Chances For Yale And Penn Please

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I know these threads are probably really annoying but I want to know how plausible it is that I get accepted into Yale. My family and friends all tell me "Oh I think you'll definitely get in," but they're biased and I don't think they realize there are tons of people better than me out there. So I'm feeling a mix of confidence and insecurity regarding my application and I just wanted to try to clear it up with people with more experience. Here's my information</p>

<p>Schools:
Yale
University of Penn</p>

<p>Ethnicity: White
Sex: Male
Age: 17</p>

<p>ACADEMICS
-I have taken all Honors and AP courses during High School. I attend a Magnet School and apparently all the classes are Honors.
-My upcoming courses for this year are AP French, AP Chemsitry, AP Calculus BC, AP US Government and Politics, and English 4.
-Last year I took two AP's, US History and Calculus AB (the only two offered).
-My weighted GPA is 4.05 and my class rank is 7/104, although this is from tenth grade because my school district sucks. They are "revamping" the system and so they are still calculating our ranks in the new method. We won't find out until this upcomng year our new ranks, but I have reason to believe mine will get better for reasons it would take too long to mention since this is the second time I'm typing this thread.</p>

<p>EXTRACURRICULARS
-NHS 11, 12, President
-Blood Drive Committee 11, 12, Chairman
- Stage Crew 10, 11, 12
-Piano 9, 10, 11, 12 (although I started in 2nd grade)
-Students Against Destructive Decisions 11, 12 (Group started in 11th)
-Young Scholars Program (Take a College Course at UPenn each semester) 11, 12
- Tutoring 9, 10, 11, 12
-School Newspaper 11, 12, Section Editor
-Math League 10, 11, 12</p>

<p>AWARDS/HONORS
-Yale Book Award 11
-Medal for Geometry 9
-Medal for PreCalculus 10
-Medal for French IV 11 -----(these are all school awards, dont know if they count)
- Second Place in Carver Science Fair in Mathematics Field 10
-Honorable Mention (10) and National Winner (11) in Le Concours National French Competition
- Took American Invitational Mathematics Examination, note "Invitational" 11</p>

<p>TESTS
SATI: M800 CR750 W720 Composite2270
SATII's: French600 MathematicsLevel2-800 USHistory730 Chemistry750
AP's: US History-5 Calculus AB- 5</p>

<p>COMMUNITY SERVICE
-A lot of things through my church.
- Play piano at nursing home a couple of times a year, don't know if this counts but I feel like it would.
-I never found out if NHS and Blood Drive and tutoring stuff like that counts twice.</p>

<p>If I left anything out just ask me about it, like I said I had to type all this over again and I got frustrated. Assuming my essays turn out okay and my interview went as good as I think it did, please tell me if you think I'll get in. And be BRUTALLY HONEST. If you think I don't have a chance in hell just say that. If you think my chances are really weak say that. It's better than my friends telling me I'm a shoe-in and then getting a rejection. Thanks.</p>

2

<p>You are an entirely average applicant at Yale. Lower top 10%, decent but not perfect SATs. You really need to find another SAT II that you can pull 750+. ECs are average. You could be admitted to Yale, but the realistic chances are about 5-10%. Should you apply. Yes, if you really want to go there (have you visited?). You should definitely find some match and safety schools.</p>

<p>By the way, the Yale book award means nothing in the admissions cycle. It's just awarded by the local alumni group to promote the school's name.</p>

3

<p>since you say he s lower top 10%, wont his chance be about 30~50%?</p>

4

<p>No, most people that apply to Yale are in the top 10% and only 9% get admitted overall. Those with 50% shot have a hook, legacy, URM, etc going for them.</p>

5

<p>I'd bet money on your getting into Penn. Yale, not so sure. No one can be sure. For schools with such low acceptance rates, it's impossible to predict. But you shouldn't worry too much about Penn. And don't get your hopes up about Yale--no one should.</p>

6

<p>Yale and all these Ivy schools are very erratic when they make their decisions. I can see getting into yale, but cannot guarantee it. You have a higer chance of getting into penn though. I have a friend with similar stats except a little more ECs than you that got into Penn. So don't get bogged down. Do what u do and if you get in ur in. If not ur not.</p>

<p>Good Luck</p>

7

<p>Yale would be a reach for you, you're not a "finale" type applicant with perfect everything. however, try to take another SAT II which u can score an 800 on, and retake SAT to get 2350 if you can. but, all the ivies are crapshoots, so you never know. make sure to start writing good essays and get good recs. Penn would be a slight reach for you for the same reasons. What is ur UW gpa?</p>

<p>I agree completely with unknown4ever.</p>

8

<p>Thanks everyone. I'm feeling a lot better now, I think I can accept a Rejection from Yale and not be too disappointed (although obviously I'd still like an acceptance). Taking the SAT's over again is a possibility, but I don't see what good it would do. My score only improved by 10 points when I took it the second time last year, my Math stayed perfect both times (hoping that's a good thing for colleges to see). And I have a sort of "hook" I guess it's called, with Penn. My school is about ten blocks away from it and they accept so many people from it each year. Plus I've been taking classes therre already. I forgot that when I wrote this because seeing all the other "Chance Me" threads and replys in the Penn section got me so worried. </p>

<p>Thanks a lot to everyone who replied! I appreciate it</p>

9

<p>Sorry to bump this up, but I've looked at more colleges and I'm pretty interested in Cornell. Could you chance me for that too?</p>

<p>School: Cornell University
Stats: See above^^^^</p>

10

<p>yeah, the college admissions are very erratic in their acceptances. A guy with a perfect SAT score got rejected from Princeton, MIT, Stanford, Brown, Yale, and Harvard, was ranked in the top 2 % in our class, was a National merit Finalist, etc. Anyway, it is tough. Another guy with a perfect SAT score got rejcted from harvard, Yale, princeton, and Cal Tech. They are quite erratic. And I want to tell you something..... this guy was a Intel Finalist, not a semi finalist, a finalist. There are only 40 in the nation to hold this presitgious honor. anyway, it is tough, but alot of kids do get in. I think that you need to get more ecs, and increase your SAT scoe to a 2300 at least. </p>

<p>Good luck to you.</p>

11

<p>Sorry to double post, but since you can't edit messages I want to make sure people see I'd like my chances for Cornell U too.</p>

12

<p>Penn ED 80%, RD 55% (though you never know with Penn RD)
Yale EA: 40%</p>

13

<p>I don't see anything that really stands out, but I think you have decent chances at Cornell. UPenn and Yale seem more like reaches. Good luck!</p>

14

<p>Is "decent" closer to definite, closer to slim, or equally in between? BTW I think 4.05 might be my unweighted GPA, because I've seen a lot of 4.5 and 4.6's on here and the highest in my school is 4.08. Either that or those GPA's are caused by more AP's then our school offers. If so our school doesn't give us our unweighted.</p>

15

<p>In between</p>

16

<p>you dont have anything that sets you aside from anyone else. you need to start a club or do something that not everyone has. If you apply RD you have time to still add to your activitity sheet. otherwise your looking at both as reach situations.</p>

17

<p>cornell is an easier fit but still not a gimme. i would say cornell is deff a target school</p>

18

<p>I dont think people really need to be that standing out, a lot of common people got into ivies, especially so called lower ivies, tons of kids as strong as OP got in.</p>

<p>I think standing out people have bigger chances but cant be guaranteed any top school; and kids like OP should not be discouraged, because a big proportion of students in ivies are just like you</p>

19

<p>It's a crapshoot any way you look at it. Both are very selective. Yes, applying early can give you a bit of an advantage, but it's not a significant one, so don't use it to make your decisions. I think you have a good chance at both. But if you want to get in, you need to stand out by writing exceptional essays that speak to your personal character, and by getting good recommendations, not necessarily from the teachers whose classes you aced, but from people who know you personally very well and can tell a couple of detailed, good stories about you and >>how you are a real asset to the community around you<<, be in other students, teachers or people outside the school. Even consider throwing in an extra recommendation if you can identify someone like that who isn't a school teacher. I wouldn't worry too much about your test scores, since they are good enough. </p>

<p>One question that might come up might be why you were only ranked 7th in your class instead of first. This isn't as important as the essay/rec stuff, but they might ask if it is because you didn't do as well on the tests as a few other people? Maybe get someone writing you a recommendation to tell a few stories that sort of illustrate how you are extremely dedicated, intelligent/brilliant and hardworking, and could easily have been valedictorian if the cards had fallen a little differently or you had taken a few easier classes. For Yale in particular (since Penn isn't as selective), you basically want someone to say that you were the best, friendliest, most considerate and most brilliant student in the graduating class this year.</p>

20

<p>As an alternative to Yale, UPenn, and Cornell, take a look at Washington University in St. Louis. Ivy League level academics, beautiful campus, really nice dorms, smart, involved kids (many of whom were accepted at an Ivy and chose to go to Wash U instead), friendly atmosphere, good food. It was rated #11 last year in US News and, from what I've heard, will be rated #10 this year ahead of Brown, Cornell, and a host of other name schools.</p>