<p>ACT currently 31 but two more rounds of testing and test prep aiming for 33-34
School does not class rank
School catagory private ranked first in state of Indiana
Potential for geographic diversity?
Weighted/unweighted gpa 4.01/3.88
Most qualified student applying to yale from grade
AP classes
AP enviro
Ap bio
Ap lang and comp
APUSH
Ap chem
Ap lit
Ap world
Ap Latin
Ap calculus </p>
<p>In a global scholars/ IB program
500 service hours 150 from Hoosier girls state
150 research hours
A 30+ page research paper on IQ and Mood disorder prevalence </p>
<p>Extra curriculars
Quiz bowl Captain
Brain game captain
Student council diversity chair
Model United Nations
International thespian society member
Leader of creative writing club and founder
Active GSA member
Member of two choirs and private vocal training
Contemporary issues and politics club
Varsity cheer/softball first two years of high school </p>
<p>Teacher recs
One from APUSH teacher
One from AP lang and comp teacher
One supplemental from research mentor who works at yale </p>
<p>Supplement materials
One screenplay and two poetry collections
One recording of an aria and a musical theatre piece </p>
<p>Accomplishments
Issma gold regional
Scholastic honorable mention Hudson/housatonic writing region
National Latin exam summa cum laude </p>
<p>Your ACT is low. Try the SAT.
Your GPA is fine.</p>
<p>I see no “wow factor.” Schools like Yale (with ~5-6% acceptance rates) practically require this “wow factor” or extreme hook. Also, your ECs don’t really reveal any true passion. Sure, it looks as though you like theater, but are you the <em>best</em> actor in your state? Have you performed on Broadway? Honestly.</p>
<p>If I can say anything, I’ll say that you have an average chance to get in, which puts it at a far reach (6.26%).</p>
<p>I hope you aren’t serious MikeNY5 . While I’d agree that Yale is extremely competitive for everyone and should be considered a reach, you don’t need to be the best actor in the state or perform on Broadway to get into Yale. I’ve known several people that got in simply with stellar grades and ECs. As far as I can tell, the OP does have some rather good qualifications - the 30+ page research paper,leadership in academic teams, and a heavy involvement in the school in addition to theater. I think the OP shows a variety of powerful interests, you don’t have to have just one. I’d agree with you that the ACT or SAT (whatever you decide to take) needs to go up in order to be competitive though</p>
<p>To add clarification shawnspencer you are right in the last year at my school we had three students accepted to yale a two sport varsity athlete, a national science award winner, and a random albeit smart and involved but hookless girl with no legacy connection </p>
<p>I’d say that with your letter of rec from the mentor, you have a good chance.
Your test scores are the only thing holding you back and getting up there to a 33-34 will be instrumental to you chances considering your vast amount ECs and positions. </p>
<p>May I ask you what other schools you are applying to? </p>
<p>With an increased ACT, you’ll become more viable. ThatS all that can be said. When another HS student says “good chance” about Yale, you can pretty much discount that in it’s entirety.</p>
<p>I’m also applying to these schools in order of preference
Brown
Princeton
Columbia
Eh possibly penn
Northwestern
Vanderbilt
USC
Georgetown
UC Berkeley
Ucla
Uc San Diego
Emory
Possibly duke
Northeastern
Maybe NYU or tufts
IU </p>
<p>@Mtinkey01 That’s alot of reach schools on your list. What attracts you to those schools in particular? I think narrowing your list down and adding more matches and safeties are important</p>
<p>Most of the kids at my school that get into competitive schools apply to 13-18 schools I am counting on improving my ACT score through intensive tutoring and therefore make myself more competitive for my reaches. I’ve visited almost all of the schools on that list and the only ones that I have loved with all my heart and feel like are good fits are mostly the reaches. All share a similar spirit of intellectual discovery and all have had students and professors that I have felt a strong connection with. Although possibility of rejection is high for each reach school the probability of getting into one of my reaches is fairly high. My high school has personal relationships with some of my reach schools like yale and princeton and unusually high ivy placement rates. So while there are a lot of reaches on my list my guidance counselor a have said that I’m qualified enough to not need a ton of fall backs. And as far as safety’s go I know I’m highly likely to get in to northeastern so if all else fails I’ll go there. </p>
<p>Your 31 ACT is at or below the 25th percentile of Yale, Princeton, Columbia, and Northwestern. So, unless you can raise your scores, those schools will be high reaches for you. </p>
<p>Yeah I would have had a 32 in my last round of testing if it wasn’t four a major fluke on the science section. My superscore is a 32.5 so if I raise even on or two of my individual scores up in the next two acts then I’ll superscore to 33 which dosnt help for yale but helps for a few schools.
First round
Composite 31
Reading 29
Math 29
English 31
Science 36
Writing 10 </p>
<p>Second round
Composite 30
Reading 31
Math 30
English 33
Science 26
Writing 8 </p>
<p>I would have had a 32 or even a 33 if my science had not dropped so much in my second test I really don’t know what happened there. My writing is also all over the place probs do to a bad essay topic.
I’m hoping to bring my math up to a 32 through tutoring and then bring reading up to a 34. I have scored 35 or 36 on reading on several practice tests so I know I can do it. Writing is kind of variable cause I never know what the prompt will be. English could go up to a 34 if I worked very hard. And science well I’m hoping to get a 33 or 34 the next test I don’t think I’ll be able to get a 36 again. </p>
<p>The ACT is all about timing. My son practiced with an egg timer set for 5 minutes less than the time allowed for each section. We bought four or five ACT books from Amazon and he did two-sections at a time (never the full test), which took about an hour for each practice session. Then we corrected the sections and went over the answer key. He did that for 6 weeks prior to the test for two days a week (Saturday and Sunday), again never taking the full test until the day of his actual test. Initially, his scores were all over the place, but they slowly increased each week until he was averaging about a 34 on each section going into the test. But, because he practiced with 5 minutes less than each section allowed, when my son took the test, he felt like he had so much time, enough time to check over his answers on questions that were toss-ups, and was pleasantly surprised when he scored a 36. Give it a try and see if the system works for you. Best of luck!</p>
<p>^^ That’s actually not true Mike. My son, who is a rising senior, was an unhooked applicant and so are many of his friends. What he had going for him was a perfect ACT, a 4.0 GPA, stellar recommendations, interesting EC’s and a compelling essay – in other words, he had the full package. Currently, the OP is missing some of those elements.</p>
<p>Between our public and private high schools, there are 8 kids heading to Yale next year (I don’t know all of the acceptances or would report those). I know that 5 of those kids have hooks; some of them more than one. 2 are definitely unhooked and 1 might be hooked. </p>
<p>I am biased, as DS is one of the unhooked. I think it’s fair to say that the achievements of the unhooked are stronger than those of the hooked, although they are all high-achieving kids, with one possible exception (some head scratching on that one). </p>
<p>I just checked my kids high school and they have 9 kids going to Yale in September; I don’t know anything about the kids, but I highly doubt all of them are hooked applicants.</p>
<p>@gibby, I don’t think our town is necessarily representative. We are within commuting distance of NYC, and have many legacies and recruited athletes in town. </p>
<p>My kids attended Stuyvesant High School in NYC, where rarely anyone is a legacy or a recruited athlete and 70 percent of students are Asian. The hook that many students have are first-generation.</p>
<p>^^ @gibby I think most people in the know would consider Stuyvesant a hook for selective schools. The students are highly qualified on their own but it is also a known quantity to adcoms- you can’t compare an unhooked Stuyvesant applicant to one from a random public school elsewhere.</p>