I am trying not to get involved, but I don’t want my kid to be too disappointed. Would love to hear what thoughts are for her at Yale (I think she should ED elsewhere but I don’t know and it’s not my decision!)
White female, rigorous private in major city, no AP classes offered
Junior year: 4 As and an A-in normal junior course load (Honors Pre-calc)
Senior fall: probably A/ A- in advanced history, advanced creative writing, honors calc
Scores: 34/35 ACT super-scored
AP lit 5, AP Math 4, Subject test English Lit: 780
ECs: Head of Poetry Club, Editor for school of 8-school lit mag, board of LGBTQ+ club, board of art for social change club
Comic artist, specialized comic published by major institution for use with their clients
Activist, spoke at Dept. of Justice event
LGBTQ+ activist (attends conferences, writes school articles, etc.)
Normal community engagement, summer jobs, etc.
No legacy, no sports pull, etc.
They don’t do GPAs at her school. She had all As and 1 B freshman year (at an easier school) and B+/A- sophomore year because of a personal situation which will be very clearly identified (and justifiable.)
You have access to some of the most knowledgeable people in the country that many can only dream of with regard to elite admissions.
I live near an elite private school and know some of their families. They get 1 Yale seat almost every year. Someone I know was complaining their kid had to settle for a lower Ivy because the Yale seat went to an athlete.
If she attends a “top 10 boarding school”, that school likely has counselors with privileged connections to the most selective colleges and can therefore give more realistic chance assessments than anyone here can (step 3 in the linked post).
So Yale admitted 6.7% of their applicants last year. Maybe her elite HS gives a small boost (say up to a 10% chance)? Her chances, along with those of many other highly qualified applicants, are still very low. She certainly will get a good look, but needs to be prepared if it doesn’t happen.
So what to do now? Work with her on a full list of matches and safeties to go along with her reaches. Insist that she work on her applications for matches & safeties whole she waits for any ED or EA decisions. (Some kids have magical thinking and just ignore the other apps — then are crushed and struggle to complete the other apps if they don’t get into that reach). But don’t force her to ED someplace else, either. She has very good stats and ECs. She WILL get into colleges, especially if she has a solid, reasonable list of schools. Don’t panic and push her into an ED that isn’t what she really wants.
Wow!!! 6.7%? It’s much easier to get there from small elite privates than from giant public schools who feel accomplished if they can get one of their super stars to Yale. Like life, ivy admission is grossly unfair.
@CupCakeMuffins I think you misinterpreted. 6.7% of Yale applicants are admitted. Not “OP’s private school has 6.7% of their graduates admitted to Yale.”
The chances of a student at “a top 10 boarding school” will be somewhat different from a student at most other high schools. I do agree that your guidance counselor at that school will have the best information. Seems to me that your D will get a hard look at Yale or any of the other schools you have chance threads at (including Columbia, Brown, Pomona, Berkeley, Penn).
That said, the schools on your lists should be considered reaches for any unhooked applicant due to the very low admit rates. There is simply not enough room for all the well qualified candidates. So please be sure your D has an application list that includes match and safety schools that appear affordable (if that is a concern) and that she would be excited to attend.
Please dont tell a parent their kid is a Ferrari. There are limited ECs noted here and OP hasn’t calculated unweighted gpa for us, just noted grades in a few courses. Adcoms will look at the transcript and see the B grades. Whether a college accepts any explanation is always iffy.
Plus, she has an entire app and supp in which to present herself. We have no idea how much either the child or parents understand what Y looks for. At top boarding schools, there may be other applicants well qualified and she needs enthusiastic LoRs.
Love her and tell her she did her best. But that it’s now in the hands of the adcoms, who have multiple needs to fill, many institutional needs, many beyond her control. Glass half full.
The reason it’s hard for people here to chance your kid is that if she’s at the school I think she attends the college process and results are likely to be far outside of most CC posters’ experience. When your school’s top 3 schools in terms of matriculation all have single digit acceptance rates, you’re not talking about a typical school. The school’s results are likely skewed by athletes and legacies, but in any case she’s applying from one of the strongest high schools in the country.
At most schools students who have no APs under their belts would have zero chance at Yale. On the other hand this high school does not offer APs but over the past few years has sent close to a quarter of graduates to an Ivy League university, with 15% to HYPSM. This is the kind of situation in which Naviance will give you much more accurate information than CC parents.
Good luck with the process. If you’re feeling nervous I’d reach out to your daughter’s college counselor to find out what s/he considers your daughter’s chances to be at Yale.
At the strongest boarding schools, the GCs are working to the benefit of all kids, usually well versed in what the colleges look for, and able to see, firsthand, which kids are the most likely at various tippy tops. They steer kids in the directions they feel are the best for each individual. They may discourage “dreams” or re-orient kids to more likely targets.You need to see what you can learn from your GC. DId he or she recommend other targets?
This isn’t as simple as being a student at a top BS. These GCs know how to match kids well. It’s a more fine process than usual. Naviance can’t convey the subleties. Not the rest of the story. And there may be plenty of others applying ED or RD. That matters.
We have experience with “top 3” boarding schools. In our experience, the parents & the student applicants had much more effect on the super elite college admissions than did the college counselors–who really focused on getting close to 100% college placement rather than placement into any particular group of schools.
I believe your daughter is at [deleted school name - SE]: if so then her chances are even slimmer. Yes these schools have higher placement rates than lower level schools and publics but they have more top quality minorities and legacies. You may want to look farther afield --she needs something to stand out besides being LGBTQ. That is no longer unique–i.e hook. Geography may be your best bet.
Agree with those who say use the excellent school resources you are paying for. No one whose child attends a school like deleted school name - SE could miss that part during the rather intense application process. I believe all “chances” posts are a waste of ether but, in this case, your daughter’s college options will not be left to the opinions of random Internet strangers but carefully crafted by her and a very experienced GC who will know her well and will provide excellent, targeted advice about the schools that most perfectly meet her needs. Her GC will also reach out to you to get to know you, will encourage your input, and will be happy to provide you with an accurate assessment of your daughter’s fit at any school you’d like to discuss. This person will also be able to help you interpret the school’s Naviance data as your daughter will only be competing against her school peers for the colleges to which she applies. She will be evaluated from the New England boarding school population, not from the country’s general HS population, so you need to direct all your college questions to the office that is in charge of this cohort.
We’ve been through this process. Trust me, the resources you and your daughter have at your fingertips are quite solid. You need look no further.