To give context to this, I’m currently unsure about my college standings because I have high-level extracurriculars/spikes, but my GPA is quite low due to extenuating circumstances. My dream school is Yale, specifically for their English and Drama programs, but I have no idea if it’s a possibility. If you could chance me for admission into any T20 schools or point me in the direction of any better matches, that would be great!
Demographics:
White Male
Small Town, Kentucky
Middle-Low Income (Under 60,000 dollars for a family a four + a hefty amount of hospital bills.)
First Gen College Student
LGBT+
High High High Functioning Autistic (Possibly Will Not Disclose)
Applying SCEA to Yale
Applying Through Questbridge; Not Doing National College Match
Intended Major: English with a Drama Minor
Academics
3.45 UW/3.8 W (pre-senior year)
(Note: I understand that these are quite low, however my father has been close to terminally ill for the past 2 years, and when I’m not at school or involved in some extracurriculars, I’m acting as an in-home caretaker for him, which caused my GPA to decline quite a bit. His condition is steadily improving, so my senior GPA is on track to be a 4.0. I plan on addressing this in an additional essay and explaining how the lessons I’ve learned from juggling academics + illness will allow me to thrive in an intense college environment.)
ACT Score - 33
E - 35
M - 29
S - 32
R -36
AP Scores + Other Tests
5 - AP Lang
5 - APUSH
5 - AP Psych
5 - AP Human
3 - AP Chem
Silver - National German Exam
Taking AP World, AP Stats, and AP Lit
Honors
National Student Poets Program - This is the program that is making me brave enough to apply to Yale. It’s America’s most prestigious poetry award, with 5 poets chosen from a pool of 20,000 applicants to represent Scholastic Art and Writing and formulate community service projects around the country. For reference, each class of NSP’s typically have about 2 of 5 go to Yale every year and even more who get accepted.
Publication In Scholastic Best Teen Writing - Out of about 30,000 submissions, I was one of 10 memoirs to be published in Scholastic’s annual anthology. I also won a Silver Medal for Memoir and a Gold Medal/American Voices Medal for Poetry.
Speech and Debate - I am currently ranked 3rd in the state for Speech and Debate as well as being the top-ranked in Congressional Debate.
NCFL Debate Semifinalist - I was a semifinalist at the NCFL national debate tournament, which was top 60 out of about 300+ national competitors who all qualified out of a pool of 3,000+ state-wide competitors. I was the only student from Kentucky to make national semifinals
Acceptance Into Governor’s School For The Arts in Writing and Drama - GSA is Kentucky’s most prestigious arts conservatory programs. Out of about 300 applicants in each, 34 were accepted in both Writing and Drama. I was one of only 250 to be accepted into the program as a whole and was one of ten out of 1,500+ applicants to be accepted into the program for multiple art-forms.
National German Exam Silver Medalist - Basically, I was named as one of the top 20% of German students nationwide after taking a test. This may fit better with exams.
Extracurriculars
National Student Poets - As part of the program, I am designing and completing a service project revolving around work with non-neurotypical teens, as well as delivering about 25+ hours of workshops to classes within the Kentucky area and traveling throughout the Southeast during National Poetry Month to make appearances and lead more workshops. I am also participating at panels at the Austin Texas Book Festival, the AWP Festival, and Scholastic Awards, as well as delivering work at Carnegie Hall for the Scholastic Awards.
Speech and Debate - I am the founder and assistant coach of my school’s debate team and the captain of our speech team. I spend about 75+ hours per year competing and about 50+ hours coaching novice debaters on our team. I have made ranked well nationally while being totally self-coached.
Literary Magazine - I am the co-founder and head editor of The Amethyst, an arts and literary magazine at my school. I run everything from the social media to the printing to the editorial process with next to no faculty support.
Community Theater - I’ve participated in about 10 community theater productions throughout high school and had a leading role in about half of the productions I’ve participated in.
A Capella - I was accepted into my school’s top A Capella choir program.
PALS Volunteer - I spent about 75 hours volunteering weekly at my church’s special needs ministry, helping lead lessons with a class of about 5 students who ranged from having mild anxiety issues to being totally non-verbal
Purple Poets Society - I am the president of a poetry writing/appreciation club at my school
Other
LOR 1 - 8/10 - I’m one of two students at my school who’s taken 4 years of german, and as such, I’ve developed a fairly close relationship with my German teacher, who is not only a Yale alum, but a former professor of German at Yale. I’ve done very well but not career markingly stellar in her class, but she’s also very enthusiastic about me going to Yale.
LOR 2 - 6.5/10 - My AP Lit teacher is known for writing great essays and I know that I’m making a lasting impact in his class, but I’ve also only had him for a few months, so I’m not sure he knows me well enough to write an amazing letter of recommendation
Supp. LOR - 8/10 - The lead advisor and coordinator of National Student Poets has worked very closely with me in creating my service projects and during my appointment ceremony in Washington D.C., and thus could give extra insight as to what National Student Poets is
Questbridge and Supp. Essays - 9/10 - I know this is a high score, but I’ve spent years developing my skills as a memoirist so I feel like my essay writing is solid.
Supp. Art - I’m planning on sending a submission of the writing that earned me a slot as a National Student Poet as well as my Best Teen Writing Memoir.
Thank you so much for reading all of this! In short, my basic question is how much my EC’s can compensate for my low GPA smh. Out of EC’s, GPA, and my father’s illness, Academics ended up getting the shaft in favor of my EC’s, and I hope I can still succeed in spite of that.