Chances for a kid with one very strong extracurricular?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Yale University
1

<p>Hey guys, I'm applying to Yale ED with the following stats, and I'd like to know if I have a chance. Thanks for all your time.</p>

<p>School: 2500 enrollment Public School in Wisconsin; Most National Merit Scholars in the state of Wisconsin</p>

<p>GPA: 3.92 UW; for my one year at private school, 4.25/3.92 (W/UW)
School does not rank </p>

<p>Curriculum: Rigorous </p>

<p>AP Testing: 5s in Calc AB and AP Latin: Vergil</p>

<p>SAT 1: 2300 (750 CR 750 M 800 W)
SAT 2: Latin - 800 and Literature - 740 (I intend to retake Lit, should I also take Math II?)</p>

<p>ECs/Activities:
Singing in boychoir (outside of school) since 4th grade: tours to Texas, along Mississippi River
Cross Country and Track
Latin/JCL including a school 1st VP Position
Mock Trial
Independent Studies in Ancient Greek, Old English
Guitar </p>

<p>Accomplishments:</p>

<p>LATIN</p>

<p>1st Place, 2008 NJCL Academic Decathlon (Top Academic Prize of $500)
• Most Valuable Player, 2008 NJCL Competitive Certamen Championships (Upper Division)
• Captain of 3rd Place Team, 2008 NJCL Competitive Certamen Championships (Upper Division)
• 3rd Place in Academic Points in 2008 NJCL Convention Sweepstakes
• Top 2008 NJCL Convention Scores in: Academic Decathlon, Academic Heptathlon, Greek Derivatives, and Mottoes, Quotations, and Abbreviations.
? For Level V, 1st Place in previous contests and Latin Literature; 2nd Place in Latin Derivatives and Reading Comprehension: Prose; 3rd Place in Reading Comprehension: Poetry; 4th Place in Latin Grammar, Latin Vocabulary, Mythology, and Roman History; 5th Place in Roman Life; 6th Place in Greek Life and Literature
• 1st Place, 2008 Wisconsin JCL Overall Sweepstakes (Academics, Certamen, Creative Arts, Graphic Arts)
? In Advanced Level, 1st Place in: Pentathlon, Latin Derivatives, Vocabulary, Mythology, Roman History, Latin Literature, Roman Private Life, Mottoes, Greek History, Literature, and Life; 2nd Place in Reading Comprehension and Grammar; 3rd Place in Imprompromptu Essay; 4th Place in Team Sight Reading; 5th Place in Greek Derivatives and Vocabulary
• 1st Place (Level HS 3), 2007 California JCL Sweepstakes in Overall Academics
• One of Ten Top Prizes ($250), 2008 CAMWS (Classical Association of the Midwest and South) High School Latin Translation Contest
• Captain of 1st Place Team, 2007 California JCL Competitive Certamen (Level HS 3)
• Perfect Scores in 2008 National Latin Exam (Level V+) and 2006 National Latin Exam (Level I); Gold Medal in 2007 National Latin Exam (Level III)
• Captain of 1st Place Team, 2006 Wisconsin JCL Competitive Certamen (Novice Level)
• Score of 5 on the AP exam in Latin: Vergil (Independent Study)</p>

<p>Finalist for the Nation's Student Writing Prize ($250)
2nd Place in the Ayn Rand Anthem Essay Contest ($500) </p>

<p>Various debate awards, mock trial placings
Performed in the University of Wisconsin-Madison Opera's productions of Mendelssohn's Elijah and the Secret Garden (in Middle School)</p>

<p>What I'm really trying to figure out is if the big awards in Latin can compensate for the relative lack of breadth in terms of extracurricular activities, and the decent but not spectacular GPA. </p>

<p>Thanks again.</p>

2

<p>They sure can :D. No, your SATs are spectacular... 2300.</p>

3

<p>I'm a little confused. I personally would not consider Latin a "very strong extracurricular." While you may have several awards in Latin, competitions =/= extracurricular. Additionally, none of the awards are even what you would call spectacular. Maybe I'm being a little harsh, but I've never seen anyone claim that a language, much less a dead one, is their main extracurricular. It's a very weird subject. </p>

<p>Your SAT and GPA are good though.</p>

<p>Oh, and don't list anything you did in middle school because adcoms simply do not care. And I'm sure you meant EA, not ED because Yale (none of the Ivys for that matter) doesn't have ED</p>

4

<p>I don't predict chances, but your accomplishments in Latin are quite impressive, Orangutan. Lockhart, colleges like Yale look on major academic awards with great favor. They're just as highly prized as major accomplishments in traditional EC areas, like athletics and music. And Yale does value Latin, dead language though it may be. Department</a> of Classics | Yale University</p>

<p>Yale has SCEA, and H and P have eliminated their early programs, but the other five Ivies still have binding ED programs.</p>

5

<p>
[quote]
SAT 2: Latin - 800 and Literature - 740 (I intend to retake Lit, should I also take Math II?)

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Missed this question. Not everyone agrees, but I think top schools like to see a combination of math/science and humanities-based SAT IIs. So yes, I recommend taking Math II if you're planning to retake Literature.</p>

6

<p>Yale says take the SAT IIs that you'll do best on. They don't care about the mix and they mean it.</p>

<p>I'm not familiar with JCL, but if you're essentially the top high school classics scholar in the country, then that's a hook.</p>

7

<p>
[quote]
Yale says take the SAT IIs that you'll do best on. They don't care about the mix and they mean it.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I am not trying to be contrary here, and I realize that you're an alumni interviewer, but how can you know this with such certainty?</p>

8

<p>Because admissions officers have emphasized that point at every Yale presentation I've been to over the past 10 years. Yale's philosophy is to give everyone their best chance to shine and letting you take the SATIIs that you'll do best on is part of this.</p>

9

<p>Edit for accuracy: It may not be admissions presentations over the past 10 years, but certainly the last 5. Yale used to require three SATIIs and I think that when I applied you had to take English, math, and a subject of your choice. I wouldn't have taken math if there were any way I could have gotten out of it and I feared that one score was going to keep me out of my top choice schools. If my memory is correct, it means there was a time when Yale wanted to see a mix and told you so. Now, they don't care and they tell you so. If they genuinely want to see a mix, I don't think they'd be coy when asked about it.</p>

10

<p>You may be correct, but I'm not confident that the road show always represents the admissions committee with 100% accuracy. Given Yale's affinity for well-rounded students on steroids, I still would recommend a mix of SAT IIs, except perhaps for the student who knows for sure he/she will bomb Math. Reasonable minds may differ.</p>

11

<p>thanks for all the input.</p>

<p>in response to lockheart, i'm not sure what, in your definition, "spectacular" would entail. i'm not bragging (almost all of it was simple relentless work), but I won what is pretty unquestionably the top high school Classics prize in the nation. i'm not really sure what would be better..</p>

12

<p>unless of course you mean that something like latin in general carries little weight, which would be fair (though i'm not quite sure about that).</p>

13

<p>well, it could go either way. I mean, its Yale, you have the same chance that everyone else does with all round very strong apps with no weakness but no single extremely compelling aspect.</p>