Anxiety over Yale

Colleges & Universities A-Z Yale University
1

I visited Yale on a whim and absolutely fell in love with it. Unfortunately I was too late for EASC, but was wondering if I had a chance at RD. I am worried I that I haven’t done something crazy magical, but I have excelled in everything I have done. I’m also worried that I don’t seem balanced because I don’t have any sports (unfortunately due to a major accident, I injured my knees and can no longer play anything). Also, I put my science awards back to middle school because I think it shows my dedication, but not sure if I should go back that far.

I am also applying to Cornell, University of Chicago, Emory, Carnegie Mellon and two state schools (both of which I got into :slight_smile: )

Gender - Female
Ethnicity - White
School - Public, but in a highly selective science and technology magnet
Class Rank - School doesn’t rank, but top 10%
UW GPA - 4.0
W GPA - 4.3
ACT - 33
Intended Major - Molecular Biology

ECs and Summer Activities:
2018
– R********* Adventure Club
– Makeup Head for Production of “Cinderella”
– Tutoring
– National Honor Society
– Internship at the United States Geological Survey Native Bee Lab
– President of Italian Honor Society
– Aided in Hurricane Relief Drive

2017
– R********* Adventure Club
– 2017 G********* Winter Youth Musical
– Lunch Time Tutoring
– “Anne of Green Gables” Production Staff
– Italian Honor Society
2016
– 2016 G********* Winter Youth Musical
– Miss G********* Pageant
– “Annie” Production Staff
– “Midsummer Night’s Dream” Performer
– Designer for Beautification Program of Temporary Buildings
2015
– Literary Magazine Editing Team

Awards + Honors:
2017 – S.O.S Camper in Crisis Award (Silly, but I think it shows character)
– Science and Technology Support Team Lunchtime Tutoring Award
– Math Excellence Award
2016 – Dressed for the Part Award (also silly)
– Miss G********* Top Scholar
2014 – Best City Project Plan Award in Future City Mid-Atlantic State Competition
– University of M Department of Physics Participation Award
– University of M Department of Physics Best Roller Coaster Award
2013 – Microsoft Office Specialist Certification
– First Lego League Championship Award
2010 – First Place in Show (Horse stuff)
– First Place in Oil Composition, Art Competition

STEM FAIRS AWARDS
2015 STEM FAIRS AWARDS
2015 – County Regional STEM Fair, Senior Division
Honorable Mention in Chemistry
Optical Society of America Notable Achievement Award
2015 – High School STEM Fair
Second Place in Chemistry
2014 – County Regional STEM Fair, Junior Division
Second Place in Physics
Robert L. Wistort “Best Presentation” Award in STEM from the Department of the Navy
Certificate of Achievement in STEM from the Department of the Navy
Creative Engineer Award from The Society of Women Engineers Baltimore-Washington Section
2014 - Middle School STEM Fair
First Place Overall
2013 – Middle School STEM Fair
Second Place in Category
2012 - Middle School STEM Fair
Third Place in Category
2011 – County STEM Fair, Elementary Division
Grand Prize Overall
Zipporah Miller Award for Outstanding Females
2011 – Elementary School STEM Fair
Grand Prize Overall 5th Grade
2010 – County STEM Fair, Elementary Division
Grand Prize Overall
2010 – Elementary School STEM Fair
Grand Prize Overall 4th

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
– BH Community Garden Work
– Creative Kids Camp Intern
– R********* Adventure Club (name of my school, starred for privacy)
– Lunch Time Tutoring
– Beautification Program for High School Temporary Buildings
– Tutoring

COURSES:
MATHAMATICS
12 - Precalculus with Limits (A)
11 - Trigonometry Analysis (A)
10 - Algebra II Honors (A)
9 - Algebra I (A)
8 - Geometry, Algebra II (A)

SCIENCE
12 - Genetics (A)
12 - Forensics I & II (A)
11 - Physics S/T (A)
11 - AP Biology (A)
10 - AP Chemistry (A)
9 - Chemistry (A)
8 - Biology Honors, Earth Sciences (A)

ENGLISH
12 - AP Literature (A)
11 - English Language Arts 11 Honors (A)
10 - English Language Arts 10 Honors (A)
9 - English Language Arts 9 Honors (A)

ARTS AND LANGUAGE
11 - Art 2 (A)
11 - Italian 3 (A)
10 - Drama 1 (A)
10 - Italian 2 (A)
9 - Italian 1(A)
9 - Art 1 (A)

TECHNOLOGY
10 - Engineering Foundations of Technology Science and Technology (A)
9 - Foundations of Technology Science and Technology (A)

Hooks:
Poor Area/Family
Mental Health Issues
Publishing a paper
Working in a Government facility

2

Yale is obviously a reach for everyone, but you seem like a very qualified applicant. Not having sports won’t affect your application since you are involved in numerous extracurricular activities. I would leave out the middle school and elementary school accomplishments.

3

One way to help with your mental health issues is getting rid of your “Anxiety over Yale.” Yale is great and if you can get in, fine. If not, there are other great places for you. Just focus on what you have a control over. Those you have no control over, like the college admission results, just let them happen and accept whatever the results. Like the old saying, “don’t push the river; it flows by itself.” Don’t even bother asking for your chances at anywhere since no one knows except the adcoms.

4

Mental health issues are not a hook. Overcoming those problems is a tremendous accomplishment and no-doubt a big part of who you are, but universities are not seeking out such students (there is no shortage of students with mental health issues on any campus).

Unless you placed first or second in a prestigious national or international contest…do NOT put middle school awards on your application. You could however, write about your life long commitment to science in one of your essays or statements, where you might mention how you loved participating in science fairs even as a very young child.

A couple of other observations: No need to separate lunch time tutoring from tutoring. Talk about tutoring in terms of subjects, years participating, and program leadership roles (if any). If the R*** Adventure Club did things like provide outings to inner city children, then it would count as community involvement. If you and other students were having adventures for your own benefit/entertainment, then it counts as a good solid activity but not community involvement.

5

I would leave out the middle school awards as well as the “participation awards.” They can probably tell that you have participated in it just by how you listed it on your app. Also you only have a very limited amount of space so use it wisely.

6

Mental health is a major antihook. Yale has a policy of forcing a small number of students with severe mental health issues to take time off, and has an archaic process that students must navigate even if they withdraw voluntarily. Trust me, you don’t want any attention on this.

You obviously have good grades, but I would take half an hour to sit down and figure out what you want your application to convey, and what major awards convey this. You don’t want to be diluting your message. It will mean leaving out some stuff. For me, it meant leaving out things like 8th grade piano, an army leadership award, and some top 1% competition awards. Some of these things (especially the piano) meant a lot to me and were things I was proud of, and it felt incomplete to leave them off. However, from a more rational perspective, they detracted from the focused message I needed to convey, and the adcoms could still see enough of me without them taking away attention. I could still be proud of myself without sharing these with admissions.

I say this because I’m not getting a strong message by reading through your awards and activities at the moment. Think about what you need people to know, and work from that. Maybe get a friend to look, because they won’t have the emotional attachment to each pursuit and award.

Good luck, and good work on doing an awesome job at high school. And solidarity on the mental health stuff.

7

@HanselandGreta I do a bunch of the stuff you do in terms of extracurricular and community service, and I’ve also done soccer, tennis, and track for my school. My GPA’s a little bit higher I’ve done undergraduate level research 3/4 years of high school including one summer at Yale. In the end I got deferred. I’m not trying to brag or anything along those lines, but I want you to know that it’s really luck based and the chances of getting in as you know are low. So in the end if you don’t get in it’s OK. I guess?

8

Agree with the recommendations to leave out middle school awards and participation awards which really don’t say much about your current potential as a college student. I think Yale is a super high reach for you based on course rigor since at a STEM magnet school you certainly had access to AP Physics and Calculus but took neither. It would be very common at HYPS schools for for freshmen non-STEM majors to have at least completed AB Calculus. The question going through the admissions officer’s head may be if this student didn’t take the most demanding coursework in high school, why would we think they would take advantage of the resources we have here? Certainly if you love Yale you will not be admitted if you do not apply so give it your best shot but also consider additional target schools like Emory if you would be disappointed attending your state schools.