Hi, guys.
I’m a sophomore who recently began college research and found myself falling in love with Yale’s distinctive social scene and community feel. It is both fun AND intellectual, both intimate and vibrant, both historical and innovative. I want to be an English or polisci major and the culture and resources are incredible. I love the idea of tiny artificial communities with people different from myself.
That said, im a white female from an overrepresented area, who, while I have top grades in the most rigorous curriculum offered, and while I have involved myself in debate, theater, and political activism since the beginning of 9th grade, is unlikely to measure up in the Yale pool. (Horrible run-on, i know). Everyone I know who got in from my school is either hooked or incredible on some sort of national level.
With that said, i guess im asking for both ways to make myself distinctive to Yale (as though that hasn’t been done to death) and for ways to fall out of love before it’s too late. Current Yalies or Yale rejects: any thoughts? Where else would you have gone if you hadn’t gotten in / where did you end up?? Advice?
Thanks, guys. I appreciate it a lot. 
Also, i know it’s kind of too early to be doing college research, so I’m trying to stop, LOL. Sort of posting this for some kind of mental closure.
A lot of people might shut me down for saying this, but I would highly recommend using an app that restricts the time you can spend on websites like CollegeConfidential, or even block them altogether for a period. Giving your mind a break from all of the stress of college applications can help gain some perspective, especially as your own applications won’t be due for a little while.
You mentioned wanting to stand out to Yale. I would say see where the next few years take you - follow your interests and do them well. Don’t try and engineer things, because they’ll probably be unauthentic or things that you think people might want to see. I was an international applicant, and I didn’t even consider applying to US colleges until halfway through my senior year. At home, college admissions was based purely on test scores, but I had some extracurricular and academic passions that I had exhausted the resources to by the time I applied. I did them because I liked them and not for any applications, because I didn’t think I’d have any applications! It was received well across the board - I was very lucky.
For what it’s worth - the Yale you described sounds great, but a lot of it isn’t quite the most accurate reflection of what Yalies outside of the admissions office would tell you. But the real Yale is great too, and for different reasons!
First of all its not too early. I started touring schools with my daughter to get an idea on what kinds of campuses she liked when she was a freshman. Did she like smaller schools, newer schools or older ones? If she wanted to aim for some reach schools, what did they expect of her and what kinds of tests or gpa was considered a norm? You can do research now. It will help you narrow down the list as well has give you a good idea what your reach/practical/safety schools really are.
As for a school like Yale, what you really need to do is focus on what makes you special and passionate. Find your passion and run with that. At the end of the day, regardless of where you land, you will feel good because you did your best for you. And it is that passion that shines through your essays. It is that passion that will also set you apart from those you are comparing yourself to. Don’t try to a force a passion either. They will see right through a paid trip to Haiti or being president of 10 clubs. But if you were in love with Haiti, raised money for your entire class to go, organized the trip and then wrote about that process rather than your experiences being there… that shows drive and passion instead of what you learned on a trip your parents paid for.
My daughter is finishing up her sophomore year and the thing I see in all of her friends is that they all have something special in their story. They have all done something rather impressive at some point in their young lives or has something unique about them and they are all very humble about it. Keep that in mind.