<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]
What do you guys think?</p>
<p>Yes, in a word. Your outright rejection seems particularly arbitrary to me, and I'm pretty certain Princeton (or Harvard) will see something Yale evidently didn't.</p>
<p>Hmm. I'm not seeing a reason for outright denial by Yale. One thing you can do is dump the recommendation letter you consider to be simply a form letter and pick up another teacher, even if it's someone from prior to senior year. I'd also suggest you go ahead and add an additional recommendation. Ideally, these recommendations should speak about you personally, how you relate to your peers and others, and how you've made the most of your education coming from a crappy public highschool. </p>
<p>Your academic numbers are nearly perfect and speak for themselves, and your ranking (that includes 8th grade?) should not be a determining factor. So the only drawback I see is that you need someone who can write a heartfelt, personal rec about you outside of academics while addressing the fact that you have a stellar record despite the obvious lack of academic advantages. Think outside the box for the additional rec - choose someone who knows you well that is not necessarily a school official. </p>
<p>If you keep your grades up with the tough courses you're taking I think you'll do fine in the RD round when they see your first semester grades as well as a couple of good recommendations. </p>
<p>One last thing - make sure your guidance counselor knows you and knows your record. If you haven't talked to him/her very much, start now. Make an appt. or drop by and start the personal chit chat. Make this a priority and do it as often as you can or as often as he/she will allow. If the elite colleges don't know your school well, it is likely that they will call your counselor to ask about you during the decision-making process. Make sure your counselor knows what a great person you are :)</p>
<p>In my experience, Yale is very and at times arbitrarily harsh in their EA decisions. I knew someone a few years ago who was rejected by Yale EA and wound up getting into both Harvard and Princeton in April. So, while the rejection isn't a good sign, it certainly doesn't mean you have no chance at comparable schools.</p>
<p>You may have been rejected due to your essays or due to teacher recs. Change both if you apply to Princeton University. (Yale is generous with deferrals, hence my advice.)</p>
<p>Werg I'm feeling your pain. 800math 800cr 750writing plus tons of violin achievements plus 1/360 rank and flat-out rejection by Yale here =(. My confidence is completely shattered! And I'm from Wisconsin give me a break!</p>
<p>Princeton>Yale because now it has OneKingOneLife on its side. </p>
<p>And yeah, we can do this! Haha I think a Princeton acceptance would easily wash away the pain of my rejection. Just gotta get in, haha. </p>
<p>I really hope it was just something strange happening and not some deep flaw of mine that caused the rejection. Thanks for the advice, everyone.</p>
<p>omgitsgeorglopez: I posted a thread yesterday, to fellow Yale rejectees. You may have missed it; sorry if you didn't. Hope it helps you out a bit; I know the thoughts therein helped me relax and worry less about Yale.</p>
<p>Ty werg, your thread helped. ^ I don't think anything went wrong, unless something really went wrong in my application as well. Seems like a lot of strong applicants just got rejected who knows???</p>
<p>I don't mean like what went wrong, but maybe what could have been better? I don't know, right now I just keep asking myself that question. I didn't mean to offend you or anybody who was deferred/rejected.</p>
<p>No: since you were flat-out rejected SCEA Yale, it's unlikely that you will be admitted to Princeton.</p>
<p>However, there is a higher likelihood that Princeton will accept you, because Princeton is fond of ethnic minorities with exceptional standardized testing.</p>