<p>Hi everyone, getting in to Yale SCEA has been an absolutely amazing, and I'm grateful for everything that's happened. I am, however, now preparing to apply to Harvard, which has always been, by leaps and bounds, my dream school, and would really like to know how my chances are based on getting in SCEA at Yale.</p>
<p>The reason I'm really anxious is that my acceptance could well have been a fluke, or my application possibly a "wild card" app. I was never "Yale material" throughout my high school life, in the top 10% academically at a top private school but in no way our valedictorian, had a 2250 SAT in a class with 2400's, and some of my friends whom I applied against are the most freakishly intelligent people I've ever met. I did, however, have a passion for a future career that was reflected in all my EC's, echoed in my family background and in all my essays. Speculating as to how in the world I was accepted, I guess it was because of that "hook".</p>
<p>I wasn't sure that those would overcome relatively weak academics to get me in, but by some stroke of luck, they did. I'm now extremely anxious though and would really appreciate anyone's replies to the following:
- How consistent are Harvard's decisions to Yale's, specifically in terms of valuing one individual's "hook" as worthy of acceptance? If my "wild card" hook overcame my weak academics at Yale, would Harvard likely pass the same judgment?
- On a similar note, should I try and rewrite some of my essays if I'm confident that I can improve them? Or, regardless, should I drop everything and stick with what worked Yale SCEA? (assuming Harvard's response would be consistent with Yale's)
- How strong is the Yale SCEA admit pool compared to the Harvard RD pool? And on the basis of getting in Yale SCEA alone, how assured should one's chances be for Harvard RD?
- Would anyone have any statistics for the acceptance rate of Yale SCEA acceptees in the Harvard RD pool, or any knowledge of past performance on CC?</p>
<p>Would really appreciate any replies guys, and thank you again for all the advice available on this incredible site.</p>
<p>congrats on Yale but you seriously need to step back and analyze your own situation and review your knowledge of Yale and Harvard admissions criteria similarities. I think you already know the answer.</p>
<p>Hey T26E4, this is exactly what I was talking about. haha!</p>
<p>Anyway, OP, in case you truly are unbeknownst to the fact that Harvard and Yale have virtually the same admissions standards, you do have a good chance. However, no one really knows how Harvard plans to “design” its 2015 class.</p>
<p>Thanks guys. This may sound stupid though, but in response to T26E4’s point, I don’t think I really <em>know</em> the answer. Yes, they have the same criteria, but how different is the level of “difficulty”, if you will. That might be a stupid question (both because it’s unverifiable, and because SCEA is supposedly no different from RD, though the slew of deferrals may indicate its greater difficulty?), but I’d like to ask a more fact-based one then:</p>
<p>Anyone have statistics on the percentage of SCEA acceptees in who are accepted/rejected for Harvard RD, and are such applicants usually “slam dunks” in RD? Even anecdotes would help alleviate the anxiety. :/</p>
<p>No one has those statistics. Who would collect them? Yale doesn’t ask its SCEA admits for an accounting of where else they applied and what happened when they did; Harvard doesn’t ask its RD applicants that, either. When either college “loses” an admit, it can usually find out where that kid went without much trouble (and they probably do), but they don’t know where else he might have been admitted, or which colleges rejected him. Most of the people I know who were accepted early at Yale and applied to Harvard were accepted at Harvard, but it’s a really small sample (n=4) and they were slam-dunk applicants.</p>
<p>Most of the evidence indicates that Harvard and Yale split their cross-admits who choose one of them (i.e., Stanford or MIT students don’t count) about 60-40. There are only about 400 people a year who turn Harvard down, and some of them go to Princeton or Stanford, or even Michigan. From those numbers, it’s hard to believe there are more than 300-400 cross-admits, and they can’t ALL be people who were accepted at Yale SCEA, although many of them might be. Of Yale’s ~700 SCEA admits, how many apply to Harvard? 400? 300? It’s got to be somewhere around there. So my rough guess is you have a good chance of getting accepted at Harvard, but it’s a long way from certain.</p>
<p>Stop feeling anxious about it, or at least stop talking publicly about it. No one is going to be sympathetic. You have less reason to be anxious about Harvard than 99% of its applicants, because you have already been accepted at the one college that is most like Harvard. Harvard may have always been your first choice “by leaps and bounds”, but that just makes you look stupid and immature, because there isn’t even one leap or bound of difference between Harvard and Yale in anything that matters.</p>
<p>Bro, stop worrying. You already got into one fine school. I guarantee that if you get accepted to Harvard, you will come back here posting “Harvard or Yale? Pros/cons of each?!?!?!”. I had to decide between Harvard and Yale as a senior and picked Harvard. I’m happy with my choice but even now, as a sophomore at Harvard, I notice things all the time that Yale could have done better.</p>