<p>
Yes, but . . . . You had some pretty impressive accomplishments. Good to see you back for a visit. I trust Yale is treating you well.</p>
<p>haha, I guess that's true, but in the end, the point about rank not being the end of all things is the same, I think. I realized it's college admission season again so I decided to come back here to look back on this all from a different perspective, and help out with a bit of information on Yale when I can :) Yale is treating me very well, thanks! I'm loving it here.</p>
<p>I had no doubt that you would. Yale's a terrific school. Of course, I have no doubt you would have loved the other place too, but that's water under the bridge - no looking back! ;)</p>
<p>It's good of you to come back and help out the folks who are going through the process now.</p>
<p>GuitarMan is of course correct.<br>
My son was ranked 17th in a class of about 650, and got into Yale SCEA/</p>
<p>It happens all the time.</p>
<p>And GuitarMan, great you are loving Yale! I knew you would!!!!</p>
<p>
[QUOTE]
It happened in my school all the time. Generally, the val was only val because he/she gamed the system. Luckily, elite colleges see through.
[/QUOTE]
</p>
<p>Usually "gaming the system" involves hard work and dedication. Don't discount valedictorian status so quickly.</p>
<p>
[QUOTE]
A guy who just missed the top 10% of his class in my school got in. He had a lot of other compelling features...
[/QUOTE]
Like legacy status or athletics?</p>
<p>i was rank 4 out of 600, got in but chose stanford over yale.
val didn't -- i think he went to u penn.
i suppose there are many more factors than ranks.</p>
<p>my kid sister is applying this winter, she happens to be val. so i'll see if she gets into yale or not. (hm i sound like a scientist experimenting on a guinea pig). but yes, there seems to be no certain formulas! so don't worry about val or 2nd rank or whatnot.</p>
<p>nope...he wasn't a legacy or an athlete...he didn't win any international competitions or start any global volunteer organizations...he was just a well-rounded, generally accomplished guy...like a lot of the people on CC</p>
<p>What about if you're only in the top 20%?</p>
<p>Last year's valedictorian from my school wasn't accepted to Yale, but a girl who was ranked 5th or 6th did get in, but her application had extra weight because her mom went to Yale and her dad went to Harvard...</p>
<p>My school's val is applying (he has 2400, prez of every club he's in, prolly has amazing essays, etc) </p>
<p>I'm ranked 15th (although I have straight A's), have a 2120, not very involved in EC's (more in community service and work but obviously no natl or state awards there), essays are good but not great, no hook</p>
<p>Ugh, he's gonna get in everywhere. Why did he have to pick Yale as SCEA???</p>
<p>Well, all I can do is wait for Dec 15!</p>
<p>Well, our val has a pretty high gpa but his sat scores are mediocre, and I know someone who's like top 2%, but who got like pwnage sat scores and extracurriculars</p>
<p>anyways, college admissions is quite mysterious b/c they make surprises sometimes</p>
<p>We don't have rank at our school, and no one is unhappy about it.</p>
<p>lol you all have perfect val/sal people that go to fancy ivies...</p>
<p>only person in oak hills high history (Ohio) to ever go to HYP was val from like eight years ago. she graduated first from oak hills and then first (i think, at least magna cum laude) from harvard, then magna cum laude at harvard law.</p>
<p>she kicked ass.. the rest of ohhs doesnt.</p>
<p>Val/Sal status reflects only the "academic" success of an applicant but it doesn't necessarily equate to admirable "character". (After all, we have all met people who are smart but arrogant jerks.) While an applicant can substantiate his/her academic success through "objective" criteria like SAT scores, GPAs or val/sal status, his/her "character" can only be inferred by "subjective" criteria like teacher/guidance recs and the student's essays through which his/her own voice is heard. Schools like HYPS often look for students who are wonderful in BOTH areas (academics and character). Since most of the applicants to HYPS have similar academic stats to meet the objective criteria, it is the "subjective" evaluations of one's character that ultimately determines the final outcome. As a rule, applicants are not privy to that crucial aspect of the application process. Thus, to speculate on the outcomes of college admissions based ONLY on the academic criteria is sure to lead to "surprises".</p>
<p>Our high school had 6 early acceptances last year and 2 more were accepted regular decision. Along with the V and S they took many other of the top students, not just the next in academic rank. I think what Yale is looking for is that "special" hook, in addition to academic excellence. BTW only the 6 ED's enrolled.</p>
<p>Wow Bulldog10, that is a lot of acceptances for one HS. What state or region is your school located in? I am just wondering if geographical diversity helped. We are in New Jersey, and Yale has never accepted more than one student at a time from our school. </p>
<p>thanks</p>
<p>Long Island (Public High School)</p>
<p>Well, guess my theory of geographical diversity went out the window. One concern my son had about applying to Yale EA was that the number one student was applying even though her real pick is Stanford. She didn't want to tie herself down with an ED, but felt the need to apply somewhere EA.</p>