<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>You have about as good a chance as anyone could possibly have. BTW I also spent several summers working on a house with my mom. It was a grueling experience.</p>
<p>Now, your stats are clearly not keeping you out of any top college - and that is all we can tell. Either your essays portrayed a person Yale did not want (but Stanford might look for other qualities) or your recs were sub-par. Or maybe you came across as somewhat haughty? I have no idea - without reading your entire application, we can only make assumptions.</p>
<p>There are so many variables we (and you, unfortunately) don't know, like the letter from the GC - could it be a negative one? Did the GC check off low markings, or have any kinds of reservations against you? Did Yale find your limited volunteering an issue? Etc etc etc</p>
<p>Your stats won't keep you out, that's all I can say. </p>
<p>You have a chance, but the SCEA rejection at Yale is sort of frightening. I would guess seeing your profile and nothing else that you'd likely get in, but that SCEA rejection puts that in serious jeopardy. If I were you, I'd look over your essays if you're sure your recs were solid. Seriously, Yale should have at least deferred you.</p>
<p>Apply to a wide range of places - I would have guessed you were more unique in the Yale pool (Mexican/Jewish from California) as opposed to Stanfard (50% California). That said, Yale and Stanford are different schools and are looking for different things. At highly selective schools, all decisions are independent of one another. Best of luck.</p>
<p>I wrote one essay on my quest to watch all of AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies list. All the feedback I got on it was quite positive, although it certainly wasn't the best thing I've ever written. My Common App essay was great, I think: it was superficially about winning my league in public forum debate but really showed how much I've grown and how I overcame my (rather severe) self-confidence issues. This essay was almost universally loved, and I was told by a fellow EA applicant (who got in) that he had been happy with his essays until he read mine. So I hope essays weren't the problem.</p>
<p>leadership. it needs to come into your essays some how. oh and I think building a house with your dad could make a FANTASTIC essay. do you have a propensity towards creating things? are you intrigued by the process through which a nothing can become a something? Does design and creation fascinate you? if so, relate that all to building a house. but show the origin of this interest..did you first become interested in building things when you created your first sand castle? or first lego tree house? also, relate the experience of building the house to your relationship with your dad (was their a struggle, did you find something new about yourself? your strengths, your weaknesses? but dont stop there, how did that summer affect how you impact your school? did you learn something that you then passed on to others? did you continue your interest in construction? did you initiate a building project in your school, local park, garden conservatory (seriously though...the students stanford accepts often have done as large a project as these may sound....i know i did.) You must show that you are so passionate about something that you are willing to problem-solve until you have reached your goal. really...i think you have all the 'material' you just need to show your 'best colors' better. an essay on the 100 movie list would be an interesting roommate letter, but not a common app or activity essay. but, don't just talk about the movie list...relate it to how you interact with friends. show your quirky, fun, loving and bold side. and above all else, show PASSION. yet, many people on this board think passion is just having a focused interest and involving yourself in many activities in depth that relate to that interest. thats passion, but not sufficient passion for Stanford. Passion means that you push forward despite obstacles and despite times when you don't think you can continue because you love what you do SO much that you HAVE to move foward. </p>
<p>p.s. i got in SCEA so i am not just a random, ranting lunatic...actually, quite often i am. ;)</p>
<p>That Yale rejected you means that you they were not buying that you were an URM, because otherwise they would be falling all over themselves to get you in. We don't know what constitutes the Mexican part of your Mexican/Jewish heritage. For example, I had a Jewish classmate at Stanford who was borne and raised in Mexico. His father owned radio stations. Hispanic? Hard to say. Alternatively, maybe your parents are Mexican and Jewish respectively, while your SAT's are more demonstrative of the latter than the former. Admission committees, seeing your non-URM SAT's, might be thinking the URM contention is a ploy. I think you would do well to get this Mexican heritage thing worked out, because Admissions committees probably really really don't like applicants they do not think are URM trying to get in as a URM. Maybe you could call Yale, and ask them whether any such factors played a role in you rejection.</p>
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Admission committees, seeing your non-URM SAT's, might be thinking the URM contention is a ploy.
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<p>Wait what, URM's can't score high on the SAT's? I'm sorry, but that's got to be one of the stupidest things I've seen on CC which is saying a lot. If he is ethnically Mexican, he should put it down as well as check that he is White (I'm assuming since he's half Jewish he's probably half white as well). Perhaps the admissions committee read him as a non-URM applicant because he comes from a family making 100k/yr. I don't know, but definitely not because his SAT's are too high. It is my opinion though that it was something else, perhaps a negative/lackluster rec, that did him in.</p>
<p>Yeah, in my other apps, I'm planning to have an essay specifically about my heritage. I was worried they would think I wasn't Mexican or something. My name isn't really Hispanic. I got to read my recs and it was all praise, even if one of them didn't have any specific anecdotes or anything. I really don't know what happened.</p>
<p>I would definitely include an essay on your heritage. It's a great idea! If your recs/essays didn't do you in, I think it may just have been an error on Yale's part or just extremely competitive admissions.</p>
<p>Wait what, URM's can't score high on the SAT's? I'm sorry, but that's got to be one of the stupidest things I've seen on CC which is saying a lot. If he is ethnically Mexican, he should put it down...</p>
<p>Well he did put it down, and that didn't work out too well did it? He applied as a URM and Yale didn't treat him as a URM, because if they did he would have been accepted. Look at the Yale Scattergram at College Data, and click on the those accepted students with lower (for Yale) SAT's. Many are URM's who were accepted everywhere they applied. </p>
<p>The high SAT's may well have contributed to Yale skepticism of URM status, I don't know and you don't know, because Admissions people tend to get very opaque in discussing such issues.</p>
<p>The URM hook did not help him at Yale, and the only question his bringing it up on his application hurt him. He needs to find out, before it hurts him at other colleges he applies to RD. </p>
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Well he did put it down, and that didn't work out too well did it? He applied as a URM and Yale didn't treat him as a URM, because if they did he would have been accepted. Look at the Yale Scattergram at College Data, and click on the those accepted students with lower (for Yale) SAT's. Many are URM's who were accepted everywhere they applied.</p>
<p>The high SAT's may well have contributed to Yale skepticism of URM status, I don't know and you don't know, because Admissions people tend to get very opaque in discussing such issues.</p>
<p>The URM hook did not help him at Yale, and the only question his bringing it up on his application hurt him. He needs to find out, before it hurts him at other colleges he applies to RD.
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<p>Just because he put down that he was URM doesn't mean that that was the cause for him to be rejected. Even though I agree that it is surprising for an URM with scores like him to be rejected from top schools, I know, from personal experience, that URM's with top scores can be rejected at top schools. Of course I don't know 100% that the fact that he put down URM made the admissions officers skeptical of him, but it's just as no one knows if the admissions officer just randomly decided to reject him without reading his app. I personally think that there is something hurting his application, because even if he wasn't URM I'd be surprised that he'd be rejected and not at least deferred at Yale. I think that Yale believing that he was trying to dupe them as saying he was an URM (especially if he put down as well that he was half Jewish) is hardly the reason for him getting rejected. He certainly should look into what got him rejected, but admissions are done on an individual, not overall basis despite what the stats may predict. Even though it was likely he would have gotten in, Yale's not a sure-shot deal for anyone. Perhaps the URM hook helped him at Yale, but a component of his app was killing him? I seriously think that should be looked into. Also, clerical error could be to blame. I suggest he calls Yale and asks why he got rejected, or better yet if he has a good gc ask him or her to do it. I think speculation that results in him deciding to give up the URM hook in order to not appear as if he's duping the admissions officers seems like a pretty bad idea IMO.</p>