From An Average School- so what are my chances?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Yale University
1

<p>I go to an average/below average high school. Next year I will be a senior. I want to go to a college where I will be around people like me who want to learn, have opportunities, and succeed. However, my high school does not offer the greatest preparation that other schools do. </p>

<li><p>We have no honors courses or AP courses available at my high school. Your junior/senior years you can take only two (2) classes that are honors/advanced/AP, but you are bussed to another school at the end of the day. Because my school has budget problems, there are not a lot of teachers so not a lot of classes. Because of scheduling conflicts involving required classes, I could not take the two AP classes my junior year. Next year (senior year), the other school is offering three morning classes in addition to the afternoon ones. I signed up to take all five, but they canceled two of my morning ones and I am no longer able to take anything there in the morning (missing out on AP Euro/AP Bio/AP Psychology). I still have AP English Lit and AP US History, but that is all I will have of honors classes to my record. Not by choice, by bad luck. </p></li>
<li><p>The normal classes my high school offers are terrible. People who are slow/jerks that interrupt for fun/super smart and need challenges are all bottled together. If you request advancement, they stick you in a class designed for a year ahead of you, so you’re in with seniors, not juniors, that are still slow, interrupt, etc. </p></li>
<li><p>No opportunities. I haven’t been on a field trip since the middle school went to Mackinac Island and I got to join them. We have old computers donated from a hospital. The school utilizes the same practice emergency rooms use: treat 'em and street 'em, so there is no force urging students to go to a good college (my school is a big advocate of COMMUNITY COLLEGE and getting kids into trades so they’re working immediately). The school focuses more on the state test (MEAP) rather than the ACT or SAT. No emphasis on talents/abilities unless it is sports.</p></li>
<li><p>Extracurriculars are rotten. The sports teams are favoritism-crazy. The only clubs we have are Spanish Club, Environmental Club, SADD, and NHS. No Quiz Bowl, no Chess Club, notta. The clubs offered do not do anything and I didn’t want to join and be a part of nothing. My school does not have a paper or lit magazine (or I would be editor-in-chief). There is a yearbook but it is taken as a class and only open for one hour (causes scheduling conflicts). We have Student Council which does do quite a bit, and Class Officers, but that is a popularity game and not worth playing. Band is very big but that takes talent and I didn’t have it. Not to mention it is run by a substitute because the excellent instructor was fired for an unknown reason. The choir was taught by the band director too and therefore suffered. </p></li>
<li><p>This is what I have to my name:</p></li>
</ol>

<p>-Civics/Economics/Psychology/American History/World Studies
-Special World Lit/Special Humanities/American Lit/English Lit and Comp/Creative Writing
-Biology/Chemistry/Earth & Physical Sciences
-Integrated Math 1/Int. Math 2/Int. Math 3
-2 years of Spanish
-1 year of art
-1 year of Peer Mentoring (helping students in a freshman class)
-1 year of computers
-1 year of swim/health/gym
-2 years of JV softball
-2 years of NHS
-won English Award of the Year (as a junior)
-work at a movie theater on weekends- 1.4 years now
-2 years of Reading Club (that was disbanded)
-won city writing contest
-4.006 GPA
-27 on ACT (first try)
-1130 on SAT (do not plan to use)
-43 hours of community service, 31 of which was tutoring at middle school</p>

<p>This is what I want to ADD to my name:</p>

<p>-AP US History/World History
-AP English Lit.
-Advanced Biology
-Pre-Calculus
-Speech or Newspaper (if it gets off the ground next year) or whatever is worth taking that is available
-a year on Varsity softball (old coach cut me because of popularity reasons, new coach now because old coach got laid off
-third year of NHS and possible secretary or Vice President standing
-looking to nab second English Award of the Year as well as Social Studies Award of the Year
-continuing work at movie theater, looking to become projectionist
-looking to get published for my short stories (awaiting submission response) or a possible screenplay of a short film
-higher GPA (weighted as follows: A+ = 4.25/A = 4/A- = 3.5/B+ = 3.25/B = 3)
-taking ACT again, hoping for at least 29 or higher
-looking to take tennis lessons, I am a big fan of the sport</p>

<p>What do you suppose my chances are?</p>

2

<p>Well, ECs are a huge part of the admissions process, from what I gather. However, a lot of kids come from schools that don't offer many, like you. If you want to stand out, though, why don't you try picking a few of the things you're interested in and start up clubs at your school? If you want a school newspaper, find an advisor and a team thats interested and meet weekly to start planning it! Also, try getting involved in the community - join or lead community-wide service projects, take up an outside hobby, get a job or internship, or whatever else. You're a rising senior, so this may be hard to do in the final year of HS, while you're juggling all those apps. See what you can do though. </p>

<p>Okay, so this wasn't really an assessment of your chances, was it?</p>

3

<p>I'm sorry to say that your SAT is about 350 points below being barely competitive. Your ACT won't get you there either. Adcoms will excuse a lack of APs when your school doesn't have them. They generally won't excuse a standardized test score that low unless you are a URM from a rough background. You need an ACT of 34 or better or an SAT of 2250+ (1500+ on the old test). Then you need 3 SAT IIs over 700, preferrably over 750. If it is local, try to take some CC courses next year in the evening. Work on SAT or ACT practice tests over the summer. Fall in love with a different set of schools.</p>

4

<p>The ACT results will go up- trust me. I don't plan on submitting my SAT results strictly because I am one of those people who really didn't like the way the test is designed. My school doesn't offer that many clubs and previous attempts to start clubs have resulted in either low attendance or nothing started at all. We can't have a school paper because there isn't enough enrollment or computer programs for the production of the paper. Nor is there enough available paper. Trust me, my school is in pain by December. I can't take courses at the local college unless they are paid for by my school, and they are only paid for by my school if they are taken as credit for my high school. They won't make any special arrangements either because they think two APs and a senior year curriculum is too much to take college courses on top of it.</p>

5

<p>You really need to go read the posts from 15 Dec and 01 Apr. There are threads that detail the stats of who got in and who got rejected. It will be an eye opener for you.</p>

6

<p>mwbashful18,</p>

<p>Your reference to a field trip to Mackinac Island leads me to believe you may live in Michigan. Do any of your neighboring/nearby school districts offer the "School of Choice" option, which would allow you to attend school in the neighboring (hopefully, more academicaly oriented) district, as allowed by state law. Many districts actively recruit students from nearby districts, as it gives them increased state funding.
If you live in Michigan, I suggest you contact your neighboring/nearby school districts, although transferring as a senior would be a drastic action.</p>

7

<p>The good nearby districts are only opening to K-5. The bad schools are open to everyone because they're just as needy as my district. It is suicide to transfer now. I'm better off sticking it out.</p>

8

<p>-2 years of Spanish
-1 year of art
-1 year of Peer Mentoring (helping students in a freshman class)
-1 year of computers
-1 year of swim/health/gym
-2 years of JV softball
-2 years of NHS</p>

<p>It doesn't seem like you have anything you've done all throughout high school, which is something colleges really like--commitment over over-extension. </p>

<p>If you are a senior next year, you might focus on getting a really good SAT/ACT score so you aren't set apart from applicants. Also, work on your essays. I think (might be wrong) essays can make or break an applicant. GPA's solid. So, if you can get your scores and essays up to a great level, the only thing holding you back will be EC's--and that's just one part of the application.</p>

<p>What about leadership positions? I think leadership positions also shows commitment. </p>

<p>Well, good luck!</p>

9

<h1>1-4 were just excuses/complaining. A lot of people are stuck with lousy opportunities in high school. You need to make your own. To echo earlier posters, definitely try for leadership positions in the activities you are already involved in, and also start one or two new organizations that you can really put a lot of effort into. That said, I really think you have a low chance of getting into Yale. If that is your dream, you should apply, but you need some serious safeties.</h1>

10

<p>Only two years of a foreign language? PS-Being in NHS doesn't mean anything. The fact that your school doesn't have APs can be overlooked, but it doesn't seem like you have any real extracurriculars unless you're following up with softball this year. I think you should look elsewhere to save yourself disappointment.</p>

11

<p>I would be able to do more if MORE was offered at my school. I'm osrry to say that I can't do more years of a foreign language because it is only offered for one hour a year. I will be on softball again, it was unfortunate that I was cut (stupid coach kept a girl who had never played for the school only because she was a senior) or i would have had four years of it. Furthermore, #1-4 weren't excuses, I was laying out the situation so you all know why I couldn't do more. I never was saying NHS is a biggie, as a matter of fact the one at my school is crap, but i stay in it because I don't want to keep dropping things. Lastly, the art, peer mentoring, and health/gym are classes, the gym and stuff being required. I had to take the art and peer mentoring because I had nothing else for those hours that i could take.</p>

12

<p>I would say that you have rather low chances, but I think your case is unique. Your admissions officer could possibly make you one of his main cases, if you can convey to him the immense lack of opportunities at your school.</p>

<p>Are you from an inner city school (Flint or Detroit comes to mind), or are you from up north (north of the tri cities)? If you're from anywhere besides Detroit, the adcoms take notice I think because basically, being from anywhere besides Detroit is equivalent to being from South Dakota. This year, one person was admitted from the UP; I think the person was from Escanaba or Menominee or some other town along the coast. (I'm from Saginaw, by the way. One person was admitted from Midland, and one from Bay City.)</p>

<p>Why do you want to go to Yale? There are plenty of other good schools that you would have better chances at, like Northwestern, University of Chicago, and of course, University of Michigan. You fortunately are an in-stater for U of M, so that will help a lot.</p>