Did I jump over the first hurdle?

Colleges & Universities A-Z Yale University
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<p>Please read this post:
I found out that this is how the process is in most Ivies.</p>

<p>First a secretary arranges the applications according to SAT scores and summarizes the info on the apps. (Every app is read by the admissions committee but they do tend to rely on the clerks summary as well remember they are over 20 thousand apps)</p>

<p>Then based on academic standing people who the college thinks cannot handle the academic rigor at HYP based on Class rank - Rank is King remember that (VERY IMPORTANT especially for URMS) GPA's and very low SAT scores are cut. Teacher Recommendations are also VERY important at this stage and later on in the process.</p>

<p>*Applicants with an extremely moving personal story - ie I survived genocide or something along those lines MAY be moved onto the next stage.</p>

<p>Then with the remaining applicants all of whom could be successful when admitted are considered. Normally no less then half of the applicants are in this pile.</p>

<p>From this pile the committee starts to look at ECAs for community involvement, ecas, sports recruitment, leadership and other things like this to distinguish between candidates. Here the secretaries summary is very important because they are the ones that pick up the ones that stand out to them in terms of ECAs etc which makes it more likely for an admission officer to take a closer look at that particular file. Additional cuts are made here whittling it down to candidates with brilliant academic standing and ecas. (This stage is pretty tricky - one year like this year for instance they may want to expand the arts at Ivies so people with a strong background in the arts will be admitted in a greater proportion than the rest. They also try to get people who excel in different areas to make a well rounded CLASS not necessarily a well rounded individual. So if you are a debater you compete against other debaters for that position for instance. If you are bland, boring and stereotypical this is where you may get cut despite your awesome academic achievements. It is not uncommon for people with perfect scores to be cut at this stage while people with lower scores go through because they are different and stand out. At this stage AA for URMs and legacy and developmental cases kick in and give you a boost.
A very strong teacher recommendation and an interview recommendation can save you at this point from getting cut.</p>

<p>Finally the essays come into play to whittle down the playing field even more. For instance if they are two individuals who are equally distinguished academically and ECA wise the essay will be the deciding factor between the two. Here the school looks for unique experiences that will enrich student life on campus. Individuality is key here. If you get rejected from Ivies with a perfect 2400 look no further than your weak essay followed or alternatively superbly weak ecas.</p>

<p>And then the remaining apps are put to a vote in the committee a majority is necessary for admission ! Though everyone denies it my father believes there is some luck involved depending on where in the pile you fall. For instance you may come right after some amazing kid and that is what costs you the one vote you needed its human nature. But they claim this does not happen but i am pretty sure it does matter.</p>

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<p>Now: did I jump over the first hurdle?
SAT:2370+
SATIIs: US:800 MII:800
GPA: 3.7UW 3.8W (Took/Taking 17APs in 2 years)
Class rank: top 5 percent 121 (very competitive, and sometimes stupid: grade deflation with no specific reason
Senior Year: 8 APs (All As; have to ask for predicted grades though) plus 4 (self.)
PM me for my transcript! Thanks!!</p>

<p>You see, I am not a lazy slacker. It is just that my school is so hard! If you look at my SAT, you know that I am not a dummy.</p>

<p>Thanks guys!</p>

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<p>How can your weighted GPA be so barely higher than your unweighted GPA despite taking 17 APs.</p>

3

<p>Because I self-studied most of them *4? I think?
And I took 6 Junior year,
Planning to take more senior year.</p>

<p>Thanks buddy</p>

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<p>This process looks incredibly daunting. Sigh.</p>

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<p>nolagirl, we will do it together.</p>

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<p>The above is not how the system works at Yale. Your regional admissions officer is your first reader and s/he looks at your whole file and your entire context.</p>

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<p>What if you are international?
Oh, okay. Maybe that was for Harvard and Princeton.</p>

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<p>^ I know the Princeton admissions process pretty well (Family, Friends + Fellow Students) and it is extremely similar to what AdmissionsAddict described for Yale.</p>

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<p>Family, Friends + Fellow Students?
Please clarify.</p>

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<p>Family members who have been involved in Princeton’s admissions process, family friends who have attended and currently attend Princeton and fellow students in my HS who currently attend/have attended Princeton. Not much to clarify.</p>

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<p>I’m a bit curious as to from whom you heard this admissions methodology from. I’ve officially visited all of the Ivy’s and none of them have described an admissions process like this.</p>

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<p>I know that the efficiency rule of OHIO (“only handle it once”) is sort of a myth, but it’s still true that you should only handle documents and other matters as few times as needed to get the job done and close out the action item. Excessive revisiting of a matter is a waste of time and resources. Most colleges promise applicants that the applications will be read twice. Not zero, not one, not three…and not however many times they get reviewed in that process outlined by the OP.</p>

<p>There may be exceptions – maybe to determine eligibility for a scholarship – where additional readings could be necessary, but the assembly line here, with multiple screenings and sieves, would bog down an admissions office and they’d be lucky to get their decisions out before orientation day.</p>

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<p>Having spoken with my admissions officer at Harvard, Princeton, and Yale, not as an applicant but as an admitted student, I can tell you that your methodology isn’t quite spot on.</p>

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<p>I am 100% sure that this is absolutely NOT how applications are read at Ivy League schools. The first read of an application is done by your area admissions officer, and subsequent reads are done by other higher-ups in the admissions office (though only if such reads are warranted; if a rejection is almost surely gonna be the outcome, then only one read of a file occurs).</p>

<p>Some applicants are pretty much auto-admits, i.e., they’re so strong that they don’t even have to be voted on… But most applicants who have a shot of being accepted go to committee.</p>

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<p>What kind of students are auto-admits?</p>

<p>Also, what exactly are regional admissions officers?</p>

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<p>^ Top athletic recruits (#1-2 recruits for really big sports), Developmental Admits, Academic Superstars</p>

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<p>[Staff</a> Directory | Contact Us | Office of Undergraduate Admissions](<a href=“Home | Yale College Undergraduate Admissions”>Connect With Yale Admissions | Yale College Undergraduate Admissions)</p>

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<p>I remember this being posted by the supposed kid of a Harvard admission officer, but that post was years ago.</p>

<p>Regional admission officers are officers that read all the applicants from a particular region. There are no “auto-admits” but some students are so strong that they are sent directly to the director of UG admissions for confirmation.</p>

<p>Honestly guys, don’t waste your time learning about the steps in the evaluation process. Just put together the best app possible and leave the rest up to luck.</p>

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<p>

That’s pretty much as close to “auto-admit” as one can get… One file read, a quick confirmation by the admissions dean/director (I don’t remember which), and there you go. Accepted.</p>

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<p>I know that at Harvard, Princeton, and Yale, the admissions process works in the following way:</p>

<p>Applications are sorted by region and are read by regional admissions officers. At Yale, the names of these admissions officers are readily available to students, but this isn’t the case at Harvard or Princeton (though the names of the former’s regional admissions officers become available on the admitted student site). Each regional admissions officer writes up a summary (including test scores, teacher recs, interview info, and everything else) of each file they read. They constitute the “first hurdle” and determine whether or not each application merits further consideration. If it does, the application is passed onto a second reader, who is often a higher ranking admissions officer. This admissions officer then also writes a summary of the application and decides whether the application merits a committee review. (Note that at Columbia, each application is read twice regardless of the impression of the first reader.)</p>

<p>Of course, admissions officers may deem some applications more likely for admission than others, and those that are especially promising may be admitted immediately (and applicants are notified via likely letter). </p>

<p>In the committee sessions, the summaries of the applications are read out to the entire admissions committee, and each file is discussed for a period of approximately 6-8 minutes. (Obviously, this doesn’t mean that they start a timer and once its up, they immediately go on to a vote. On average, though, each committee session lasts this long.) The two officers who read the application in question are able to field any questions from other admissions offers regarding the application, and, once all of this is finished, they move onto a vote. Princeton requires a majority vote to admit a student, while Yale and Harvard require unanimity. </p>

<p>Because they’re human, admissions officers always admit more kids than they have room for. After the committee sessions are finished, they sort through the applicants a final time to reduce their numbers. Though I don’t quite know how this process is done, I assume it’s closely tied to diversity. (They’ll look for applicants to reject among groups that are over-represented in their admit pile.)</p>

<p>(Source: speaking with admissions officers during admitted student days.)</p>