Crush my hopes for Yale Early Decision (seriously)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Yes, I am a masochist. I actaully have a similar post below that lists all the exact same stats, so I apologize for being redundant. It's just that people seem to be trying to soften things up for me, and what I really need is some harsh criticism.</p>

<p>You probably would need to take into account that I'm an asian applying from South Korea, and the competition is going to be hell. Class ranking isn't exactly top notch, either.</p>

<p>I'd really appreciate advice on:
- what I might be able to imrpove during the course of this year
- what I should consider when applying next year
- list of likely reach/safety schools
- any sort of insight, pain or sadness on my life (or yours, if you're bored and need a chat)</p>

<p>Here goes:</p>

<p>SAT I (2380)
-CR 800 Writing 780 Math 800</p>

<p>SAT II
-French with Listening (800)
-Chemistry (780)
-MathIIC (780)
-Chinese with Listening (720)</p>

<p>AP
- European History (5)
- Calculus BC (5)
- French Language (5)
- (the now deceased) French Literature (5)
- Chemistry (5)</p>

<p>I'm planning on taking Music theory, US History, English Language, Chinese and World History this May.</p>

<p>EC list:
- I've been the chief/condctor of our school orchestra since 2008, holding various (but none too large) concerts. We also do a lot of community work, and privately aid a house for orphans and disabled children with funds we've raised. I've also played the violin for around 12 years, and held a couple of personal concerts - but again, nothing too fancy, and I don't think listing them on my application would help me very much.</p>

<ul>
<li><p>I've won several national/international awards; 1st place in the Korean National Environmental Project Olympiad, 1st place in a state science competition, gold medal in the International Environmental Project Olympiad, and 2nd place in the International Student Science Fair... and I'm not even going to apply for a science major. I've also won a silver and a bronze medal respectively during the last two years in a state rowing championship.</p></li>
<li><p>I guess I have at least some knack at grasping some languages; I speak fluent french, somewhat proved by my DELF C1 certificate, and the French Embassy officialy recognized me as a translator. I also speak Chinese (honestly, extremely poorly - but I have an HSK certificate) and Indonesian. Also won a private scholarship for linguistic capabilities.</p></li>
<li><p>I've had some internship experience under the Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare, particiapting in projects studying the welfare/environmental policies of France and England, and another one concerning the implementation of sustainable development projects in France.</p></li>
<li><p>was vice-president in the school student council, and was representative of our school's sports clubs.</p></li>
<li><p>er... I've been doing Taekwondo for around ten, eleven years, 4th Dan (Black belt begins at 2nd, then goes on to 3rd and 4th)</p></li>
</ul>

<p>-just got accepted into a Seminar/Camp for this summer at the University at Notre Dame. Don't really know if it's competitive or not, but as it only selects 40 students each year, I guess it might be considered so.</p>

<ul>
<li>some MUN experience, as Best Delegate/Honorable mention in all sessions and Chairing experience for a year.</li>
</ul>

<p>What really makes me nervous is my GPA. I used to attend a French school for 4 years before returning to my current Korean school and I had some difficulties adjusting at first - including laziness. I probably have weighted GPAs of: 3.2 -> 3.6 -> 4.1 -> 4.3 and have two semesters remaining, on which I <em>sigh</em> would like to get something around 4.3. Even then, my total unweighted GPA won't be over 3.6, I guess.</p>

<p>Thanks for reading the long post :) I appreciate it</p>

2

<p>You’re GPA kills your shot at Yale. You could get into some of the “lesser-ivies” (Brown, Cornell, Colombia), but the big 3 are out of your reach. It can’t hurt to apply though.</p>

3

<p>You won’t get into yale, and probably not any of the ivies. They reject people with your stats, extra-curriculars, and 4.0 unweighted GPA’s (really, I’ve witnessed it).</p>

4

<p>on your application I would stress your upward trend, and maybe attach a note explaining your transcript. also apply to schools that don’t consider freshman year grades (princeton might not? i forget - it might be an urban legend)</p>

5

<p>don’t listen to those folks. you have as much a chance as any competitive applicant. this is by no means a guarantee, but it means you have a decent shot.</p>

6

<p>I have become extremely convinced that it is all about the essays considering that I got in</p>

7

<p>Impressive stats, but the fact that you don’t live in America hurts you dramatically. (Also, Yale doesn’t have ED, it only offers SCEA)</p>

8

<p>Yale doesn’t have Early Decision – they offer Single Choice Early Action. There is a difference.</p>

9

<p>wats the difference?</p>

10

<p>Try to differentiate yourself from the many Korean applicants and throw in your application. If you’re serious about attending school in the States start looking at some schools that are not inundated with applicants from your country too, especially if you need aid.</p>

11

<p>ah, the pain… but then again, I’ve seen worse get accepted</p>

12

<p>oh, and my school differentiates between and allows only
one Early and ten Regular applications. We are bound to whatever school we’re
accepted to at the Early application, so there’s no real difference for us</p>

13

<p>do early decision to Columbia. You’ll have a good shot. I think your GPA really hurts your chances at the top ivies, but if you can tack on more EC’s, that’ll help. I’d say look at Early Decision options at Columbia or Brown/Cornell.</p>