Do I have an elephants chance in hell at Yale??

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I basically have my heart set on Yale. Im a sophomore, im young, i know. But I want an idea. </p>

<p>I goto york prep in NYC, not so competitive school, offers I think only one AP, which is a two year english course.</p>

<p>My average is like a 96 rank i think 2 or maybe 3... im gonna definitely try to make it 1 though.</p>

<p>ECs:
Environmental Club
Student Govt
News Paper
Spanish Tutor
Lab Assistant
Scholars Program - Two additional courses, top few students in each grade
Trying to Start my own web development company - thing</p>

<p>***I do computer repair, but its like i take friends, cousins, and free computers and fix them and sell them... so i dont know what this would count as. </p>

<p>I will have accumulated about 300 hours after graduation</p>

<p>I am taking the AP microeconomics and the SAT II World History this year</p>

<p>Next year I am planning on the SAT II Math I, Literature in the beginning.
At the end, AP Stats and SAT II Chem</p>

<p>SATs... Feeling verry confident</p>

<p>Basically, I want to goto a top school. Im a smart kid I think. I want to goto:</p>

<p>Yale
Harvard
Wharton
Princeton
UPenn if i dont get into Wharton
And the usual suspects: brown, nyu, dartmoth, etc. </p>

<p>What are my chances?? I think i made up the elephants chance in hell... maybe i didnt, i dont know. But Im worried I wont get into Yale, and i probably wont... But IS THERE ANYTHING I could do? My brother did go there, and he loved it. My sister went to BU and said the people there are not too smart comparative to her. So i reallllly want to go to a top school.</p>

<p>ANY advice what so ever... Be critical as hell, i want the best possible chances... Thanks, and percentages would be nice. Anything, what you think will happen if i do what.</p>

2

<p>96 Avg. out of 100 is extremely good...not many get above 95 at my school. Keep it up. If you do start the business that will be also a definite plus. Even if your business doesn't do well you can still mention it on your app. As for ECs, continue with the ones you feel the most passionate about and maybe spice it up with a sport or two. </p>

<p>A lot of the admission process at places like HYP is just centered on a few critical factors. </p>

<p>You see, they get sooo many students with top grades like you, with 50 ECs and national awards and blahblahblah. They can admit 10-15% of those kids. What theyr'e looking for isn't grades and high scores--almost everyone who applies to HYP, Brown, UPenn, or Dartmouth has a high GPA (such as your 96/100), good SAT scores and good extracurriculars. They've already got some of the best students in the nation knocking at their doors. </p>

<p>What they ARE looking for is just that little twist in your app that makes you DIFFERENT and UNIQUE from others. In your case, you want to start a business. Not many people can write that "I founded my own company" in their app. I wrote about how I run an online gaming server system, my rock band, my soccer team, my web development ventures and my piano and electronic composition experiences. I wrote about how I supported myself financially for all of those above activities despite harsh family economic circumstances, how I had to work while all of my peers were enjoying vacations, and the social gap between me and my classmates. Those are the things which are not found in every other applicant...</p>

<p>Making yourself STAND OUT is the main thing for elite admissions. Of course, you'll be competing against thousands of other kids who are themselves trying to stand out, but you have to just edge it out somehow. Find a passion, or if you already have one, think about how it might do on the app. </p>

<p>Bottom line, if you end up not going to an Ivy, don't be disappointed because the admission process has become so ridiculously selective--not all who deserve in, get in. </p>

<p>If your brother went to Yale, you have legacy status and that will help you out there. </p>

<p>As for chances, you're still a sophomore so I can't really give accurate predictions about the future. It's good that you are already considering college applications at such a young age--I didn't even start until last August! :P Just make sure to keep up the GPA, do decent on the SAT (especially the reasoning test...don't worry too much about the Subject tests) and you'll be fine. And of course, have something that distinguishes you from others. Give HYP and company a reason to accept you. </p>

<p>Sorry for such a long response.</p>

3

<p>Thanks a lot for the response... Probably one of the best responses I've seen yet. </p>

<p>Anyone else though?</p>

<p>Oh and my average is 96/99 to be technical. My school puts a cap to 99 in each class, if they didnt, id have like a 98-99 avg</p>

4

<p>IMO...follow your interests, passions, and the rest will fall into place. Which means don't waste your time with an EC that means nothing to you.</p>

5

<p>Yeah... I kinda like all my ecs in one way or another, so im going to stick with them. If i get my web design company to do well (already designing a site for the family business) then i ECs wise, if i add one artsy thing or a sport, im pretty much set. </p>

<p>A lot of times though, Ivy admissions are just crap shoots... And today, I'm feeling lucky.</p>

6

<p>Good---go with that thought!</p>