Chance my kid at Yale

Colleges and Universities A-Z Yale University
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MODERATOR’S NOTE:
May I remind users that the name of the website is College Confidential, not Guess the HS. If the OP wanted you to know the name of the school, she would have told you. So please don’t drop clues (or blatantly name the school) that I have to (or had to in this case) edit out, even if the OP may have mentioned it herself in passing several years ago.

Having said that, I need to concur that the school’s college counselors have a better idea of the kid’s chances than we do, in part because they have a more complete picture of her and know they other students applying to the same colleges.They are also better equipped to help her put together a list of reach/match/safeties. In this, I speak from personal experience as a BS alum.

Chance threads are an interesting parlor game for some of the kids. Personally, I find them pointless when the college in question has a sub-10% acceptance rate and even more so when the HS is a feeder school. Having had 4 chance threads already, I’m not sure that you will hear anything that has not been already stated. Experienced users here can validate the list that the counselor and your daughter have come up with, and perhaps offer some suggestions based on her parameters that have not been considered.

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I only suggested Naviance because it’s a secondary source to confirm what the counselor may be telling the OP. If I were to post my kid’s stats most people would tell me they had no chance at their target schools yet Naviance told a very different story.

Obviously the OP shouldn’t depend on her child being admitted to Yale. It’s a reach for everyone. That said, I would trust the college counseling staff if they think Yale is a reasonable stretch school.

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@lookingforward
“Please don’t tell a parent their kid is a Ferrari”

I got a better one… The kiddo is a BMW. Oh such an appropriate vehicle for an elite private school. My real comparison was an elite BS is comparable to a high end luxury car service department.

FWIW, my gut feeling on this one says the college counselor already knows a special legacy or 2 that have the seats locked up. Maybe a scion of wealth or political dynasty? Is that better?

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Sorry, @NoKillli, the idea that private schools get allotted a certain number of seats is the stuff of urban legend, in short, bunkum.

Schools get as many seats as the number of top-notch students they present. Top high school schools, public or private, get more kids in because they are stronger schools with stronger students. Private school stats tend to be skewed a bit by the high numbers of development admits, legacies and athletic recruits, but they are also made up of kids who had to go through a competitive admissions process much like the college admissions process just to get into their high school.

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Sorry @Sue22

I believe what I see anecdotally in my life and what I read in articles like this.

https://www.thestreet.com/story/13325695/1/top-us-private-schools-with-the-most-graduates-getting-into-ivy-league-universities.html

Imagine the H director of admissions saying “were are not taking anyone from Phillips this year.” Not happening in my lifetime!

While they may not have an explicit dedicated spot in policy, the elite private school edge is so undeniable, it is ridiculous to call it an urban legend. Just accept it for what it is and take advantage of it if you can. Don’t insult me because I called it out and you don’t like it because it infers something distasteful. (How is that for staying confidential!)

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The competition is fierce among those who pass first cut. And proportionately tougher in a sub pool from a top BS that has kids compete at a high level just to attend. We also have no idea how many admits to top colleges, (from OP’s BS,) are recruited athletes, legacies, or stem with top stats and outside ECs. As Sue said.

For the purposes of this thread, none of this is as easy as it sounds.

As another example, of 400+ seniors at TJ (VA public,) 122 in the '17 class got into Penn, 157 to Cornell, 93 for MIT. (They don’t list all colleges.)This is about elite high schools, all around. Highly rigorous. Not just whether top BS have some backroom pull.

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MODERATOR’S NOTE:

Actually, for purposes of this thread, it’s all off topic. Fascinating as it is, it has nothing to do with the OP’s question (well, very tangentially related). Further discussion belongs in a separate thread.

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“Like life, ivy admission is grossly unfair”.

Cupcakemuffins so is your conclusion that the OP’s child’s fate is in the hands of things beyond her child’s control? A system that is “grossly unfair”. And by extension are you suggesting that students at Ivies didn’t get there based on their own merit? And if so are those rejected by Ivies “victims”, instead of great candidates that didn’t stand out as much as those accepted?

Horrible CC msg if so.

Devaluing the process and diminishing those accepted is sport on CC for those who feel disappointed with their results.

OP your kid looks to be a great candidate. Unfortunately the more highly regarded the school the greater the talent pool you have to stand out from. I am sure your child will get a great and deserved look. Good luck finding ways to stand out amongst what I am sure is a very competitive pool. If if doesn’t work out it’s not personal, no one cheated and ultimately it will be for the best if you have the capacity to move on and not throw around blame to sooth an undeserved sense of having been wronged.

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MODERATOR’S NOTE:

Again, let’s not derail the thread.

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Well the anonymous school she doesnt attend does matter in the calculus insofar as the pool is much more competitive much like TJ, Stuy, PA and PEA etc. The OPs daughter seems like strong candidate for any school based solely on grades and scores but genericly so IMO. I think a HYP REA for her is probably too great a reach and seems like a waste of EA to me. For REA I would think a lower level Ivy OR a more traditional school that might be more more interested in her LGBTQ focus like Emory, Duke, Vanderbilt, Notre Dame. These schools are also not at the tip top of the list for NE prep schools so the geography might be a little more advantageous. Also Clairmont, Pomona and west coast schools.

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In 2008, not one student from Dalton, an elite NYC private high school, was admitted to Harvard. So, it has happened and within your lifetime! Google “Private School Rejects 2008” and read the first entry.

Both my kids attended Stuyvesant High School, a feeder school to the ivies, and here’s the reality: Over the last ten years, Harvard has accepted anywhere from 8 to 24 students a year from Stuyvesant. Yale never took as many students – the most Yale accepted was about 15 students a year from Stuyvesant, the least was 4 students.

That said, Stuyvesant’s graduating class is about 850 to 900 students, with probably about a third of the graduating class applying to Harvard and Yale. And my guess would be about 100 to 200 of those top students from Stuyvesant are all applying with a GPA that spreads a couple of points on a 1-100 scale (most likely in the 95-98 range).

So the competition within an elite school for a coveted spot at HYP is much more intense that it would be at another high school. And, at an elite high school, a college Admissions office is faced with more qualified applicants than they can possibly accept, so they “cherry pick” sometimes skipping over the Valedictorian and Salutatorian and accepting students with lower stats. That’s happened at Stuyvesant a number of times.

As such, often times a top student at an elite school, like Stuyvesant, would have had a BETTER chance at the ivies if they had attended a less prestigious high school and had been a “big fish in a smaller pond.” Attending an elite private school does NOT always equal success for every successful student.

If your daughter’s first choice is Yale, then she should apply SCEA as she has competitive stats. I have no idea if she will be successful or not, but you need to let her follow HER dreams (not yours).

Your daughter should also apply to a number of top state colleges in the early round (colleges such as UMich, University of Virginia, College of William & Mary, University of North Carolina, University of Southern California, University of California, and her flagship state college). Her goal should be to have at least one college in her back pocket come mid-December. Best of luck to your daughter whatever she decides!

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^ Always, knowing you can pay the costs.
OP would need to tell us more. Our own view of our kids is often different than what will actually show on the app/supp. Eg, activist interests or number of vol hours don’t share the “what,” convey the stretch and commitments outside the hs club arena. This is part of the “more than just stats.”

Again, the GC will know more about her competitive position in her school (incl RD applicants) and the full picture Yale looks for, in applicants, from that school. She’ll also have seen LoRs and other feedback that helps an elite GC assess. As someone pointed out, that convo should have occurred some time ago. So forgive me, but it raises the question whether this GC does feel Yale is viable (or the other schools OP has asked abiut.)

So OP, the GC is your “go to” gal. Or guy.

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I don’t think USC is a state school.

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@Shazam777 - What stands out to me in your description of your daughter is her history of leadership in her school community around LGBTQIA issues. I’m guessing she’s had a rough time in high school because of her sexual identity, and seems to have developed not only resilience but also compassion for, and a determination to help and protect, members LGBT community. These leadership qualities/roles will matter a lot, to AOs, I think, since she clearly has a strong sense of self, character and commitment to helping others. Best of luck to your daughter. She sounds like she would be an asset to any college community.

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OP

Tell your D good luck with her college apps and don’t stress over it. I’m out.

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I just wish I could delete this post. I have never posted anywhere on the internet where the original poster has no control over their own post! And even the moderator shared personal information with the group - that I had posted 4 times (yes, people can look it up but don’t usually bother.) I am naive and understandably nervous about the complex process and stupidly thought that this forum could shed some light on it. Instead, my daughter’s privacy has been breached. I would like to ask the moderator to PLEASE take this whole post down.

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MODERATOR’S NOTE:

The moderator did no such thing. Rather I edited out other’s responses. My response was based solely on the information you provided in this thread. If anything, I shared private info about myself on this thread, but that is my choice.

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