First off, Yale (and Harvard, Princeton, Stanford et al) are not an extracurricular camps, they academic institutions looking for the brightest scholars. And by definition a scholar is someone who does well in academics.
Secondly, when you apply to college, Admissions Offices make their initial decision on a applicant based on their transcript from freshman, sophomore and junior years. If two of those years are not stellar, then what the heck are your teachers going to say? Think about it; STRONG recommendations are usually reserved for STRONG applicants, students who have the highest GPA’s at their school.
Lastly, as T26E4 pointed out, according to Yale’s Common Data Set (C9 Data point: http://oir.yale.edu/sites/default/files/cds2015_2016_0.pdf): 97%of admitted students are in the top 10% of their graduating class. If you are not in the top 10% of your class, you still have a chance, but it’s slimmer than slim.
I understand that you might not think I would get good recs, but I got one from a teacher in 10th grade who showed me her recommendation, and it said, “In my 25 + of teaching, she is by far the most qualified student I’ve ever had for a position at an elite university like Yale”. I have known her since I was in sixth grade. I just picked who would write my recs wisely.
^^ That’s a great sounding rec – congratulations! However, your GPA and rank are going to be the achilles heal of your application. According to Yale’s Common Data Set, a student’s RANK is considered. Even if your high school does not supply rank, nothing precludes admissions from lining up all applications from your high school in GPA rank order to understand the “pecking order” at your high school. Your rank then has to be reconciled with your rec – and who does an Admissions Officer believe, the teacher or the transcript?
Rhetorical question: Two students are graduating from college and apply for the same job. One student graduates at the top of their class (Phi Beta Kappa, Magna Cum Laude) from a state university, and the other graduates in the middle to bottom of their class at Yale (or Harvard, Princeton, Stanford etc). The employer only has time to interview one student; which student do they interview? My hunch is that the employer interviews the kid with the best GPA – even if that GPA is from a student who attended a less than prestigious institution.
When choosing which college is the best fit, a student needs to consider if they will be competitive enough to graduate in the the top 10% to 15% of that college’s graduating class. If not, when it comes time to applying for a job, that student might be better off if they had attended another college – someplace more appropriate for their high school GPA – and aced every class at that school, and graduated with high honors. With your GPA, that’s something to keep in mind when applying to HYPS et al. (Be careful what you wish for, you may get it – and then regret the end result. FWIW: When applying for your first job right out of college, employers expect students to list their GPA on their resume. ) I’ve posted this before, but here it is again
@ILoveStanford , DS did not have a 4.0 (iirc, it was a 3.85). His standardized tests were very good. I don’t know his formal ranking (his school didn’t rank). He had good ECs, but I think that’s almost a given for Yale contenders. He was accepted, IMO, based on his essays and LoRs. Yale AOs, I believe, read between the lines very well.
I don’t know your history, but be really thoughtful about why you want Yale. I would think deeply, and frankly, about why you took 2 years to get on track in HS. My youngest son had a low GPA, turned the corner in his junior and senior year, had a 34 ACT, and applied ED to Skidmore. It is a much better fit than Yale would have been.
I’ll be another voice to say that you @ILoveStanford have less than 2% chance of getting in to HYS given the stats you have posted. This is not to be cruel; you asked for honest feedback and we are giving it to you based on knowledge and experience.
We are telling you to shift your focus from the top 5 ranked colleges and devote your energy to all the excellent schools in, say, the #20-50 of USNWR. These are all superior schools which will offer quality of professors, students and facilities very close to HYS but for which you DO have a chance. It is very late in the year and if you want to maximize your chances at a happy outcome you should focus all your energy on identifying 6 schools in this range, research/visit as much as possible, and put together a compelling app for those schools.
My son did not get into Yale despite higher stats than you and being a legacy. So it goes. He did put effort on applications to the next tier down and got some acceptances at great schools and is having a wonderful college experience today.
Thanks for your opinion; however, I think I have amazing ECs and recommendations. Could this possibly make up for a low GPA and class rank? Thanks for your feedback!
They either want you or they don’t. I’m not an AO but you have to understand that your G.P.A probably puts you towards the back of the line. Yes you have good E.C.'s, so do almost all the other applicants. I’m not saying you can’t get in but I would really consider other options. Apply to those schools if it’s your dream but you need to come to terms that know matter how “great” you think you are, you are a small fish in a huge pond; and a small fish with a low G.P.A to boot. Your test scores put you towards the low end of the spectrum so unless you did something like cure cancer or break an olympic record then don’t get your hopes up.
Keep in mind that Admissions Officers don’t want to set a student up for failure. As your high school GPA is on the lowish side, I think an Admissions Committee is going to question whether you could do the work on their campus and maintain stellar grades. FWIW: every student must garner at least 51% of the full committee vote. So your application has to convince more than half the room that you would be a “good fit” for the school – and I think that’s a long shot, especially in the SCEA round as you are competing with the “Polly Perfects” of this world.
^^ Yes, please sell us on why Yale or Harvard should pick you (with wonderful teacher recs and EC’s) over a student who has both of those things and a higher GPA.
FWIW: in a recent Harvard freshman survey, 54% of admitted students had a 4.0 GPA in high school, with the average GPA being 3.9. I imagine it’s about the same at YPSM.
I don’t think this back and forth is useful. It appears OP will apply to HYS regardless. We wish him/her the best of luck. Anything more, IMHO, is wasted keystrokes. The original question has been answered multiple times.
