Hello! I am applying to Yale SCEA and would love to hear your thoughts about my chances.
Public School in the north west
White Male
3.97 UW
35 ACT (36M, 34Sc, 35 Eng, 34 W)
1540 SAT (800 Math, 740 Eng/W)
Sat Math 2 : 770
Ap Tests: English - 4 APES - 4
After high school I would have taken
Junior -
APES
AP Lang
Senior -
Ap Calc
College english
college statistics
And an AP Gov Equivalent
And -
3 years of computer science
2 years of french (the program lost funding)
photography, marketing, and others
ECS-
Founder and President of a business club at my school
Chess club
Asian American Alliance
Model UN
Other club that functions at a college level and is nationally recognized (For security reasons I do not wish to disclose)
Camp Counselor all summer (14 hours a day. 6 days a week, for 7 weeks)
Worked at FroYo place, 10 hours a week, all school year
Recs-
APES teacher who said I was one of her favorite students in 14 years
Math teacher who will also write me a more than solid one.
Extras-
Father, Mom, and Grandfather all attended Yale, and my Grandfather donates consistently.
Thank you all for your thoughts!
Stats, particularly test scores, are in line that you should be seriously considered. How rigorous is your HS course load relative to what is offered? I don’t understand by what you mean “After high school I would have taken …” You are not listing a bunch of AP courses in core areas of science and social studies (e.g. AP Chem, Bio, Physics, APUSH, AP WH). Yale likes to see 4 years of foreign languages. If your schools does not offer 4 years of foreign language and has limited AP classes, that is one thing, but if your school offers those classes and you have chosen easier courses, that will hurt you significantly. It looks like you have taken some “soft” electives like photography, marketing, others? If this was done at the cost of taking top level core courses, that will hurt.
Assuming that your courses taken and too be taken are as rigorous as your HS offers, the stat’s just put you in the competition. Nothing really jumps out in your EC’s, but it will be about the quality of your participation and how you can get that across in your application. No one gets an LoR from a teacher who doesn’t like him/her. The question is how well do they know you? Can they put facts and real life examples to adjectives, or will it be a generic “Johnny is a great kid. He was one of my top students, got along with everyone and was a joy to teach.” Finally how you present yourself in the rest of your app (essays and short answers) will be critical.
As to being a legacy, I think it cuts both ways these days at Yale. You will be compared to other legacies. Legacies who apply these days tend to be pretty accomplished students. There is no official released data, but you can assume that legacies will come from families that value education greatly and likely could afford test prep and other advantages of the more affluent. I have classmates who have given generously with kids that have stat’s similar and maybe better than yours whose kid was rejected.
Good luck.
I will add to the above that Dean Brenzel was quoted years ago (when it was even less competitive to get in) that they turned down more than 50% of the legacies from families that consistently gave more than $50K annually. At first glance that might even seem like a huge boost but these same affluent kids with Ivy League parents would have an increased chance of admissions as a group anywhere. Unless grandpa’s name is on a building or has a close relationship with the development office, I wouldn’t count on that meaning anything. As Yale (and others) strive to tout the number of first generation students, Pell grant recipients, and URM enrollment, legacy isn’t the boost it once was so I wouldn’t want you to overstate its value if objectively your transcript is not top tier. Your guidance counselor is the first person I would seek out to look at your stats to place into context. Only then I would think legacy will be the “feather on the scale” to tip admissions in your favor compared to an equal but unhooked applicant.