<p>Ok. I did not get into Yale or any other Ivy league school this year as a high school senior. Right now I'm set to attend a state university honors program in the fall. However, I really wanted to go to Yale. Should I consider taking a year off, perfect my SAT score, do something really great for my community, etc., and reapply next year?</p>
<p>Do an advanced search for “andison” in the Parents Forum. It is one of CC’s most famous threads about a very smart kid who was rejected every school he applied to, took a gap year, and was accepted to MIT. It contains lots of good info about reapplying and gap years. The common wisdom is that a gap year won’t get you in to a place that rejected you the first time around. I have seen kids rejected the first time by Yale who were subsequently admitted, but these were recruited athletes who were told to take a post-graduate year somewhere to improve their grades and prove the quality of their game in their sport.</p>
<p>I would think that matriculating to the honors program at your state school, pulling straight A+ grades, securing terrific letters of rec from your professors and continuing your community and campus extracurriculars would allow you to present a strong case as a transfer student. If you’re going to take a gap year, it would be a good idea to devise something really out of the ordinary that you can only do with the year off (overseas work, intensive interning etc.) Keep the dream alive and Good luck!</p>
<p>I’m gonna do the sime, besides I am an international student taking the time to learn how to handle those SATs. English was the major problem…</p>
<p>Stringkeymom, that’s what i’m hoping, and as of now what i’m planning on doing. And who knows? I may end up actually loving my state school, and wanting to stay just where i am.
Thanks, everyone else, for the advice. That andison story was crazy! That’s awesome for him, but probably isn’t the best path for me. Thanks again guys for the advice!</p>
<p>Oh, and Racoon1990, I wish you the best of luck, and hope you make the right decision about to do.</p>
<p>awww…i know quite a few people who this happened to at my school…
reapply if you wish, but realize that taking a gap year isn’t a guarantee for being admitted to a school that has already denied you.</p>