Chances Please?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Yale University
1

<p>Stats:
SAT:CR: 740 M: 640 W: 2000 ACT:30
SAT IIs: Just tested in January waiting for scores
GPA: UW: 3.64 W: 5.3
Rank: Top 4% 30/900 Huge School, and I am in the IB Program
Other stats: AP Scores: AP Italian(11): 5, AP Spanish(11): 5, AP Psychology(11): 4, AP World History(9): 4, AP Lit(10): 3 IB Scores: IB Calculus: 4, IB Chemistry: 4. </p>

<p>Senior Course Load:
IB Italian IV
AP Calculus BC
IB Physics
IB Physics-Lab
IB Contemporary World History
IB Design Technology II
IB Theory of Knowledge
IB English IV</p>

<p>Junior Course Load:
AP Psychology
AP Italian
AP Spanish
IB Chemistry
IB Calculus
IB English III
IB History of the Americas
IB Design Technology I</p>

<p>I have taken the most rigorous course loads offered at my school all four years, and have maintained an A average. I am also fluent in both Spanish and Italian and wrote my Extended Essay in Spanish on Spanish Literature. </p>

<p>Subjective:
Essays: Excellent, all my teachers thought it was great as did my counselors
Teacher Recs: One Excellent, one pretty good, and an additional recc from my scoutmaster which was excellent.
Counselor Rec: Don't know but I expect very good
Hook (if any):
Location/Person:
State or Country: Florida
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Hispanic
Gender: Male
Intended Major: English/Italian
major strength/weakness: Eagle Scout, strong course load, lots of Community Service / Low GPA, Decent SAT but not stellar, lack of sports</p>

<p>Other Factors:
Awards
Honor Roll 10th,11th
Academic Letter 9th
NHS Member 10,11,12
Mu Alpha Theta Member 9,10,11(Secretary),12
Phi Beta Chi Member 9, 10, 11(Secretary), 12(President)
National Technical Honor Society Member 10, 11, 12
English Honor Society Member 10, 11, 12
National Hispanic Scholar
AP Scholar with Distinction</p>

<p>ECs
Boy Scouts for 7 years and obtained rank of Eagle Scout, along with doing ALOT of community service (Hands on Miami, Habitat for Humanity, Baynanza etc.) I'm also Order of the Arrow and wrote my essay about Scouting.
Red Cross Learn-To-Swim Program: Every summer since I was 13 I have taught kids how to swim for the whole summer. I am a certified Water Safety Instructor Aide and Lifeguard.
Church Community Service: Altar Server and Assistant Catechist all four years of high school.
[[All of this community service added up gives me over 1000 hours.]]
Swimming 9, 10
Tennis (Team Manager) 10, 11
Model U.N. 12
Asian Culture Club (I'm learning diversity =P) 10, 11 , 12
Italian Club 9, 10, 11</p>

<p>I had my interview for Yale a few weeks ago and it went really well.
Thanks in advance for any comments =)</p>

2

<p>i wouldn't bet my money on your being accepted</p>

3

<p>I hope you said that because your saving that money for the women you pay to love you and the friends who need a monthly payment to even walk near you. You know what gtfo and Q.Q more cus your mom doesnt love you. Now I know who you are, you' re the guy who trolls these forums being the one that finds it appropriate to not offer any constructive criticism or hope.</p>

<p>GG nub</p>

4

<p>Hey, I think all of your stats are in the ballpark and anyone betting on someone's admission into an ivy league school (unless they're on one of those rich-kid admissions programs that cost a lot of money and give you a 95% chance of getting in) is really stupid, no offense to scrooge. But I think you have as much of a chance as any of us. Your UW GPA is kind of low, but hey anything is posible and GL with the ivies!</p>

5

<p>How did you maintain an A average if you have a 3.64 UW GPA?</p>

6

<p>Lukas we seem to have similar profiles. Good luck, I really hope we get in!! :D</p>

7

<p>lukas, I will try to offer some accurate and brief thoughts</p>

<p>I agree you are in the ballpark, but quite possibly on the outer rim of that said ballpark. All your stats are good, but some are a little shy for Yale standards.<br>
Test scores are on the low side.
Lack of major awards.
Could have been more ambitious as far as evidence of leadership</p>

<p>I think your recs and essays will help, and also you URM status.</p>

<p>Good luck. it is worth applying, but Yale, which is a reach for the vast majority, is definitely a reach for you</p>

<p>p.s. scrooge's reply is not wrong or even inaccurate. it is too curt and not helpful, but don't be angry if you don't like people's replies. It really makes future repliers nervous. I don't want any backlash from giving you my honoest opinion about your chances</p>

8

<p>DagnyT</p>

<p>On a 4.0 scale 3.5-4.0 is considered an A, at least at my school. </p>

<p>JohnC613</p>

<p>Thanks for your insight, I just wanted to know exactly what was wrong with my stats, and scrooge didn't really help at all, that's why I went off on him. I am sorry if I sounded like a complete and total jerk, and if I discouraged anyone from posting here. But I have a quick question: at my school a friend of mine was admitted this year in ED with an 1180 SAT, 29 ACT, and a GPA that was only slightly higher than mine (I think he was top 3% I just can't remember the exact numbers.) His essays were apparently excellent from what I've heard, and they conveyed his passion for Yale. Could this have bypassed his low scores and granted him admission?</p>

9

<p>woops I meant SCEA*</p>

10

<p>Sorry for being too curt...</p>

<p>But your answer was more than really offensive...you must be able to handle with some criticism</p>

<p>I was shocked when I read your response</p>

<p>You did 1000hours or sth of community service, but you acted like a person with not a decent character,</p>

<p>but I am not the one tojudge you</p>

<p>I have already apologized for my letting down response, and I wait you to do the same</p>

<p>Some constructive criticism:</p>

<p>Mediocre SATs, not much demonstrated leadership and that Model UN thing (only grade 12!) seems really superficial at first sight</p>

<p>which sat IIs did u take?</p>

<p>P.S. And please learn how to behave correctly, one can say that you now seem like a total jerk who just wants positive comments otherwise you will offend people with terrible accusations.</p>

<p>I dont know If I can wish you good luck...</p>

11

<p>yes scrooge95 is right </p>

<p>your response lukas lunacy is such a disgrace for you and for the college confidential web community!</p>

<p>you really discourage people from chancing you</p>

<p>this is life there is no free lunch you must be able to control your nerves</p>

<p>anyway,</p>

<p>i think that your community service devotion will get u in
if you have presented it appropriately and succesfully in ur essays</p>

<p>btw, you should apologize to scrooge</p>

12

<p>sorry scrooge I didn't mean to be discouraging and I hope you can forgive me. I will try to be nicer in the future and take comments such as yours lightly. Once again I hope everyone doesn't hate me and I promise to not act in this manner again.</p>

13

<p>I would say its a little reach for you. While you do have a hook (hispanic URM), your scores are still far below average for Yale. You do show quite a lot of strength in languages (your intended major), but I think overall you are a little weak for yale. SAT 2's can really show a lot though.</p>

<p>Your best hope is that you presented yourself as extremely unique and diverse. You will not be a sure admit for academics, and your diversity is the stronger card that you needed to play.</p>

14

<p>if your essay is from the heart and truly reflects a unique side of you as chicagoboy suggested, you definitely have a chance. but...you really need a killer essay to stay up with the 2300 SATs. and yale looks at an application holistically...anything can make up for anything! good luck.</p>

15

<p>"You did 1000hours or sth of community service, but you acted like a person with not a decent character,"</p>

<p>You should realize that many people perform acts of charity/community service as a means to get into a good college--not necessarily because they genuine derive personal fulfillment from it.</p>

16

<p>I think your application is overall sort of average in the Yale pool, so Yale is a reach for you as it is for most applicants. There are no major problems.. but overall, you just have lower test scores, lower gpa, no significant awards. Your plus is the community service.. I know you want to write good essays, but you can bet that all Yale applicants are going to write pretty amazing essays.</p>

17

<p>Your application actually seems average, or above the average Yale applicant, since every course you've taken in 11th and 12 grade is an AP/IB course. Btw, isn't IB scored in a 7 point scale? If it is, they you're chances of admission would become really low, since your SATs aren't exactly stellar, your AP/IB test scores are average (by Yale standards), and your ECs seem to show a lack of passion (except in the field of admission).</p>

<p>However, I think you actually have a good chance. Though evidently you're not the typical hispanic that hails from a disadvantaged socioeconomic background, with AA + stellar essay + lots of luck should do the trick</p>

<p>Edit: Judging by the curriculum offered at your school, it seems that you will receive almost 0 benefit from AA, since you seem to come from an extremely wealthy familiy, if your public school can offer that many IB/APs, especially in languages such as italian (how many schools give out IB Italian and AP Italian?) Also, adcoms will assume that you'd had had the advantage of being able to be tutored for SAT (not necessarily true, but you might be subjected to this kind of scrutiny), and they will think your scores are much worse than they'd view another applicant whose parents make 100k < per annum, and have SATs of 1700/2400</p>

18

<p>Kowloon</p>

<p>You're pretty mistaken about my socioeconomic situation. I moved here from Argentina about 7 years ago, after the economy crashed. While my father was still with us my parents were making about 50K a year, but now that he left my mother makes about 35K. The reason my school offers so many great classes is because it is a brand new school (I'm second graduating class) with a pretty big budget. It's still a public school, and other than the 110 kids in IB the rest of my graduating class comes from the surrounding area which is of a rather low socioeconomic area. Our IB coordinator has recruited teachers from other IB schools already established in our county in order to be able to offer us such a wide range of classes. I drive 30-45 minutes everyday to go to this school, as the schools in my area are "zone schools" which means they are either F or D schools. My mom, as you can see by her income, was not able to pay for any prep class for me, and I had to borrow used SAT prep books in order to be able to prepare. My sister had to do the same thing as I did and now she is at Dartmouth, and although she has a full ride there, my mom still has to pay for her trips back and forth, her clothes, and a manner of other things. This makes the financial burden on my mother quite heavy. So considering the circumstances, I believe I did pretty well on my SATs, also considering that my mom received her college degree only 3 years ago when my sister first started college. My father has no college degree and only finished high school in Argentina. So I wouldn't say I don't benefit from AA.</p>

<p>Also, although my ECs aren't various, I have focused completely on the ones I do have, as it is very hard for me to find a ride to other clubs after school or other things. The public transport system in Miami is very poor and nearly impossible to use on a daily basis. I have dedicated so much time to Boy Scouting and I conveyed that in my essays, along with the Learn-To-Swim program from the Red Cross. Also, Eagle Scout is kind of a big deal, as I have worked on it for nearly 8 years, and only 2% of all Scouts reach this rank. </p>

<p>I hope that answers any questions you may have about me qualifying for AA, or about my ECs and course load.</p>

19

<p>scrooge</p>

<p>By the way, you talk about my lack of demonstrated leadership, but I forgot to mention that I was president of the Red Cross Learn-To-Swim chapter which I volunteered at, and have maintained leadership positions in my boy scout troop every single year since I joined in 2001. Also, the reason I have only been in the Model U.N. one year is because my school is VERY new, (second graduating class as I said earlier), and this is the first year it was approved. It is very difficult to start clubs, and this one has been in the making for three years and just now it was created. I am part of as many clubs that offer community service in my school, as we have no key club, or any other that is like that. Also, in NHS the only year I was able to run for a position was this year, as the previous seniors kept their positions for almost three consecutive years. The same occurs in the other honor societies, but I was able to overcome that. I took the Lit, Spanish, and Math IIc SAT IIs and even though I'm pretty good in math in the classroom, I'm a really bad test taker in that area. </p>

<p>amb3r</p>

<p>As far as major awards go, I am one of three students in my school who got the National Hispanic Scholar, and one of ten who received the AP scholar with distinction. Other than the teachers who actually teach IB in my school, the rest are pretty biased against IB students. I was a prime candidate for the silver knight award, but the coordinator (a non-IB teacher) "forgot" to tell the IB kids or hand out the applications in our classes. I tried fighting it but the teacher is always right in my school and there was nothing I could do about it. I think that Eagle Scout is a pretty major award, and that I have done the best in my circumstances and since my school is a rather new one and not very apt to giving out any other major awards. </p>

<p>I hope that answers all your questions.</p>

20

<p>My opinion is that your chances are above average for admission to Yale University largely due to the fact that you are a National Hispanic Scholar. Your posted presentation is clear-headed and direct without bragging, making excuses or being overly "verbose". I think that readers/admissions folks will like you as the impression derived from your posted profile is one of an interesting person who will add a different perspective to any class due to your background. But, it is important to remember that with a published acceptance rate of only about 9% to 10%, that an above average liklihood of receiving an offer of admission is still quite low. Regardless, if your essays and teacher recommendations are strong--as they should be-- I would bet money that you will be admitted to Yale (although, since it is Yale, I would want to get two to one odds).</p>