<p>Hi, this thread is for those were admitted to the Eli Whitney Program. </p>
<p>It might be helpful to future students that apply to the program. So I will gladly answer any questions that I can.</p>
<p>I was also admitted. Would also be happy to answer any questions. Many Congrats Willard!</p>
<p>Congrats to you, too, Deusex! That’s amazing!</p>
<p>I started the thread because I could not find much information about the program on the web. Did you have that same problem Deusex?</p>
<p>I did. I got an email and a phone call, but I have not received the packet yet. I am anxious to get more information on the process so I can start making plans. I am also all the way out in Oregon so it make take a day or two more.</p>
<p>This is a great idea! I am applying to the program next year. I don’t have enough college experience yet. I want to challenge myself with hard courses and then apply! Does this program really exist? I could not find a thing on the internet about it. </p>
<p>I do have a question for both of you. </p>
<p>What was the hardest part of the application process? How might I approach it? </p>
<p>I have my recommenders. I have my transcripts. However, I find the personal statement daunting. There is NO way that I can write something well in six hundred words, you know?</p>
<p>How did you both deal with that short of a space? This seems to be the hardest part for me, any advice? </p>
<p>By the way, I read your posts, Willard, and I really thought you were kinda bold to just put yourself out there like that. You took some beatings for it. So I’ve learned something from your experiences here already!!!</p>
<p>Hi, Mistaphi – I am excited to see that you are going to try and challenge yourself with tough classes. But I would also make sure you know exactly ‘why’ you are applying. How do you know taking rigorous courses will make you more likely to be viewed as a stronger candidate? What is a ‘hard’ course? For some people, Modern Algebra is a hobby, while reading and writing is the hardest thing said person could do. I recommend that you search for yourself in some courses. What I mean is that you find something you would do outside of school. </p>
<p>The hardest part of the application varies for all people. Some people are very gifted writers, for example, and can write well–so the essay might be easier for someone with such talent–or maybe, the applicant is a logician, so her logic is clear and present in her essay. </p>
<p>For me, it was the essay and finding ‘good’ recommenders. </p>
<p>The essay: if you PM me, I will tell you the process of how I wrote this. It took me over two days of editing. I basically asked myself, “who am I”? </p>
<p>The recommenders: who can tell a stranger about your talents and potential difficulties? That’s the question that I tried to answer in finding my recommenders, and I am very thankful for everyone who wrote them. </p>
<p>Finally, regardless of the results, I recommend that you say thank you to everyone in your life that’s helped you get this far or that loves you. That’s always an overlooked part of the process.</p>
<p>Hello, everyone!</p>
<p>I’m a nontraditional student at a top school (not Eli Whitney, but a top school - HYPSM). Not to derail the thread, but I’m wondering if you guys might be able to answer a question for me. </p>
<p>I’m wondering if you conceive of your opportunities, for grad school, etc. differently than traditional students. For example, do you want to go straight through for fear of age discrimination in admissions later? Do you make different choices for internships because you want to make more money rather than pursue a passion?</p>
<p>I’m struggling with these issues and would love to hear your experiences. Traditional students don’t seem to have the same concerns.</p>
<p>(cross-posted on the Eli thread)</p>
<p>I have been reading with earnest the many postings associated with Eli Whitney threads. There is as can be expected a lot of misinformation and much conjecture. </p>
<p>As a recent graduate of Yale College who entered through the EW program, I can definitely attend to some of the various issues/queries prospective students have. </p>
<p>Back when I was accepted, the EW Program was at a transitional and pivotal point. I am glad to have been part of the transformative process that made it a much stronger feature of Yale College proper. The negative there is that the EW program has gotten harder and harder to get into; when I was accepted in 2004 the AR was about 20-25%. I believe I was one of eight out of 40 or so accepted students. In the last three years, the AR has been as low as 6%. For 2009 Yale accepted 8 EW students out of almost 120 applications. Yet this precipitous decline is part of a much wider trend in education. Case in point, for Yale’s (entire) class of 2000, the AR was nearly 20%. This year it was 7.5% Things have just gotten that much more competitive. I don’t think its a good thing but that’s our world today where more people have access to a college degree yet where more space isn’t being made nor resources alloted at the higher tier school level.</p>
<p>That aside, a competitive EW application has 4 attributes:</p>
<p>A strong academic record, glowing recommendations, potential and demonstrated leadership ability, and a compelling reason for attending Yale</p>
<p>The first two are givens. The latter two are not but probably the most important. In fact, your ‘compelling’ reason for wanting to attend Yale is by far the most crucial feature of your entire application. Please do not underestimate this!</p>
<p>Yale is a school that, in comparison to other top schools, is especially interested in cultivating leadership within its student body. It is very important. EW applicants should note well that Yale will be looking closely at civic/community engagement or evidence that you have risen to the occasion and served with distinction.</p>
<p>Yale’s EW program is perhaps the best, most integrated nontraditional program in the Ivy League. As is the case with Yale transfer students, the committee will look very closely at your personal essay and if you have the right intentions. They want to see that you indeed have a very good reason for wanting to go to Yale, especially now in your life. A ‘compelling’ reason needs to demonstrate that you were put into an adverse situation and made the best out of it or that you had some very important reasons for pursuing a non-academic path after high school. </p>
<p>Going back to your academic record, please do not be fooled into thinking that nontraditional means experience over scholarship. Yes, your experiences are important and they should be brought forth in a well-polished resume and in appropriate places within your essay. But a strong academic record is more important. This doesn’t necessarily mean you have to transfer from Harvard or Amherst. It means taking challenging upper-level or graduate courses and excelling in them. It also means taking a broad course load from social sciences to humanities to natural sciences.</p>
<p>Take the opportunity to shine at low-tier, no-name schools or community colleges. Since most of the students there are more interested in credits than genuine learning, take some upper-level seminars, do all the reading, give some well-read and very well argued class discussion participation, and make an lasting impression on your professor. You want recommendations that basically say out of all the students you were a rare gem, someone who only comes around every few years.</p>
<p>Here were my stats when I applied:</p>
<p>9 classes at a third-tier state school, GPA: 3.82</p>
<p>Classes: physics, botany, urban studies, polisci, socio, and two graduate classes. With the exception of 3 classes, these were all either grad level or 300+</p>
<p>Extremely strong recs that made it clear I had an appetite for scholarship, was at the top of my class, and that I was ideal for Yale</p>
<p>SAT: can’t remember exactly but barely in the 1200’s. Never submitted them.</p>
<p>Leadership: Orphanage work in Asia, management experience through my job</p>
<p>Compelling reason: Took care of my family out of high school after we suffered a painful bankruptcy. Worked to support them and studied/read/wrote/traveled while working hard and excelling at my job.
I submitted a large writing portfolio with my application to show the extent of my scholarship.</p>
<p>Hey Guys,</p>
<p>Just a heads up. Willard was not admitted to EWSP this year. I know all the admitted students and she/he/it is not one of them.</p>
<p>lol, nice sleuthing, deusex. I wonder if he’ll show up here again…?</p>
<p>I have been included on the Yale EWSP mailing list for this year and I have seen an email address starting with ‘will’ and ending with ‘harvard.edu’. So either it is a huge coincidence that Willard is also from Harvard (please keep in mind that no one else who was accepted this year came from Harvard), or Deusex is a complete liar. </p>
<p>I am inclined towards the latter. People on this site who slander others should note well that there are penalties for such cowardly bravado. Case in point, last year megtaylor made some very callous and slanderous remarks against Willard that were born out of her own insecurity (she was never Yale material to begin with and she knew this), prompting others to join in and gang up on Willard. Of course there was no evidence to back up her dispersions. Long story short, Willard was accepted. I know that the EWSP adcom reads this site. It is interesting then to note that meg never even got an interview.</p>
<p>The lesson: shut your mouth when it comes to disparaging comments about others, and focus on yourself. You’d be surprised how much your comments end up giving you away (i.e. how easy it is for adcoms to match up your comments with your application).</p>
<p>Milkbaba. If you read through the posts - Willard was a woman. The “Will” you are referring to is not. The brief conversations I have had with this person - his history does not match up in the slightest with the stories proposed by Willard. I have no reason to lie about this. </p>
<p>Plus, I don’t know how your “inclination” about me being a liar suddenly turned into a lesson on how I should “shut my mouth.” If someone claims to have gotten in and didn’t isn’t it beneficial for future applicants to know that such claims were bogus? I did not do it in a disparaging way - I just stated it as a matter of fact. If you want to PM me and have stronger evidence than an inclination to contradict me - that would be a more responsible approach in my opinion. </p>
<p>Frankly, I don’t even know if you are a legit student or just another ■■■■■.</p>
<p>My apologies if it is true that the will on this post was a women; its been a while since I perused the thread. And my apologies for calling you a liar. I was more upset about the tone of previous threads in which previous posters had ganged up on ‘will’, or used ‘sleuthing’ to essentially attack others when they should have been focusing on themselves. Whether or not will was indeed a ■■■■■ is not really the point, though I must say it is a funny coincidence that the emails seemed to match up. Congrats on Yale! I hope Gregg and Jonathan’s stewardship proves to be just as effective as past WSA leadership. Judging by their work last year, I think the program is in great hands.</p>
<p>I think you have the best advice so far! I have been doing just that. I started a premedical chapter of amsa at my school, I am volunteering with medical organizations in the community, and I am doing advocacy work with the American Cancer Society and Health gap. This summer, I am going to Africa for a month to educate the villagers on HIV/AIDS. I stay busy all the time and I coordinate as many activities on my campus as I possibly can but I do this because I love it. Initially, I started the premed chapter to enhance my resume but then I used the resources available through the national organization to find ways I could get involved with issues I felt strongly about like: the AIDS epidemic.</p>
<p>hi there</p>
<p>i have no idea why anyone here is using real names and affiliations</p>
<p>willard was definitely admitted to the program. he’s kind of shy, but i think it’s fair to say the following: i’ve seen his math proofs and math presentations first hand</p>
<p>debate about willard, over?</p>
<p>let’s try not to use real names…</p>
<p>You have the wrong Willard. The ‘math’ Willard you refer to was admitted in the 2008 cycle. Deusex believes that the willard on this comments board was a fake, though establishing the veracity of that claim is not easy. I don’t think anyone was dumb enough to use their real names.</p>
<p>no i’m correct</p>
<p>i’m positive deusex does not still believe willard was not admitted, right deusex?</p>
<p>willard is an eli whitney student, ask him yourself</p>
<p>if you have the courage, just send an email to the list</p>
<p>surely he will respond</p>
<p>i’m just saying we should not be using real names on this board and talking about real information the way everyone seemed to be doing</p>
<p>lol. Who is this guy/gal? First you insist on protecting identities and then you go through a whole post to clarify? PM me next time, if only to be consistent.</p>
<p>Well I kinda missed the boat on protecting my identity…LOL</p>
@Lana808, I’m not sure exactly what response you’re expecting, but you have responded to a 5-6 year old thread. I’m sorry that they disappointed you.