Current Yalies: Why do You think you were Accepted?

Colleges & Universities A-Z Yale University
1

<p>Hi,
This is Going out to All Current Yalies from a Hopeful/Prospective International Eli, and I'd like to Know why you Respected Elders of the community/Honorable Students at Yale think You Got In..</p>

2

<p>ECs, awards, and recommendations.</p>

3

<p>Go look at the results threads–there you will see acceptances and rejections, along with stats, and the answer to your question.</p>

4

<p>Recently admitted students don’t know. Current students don’t know. Alumni volunteers don’t know. It’s a scattershot. Hunt’s advice is the best for you.</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/yale-university/894258-official-yale-class-2014-rd-results-thread.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/yale-university/894258-official-yale-class-2014-rd-results-thread.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/yale-university/894261-official-yale-class-2014-rd-discussion-thread.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/yale-university/894261-official-yale-class-2014-rd-discussion-thread.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

5

<p>I agree with Hunt and T26E4 but would add that speaking very generally the three most important factors in acceptance are:</p>

<p>academics, academics, academics.</p>

<p>Sometimes that gets forgotten among all the talk about extracurriculars and strategy.</p>

6

<p>Despite academics being the most important, it’s also the one that least distinguishes all applicants. You need to have done well in school to get into Yale and you need to have taken challenging classes. The thing is, that if you’re looking at Yale, you probably have that in your belt. So, academics becomes a non-issue.</p>

<p>Me: I think it was my essays and recommendations. I’m wholeheartedly convinced they are the two most important parts of your application (after academics, which I am taking for granted anyways).</p>

7

<p>^ I agree with drbigboyjoe.</p>

<p>In its letter of admission dated April 1, Yale says that it looks for several things in applicants, and character is one of them. What I like about this criterion is that it isn’t so much about about ‘doing’ (i.e., what you’ve done) as about ‘being’ (who you are in your core). And of course character cuts across gender, race, ethnicity, religious belief, socioeconomic class, and every other distinction… not that those distinctions can’t shape admissions decisions, too. But I digress. There are people of character in every bracket of life, and I do believe that, if your essays and recommendations show that you have a solid center - or any of the myriad manifestations of that elusive quality that we call ‘character’ - your chances of admission will increase.</p>

8

<p>I talked to my admissions officer, and essentially it was because I was a compelling engineering candidate.</p>

9

<p>^Yes, of course, but did he/she say what made you more compelling than other applicants, most of whom were doubtless qualified and compelling also?</p>

10

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<p>Really? Maybe my admission was affected by being a prospective engineer as well … although I strongly doubt it … I assume Yale would expect students to change their majors once or twice in college, right? Especially someone like me who focused his application completely on music and not on science …</p>

11

<p>When I look at results threads, the common element I mostly see (aside from top academics) is significant achievement in some area, especially if it is outside the high school.</p>

12

<p>I like the point beatitudo made about character. I’m a prospective CS major, and my academics were above average but my extracurriculars were decent at best, relative to the rest of you awesome admitted guys! I think my essays and recs showed a lot about my character though, and that’s the “hook” that got me in.</p>