Finally - Chances!

Colleges and Universities A-Z Yale University
1

<p>Hey all. I’ve been on these boards for the past two years but I just registered today to make my first post on my chances.</p>

<p>Personal Info
Asian (Taiwanese) male from NC
Upper-middle class (household income of ~$160,000)
Public Magnet (IB)
Prospective major in Bioengineering and Neurology/Cognitive Science/Psych for a career in Academic Medicine</p>

<p>Grades</p>

<p>UW GPA – 4.0/4.0
Weighted GPA – 4.86/5.00
Rank – 1/~350
Toughest Course load possible – school is 3 x 3 block (24 credits to graduate), but because I took several 0 periods and online courses I will have 33 credits by graduation:
- 10 IB’s
- 8 AP’s
- 8 Pre-IB’s
- 4 Honors
- 3 Regular (electives)</p>

<p>Test Scores</p>

<p>SAT I – 2200 – 720 CR, 740 M, 740 W. (*Note – this is my “power score” by combining 3 different sittings)</p>

<p>SAT II’s – US History – 750
- BioM – 740
- Math IIC – 720 (ouch)
- Physics – 700 (ouch again)</p>

<p>AP’s – W. History – 5
- US History – 4
- Bio – 5
- AP Comp Sci. A – 3</p>

<p>IB’s – Chem SL – 5
Math Methods SL – 5</p>

<p>Extracurriculars</p>

<p>1) AIDS Awareness Club – Cofounder and President (10th) VP (11th), Advising Member (12th). Very involved.
2) Quiz Bowl – President and Varsity Captain (12th), JV captain (10th). Team went to Nationals last year and is undefeated so far this year. Also help run our local high school and middle school tournaments.
3) Tennis – Varsity Letter past 2 years and very likely this year as well.
4) Chinese Cultural/Youth Association – Historian (9th) Treasurer (10th), VP (11th), President (12th). Does community service and cultural shows. Very involved.
5) School Newspaper contributor – off and on for all 4 years</p>

<p>Significant Awards</p>

<p>4.0 Honor Roll all 4 years
Intel ISEF Finalist (2006)
4th Place at State Science Fair in my category
1st Place overall and in my category at Regional Science Fair
Quiz Bowl 3rd at State last year (and competed at Nationals)
2006 Time Magazine Person of the Year (kidding, kidding)</p>

<p>Essays – I thought they were good. Creative, insightful, and humorous</p>

<p>Counselor Rec – Eh…..didn’t read it but our counselor isn’t very good. I’m guessing it’s very positive but generic</p>

<p>Teacher Recs – Again…….eh…. I picked 2 teachers that I thought knew me well (known me all 4 years and taught me 2 and 3 years respectively), but my History teacher talked more about how popular/sociable/funny I was than academics and my Physics teacher wouldn’t let me read his but I’m certain he did them all in one night and that they’re probably similar to my counselor rec (positive but generic)</p>

<p>Perceived Strengths – Course load/GPA/Rank, depth and leadership in a few activities rather than a laundry list, essays, ISEF, Quiz Bowl success, cofounding a club</p>

<p>Perceived Weaknesses – Test scores, recommendations, being a typical Asian male wanting to go into engineering/science.</p>

<p>Thanks in advance everyone!</p>

2

<p>bump please</p>

3

<p>There has been a recent speculation that Yale might be looking for students in their bioengineering program, so perhaps you intended major might raise an eyebrown. In my personal opinion, I don't think it's really going to make a difference, take it as you like. What I immediately notice is your initiative to take classes that your competitive magnet high school doesn't offer. This shows that you have an interest in learning different materials and going beyond the scope that your school offers. Additionally, your SAT scores are good and your SAT II scores are okay as well. If you have a chance to retake I advise you to do so, I strongly believe in the 750+ rule. Despite your strong board scores, your AP and IB scores leave something to be desired. Having taken so many AP and IB scores I am surprised to see you have taken very few exams. Why? That also leads me to wonder if you really made an effort in the courses and I begin to doubt your credibility. (Just me though perhaps admission officers will think differently) You are devoted to a small number of ECs with a fair amount of offices and positions. They are all from different areas of interest which might demonstrate that you are well rounded. I hate humorous essays so I perceive that to be a weakness, because you can only appeal to humor to make a statement. I'm joking, humor is an excellent way to portray yourself especially since your teachers wrote about it. I have always believed that generic recommendation letters will hurt you more than help, and since it is from a teacher that knows you well that might even hurt more. I more or less agree with your preceived strengths and weaknesses. Your courseload is okay but since you didn't take all the the APs and IBs (I just thought perhaps you are taking them this year in which case disregard my above statements concerning red flags and such.). Your depth in your EC and is okay but extraordinary but good. Yes I agree your test scores are somewhat a weakness, just write great essays, and being a typical asian male wanting to go into engineering at Yale might just help you. I don't know. Also sorry for the long post.</p>

4

<p>Yeah you need to take more exams for the classes you took.</p>

5

<p>um, you have a chance just like the thousands of other applicants. you're competive, but look, i just got deferred from Princeton, where i really wanted to go, and my stats weren't near perfect ( 680 V 650 M 800 W) but i have a high unique factor...looking at the others that were deferred though just shows that b/c both pool in bothe schools, that thier decisions are very arbitrary sometimes......my sister goes to Yale and tells me that plenty of people who got in didn't have great stats, its the subjective stuff that matters-sometimes it just comes down to if the adcom just likes the feel they get from your app or not.....bottom line, you have the stats, you have the EC's......w/the recs though, you should of made sure you got them from responsible insightful teachers, but a great essay can make up for those....</p>

<p>don't worry, you're in range, as far as predicting acceptance, that my friend as i have witnessed in my own case, is immpossible with these schools.</p>

<p>so, good luck and be glad you're done w/you're app b/c some of us deferres still have 10+. :)</p>