<p>So, as the title indicates, I got rejected SCEA by Yale. I'm now concerned over whether I have a decent shot at any of these top schools. Stats:</p>
<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 2340 (800 CR, 740 Math, 800 Writing)
[</em>] SAT II: Math 2 (800), USH (800), Literature (800)
[<em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
[</em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 11/540, lost ranks because of AWFUL 8th grade.
[<em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): USH (5), Environmental Science (5)
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: AP US Gov, AP Macroecon, AP Eng Lit, AP Stats, AP Calc BC, AP Chem, Debate, Academic Decathlon
[<em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Semi-Finalist, National Hispanic Recognition Program Scholar
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Debate 11-12 (Varsity PF Captain 12, Treasurer 12, League Champion of PF 11), Academic Decathlon 11-12 (Co-captain 12, 8 medals in 11th), Model United Nations 11-12 (Treasurer 12), Vietnamese Culture Club 11-12 (Vice President 12), Science Fiction Club 9-12 (Officer 11, VP/secretary 12)
[<em>] Job/Work Experience: Spent a summer working on a house with my dad.
[</em>] Volunteer/Community service: None to speak of, really. I know, this sucks.
[<em>] Summer Activities: Acadec summer school, aforementioned house.
[</em>] Essays: Have gotten lots of praise from objective readers.
[<em>] Teacher Recommendation: One form letter, one great.
[</em>] Counselor Rec: Dunno.
[<em>] Additional Rec: Might send letter from Acadec coach.
[</em>] Interview: None yet.
[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>] Applied for Financial Aid?: Yeah
[</em>] Intended Major: English
[<em>] State: CA
[</em>] School Type: Crappy public
[<em>] Ethnicity: Mexican/Jewish
[</em>] Gender: Male
[<em>] Income Bracket: Around $100,000
[</em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM
[/ul]</p>
<p>i am unsure on why they rejected u, specially when being a very qualified URM...</p>
<p>but....its a crapshoot...I would try Harvard, Stanford and Princeton regardless...u are bound to get into one of those 3. Good luck fellow hispanic!!!</p>
<p>Yeah man, put those same stats out for Harvard, roll a dice, and you may be in. Your Yale SCEA reject was not due to anything that you can correct for now, just put out what you have to a good range of colleges</p>
<p>admissions is random, and colleges reject tons and tons of qualified applicants. always apply for more than one top school since that increases your chances of getting into at least one of them.</p>
<p>Got deferred, then rejected by Yale SCEA two years ago. In April, got great news from Harvard in the RD round. Even with the best of credentials, it is a brutal crapshoot! I am very happy in Cambridge.</p>
<p>^ that's happened a lot at my school; people get waitlisted/rejected by Yale but then get accepted to harvard.. i think harvard just loves our school for some reason (jk, but harvard does tend to pick up our yale rejectees... i'm a yale deferree, so who knows; maybe harvard will get me????? [pleeease])</p>
<p>D didn't get into Georgetown EA last year, then was rejected by Princeton and waitlisted at Columbia. She got in at Harvard and Yale - she's a happy Harvard freshman this year. It's a crapshoot - go for it.</p>
<p>A girl from our high school school of ~450 students and 1 AP class was rejected from Yale four years ago. She had a 30 on the ACT, but wasn't a 4.0.</p>
<p>She did, however, have a resume that was 2 pages long, single-spaced, size ten font, with nothing but a list of clubs and organizations she lead.</p>
<p>She was accepted to Harvard.</p>
<p>There seems to be a belief that this shows you're "unfocused," but they told her that they were absolutely amazed by her resume. The organizations ranged from simple school clubs to being a lobbyist for the American Cancer Society at the age of 16.</p>
<p>The point is that, even though Yale rejected you, you can still roll the admissions dice again for Harvard. The schools look for different features, so maybe you fit Harvard's better.</p>
<p>I think you have an excellent chance, considering the fact that you are a URM, and have excellent test scores, etc. Just focus on essays and make sure they are amazing.</p>
<p>I got deferred by Yale but I am not fancying my chances very much for the regular decision round. I am also applying to Harvard but I'm really very curious as to what does harvard really look for? Are essays really that important to Harvard because personally, I find Harvard's supplement quite easy to complete, as compared to the other schools like Chicago and Stanford?</p>
<p>Amazon15^ I found Harvard's supplement very simple also, but I did not write a second essay because I thought my application covered what I wanted to put across. I am applying to UChicago also, and it's supplement is...interesting to say the least. </p>
<p>And I guess this thread goes to show that schools view stats very differently. AKA crapshoot.</p>
<p>The problem is that Harvard really emphasizes your potential to be Very Important someday. Yes, I'm not being entirely serious here. But I wouldn't be too confident about your chances -- definitely apply, because you're qualified, but it doesn't look like you stand out in a huge way. I guess I don't give the "URM" hook much credence; taking that away, your application looks pretty good, but a little bland. My advice: nail that essay and the interview -- make sure you come across as a compelling and confident <em>person</em>, and you'll have a fighting chance.</p>
<p>hey it doesn't hurt to try..
only thing you loose is a little time finishing the harvard supp and a little bit of money for your app and sending sat scores.</p>