Chance me for Yale SCEA or Brown ED?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hi everyone,

Sorry for the long post, but I’d like to know your opinion on whether I should early to Yale or Brown. I have a slight preference for Yale, but its early round is extremely competitive and (so I’ve heard, don’t quote me) presents no actual advantage over regular. However, Brown is also very appealing and is statistically more attainable than Yale, although I’m not 100% set on Brown when there are so many other great options. At the end of the day, I would love to go to either one, but realistically, I have matches and safeties that I will no doubt be more than happy to attend. I’m hoping I would get into my early school so I could save on RD application fees.

I’m also truly undecided between computer science and literature since both options are equally compelling. I originally began high school dead set on going into the STEM field, but stumbling into creative writing in junior year completely altered the trajectory of my life. On paper, I have a math/science heavy transcript and test scores, but my writing ECs are stronger than my CS ECs. I’ll be writing the optional Yale engineering essay If I decide to early to Yale, and I’m submitting either a short story excerpt or my science research abstract to my early college (not sure which one yet).

Thanks in advance for your help; I really appreciate it!

Bio: South Asian male at a private boarding school in Southern California. Family is well-off but I have three much younger siblings, so I’d rather not depend on my parents too much for tuition.

Stats: 3.95 GPA unweighted <- My school is very grade-deflated and we do not rank, but I’ve heard that a 3.9 would qualify as top 10-15%.

SAT: 1580, 11/12 writing, SAT IIs: Biology M (800), Math II (800), Physics (780), PSAT NMSF

5’s on AP Biology, Computer Science A, US History, European History, Calculus BC, Chemistry, Statistics, 4 on Physics 1

I’m also taking linear algebra and discrete mathematics at a local college this year.

Extracurriculars:

Creative writing - ~10 national short story awards (most sponsored by universities or literary magazines, sometimes 1st place but frequently 2nd or 3rd, haha), 1 of which is extremely high-impact and well-known, as well as several (<5% acceptance rate) adult-level publications. I won a few thousand dollars in prize money and will be paying the college app fees by myself. I’m Editor in Chief of my school’s literary magazine, a high school writing mentor, a reader for a national youth journal, and a Pushcart Prize nominee.

I was recently selected as a finalist for a ~professional writer level~ fiction contest, which was sponsored by a selective journal. The judge for the grand winner is a creative writing assistant professor at an Ivy, so my fingers are crossed!

CS - USA Computing Olympiad Gold Division and President of the Algorithm Club; I did machine learning research at a local UC this summer and my findings will be presented at a national biocomputational conference (in which I am listed as first author). I also work as a web developer for an online business - I designed the website and brought it up to >20,000 page views.

DECA - a few regional and state awards, ICDC qualifier last year - ultimately didn’t go due to AP testing + felt bad asking parents for extra money. I’ve been doing DECA for all of high school but I didn’t get “good” / win things until very recently, but I still love it regardless and will keep doing it. :slight_smile:

I’m part of my school’s humanities grant program, in which I was chosen to pursue independent historical research over the summer and write a large research paper. I’m analyzing the sociocultural impact of western literary minimalism (think Hemingway or Carver), which is super cool because I love reading and writing minimalist stories. My junior year English teacher, who is a huge Hemingway fan and will be writing my rec, is also my research advisor.

Small things - Varsity swimming (9th-10th grade), piano level 10, French National Honor Society, NHS, Gold Presidential Service Award, Gourmet Coffee Club (for fun and free coffee!)

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If you like Yale more, definitely go for it! Don’t apply to Brown ED because you think you have a higher chance of getting in. Don’t underestimate yourself!! Your Extracurriculars are great, and your test scores are definitely above the range for Yale. Your GPA is solid, in the range for both schools. You definitely have a great shot of getting into Yale. Honestly, everything looks good. Now, all you need to do is write killer essays and hope for the best. And, if you get deferred from Yale then you have a great shot of getting into Brown RD. I’m in a similar boat (also interested in Computer Science and English) but I’m applying to Brown ED! Best of luck!

3

Your chances are looking great for both Yale and Brown. Your stats are great and everything looks good on paper so far. Just make sure to build a coherent image with your application and looking at your achievements, I’m sure your essays will be great. A lot of my friends in Yale aren’t even that accomplished hahaha, but never be too certain. I know someone who got into Stanford but not into UCSD, so the admissions process will always be more unpredictable than we imagine. If you prefer Yale, go ahead and do EA. Youre a pretty strong candidate, so I’d say your chances increase slightly with EA.

4

The comment: “Family is well-off but I have three much younger siblings, so I’d rather not depend on my parents too much for tuition.”

makes me wonder. Do you expect to get aid to go to college? Ivies only give need-based aid.

If you cannot depend on your parents to pay for your college, you should be looking at colleges that require early application without an enrollment commitment. If you have 100K+ per year pin money, then no worries.

Remember also that in essence, you are competing against other private school kids because most other kids just don’t have the opportunities you have had.

You have a better than average chance at both, but remember that living in New Haven is not the same as living in Providence. I would consider that aspect as well.

Good luck!

5

I was going to point that ^ out, too. Picking an Ivy won’t save you a dime, if your family is at certain income levels.

OP, you looked into the advantages of Early, but do you know what Y and B will expect, for you to get any boost from it? Do you have a sense of how these U’s will see your match? Can you properly answer a Why Us?

Have you run the NPC?

6

Just wanted to say that I am so incredibly jealous of your school’s humanities grant program. I can’t imagine how amazing having that institutional support must be. I wrote a similar research paper independently for MIT Inspire, which you should definitely check out. I think your thesis sounds perfect for that competition. (You won’t get results in time for apps, but I think you’d enjoy it.)

Also wonder if we run in similar writing circles…

7

You have a strong profile. Having said that, your early chances will very much depend upon who else is applying from your school in the early cycle. I can’t see Yale or Brown, especially Yale, accepting more than 1 from a school in the early cycle, except may be Harvard-Westlake. Your counselor is your best guide here. You’re right…I would be surprised if you don’t get into one of the top schools by end of the day.

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@sciencenerd123 Thank you for your response! I’m very much learning towards Yale for EA since I finished most of my supplements already. I took a look at your Chance Me thread and wow! Your stats are impressive! I bet your story will be very unique. Good luck with Brown - I hope you get in :slight_smile:

@Betty R Thanks for your suggestion! I’ll probably end up applying undecided and emphasizing my dual interest specifically in minimalist fiction and computer science (with a focus on biological applications).

@rhandco My parents value education very much and are willing to pay for my tuition, but I’d rather not burden them financially. I’m fortunate to live in California, which has a range of awesome and affordable UC schools that I’d love to go to. USC also offers significant merit money and has a beautiful campus. Depending on personal fit and how much merit aid I get, I’d be willing to choose a cheaper, but still fantastic option over a full-pay Ivy.

@lookingforward I don’t qualify for financial aid, and my parents are capable of paying. I don’t expect any boost for Yale EA, except for a near-negligible advantage due to my interest in engineering. Brown ED offers a marginally larger boost because it is binding but overall I don’t have high hopes because I am an ORM male applicant competing with thousands of other similar applicants. As for match - I really enjoy the artsy, creative vibe in both universities, the liberal political climate, and the great balance between language arts and STEM (perhaps a little more skewed for Yale).

@writergirl0316 MIT Inspire sounds really interesting! I’ll look into it, thanks!

@fivesages Thanks for your response! Yale isn’t a popular place to early to at my school (it’s not even in the top 20), since most people are very passionate about science or business and will go for Princeton, Stanford, University of Pennsylvania, or MIT. Fun fact: my counselor told me that 50% of Yale EA applicants from my school last year got accepted - this is because only 2 people applied, haha.

9

I asked if you know what Y and B will expect to see in candidates, how these U’s will see your match.

“I really enjoy the artsy, creative vibe in both universities, the liberal political climate, and the great balance between language arts and STEM…”

And as a “Why Us,” any number of colleges fit that ^ bill of artsy, creative, liberal. With competition so fierce, they’ll expect less generic.

I was trying to understand how much you know these two schools, what it takes, even in an Early round.