Ask a Yale Student (ie: me)

<p>I have a question...
Does Yale accept AP credit? Or can it only go towards placement....</p>

<p>anyone have any other reasons why they think Yale is better than the other ivies (well, Harvard and Stanford and Princeton basically)</p>

<p>
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Does Yale have many small town kids, or is it mostly comprised of private schoolers and people from good public schools?

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There are a high percentage of people from east coast cities (boston, new york) and from east coast prep schools, but that's more because they're also the people most likely to apply to Yale. A lot of my closest friends went to small unknown publics.</p>

<p>
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I am from a small town in PA that has sent one person to a "big three" ivy in the last 30 years. I feel like I am as intelligent as anyone, but will be looked down on by the admission committee because I am from a small unknown town.

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</p>

<p>The ivy league loves rural kids. They're a hot commodity and treated like an underrepresented group (since they are). They definitely won't look down on you, and might even excuse shortcomings in your apps.</p>

<p>
[QUOTE]
Does Yale accept AP credit? Or can it only go towards placement....

[/QUOTE]
</p>

<p>As far as I understand it, you can use (some) AP credit to accelerate 1 or 2 semesters, but you can't use it otherwise for credit (ie: to lighten your load over 4 years or to fulfill distributional requirements). You can definitely use AP scores for placement, but some departments give their own tests instead.</p>

<p>
[QUOTE]
anyone have any other reasons why they think Yale is better than the other ivies (well, Harvard and Stanford and Princeton basically)

[/QUOTE]
</p>

<p>I think all Yale kids will say the same thing: student happiness and school spirit. There's the canonical "Cult of Yale" article from the Harvard Crimson, and the Princeton community is fractured because of eating clubs and a much harder drinking culture. Stanford is too large both in size and population to have a cohesive student body. </p>

<p>As Montgomery Burns once proclaimed: "Well, I say let Harvard have its football and academics. Yale will always be first in gentlemanly club life. Why, every friend I have, I've made right here."</p>

<p>I was deferred ... I'm so disappointed. Could anybody tell me why I was deferred? I wanna know what I did wrong.</p>

<p>Academics:
SATs: 740CR-780M-770W (10 essay)
SAT2s: 750 Math2, 750 German, 730 Physics
First in my class of 78 at a public school where no one's ever even applied to Yale
National Merit Semifinalist
5 AP German, 5 AP US Govt, 4 AP Eng Lang, 4 AP Phys B
Yale Book Award / Bausch&Lomb Science Scholar</p>

<p>Extracirriculars:
Was a year-long foreign exchange student in Germany in 10th grade
Varsity cross country
President of this year's record-setting United Way (service) Club
Treasurer of Key Club
Founder of Model United Nations Club at my school
Winner of Rotary 4-Way Speech Contest
Academic Challenge Team (Top3- was on TV)</p>

<p>caffinefree... you didn't do anything wrong. plenty of people who "did everything right" get rejected each year at a place like Yale.</p>

<p>you have a couple impressive EC's. and you "did things right" with your scores and grades. I'm willing to bet you'll get in regular decision. from what I've heard that's not uncommon</p>

<p>
[quote]
As Montgomery Burns once proclaimed: "Well, I say let Harvard have its football and academics. Yale will always be first in gentlemanly club life. Why, every friend I have, I've made right here."

[/quote]
</p>

<p>What friends? Burns doesn't have friends.</p>

<p>Lol. good one quixoticrick</p>

<p>What can I say? Harvard reigns supreme!</p>

<p>"One thing that Yale has that no other top school has (as far as I can tell) is a class of really brilliant people who are socially competent and actually friendly!"</p>

<p>Having spent a lot of time at almost all of the top 50 universities and colleges in the U.S. (and many abroad), I would definitely agree. Other campuses have friendly students also, of course, but you just don't get the same sense of openness and camaraderie that you do at Yale. I think part of this has to do with Yale's campus layout, however. The fact that all the students live within a 2-3 minute walk of each other is a distinguishing characteristic of Yale, one that no other university in the country can really claim to match, and one that greatly reinforces the sense of community on the campus. In addition to Yale students being generally outgoing, friendly, thoughtful, courteous and intellectual, you will also find that Yale's campus is buzzing with activity 24/7. To be honest, most other campuses look dead by comparison.</p>

<p>Amen to that! ^^^</p>

<p>I have a question about the importance of standardized testing. In general, are the students at Yale all good "test-takers"? To be honest, my SAT I scores aren't bad (2270), but I never felt I was a natural test taker. My SAT II scores for U.S. History and Math IIC were kind of disappointing.. =( I think the U.S. History score was the reason I was deferred, since that was the one they saw. The funny thing is, I got a higher score on that SAT II when I took it as a freshman (as well as a 4 on the AP Test the same year). But when I took it this year, I scored 10 points lower. eeek they must think I'm really stupid...
My second question is about a supplemental material. I sent Yale an entirely new essay that I believe is a better representation of me--besides being a much better essay. Since I was deferred, I read on CC that it would be a good idea to update the college and perhaps even send a new essay. Do you think Yale would be annoyed? (even if this 2nd essay is good?)</p>

<p>do send the second essay and maybe a short thing about what you have done/won since applying ED
what exactly were your SAT II scores (don't be shy lol)
2270 is a very solid score
it makes perfect sense why your history test score went down. you score best right after taking the class when the material is still fresh in your head. you probly didn't study enough the second and forgot some of the stuff you learned.</p>

<p>
[QUOTE]
I have a question about the importance of standardized testing. In general, are the students at Yale all good "test-takers"?

[/QUOTE]

No.</p>

<p>
[QUOTE]
Do you think Yale would be annoyed? (even if this 2nd essay is good?)

[/QUOTE]

No.</p>

<p>/tenchars</p>

<p>Okay, that's good--because I did send in another essay to them over the winter break.
Well for the first US History score, I got a 690 (just 10 pts away from 700!!arghh but it looks so much worse) and then a 680 the second time. =( My other SAT II for Lit was a 750.
My current grade for AP Stats is also a low B. I don't know if Yale will see my marking period grades, or just the 1st semester grade--but even still, my AP Stats grade isn't pretty. This class is seriously screwing me over. xP This is the lowest m.p. grade I've ever gotten in high school thus far.
So basically, do you Yalies think my chances are screwed b/c of that nasty SAT II score and the couple of Bs for Stats? This is pretty depressing... =(</p>

<p>There's no way to tell. Yale students aren't admissions officers...</p>

<p>There's not much anyone here can say without reading your essays and recs, seeing transcripts, etc. Even then, the guesses are going to be wrong in many cases. Just go with your gut. Do something incredible! And, above all, try to beat that nasty AP Stats class. I hate it too.</p>

<p>stats is fun! haha</p>

<p>yeah i got a 690 for US history too. but yale only wants 2, so that one doesn't really count for me :)
so your retake was basically pointless. that's why you only retake if you are sure you can do significantly better. but don't worry too much. It's just a subject test.<br>
As for a B in one class, don't sweat it. personally, I don't think stats takes too much math talent. It's just a lot of repetition and practice getting all the different tests and terminology straight.</p>

<p>Hi Jules..</p>

<p>A parent of a perspective Freshman here. Did you have a good experience with the Yale interview? My son's interview was nightmare! I hope it doesnt jeopardize his slight chances. His Academic transcripts as well as his SAT's / and SAT II's are off the charts. Plus he is president of his School.etc etc.. How important did you hear the Yale interview is?</p>

<p>no score is exactly off the charts for yale
the interview is one of the least important parts of the application, but I feel elite schools put more weight on it than other schools, simply because they need another factor to separate applicants.
there's nothing you can do, so you just hope for the best. It won't make or break, but given that almost everyone who applies to yale is in the grey area, it may have given some other candidates and advantage over him. Look at the interview as a valuable opportunity, and your child failed to take advantage of this valuable opportunity</p>

<p>I'm considering Yale, along with a few other of the Ivies</p>

<p>I have to choose whether I'm going to take AP Calculus and AP Statistics for my senior year. If I take AP Cal., then I will also have to take Pre-Cal. in the preceding semester (I have block schedule...). I want to take AP Stat., but I've recieved advice pushing me to take AP Cal. because it's more rigorous and colleges appreciate it more. Is it true that AP Cal. is weighed as a more rigorous class than AP Stat.? Should I even really worry about it?</p>

<p>If you are doing physical sciences obviously take calc. Most people would say to take calc either way, but if you are planning on doing humanities, foreign language, liter., etc. then stats would be fine as well.</p>