<p>I have been applying to colleges in the last few months, like many people here. However, when I told my parents I wanted to apply to Yale, they sort of laughed at me and said I should focus on schools that I would actually go to. My father is stuck on U of Chicago, which I love, but I really want to at least apply to Yale. I have written my application, but I don't want them to read any of my essays, because I am applying on my own.</p>
<p>Will someone or someones help me edit my essay and/or answers to the 25 word questions? I'll PM you if you are willing. Thank you so much!</p>
<p>I am pretty sure if the OP gets into Yale, her parents will allow a visit and the parents might re-think their position when they see Yale. I assume her parents’ concern is that she won’t be admitted to Yale, not that it isn’t worthwhile to attend. So apply to Yale & U of Chicago (and safeties and matches, as those are high reaches for everyone). If you have to pay your own fees for the Yale app, go ahead and do that.</p>
<p>My ACT’s and GPA are plenty good enough to be a competitor (because I know even the highest GPA isn’t guaranteed to get into any ivies.) It isn’t that I have no choice, it is that they just don’t want me to apply.</p>
<p>Do you know why not? Do they have some aversion to Yale? Which seems odd, given that they apparently like U of C… (unless, of course, your parent is Jim Nondorf, admissions director at U of C who REALLY wants to knock Yale down a bit in the USNWR rankings!). But somehow I doubt that… do they just not know about Yale?</p>
<p>I mentioned that I also was interested in Columbia, and my father got very defensive of U of C. I haven’t told them about Yale. It’s not that I don’t like U of C, it is that I like others better. (one is like Pumpkin pie, the one I like the most, and Chicago is like Cherry pie, also delicious but not as yummy as the others.)</p>
<p>I think they hear “Yale” or “Columbia” and they hear: far away, expensive, and stuck up.</p>
<p>I hear great education, endless opportunities, and the most fun I’ve had writing an application.</p>
<p>Expensive compared to U of C?? About the same. In fact, Yale probably has better need based aid if you are applying for it. And U of C is really almost as hard to get into as Yale these days. You might want to point out to him that the admissions rate last year at U of C was 8.8% out of a pool of thousands of highly qualified applicants – one of my kids was admitted last year, but every other kid in her high school class was rejected, including the Sal of her high school class was deferred from EA and rejected. What you want your parents to understand is that you need to apply to several colleges, including some reaches (like Chicago, Columbia, Yale) and some match/safety schools as well to make SURE you have options in the spring to choose from.</p>
<p>Also…why didn’t you apply EA to Chicago (or did you, and did you get in)? That ups your chances…</p>
<p>Did you run the net price calculators at any of the colleges on your list? Do your parents know how much U of C costs?</p>
<p>UChicago actually gives really good financial aid to its students! I got accepted EA, and it costs less for me to go to UChicago than to UIUC!! But you should apply to wherever you feel like you belong!</p>
<p>Oh yes, I know very much the price similarities between Yale and Chicago. I did apply EA to Chicago, and I got deferred. (I’m not too torn up about it, just because I was feeling a little bit of animosity toward the college, though no fault of its own, because of my parent’s insistence that I would get in and that I would go.)</p>
<p>34 ACT
4.525 GPA (4.0 unweighted)</p>
<p>I don’t think places like U of C or Yale can ever be considered as match or safety schools for anyone. You do your best, and hope for the same. </p>
<p>There are never any guarantees, but how will I ever even have the chance to be accepted or rejected if I never get to apply?</p>
<p>Just apply to Yale.
You don’t even need your parents’ permission, and if you get in they may reconsider their position. If you don’t, there’s no problem, right?</p>
<p>Okay, gotta be blunt here. Deferred is the kiss of death at U of C – your odds of admission are now way under 8%. They defer thousands from the EA pool, and your odds of getting in the regular pool after deferral are very, very slim. You REALLY need to move your efforts on other schools (Yale, and other somewhat lower ranked schools as well). No matter how much you (or your parents) love U of C, that doesn’t matter – they passed on you in the EA pool, and unless you have some really spectacular accomplishment in the next couple of months, you won’t even have that choice.</p>
<p>I agree with Intparent ^. Right now, forget about UChicago. Forget about your parents loving it. Focus on getting into a school you’ll like, where you’ll be challenged, and that you can afford.
So, now, work on that college list.
1° What are your two safeties? (two schools you’re 100% sure you can get into, like, and can afford)
2° Do you have your 3-5 matches?
Since your parents like UChicago, would they be amenable to intellectual schools such as Reed, William&Mary, or Swarthmore?
Would they prefer you to stay nearby = Northwestern, Lake Forest, Elmhurst (the last two would probably be safeties with your stats)
You like Yale: can you find a handful of schools that seem similar enough to Yale but admit more than 30% applicants? – BTW, what do you like about Yale?</p>
<p>3° Then, apply to Yale (work quickly, the application is pretty big). Add a couple other reaches.</p>
<p>If you need financial aid, pick as many schools as possible from this list, varying the degree of selectivity (ie., not all with admit rates below 20%…) and at least 2 with admit rates above 30%, preferably at 40-50%.
[100%</a> Meet Need Colleges | CollegeGreenlight](<a href=“Colleges with Need-Blind Admission for U.S. Students”>Colleges with Need-Blind Admission for U.S. Students)
Apply to UAlabama’s Honors College since you qualify for the presidential scholarship (full tuition) and if you apply to College of Engineering you would qualify for the $2,500 stipend too. Those are automatic scholarships, if you apply and have the stats, you have the scholarship.</p>
<p>Swarthmore isn’t really a match for anyone… it would be another reach. What about women’s colleges? Wellesley or Smith might be good to look at (Smith the easier admit of the two, but still a very strong school).</p>