If, after the Regular Decision round of admissions, you were neither accepted nor denied by Vanderbilt University, you were offered a spot on the dreaded waitlist. But what exactly does it mean to be waitlisted by Vanderbilt? Do waitlisted students to the Nashville, Tennessee-based institution have a real shot at admission? Let’s dive in!

Vanderbilt University Waitlist Acceptance Rate and Statistics

Below are the Vanderbilt waitlist acceptance rates and statistics the institution released to The Common Data Set over the last 16 years.

Vanderbilt University Class Year	Number of Students Waitlisted to Vanderbilt	Number of Students Who Chose to Join Vanderbilt Waitlist	Number of Students Accepted Off Vanderbilt Waitlist	Vanderbilt Waitlist Acceptance Rate
Vanderbilt Class of 2029	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD
Vanderbilt Class of 2028	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD
Vanderbilt Class of 2027	Not Published	Not Published	140	Not Published
Vanderbilt Class of 2026	Not Published	Not Published	221	Not Published
Vanderbilt Class of 2025	Not Published	Not Published	181	Not Published
Vanderbilt Class of 2024	Not Published	Not Published	479	Not Published
Vanderbilt Class of 2023	Not Published	Not Published	453	Not Published
Vanderbilt Class of 2022	Not Published	Not Published	243	Not Published
Vanderbilt Class of 2021	Not Published	Not Published	178	Not Published
Vanderbilt Class of 2020	Not Published	Not Published	71	Not Published
Vanderbilt Class of 2019	Not Published	Not Published	188	Not Published
Vanderbilt Class of 2018	6,018	4,536	210	4.63%
Vanderbilt Class of 2017	Not Published	Not Published	223	Not Published
Vanderbilt Class of 2016	Not Published	Not Published	Not Published	Not Published
Vanderbilt Class of 2027	Not Published	Not Published	Not Published	Not Published
Vanderbilt Class of 2015	Not Published	Not Published	Not Published	Not Published
Vanderbilt Class of 2014	Not Published	Not Published	Not Published	Not Published
Vanderbilt Class of 2013	3,109	1,390	202	14.53%

Your Chances of Admission to Vanderbilt After Being Waitlisted

While Vanderbilt does not typically release the number of students who accept a spot on the annual waitlist to gauge the school’s waitlist acceptance rate, the school does report to The Common Data Set the number of students who are annually offered admission out of limbo. And the number is — more often than not — quite significant.

Over the last 11 years, Vanderbilt has always turned to its waitlist. Over this span, the fewest students admitted in a given year were 71 (for the Class of 2020), and the most were 479 (for the Class of 2024). An average of 235.18 students were admitted out of limbo during this window — not too shabby!

Over the last 16 years, Vanderbilt has reported its waitlist acceptance rate twice — for the Classes of 2018 and 2013. The waitlist acceptance rate for the Vanderbilt Class of 2018 stood at 4.63%. For the Class of 2013, 14.53% of waitlisted students ultimately earned admission.

Your Chances of Admission to Vanderbilt University After Being Waitlisted with Ivy Coach’s Help

Over the last 30 years, 45% of students who have first come to Ivy Coach after being offered a spot on the Vanderbilt waitlist have earned admission. During this three-decade-long window, there were also multiple years in which every student who first sought Ivy Coach’s assistance after being waitlisted got in.

So how does Ivy Coach’s process for waitlisted students to Vanderbilt work? It’s a two-step process that goes as follows:

1. Complete a PostMortem application review. We need to see how a waitlisted candidate positioned their narrative since how they position themselves after being waitlisted can’t be the polar opposite of their initial approach. A student who applied with a great interest in cancer research can’t suddenly be a horticulturist. We just have to help them present as a much more compelling cancer researcher. We’ll help the student dare Vandy admissions officers not to admit a student who could one day find the cell of origin for ovarian cancer.
2. Submit a compelling Letter of Continued Interest to Vanderbilt. Most waitlisted candidates know that doing nothing is an unlikely strategy to earn admission out of limbo. And most waitlisted candidates know that they should submit a letter to Vanderbilt’s admissions office after being placed in limbo to express their continued interest in attending. But most waitlisted candidates also think such letters should be filled with brags and updates. That is most certainly not the approach of Ivy Coach’s letters. Our students’ letters contain no peacocking or updates. Instead, they’re love letters to Vanderbilt — filled with specific examples of how a student will contribute their singular hook to the elite institution.

Getting Started with Ivy Coach on Vanderbilt Waitlist

If you were waitlisted to Vanderbilt’s Class of 2029, fill out Ivy Coach’s consultation form, note that Vanderbilt waitlisted you, and we’ll be in touch to set up a consultation to delineate our go-forward service. 

Remember that if you were waitlisted, the time to act is now — not later. The longer you wait to send a powerful letter to Vanderbilt, the more likely Vandy’s admissions officers will think you’re awaiting word on the decisions from other institutions. If Vanderbilt were indeed your first choice, you’d have no reason to wait.