intend to do (for the school and community) after studying are considered.
How many people apply for Cornelius Vanderbilt scholarship?
Over 5,400 students apply annually for the Cornelius scholarship, but just 1-3% are awarded.
Does Vanderbilt scholarships require interview?
No. Applicants are not invited for an interview session. The committee does the whole selection process without the involvement of the student’s presence.
Recommendation
- Alberta University Scholarship 2023
- Lester B Pearson International Scholarship
- Simmons University Kotzen scholarship
- SIT Study Abroad Scholarship
- Defense Science and Technology Agency Scholarship
Conclusion
Here is a summary of how to apply for the Cornelius Vanderbilt Scholarship.
- You must be an undergraduate student
- First apply for admission at the Vanderbilt University
- Create your MyAppVU account. This will be used to apply for any Vanderbilt merit scholarships.
- Proceed your scholarship on the MyAppVU.
- Submit all necessary documents in PDF or word document format.
- Complete your Scholarship application, then submit.
- Wait for a green checkmark to be sure your application was submitted.
- Frequently check your MyAppVU portal or email for updates concerning your scholarship application.
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