<p>this is kinda late, but…
I heard that yale doesn’t accept updated essays. can anyone confirm/elaborate on this? I would love to send in updated essays but I’ve heard numerous times that they won’t consider them.</p>
<p>Chibistar: Yale won’t let you send updated essays – quite a few threads on this forum have dealt with this. It gives you an unfair advantage, right? Submitting supplemental recs, an extra essay, art/music portfolios are different things altogether and you can them that instead.</p>
<p>I’m confused on what pig, you mean by “super-applicants?” Are these applicants who are just good or do you mean people who should have been accepted? What about the ones who are were accepted? Are they super?</p>
<p>Here’s a piece of input from someone (in a short time) has seen a lot in regards to admissions to top colleges (tried to absorb it all after coming from a school that generally does not send kids to top schools - the counselor could not even name the Ivy League Schools)… If you were admitted, SCEA, you deserve it. Yale is looking for a diverse class of amazing people… you are part of it. Congrats. If you were deferred: Congratulations: It is a huge accomplishment to get deferred from a school such as Yale (rather than rejected). Anyway, I also want to add (check the website to confirm) that no matter when you apply (SCEA or RD), if you would get accepted in one, you would have been accepted the other way. No one applies and gets accepted because they applied SCEA. Yes SCEA has a higher acceptance rate and this is due to the higher caliber of applicants and ones that fit into Yale’s ideal profile. So this higher percentage directly correlates with the higher caliber, no more, no less. In line with this, athletes and URMs would be accepted whether they applied SCEA or RD, many just happen to apply early knowing that they have a good chance.</p>
<p>Again, Yale is building a class. A student’s experience at a top university has many aspects… one being diversity. A university composed of Asian and whites would be boring (I am by no means implying that other candidates are less qualified, but some comments on this site would suggest they are) and counterproductive to an atmosphere of growth and learning. Yale is privileged enough to know that once you have a certain SAT (intelligence) and GPA (work ethic), you can handle the workload. More outstanding activities and accomplishments correlate with higher GPA and SAT so these correlate to more acceptances, but if they are on the lower end of Yale’s spectrum, this means that the candidate had other parts that were more appealing than someone who was deferred or rejected.</p>
<p>This was sort of a rant. Sorry, but I had to say it. This is all stuff scattered around CC, but people never seem to understand it (nor will many ever). To all those applicants who were deferred: When I say people would get accepted either round, I say this with confidence. Although there are some applicants who were deferred SCEA, most of them do update the adcom (the most effective way is a letter with new accomplishments, possibly sent with your transcript after first semester so you don’t overload the adcom). Meaning, had you, the deferred applicant who eventually gets accepted, applied RD, you would have been accepted.</p>
<p>^^^^</p>
<p>Ok, couple of things about the response above. Firstly, it depends on what “deserves” means to you regarding whether or not you “deserved” an acceptance. Ya, if you got in to Yale, it means you brought something to the school that they wanted. However, if that “thing” was minority or legacy status alone, some (I am on of them) might say that you didn’t deserve it per say. The bar was lowered for you. So, if your stats/ECs were not as good as mine or any other deferred applicants you deserved HYPS less than me/us on academic terms.</p>
<p>Secondly, its not always true that if you get in RD then you could get in SCEA. Many deferred applicants DO get in RD. However, they obviously were not accepted SCEA. By applying early, you are actually putting yourself into a more cuthroat application pool.</p>
<p>I dont care what anyone tells you. The higher your SAT, the better. There is no stupid 2100 or 2200 threshold. Thats absurd. Just look at the results threads if you don’t believe me. For unhooked applicants that really have to work harder academically to get into Yale, you pritty much NEED a 2300+ unless you have some major award or w/e. </p>
<p>Lastly, I do not necessarily think that legacy status and AA are bad. The point of this thread was to point out that unhooked applicants have to do better than those who are hooked to get into Yale. Thats pritty much a fact. Are there minorities that work harder and have better test scores/ecs that alot of us here? ABSOLUTELY. However, the academic bar is dropped for these groups and I dont see why we cant just acknowledge that and move on.</p>
<p>The nytimes blog had interview questions from 4 colleges and one was Yale. Based upon what was said, it appears that SAT’s are not what makes the difference.</p>
<p>[Q</a>. and A.: College Admissions - Questions/Answers Blog - NYTimes.com](<a href=“Q. and A.: College Admissions - The New York Times”>Q. and A.: College Admissions - The New York Times)</p>
<p>Question: What part of the admissions process is most misunderstood?</p>
<p>Answer:
Jeff Brenzel of Yale University: It is not well understood that we are not aiming to pick out the best candidate in a particular school or from a particular area, as measured by some predetermined criteria. Rather, we are trying to assemble the most varied and most interesting class we can from an extremely diverse group of close to 25,000 outstanding applicants. We do not aim to compare a student primarily with other students from his or her school; we look instead for students who will bring something of particular value to the entering class.
Second, few people seem to grasp the weight given to various aspects of the application, though this can vary considerably by institution. For us at Yale, for instance, standardized test scores generally do little to differentiate applicants, because virtually all our applicants score very well. Most important to us are the transcript and the school and teacher recommendations, which students can do little to influence once it comes time for an application. We also look closely to see where and how a student has developed talents or engaged the school or community outside the classroom. Essays and interviews round out an application, and we look here mostly to see whether they convey information that enlarges or enhances, while remaining consistent with what we hear from counselors and teachers. </p>
<p>Question:
There is a lot of controversy about using tests like the SAT and ACT in the admissions process, and some top schools dont even use the scores. Other schools intend to deemphasize these tests in the admissions process in the future. Some studies have shown these tests not only to be biased against students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds but also to be a poor prediction of college success. How much do these tests really figure in the admissions process and how can you give talented poor kids a chance when so much emphasis is placed on the tests?
Answer:
Mr. Brenzel of Yale: We know that test scores correlate highly with socioeconomic circumstances and school resources, so we do not penalize students with fewer advantages who also have somewhat lower test scores.</p>
<p>Ya…Jeff says that…but on the results thread virtually no one who is unhooked got in with below a 2300. He was just responding in a politically correct, nonconfrontational way. After all, NO school would say “ya…most applicants need above a 2300 to get into our school.” I put zero weight into answers like the one posted above. If they truly did feel that test scores correlated solely with school resources/socioeconomic status then why do they ask for such corrupt, meaningless test scores in the first place?</p>
<p>By applying you early, you are putting yourself in a more cutthroat pool, I agree. This correlated to the more than double the acceptance rate for SCEA vs. RD. Most students who are accepted RD who applied SCEA improved their application in someway… whether they improved or maintained outstanding grades or had months of their senior year to update accomplishments. It seems like everyone deferred on CC is doing this anyway (can be a good thing if you approach it the right way). BUT, this is a very small number of accepted applicants in the RD pool.</p>
<p>I disagree with the implied logic behind, Rtgrove123’s claim about SAT scores. Yes, a higher score is better for the sake of having a higher score, but Yale doesn’t care if you get a 2210 or a 2390. What does occur though is that often the entire application of higher scored applicant is better. A correlation develops here. Yes, there are some 2400 applicants who will be helped by the SATs, but for the most part, there is a threshold which is constant for the most part, although a few will slip under with other amazing parts of their application.</p>
<p>They aren’t meaningless. They carry weight but the question is “how much weight”. What is the difference between a 2300 and 2200? a couple of questions wrong? They are going to accept one candidate over another just because of a couple of questions. I would say the the 2300 person would get a slight boost for having the higher score. Are SAT scores weighted @ 20%, 50% or maybe only 10%? I don’t know the weighting used but clearly it is only part of the picture. Their selection process is like building a baseball team. You don’t a team full of pitchers even if they are the best. There are probably 4-5 thousand great kids with high academic achievements (transcripts, SAT’s, awards) that don’t get in but they can only accept 2000.</p>
<p>Once Yale determines that you are a really really strong academic applicant, the other factors now carry the applciation. </p>
<p>Don’t use this board as an example. The people that post here have very high SAT’s. I know of sub 2200 SAT’s that got into YALE SCEA without any hooks</p>
<p>He was just responding in a politically correct, nonconfrontational way. After all, NO school would say “ya…most applicants need above a 2300 to get into our school.” </p>
<p>I agree that he would never give a number but how can you give NO weight to what the dean of Yale says about the application selection process.</p>
<p>If what you say is true, they should just lineup the students in SAT order and make the cutoff when they reach 2000 students. I don’t think any college would want to to that since there is more to each student than a SAT score.</p>
<p>The reason they don’t line people up is because there are, of course, other factors other than the SAT. However, what I was trying to argue was that after your transcript, test scores are probably the next most important thing on your app.</p>
<p>god it’s no point trying to figure this out</p>
<p>this “holistic process” thing crap is what makes it a crapshoot</p>
<p>I don’t necessarily see why a holistic process is crap, but it does indeed make it very random.</p>
<p>I think they need to make this a true crapshoot
Have admissions go through the applications and pick out any viable one(any one that would suceed at Yale). Then put them all in a lottery and pick a class. It’d be better than pretending like one person is more qualified than another</p>
<p>^hellzzz ya!!!</p>
<p>bbrrringg back the lottery. it would also save admissions alott of trouble</p>
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<p>i saw quite a few, actually. myself technically included, and i would certainly not call myself a hooked applicant. yes, nearly everyone had 2200+, but there were quite a few with sub-2300.</p>
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<p>eh. i don’t think yale ever says, “you were an inferior applicant to the admitted students.” they say, “we are trying to build a well-rounded, diverse class, and while you are incredibly talented we have to accept students we think will best fit the class.” there’s no question that most of the deferrals and many of the rejections went out to students who were just as qualified as admitted students. yale just wanted, for whatever reason, to fill their class with different students.</p>
<p>Gosh, you guys really know how to change the mood.</p>
<p>So much for staying on a writing prompt!</p>
<p>
updated essays? like a revised copy?</p>
<p>
I would say your geographic location is /somewhat/ of a hook. not as good as URM or legacy. but compared with someone from, say, socal california or NYC, you have an advantage</p>
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<p>I agree. I mean, if you have pretty amazing stats and are qualified in every way, there is a huge chance of deferral if you were an Asian from CA. But, transport the person to Alaska and there’s a much improved chance of acceptance. Perhaps not a “shoo-in hook”, but it certainly helps a lot.</p>
<p>EA applicants aren’t allowed to resubmit revised essays. I personally contacted the admissions office and asked if they’d take a lightly revised version of my Common App essay, and the person on the phone (an admissions officer) said that the answer is normally no, but that I should check with my admissions officer. I did, and she said no. I could give you a copy of the email if you PM me. It basically says that essays will not be accepted (whether new or revised, regardless of the level of difference from the original).</p>