<p>Hey all!
So I'm a junior, and Yale is my dream school! Ive heard a lot about Yale's incredibly strong forensics program, and I was just wondering how much my achievements in debate would raise my chance of acceptance to the university. Last year, I was a national semi-finalist in Congress Debate in the National Catholic Forensics League. This year, I was seated first in my district, and I won a gold and silver medal for placing first and second at two regional competitions. I ranked 3rd in our regional championships and I am heading to Nationals again. How impressive are these accomplishments? Obviously I've worked very hard at this activity, but Yale's applicant pool is so talented I just can't be sure its nothing more than a blip on their radar.
Just to put my potential application in context, so you can weigh whether these accomplishments will be able to help me at all, here are me very basic stats:
ACT: 35
SAT 2s: Bio M (800), Chem (760)
GPA: 3.85 (UW- School does not offer AP courses)
Competitive Private school that has a good relationship with Yale
Other ECs: Head of Model UN, Student Government Elected Rep, Newspaper Writer, Squash Team, Volunteer Tutor
Hooks: Legacy</p>
<p>Take my words with a grain of salt.
To simply answer your question, going to nationals for debate and making it to the semis is pretty impressive; it just shows your dedication and prowess in debate. Universities love debate, and the fact that you got so far at nationals is a pretty big deal. Your scores are pretty good, and your application’s only flaw might be your slightly low GPA. Hopefully you’ll be able to bring that up by the end of this year. Further, your acceptance can depend on your major. If you’re applying as a bio major, you’ll probably have a difficult time against the others with lab experience and have taken AP bio. If you’re going for law, your application looks pretty competitive. Remember that your major choice when applying is not binding. </p>
<p>Thanks for your advice! Im actually interested in political science haha, the bio and chem SATs don’t really reflect my interests (Ill be taking US History and French this year though). My school is very competitive, with virtually no one having a GPA over 3.9, and 3.85 is solidly in the top 5%, so hopefully Yale won’t see this too negatively. </p>
<p>I’m not quite sure what you mean by Yale’s “incredibly strong forensics program.” Yale has a parli(amentary) debate team and a mock trial team. Historically both have been quite strong.Yale has been “club of the year” for APDA (a parli league) many times. Membership on both is strictly limited. (You “sound” as if you’ll make it,but you do have to try out.) It also has a Model UN group and, of course, the YPU. But Yale doesn’t have a “forensics program” in the same sense as colleges that offer speech courses or have teams with faculty advisers. It’s strictly extracurricular. </p>
<p>Moreover, each of the above operates separately from the others–at least as far as I know–so there’s no co-ordinated “program.”</p>
<p>Right, sorry I should have been more clear. I’m talking about the exceptional parliamentary debate team, and debate extracurricular offerings.</p>
<p>BTW, allenisme, Yale really doesn’t admit by major. Yes, if you want to major in bio, your app will be helped by showing that you’ve pursued that interest in high school. This is more about showing that your application “hangs together.” The adcoms do NOT divide the pile into different prospective majors and admit a certain # from each group. Maybe you understood that, but your comment makes it sound as if they do.</p>