How did George Bush Get into Yale

<p>Re GWB’s admissions hooks: Not only was Bush Pere a sitting congressman when GWB was admitted, but also his grandfather. Prescott Bush, was a former U.S. senator. Questions of legacy and big donations aside, I’d say his membership in a prominent political family sealed the deal.</p>

<p>Your probably right. It makes me so mad though that nowadays. People with top scores still aren’t guaranteed admission. Colleges are so intentionally vague with their admissions policies: oo we look at a candidate “holistically”, that’s just garbage. It’s just an excuse so they can reject the 2400/4.0/bunch of EC (and not superficial ECs) type of kids.</p>

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Cut out the entitlement, please. </p>

<p>Colleges are what they are based on the students they admit. Most of the applicants who complain about holistic admissions are in fact drawn to that school because of it – many top colleges would be very different places if grades and test scores were the only factors. Yale’s careful crafting of a diverse class is in large part what makes it Yale.</p>

<p>^agree with IBclass06: 2400s/4.0/bunch of ECs will get in just about everyplace when accompanied by thoughtful, original essays and rec letters that back all that up.</p>

<p>That’s an excellent post, IBclass. If grades and scores were the sole criteria for admission, then Yale would probably look much more like CalTech. CalTech is a phenomenal school, but it has nowhere near the diversity and vibrancy of campus life that Yale has.</p>

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<p>They are guaranteed admission to about 99% of the colleges in the US.</p>

<p>FYI,</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.yale.edu/oir/book_numbers_original/b.pdf[/url]”>http://www.yale.edu/oir/book_numbers_original/b.pdf&lt;/a&gt;
See B-3.7
(1965 SAT V+M Yale 25 percentile for entering frosh = 1295 approx.)</p>

<p>Remember that at that time, and in his favor, at least half of the current applicant population was immediately disqualified for non-academic reasons (i.e., too many X-chromosomes).</p>

<p>His score re-centers to about 1280 (CR+M) in today’s scores and would certainly be in the lowest decile of Yale matriculants nowadays. Meanwhile Yale’s affinity for legacy applicants has diminished. Even given George Sr.'s status at the time, he probably would not get in now. However, had he been an applicant when George Sr. was POTUS, he might.</p>

<p>Heh…even with Bush’s rescaled score I did better than he did as a HS freshman. Yep, that guy was our pres.</p>

<p>A better question, more accurate for determining your SAT-President potential: Did you do better than Karl Rove?</p>

<p>IBclass I see your point. But it still pains me that there is no security in the college admissions process. If there several 4.0/2400/bunch EC kids who apply (and for arguments sake lets say they all come from the same background, had good essays and good recs) don’t you see how subjective the selection process can be. Someone can really get screwed over based on the biases of an admission comitee. If two people are exactly the same (theoretical) and one is all state chess and one is allstate chorus. who gets in? the fact that there is no concrete way to tell who gets into college, while logically founded, is still unsettling and frustrating.</p>

<p>lol if I have time to do this I really should be doing hw. All I do is get depressed on CC anyway…</p>

<p>they should have an award for the straight up 2400 scorers, and not superscored
it should be like…free ride to any college.</p>

<p>Question to Descartesz: Did you “recenter” in the right direction? I had thought that the (if not several of the) SAT bell curve shiftings meant that earlier scores would translate to higher (not lower) current equivalents.</p>

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<p>That’s the atmosphere they wish to craft and those are the standards they want to set. Not “line everyone up against the wall by GPA / SAT and select the top,” but “find a GPA / SAT level that is consistent with being able to do the work and then select the most interesting people within that set.” So no, a 2400/4.0 is not “more deserving” of Yale than the 2250/3.8. </p>

<p>Anyway, if their standards bother you so, nothing stops you from applying to the many, many colleges in the US that make their determination solely on stats and nothing else. What’s that you say, they aren’t as prestigious as Yale? Huh.</p>

<p>Basically, I agree with #32. However, If two applicants are identical (theoretically) in other aspects, a 2400/4.0 kid SHOULD BE more deserving of Yale than the 2250/3.8.</p>

<p>But they are never identical in all other aspects, and even something a bit more “interesting” about the 2250 / 3.8 – whether that’s background, region of the country, extracurricular activity, whatever – is, indeed, more than sufficient reason for Y to choose him over 2400 / 4.0. </p>

<p>No one “deserves” a spot at Yale or anyplace else. This isn’t how it works.</p>

<p>krm:</p>

<p>I am confused by your comment. The original scores do re-center to higher scores.</p>

<p>Original verbal: 566 (round to 570) > Re-centered verbal: 640
Original math: 640 > Re-centered math: 640
Total: 1206 > 1280</p>

<p>Re-centering the verbal scores resulted in an almost uniform increase everywhere on the new scale. Math scores were not so uniformly nor so dramatically affected.
(See: [SAT</a> I Individual Score Equivalents](<a href=“http://professionals.collegeboard.com/data-reports-research/sat/equivalence-tables/sat-score]SAT”>Higher Education Professionals | College Board))</p>

<p>For those not familiar with the history on this: after decades of continuous decline, average SAT verbal scores had reached about 430, average math scores about 490. The reasons for this were varied, but it was often seen as prima facia evidence of the decline of the educational system. In 1995 the College Board “re-centered” the test curve to once again make 500 about an average score on each test section.</p>

<p>I suspect what was really going on was that demand for college spots was increasing and a higher percentage of less prepared/weaker/more challenged students were taking the test than the original baseline represented. This could, in fact, have counted as an educational success. But I have never seen a statistical analysis to support or contradict my guess. Suffice to say that declining scores have not really been an issue since re-centering.</p>

<p>let’s face the fact: Yale wants to admit the best of the best applicants. The GPA and SAT are important factors in admission process. Please see the data about admitted Yale SCEA students:</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/651345-race-college-admissions-faq-discussion-3-a-49.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/651345-race-college-admissions-faq-discussion-3-a-49.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>The post #726 there said " Three quarters of the white applicants who were accepted had 4.0 GPA’s. Again, no un-hooked applicant with a GPA below 3.90 was accepted (the applicant with a 3.80 was a recruited athlete). All but one (2280) of those accepted had SAT scores over 2300, with the median accepted SAT score being 2360. No applicant was accepted with a Subject Test total of 2200 or below"</p>

<p>The post #728 there said " Conclusions: If you’re hookless and want to get accepted SCEA to Yale next year, you are going to need outstanding stats (as well as exceptional subjective elements, but that’s not what this analysis is about). The data indicate that only three of the 32 unhooked applicants had SAT 1 scores below 2310. The lowest score of any white or Asian applicant who was accepted was 2270. Furthermore, none of the unhooked applicants were accepted without having at least a 3.90 unweighted GPA. The majority of those accepted early without a hook had a 4.0 GPA and an SAT 1 score of at least 2350. "</p>

<p>This means that applicants with higher GPA and SAT scores tend to have a better and well prepared application.</p>

<p>It looks like pre-centered Math scores between 710-650 did re-center downwards slightly.</p>

<p>Who can guarantee 2400/4.0 will be the President? But G. W. Bush was two times of the President. Yale apparently made the right choice. All other schools would make the same choice. Bush’s daughter got into Yale. Let’s see whether she or her husband or children will be the President.</p>

<p>BTW Yale does not care what Bush did to this country but it is proud of having another President, though he’s an idiot.</p>

<p>jack1232, the analysis in that thread is based solely on people who posted their stats on CC, isn’t it?</p>

<p>yes. we understand CCers may tend to have higher GPA and SAT than the general pool. The stats have many limitations. Anyway, it does show what types of students the selective colleges really want.</p>

<p>From the data, you can see that “even something a bit more “interesting” about the 2250 / 3.8” may not generate enough interest for Yale to admit.</p>