<p>Don’t get hung up on Yale. Yale sends out thousands of those letters to students. It is their way of getting people to apply which drives down their acceptance percentage (currently <10%) and drives up their college rankings. If you look at their Common Data Set ([Common</a> Data Set (CDS) | Office of Institutional Research](<a href=“http://oir.yale.edu/common-data-set]Common”>Common Data Set | Office of Institutional Research)) 97% of accepted students are in the top 10% of their class and the ACT 25%ile for students is 31. Look for affordable realistic options, particularly in-state. What does your HS GC recommend?</p>