Chances at Yale?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Yale University
1

<p>Hey everyone, I've posted this in the Chances thread also but so far the responses there haven't been too helpful (they all just say no chance, but don't really explain why or offer any suggestions)</p>

<p>Do you guys think I have a chance at Yale? Helpful suggestions to improve my chances (difficult as this is my senior year) or comments would be appreciated.</p>

<p>I'm from a rural town in northern Wisconsin with less than 10,000 people.</p>

<p>Rank 1 of 232, GPA 4.0 UW</p>

<p>ACT
35 Composite
36 English
34 Math
36 Critical Reading
33 Science</p>

<p>SAT (only taken once, hopefully I can take it again if i do well enough on my SAT IIs the first time around):
2220 Composite
800 CR
690 Math
730 English (11 Essay)</p>

<p>SAT II Math I: 740</p>

<p>Studying for SAT II Math IIC, Chemistry, and Bio.</p>

<p>Schedule: (all filled with classes, no study halls)</p>

<p>Freshman: ( my school is very small so the classes may look unimpressive, but I took all of the hardest courses whenever possible)</p>

<p>English I
Biology
Geometry
World Culture
Phy Ed
Spanish II
Freshman Band
Freshman Choir
Information Processing</p>

<p>Sophomore:</p>

<p>Health
Honors American Literature
Honors Chemistry
Advanced Algebra
Honors American History
Drivers Ed
Spanish III
Concert Band
Concert Choir
Swing Choir</p>

<p>Junior:
Honors World Literature
Honors Advanced Inorganic Chemistry
Honors Advanced Organic Chemistry
Honors Advanced Biology
Precalculus
Advanced Grammar
AP Government (taking ap test senior year, will this hurt me? i didn't take because of schedule conflict)
AP Comparative government (taking AP test senior year)
Honors Spanish IV
Phy Ed
Jazz Band
Concert Band
Concert Choir
Honors Advanced Biology Student Assistant</p>

<p>Senior:</p>

<p>College English
College Speech
AP Biology
AP Spanish V
Honors Physics
Honors Anatomy and Physiology
College Calculus
Concert Band
Jazz Band
AP Psych ( if schedule allows)</p>

<p>Reagrding AP's, if my schedule absolutely does not allow enough time for me to take all the APs available, will this work against me and how do i let the colleges know this? for example, AP US history conflicts with my AP Spanish; both are only offered that one period. </p>

<p>ECs: (btw, my years of participation include this upcoming senior year, sorry if the list is kinda convlouted, i'm typing them as I think of them)</p>

<p>School doesn't give academic awards except honor roll, but here are some kinda academic related:</p>

<p>National Honor Society - 2 years</p>

<p>Highway cleanup with NHS - 2 years</p>

<p>Shadowing in the local clinic with different doctors (Ambulatory Surgery, Clinical)(40 hours a year, getting 40 more in 2008)</p>

<p>National Merit Commended, have yet to be notified if I am a semifinalist</p>

<p>Sports:
2 years JV cross country (2 years Most improved JV runner)</p>

<p>4 years varsity swimming (Athlete of the month, most improved swimmer)</p>

<p>4 years varsity tennis (2nd place conference individual, conference champions as a team)</p>

<p>Assistant Organizer for the Lakeland community tennis league (6 hours a week this summer)</p>

<p>Red Cross Certified Lifeguard and Swimming Instructor (3 years)</p>

<p>Music:
2 years of Wisconsin State Honors Band (1 of 18 clarinetists picked out of over 300)</p>

<p>7 1st Places at State solo and Ensemble (over past 3 years)</p>

<p>Community Concert Band - 7 years (3 hours a week, 40 weeks a year)</p>

<p>Piano with state and ditrict awards - 11 years</p>

<p>Clarinet with all-state, state and district awards - 7 years</p>

<p>Concert band - 4 years</p>

<p>Concert choir - 3 years</p>

<p>Choir accompanist - 6 years</p>

<p>Church:</p>

<p>AWANA Member(Community church outreach and volunteer organization) - 12 years (2 hours a week, 40 weeks a year)</p>

<p>AWANA Leader in training - 7 years (2 hours a week, 40 weeks a year)</p>

<p>Mexico Youth Mission (10 days, 9 hours a day spent in Mexico doing humanitarian work, building and painting houses, organizing community outreaches, etc.)</p>

<p>3 years Youth Districts Leadership Conference</p>

<p>Piano offertories in church - 2 years</p>

<p>Church infant/toddler care during services - 6 years</p>

<p>Work Experience: (indoor pool, for those of you who may be familiar with northern wisconsin weather in the winter lol)
Lifeguarding (year round)- 4 years
Swimming Instructor (year round) - 3 years</p>

<p>Do I stand a chance at all? I wish my school had more classes to offer, but I guess I do what I can with what i have. All of the people in the other chance thread say I have too many ec's, even though I've particpated in them for a long time; that very few of them are interesting enough or worth noting.</p>

<p>Any help with explanations would be very much appreciated. =/</p>

2

<p>in terms of academics... get your math up near 730 at least, and i'd say you have a shot, id est, it puts you in the mix of students whose chances predictions boil down to the fact that its a general crap shoot. at that point, despite what they say, they are looking for reasons to reject you (it isn't the fault of the adcoms, it's just that they get so many nearly indistinguishable apps that they have to use some sort of merit-based system, however arbitrary it may be, to sort out the candidates). your ecs are not very good, in terms of what the accepted applicants are submitted. granted, you're from a small town, you could have participated in summer programs (many are free), or gotten a job if you needed to help out your family. lifeguarding doesn't count. i'm talking about flipping burgers. that, in short, is why you will likely be rejected. i would suggest cornell because it has a bigger class in which you might fit, or a liberal arts college in the northeast or west where your geographic location could potentially be a hook</p>

<p>also you should make subtle jokes about northern wisconsin/your town in the essay because chances are the adcoms haven't heard that much about where you live before. that could help you too.</p>

<p>finally, if your heart is set on going to yale, apply. you only have one shot in your entire life, unless you intend to transfer, to attend yale undergrad. believe me, i'm applying to just as big of a reach.</p>

3

<p>wait, so even if you're teaching swimming lessons and lifeguarding year-round it doesn't count as a good work experience? o.O I did work at a fast food restaurant last summer but couldn't continue because of schedule conflicts (sports practices everyday after school) ....worth mentioning? IDK, i thought my summers were pretty packed - I worked as a lifeguard and a training swim instructor freshman year, worked at a fast food restaurant, taught swim lessons, and lifeguarded sophomore year, shadowed doctors at the local clinic and am teaching swim lessons and lifeguarding this summer as well. </p>

<p>also,what kind of 'good' ec's are usually submitted?</p>

<p>thanks for your help.</p>

4

<p>ignore doctor's comments.
You have a 35 ACT with a 34 on math...that's more than competitive
Yale doesn't require SAT IIs if you submit the ACT....That is definitely the way to go in your case. Don't even let yale know you took the SAT
Focus on your SAT IIs for other schools (judging by your name you are a harvard hopeful) and you will be set as far as academics go.
Focus on your personal attributes and crafting your essays to define yourself after that.</p>

5

<p>doctor is way out of line saying that you will likely be rejected for your work experience. By looking at your ECs you are clearly a devoted swimmer, Christian, and musician. Although none of those are amazing by themselves, blending them in your essays to define yourself will make you extremely competitive.</p>

<p>BTW: I would venture to say that the majority of applicants at yale have no work experience while you worked for 4 years, year-round. Clearly, doing something that you enjoy like swimming is much more valuable than 'flipping burgers' as doctorx pointed out. I know there is a rep from yale on these boards that may be able to give you a rough number on what percentage of yale attendees actually work...I guarantee you it is far from a majority though.</p>

6

<p>Oh ya....14 classes junior year?
many of those look like year-long classes.
how did you manage that?</p>

7

<p>^thanks for your encouragement. I realize that many of my clubs may not be that well known, but I have put a LOT of commitment and dedication into them. I'm thinking about writing my essay on how my volunteering in many of my church programs have made me realize what an important part community plays in my life, especially from being in a small town. Maybe tying that in with the excellent community I saw in my humanitarian youth mission to mexico(everyone helped each other, even though they were dirt poor) a good topic? :/ also, should i include some of music on a recording when i apply?</p>

<p>regarding the classes in junior year - actually many of them were only semester classes...in fact, one of the reasons why i didn't take the ap tests for gov't and comp. gov't is because they were only semester classes...my teacher recommended i study for them over the summer and take them senior year because he said the classes only covered a little over half of what was gonna be on the test. do you think not taking all my ap's until senior year will hurt? i'm a little disappointed i couldn't take them right after the classes this year, but frankly, with sports, church, and lack of adequate class preparation there was no way i could've taken it and gotten a good score without studying on my own, which I am doing.</p>

<p>Thanks again for your help, and to anyone else who has replied. :)</p>

8

<p>no, volunteering and then having some revelation is probably the most common topic that people write about. You need to get much more creative than that to stand out in a pool of about 15,000 extremely qualified applicants (yes, there are that many qualified yale applicants).</p>

<p>If the AP classes were only a semester than they are not truly AP.
AP is cracking down this year on schools labeling classes AP. To be accredited, the teacher must have so many hours in and cover so much material in order to put AP on the front of his class. (I know this because a few years ago they were teaching APUSH but were saving 20th century until senior year. Our school was asked to remove the AP and just call it honors). College board is really tightening up what it means to be 'AP.' They're even considering making a certain percentage of your class take the exam in order to be accredited.</p>

9

<p>In that regard, it will certainly bring up questions, but it's nothing to sweat over.</p>

10

<p>It's more like 20,000 apps.</p>

11

<p>yes, all 20,000 apps are not very competitive.
I heard once that 3/4 were considered extremely competitive applicants.</p>

12

<p>You will need to send in a fantastic essay, recommendations, and overall great application package. See my advice on other threads to see how I think applicants can do these things, generally speaking. If you want to maximize your chances now is the time to really start thinking about every aspect of your app.</p>

13

<p>3 out of 4.....I think that might be a bit too much. I know a lot of people who apply to ivies on a whim. "Why not?" "There could be a glitch, could be me." etc...</p>

<p>I would say half maybe are competitive. Doesnt help one's case though because those in that half are FIERCELY so. Having good grades is a given but standing out; either through your essay or history is also very important.</p>

14

<p>unfortunately, i didn't read the original post all the way through</p>

<p>year round work as a lifeguard, worked into an essay, could be a major plus, as could be your geographic location</p>

<p>that said, i still maintain my position: you are not a shoo-in, so you are going to have to nail the recs and essays</p>

15

<p>either way, i didnt mean to come off too negative. you stand just as good a shot as most other competitive yale applicants.</p>

16

<p>thank you all for your kind encouragement. Now i just have to come up with a few essay topics. Right now I'm thinking about 4, I'll probably write all of them and then pick which one is best. I might get some more ideas as time goes on also. These are pretty general right now, I will definitely have to fine-tune them and make them stand out.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Music in my life, why it is important to me and how it influences myself and others...and how i want to use my God-given gift to give back to the people</p></li>
<li><p>What my volunteering in church and the community means to me, especially in a tight-knit community like mine, the real reason for why i do it,especially when looking back at my volunteering, even after all these years of hard work and commitment</p></li>
<li><p>My mexico mission and how the simple ideals and principles (hardworking, supportive, altruistic) they had in their community, however poor, were perhaps the most poignant i have ever seen, and how i wanted to mirror them in my life</p></li>
<li><p>Why i have committed to sports and how I believe they can help shape and mature a person with qualities like dedication and perseverance</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Any suggestions for other topics or comments on how to make these stand out are very much appreciated, and thanks for all your kind and honest words.</p>

<p>CC is priveliged to have people like you.</p>

<p>(doctorx017, don't worry about being negative, i didn't take any offense :) your honest words were just as much appreciated as anyone else's. best of luck with your applications as well.)</p>

17

<p>I appreciate your sincerity but choice 3 seems very cliched. Just a personal opinion</p>

18

<p>In response to what 1MX said earlier, one of my essays were actually about my volunteering experience and what it taught me, and I still got in. But my entire package was very public service/volunteerism-based, so I guess it worked. Just write about what's most important to you, and the admission officers will sense out the sincerity, but I'm sure creativity and originality would definitely help!</p>

19

<p>imo, it would be interesting if you wrote an anecdotal piece about small town life and how living in a small town has affected your outlook, etc... this could set you apart from many other yale apps, and (hopefully) catch the adcoms attention. you might work in church and/or music as well, or speak to your position in the community, etc... either way, don't write a generic essay, because that will only get you tossed back into the pool of generic applicants, which you are not. that said, the essay does not have to be about your life in a small town, but something original would be of great benefit. good luck, whatever you choose.</p>

20

<p>none of the topics are great by themselves, but they could be great if you weaved them together to define yourself rather than writing a 'cliche' essay.</p>