2013 Single Choice Early Action applicants thread

Colleges & Universities A-Z Yale University
21

<p>Hey I’ll join in on the fun here. This is all pretty nerve-wracking but I’m starting to feel better about my chances.</p>

<p>Objective:
[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 800 CR, 800 Math, 790 Writing
[</em>] SAT II: 800 Math II, 800 World History, 780 Physics
[<em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0 on the 90=A scale that Yale will (I believe) use, a 3.95 on my school’s 94=A. Jr. year definitely my best year.
[</em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 7/592
[<em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): 4 5’s (in rigorous, core subject APs) and a 4 (sophomore dalliance, haha)
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: Post-BC Calc math (an amalgam of things that makes more sense on a transcript), AP Physics C, AP Art History, AP English Literature, AP US History, AP Studio Art
[<em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Yeah I missed out on the registrations for those babies
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Extracurriculars:
Lacrosse: Have played club all my life. Three-year varsity, two-year starter, won county and state titles. At one point high school team ranked #2 in CT, consistently in top 10. My club team was ranked in the top 100 nationally this spring, and I captained that team.
Art: I’m not going to try to describe my work, but I take classes and do submissions to school publications, and have won a few semi-prestigious regional awards. It’s something that doesn’t reflect on me as well on my application as it should; hopefully my essay on it can liven it up.
I’ve been involved in a lot of tutoring, both volunteer and private. Sophomore year I was just involved in a school program, junior/senior year added tutoring of those members of the lacrosse team lacking in intelligence. (~2-3 hrs/wk)
Science olympiad, not a huge commitment, but will be captain Sr. year. I’ve also won a couple fairly prestigious county awards. Yes, I am really in science olympiad and love to paint.
Three-year columnist for school paper. Not really eligible for any awards unfortunately, but a lot of hours were put in.
For fun, I am a music/film buff. I had a three-week internship at a bilingual magazine in Mexico that concentrates on film and books, and also have done a little radio work.
[<em>] Job/Work Experience: Decent amount of tutoring (3 or so hours 11-12 grades).
[</em>] Volunteer/Community service: Volunteer tutoring (~2 hrs/week)
[<em>] Summer Activities: Nothing that’ll blow anyone away.
[</em>] Essays: I like them; who knows what that means.
[<em>] Teacher Recommendation: I’m gambling with a supplementary rec from an academic teacher, but overall they are all incredibly strong.
[</em>] Counselor Rec: Amazing.
[<em>] Additional Rec: It’ll be great, it might </em>* Yale off though.
[<em>] Interview:
[/ul]Other[ul]
[</em>] State (if domestic applicant): CT
[<em>] Country (if international applicant):
[</em>] School Type: Public
[<em>] Ethnicity: White
[</em>] Gender: ?
[<em>] Income Bracket: High I guess
[</em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): non-athlete, non-legacy white male from new england/mid-atlantic area. not much in the hooks department.
[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[<em>] Strengths: Standardized tests, recommendations, # of hours of involvement in genuine EC activities.<br>
[</em>] Weaknesses: Lack of distinction in an appealing EC (my top EC is lacrosse, and I’m not playing in college), race/geographic, slightly lower GPA than some other applicants from my school (there are some grade-whore status folks).
[<em>] Hard to Know: Transcript (I’m sure that almost anybody that’s competitive will be A-laden), # of APs (is 10 by graduation high or just around average), class rank (typical situation in an above-average public school that’s having an insane year. 7 is not really a fair indicator in a traditional context of my school).
[</em>] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I think it is deferred at worst, and recently I’ve felt confident that I can come across as really personable and genuine in my essays/recs. Hopefully that, involvement, and SATs will be enough
[/ul]General Comments: Good Luck!!</p>

22

<p>@eating_food</p>

<p>Omigosh…that’s so weird. I’m getting a recommendation from my mock trial coach/Government teacher and my biology teacher, too! How odd.</p>

23

<p>1) YAYA! princessbell/princess shell and I are twins! (same SAT2s, blackness, legacy, maryland (except i’m from howard county), summer@brown, love of writing, internships)</p>

<p>2) Has anyone noticed how there are like 20,000 people on this one thread from maryland?</p>

<p>3) Has anyone noticed that everyone on this thread is black?</p>

<p>4) Nearly all of us have taken the literature SAT2 (and did well on it… which is fairly uncommon)</p>

<p>5) We’re incredible.</p>

24

<p>I hope CC is just filled with awesome people and that this isn’t representative of the average Yalie. You all are amazing.</p>

25

<p>Oh God I feel terrible about my SAT scores when I read everyone else’s stats</p>

26

<p>^ Me too…</p>

27

<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 720 M, 800 CR, 740 W (took again on Saturday)
[</em>] ACT: Nah yo, nah.
[<em>] SAT II: Lit 740, Math II 770.
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): School doesn’t do it, I get mostly A-s. School’s hard as balls.
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 10% probs
[</em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): US History (5), English Lit (5), Music Theory (5, self-study)
[<em>] IB (place score in parenthesis): Nope
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: AP Spanish Lit, AP Physics C, AP Calc BC, Literature & Moral Ideals, Comparative Literature, Creative Writing, Concert Choir
[<em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Semi? That’s not major on here I bet.
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Professional All-Male A Cappella group (head/musical director), school’s Drama Association (head), Varsity Football (I start, but we’re a dinky prep school, so I’m not about to play football anywhere), Piano (I play mad hard music, if that counts. I do concerts and stuff, but I don’t do any of those wack competitions) Voice (I can sing like a little girl thanks to voice lessons)
[<em>] Job/Work Experience: Nah yo.
[</em>] Volunteer/Community service: Intern, Save the Children Bolivia Field Office this summer
[<em>] Summer Activities: That stuff, plus Experiment in International Living, and then Arts Camp because I’m lame and do stuff that I enjoy that won’t get me into college.
[</em>] Essays: Mad solid.
[<em>] Teacher Recommendation: I think they like me, but I guess I’ll find out. Not really though, seeing as I’ll never read them ever.
[</em>] Counselor Rec: She likes me a lot I think. And she’s super awesome.
[<em>] Additional Rec: Not for Yale.
[</em>] Interview: Scared of that junk.
[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): Good old CT. 10 minutes from Harkness tower.
[</em>] Country (if international applicant):
[<em>] School Type: Private, 130 kids/class
[</em>] Ethnicity: So white it’s not remotely close to funny.
[<em>] Gender: Male
[</em>] Income Bracket: Upper middle class kind.
[<em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): My school send 10-15 kids every year, we get in about 50% of applicants. Kind of banking on this junk.
[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[</em>] Strengths: I’m mad crazy and I do what I want.
[<em>] Weaknesses: What I want doesn’t involve a job, and once involved getting suspended for drinking. Whoops.
[</em>] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
[/ul]General Comments: DAAAHHH Good Luck!!</p>

28

<p>i’d just like to say you guys are all so cool…i hope we’re all classmates :)</p>

29

<p>and props to areyouserioussss for doing what you want! luckily i’ve always escaped being caught…but i will certianly share some of my misadventures (which I plan to continue at Yale/other college) when applications are over and done with.</p>

30

<p>grc061390: I completely agree with you.</p>

31

<p>This is so cool! SO many talented people…but wow, so many African American applicants with utterly amazing stats. That makes me nervous as an African American Female SCEA Applicant. But it’s so inspiring!</p>

32

<p>besomebody: >>>SAT I (breakdown): 770 CR, 700 M, 730 W, 10 Essay (2300)>>></p>

<p>Is that 800 M? Or did you just make a math error?</p>

33

<p>It’s a 800 M. :slight_smile: I tried to edit, but apparently I already used the one chance that I had. :P</p>

34

<p>“This is so cool! SO many talented people…but wow, so many African American applicants with utterly amazing stats. That makes me nervous as an African American Female SCEA Applicant. But it’s so inspiring!”</p>

<p>—and now there are 5 AA’s on this thread. but hey, CC represents the creme of the creme of the crop! and being that u must be very serious abt college admissions to even be on this site (or at least on the Yale section) a disproportionate amt of ppl get in to ivies and other top schools. In other words, i hope most of us Yale hopefuls end up at Yale next yr! :)</p>

35

<p>Objective:</p>

<p>SAT I (breakdown): 800 M, 780 CR, 800 W
ACT: NA
SAT II: 800 Chemistry, 800 Math Level 2, 800 US History
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1 / 950
AP (place score in parenthesis): US History (5), English Lang (5), Chemistry (5) IB (place score in parenthesis): Nope
Senior Year Course Load: AP Biology, AP German 4, AP Calc BC, AP Enlgish 4, Orchestra, AP Stats, and AP Economics
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Semi-finalist, Siemens Competition Semi-finalist</p>

<p>Subjective:</p>

<p>Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Math and Science UIL (presidnet), Amateur radio operator (hold highest class license), Boy Scouts (Eagle Scout), orchestra and symphony (violinist), German club (placed mutliple times at both region and state over mutliple years), NHS
Job/Work Experience: Kumon (tutoring orginization). I have been a student since the second grade, have reached the highest level of anyone at my center (currently working on calculus 2 material) and am now an employee.
Volunteer/Community service: Community service with Boy Scouts (Eagle Scout projects), NHS, local library, food bank etc. (not a major are of strength for me)
Summer Activities: I worked in an organic chemistry lab conducting chemistry research at the University of Texas (fuel cell research). I have entered my research in multiple research competitions. I travelled to Germany for a German Immersion program after sophmore year.
Essays: Strong. One is about my visual impairment and overcoming obstacles. The other one is about my research and intellectual interests.
Teacher Recommendation: I had my AP Chem write one (it will be short but full of praise) and my AP US History teacher wirte one
Counselor Rec: Will hopefully be very strong
Additional Rec: Had the professor I worked under for my research write one (I know that one will be strong because he told me I was the best high school student he has worked with)
Interview: Had one, not very interesting, don’t think it will really affect the admissions commitee decission
Other
State (if domestic applicant): Texas
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public, 950 kids/class
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: My dad has a tone of money, so Yale would never give me any financial aid (upper, upper middle class)
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): My visual impairment will hopefully be my diveristy ticket, and being from Texas can’t hurt</p>

<p>Reflection</p>

<p>Strengths: Test scores, rank, science
Weaknesses: A little weak on my ECs and community service but I did focus on science for these, so hopefully my commitment will shine through</p>

<p>General Comments: Good Luck</p>

36

<p>Hello everybody!
I am truly, truly amazed by everyone’s stats and extracurricular activities! You all have great qualifications and I am sure many of you are hardworking enough to deserve to go to Yale. But sadly, only a fraction of us posting will meet each other on Yale’s campus as the new Freshman. Well anyways, enough of my ranting. </p>

<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 800 M, 780 CR, 730 W (2310)
[</em>] ACT: 35
[<em>] SAT II: 800 Math II, 800 Chemistry, 800 World History, 790 Biology
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/320
[</em>] AP (place score in parenthesis):
AP Calc BC (5), AP Physics B (5), AP Biology (5), AP Chemistry (5), AP Physics C: Mechanics (5), AP World History (5), AP U.S. Gov (5), AP U.S. History (4), AP Stats (4)
[<em>] IB (place score in parenthesis):
None
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load:
AP Psych, AP Spanish, AP Comp Gov, AP Language, AP Physics: E and M, AP Macroecon, American Rev, World Religions, Forensic Science, Computer programming C++ (we have trimesters so we can take this many classes!)
[<em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
National Merit-Semifinalist, AIME Qualifier, National AP Scholar (only 14 juniors in the state got them, but I am sure Yale wouldn’t know), Michigan Math Prize Comp Top 100 in entire State (#23rd in state)
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Math Club President, Varsity Tennis, Student Gov (Treasurer), Chess Club President, Model UN (treasurer), Robotics Club (treasurer), and many more but I don’t hold real positions in them (like National Honors Society). Play piano, harmonium, indian bamboo flute, tabla, and Sitar –> I have a band called “Asian Caucasian Invasion” (i know pretty cheesy), I also sing Gospel Music and Indian Classical Music (Carnatic and Hindustani –> not sure if other people know what these are)
[<em>] Job/Work Experience:
SAT/ACT Instructor (I actually get paid), Kumon Math and Reading Instructor
[</em>] Volunteer/Community service:
Went to India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Mali to aid in humanitarian efforts and school building, temple building activities, vaccination drives, and literacy campaigns. Basically, I traveled to a lot of countries helping people.
I also made and am still maintaining a website for SPREAD India, a non-profit organization that aims to help underprivileged in India. –> I also held fund-raising events at local churches for the organization.
[<em>] Summer Activities: 9th Grade Summer (Summer Mathematics Institute, Bangladesh Trip) 10th Grade Summer (Michigan Math Science Scholars Program, Mali and India Trip), 11th Grade Summer (Neuroscience Research of Mice, India and Nepal Trip)
[</em>] Essays: My common app one is about my father’s schizophrenia and how I dealt with it, and the other one is about climbing an ancient Indian temple.
[<em>] Teacher Recommendation: My teachers actually told me what they put in the recommendations. It seems that they all put check marks under the “one of the few encountered in my career” part of the common app. So I am pretty happy!!
[</em>] Counselor Rec: She said in her exact words, “I wrote the longest and most comprehensive recommendation ever in my career” Don’t know if that’s good or bad but…
[<em>] Additional Rec: None (did we need it?)
[</em>] Interview: His exact words were, “Man, if people like you applied when I was trying to get in, I would probably not be conducting this interview”
[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): Michigan
[</em>] Country (if international applicant):
[<em>] School Type: Large Public
[</em>] Ethnicity: Indian
[<em>] Gender: Male
[</em>] Income Bracket: > 100K but < 200K
[<em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Sadly, none
[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[</em>] Strengths: Essays (at least I think so because I had an English professor at Oxford, my father’s alma mater, proof read and make them better)
[li] Weaknesses: Lack of a narrow yet wide set of extracurriculars. I am pretty much all over the place. I have breadth, and depth, but the depth only goes for about 60 percent of my activities)[/li][/ul]General Comments: Good Luck!! I believe that most of us need it!!</p>

37

<p>240er, were there really only 14 junior National AP Scholars from Michigan?!
Gosh…I feel special now. :slight_smile:
But you are a formidable applicant. Which area of Michigan are you from, if you don’t mind?</p>

38

<p>240er, I hope you get in (you have a really good shot I think). I’m a sophomore at Yale right now, and also an Indian American (guy) from Michigan!</p>

39

<p>This thread is absurd.</p>

40

<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown):740CR 800M 800W (2340)
[</em>] ACT: Not my type
[<em>] SAT II: 800 Math IIC 800 Physics 800 Chemistry
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): We don’t do GPA, but around 96-97% Canadian
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): No rank, but should be 2/330
[</em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): Not offered
[<em>] IB (place score in parenthesis): French B SL 7
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: IB English A1 HL, Geography HL, Physics HL, Chemistry SL, Mathematics HL
[li] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):[/li]- Perfect Paper on the Hypatia Math Contest (National Canadian Contest, nothing prestigious.)

  • 3rd place in B.C. - UBC Physics Olympics
  • 5th place in B.C. - Canadian Association of Physicists Prize Exam
  • 6th place in Canada - Fermat Math Contest
  • 9th place in the region - Debating
  • Hmm, I don’t know if this belongs here, but 6 on AIME. Don’t want to talk about my AMC score.
    [/ul]</p>

<p>Subjective:[ul]
[li] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):[/li]Science Club (11-12, President 12)
-Basically participates in regional competitions, with some success.
Math Club (9-12, President 12)
-Contest prep and homework help. Nothing spectacular.
Student Council (9-12, Vice President 12)
-100 members-ish? I manage internal affairs e.g. run through the agenda daily.
Jazz Band (9-11, Baritone Sax)
-Couldn’t participate in senior year due to scheduling conflicts. 1st place in category at the Kelowna Jazz Festival.
Debate (9-11)
-It was fun.
Youth Columnist (12)
-I send in one opinion column every 6 weeks to a local newspaper. Nothing spectacular.</p>

<p>[<em>] Job/Work Experience:

  • Kumon Math, if you know what this is. Assistant Instructor. (4 hrs/wk)
  • Cashier at the Real Canadian Superstore (Last Summer) (20 hrs/wk)
  • Newspaper Delivery (A loooong time ago) (3 hrs/wk)
    [</em>] Volunteer/Community service: Ehh, dispersed 200 hours-ish?
    [<em>] Summer Activities: Shad Valley 2008, and our project won 3rd overall if you know what this is.
    [</em>] Essays: I thought they were good, but then again I’m biased.
    [<em>] Teacher Recommendation: Waived right to read. How do you people know what your reference letters say?
    [</em>] Counselor Rec: He praised me as “The first ever IB Predicted 45 in school history,” so I’m assuming this one’s good.
    [<em>] Additional Rec: Nope.
    [</em>] Interview: Never contacted:(
    [/ul]
    Other[ul]
    [<em>] State (if domestic applicant):
    [</em>] Country (if international applicant): Canada, woot!
    [<em>] School Type: Public, built on a former garbage dump.
    [</em>] Ethnicity: Korean…sigh.
    [<em>] Gender: Male…sigh.
    [</em>] Income Bracket: <$70,000 USD
    [<em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): I wish.
    [/ul]
    Reflection[ul]
    [</em>] Strengths: Test scores
    [<em>] Weaknesses: EC’s
    [</em>] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Because of what I wrote above.
    [/ul]
    General Comments: I can see myself getting accepted, but I can also see myself getting deferred.</p>