How to increase the chances of getting in?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Yale University
1

My son is a junior and he just got his SAT score back: 1500.
He is a legacy child, both parents from Yale.
He did sophomore year in Europe. While he was there, he was one of the five students awarded a scholarship by that national committee to go to an international UWC school. So he is going to finish his high school with an IB program in Asia.
He is trilingual, plus intermediate Spanish and German.

Thanks a lot.

2

What does he actually do, though? What are his accomplishments and his pursuits?

There are plenty of Yale students who speak 3+ languages, and also plenty of applicants from UWCs who get accepted (and far more who get rejected).

3

Although you don’t provide your son’s high school stat’s (gpa, ranking), I am going to assume he is at least a top 10%, if not top 5% student based on the info provided. 1500 is a great score, but for Yale, it is going to be in the 25th to 50th percentile, so below average. You did not post his SAT2 scores, which while not required, are “recommended”. The legacy advantage is minimal, if any. Remember he will be compared to some extent against all the other legacies, who likely will have all of the high SES advantages of going to great schools, resources for test and other academic prep, opportunities for all types of EC’s, etc… The only “tangible” advantage for a legacy is a guaranteed second reading of his file. If you and your spouse are consistent donors and volunteers, you might be able to get Development to add a note in his file. Remember around 80% of legacies are rejected. That’s better than the general pool as a whole, but the quality of the legacy pool is also higher.

So how do you improve your son’s chances?

  1. Make sure he continues to do well academically this year and does not develop senioritis and drop off his senior year in grades and rigor of courses.
  2. Others may disagree and say 1500 is enough to get you in the door of serious applicants, but since Yale superscores the SAT, I'd have him take it at least one more time to try to get into an above average band.
  3. But most importantly, he needs to develop a coherent story about himself through his essays, LoR's and portrayals of EC's. It sounds like he is moving around in schools, so make sure he develops a good, personal relationship with at least 2 teachers this year who will be able to write strong LoR's. The goal is to have these pieces of the essays, LoR's and EC's present a picture, quoting from the Yale Admissions page, of an applicant “Who is likely to make the most of Yale’s resources?” and “Who will contribute most significantly to the Yale community?”

You might hear advice that candidates have to be “spikey” – no, if your kid is spikey, that is great and highlight that. If he is round, celebrate that. What you don’t want to do is to manufacture a picture of candidate of what you think Admissions is looking for that is dissonant with your son’s actual interests and accomplishments. An application that raises questions because of internal inconsistencies will hit the reject pile quickly (paraphrasing a comment that the Dean of Admissions made recently).

Good luck. Your son sounds like a very accomplished kid.

4

I don’t know how easy it is to take the ACT overseas, but it that’s possible, have him try it. Although the SAT is more similar to the ACT than it was in the past, he might be one of the kids who does better on the ACT.

5

Can you and your spouse both donate a few hundred million to the development fund?