I Know You're Tired of Hearing It....But, What Are My Chances?

Colleges & Universities A-Z Yale University
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<p>Yale is my #1.
So help me out. I used the template for the Official Yale Class of 2014 RD Thread. Don't kill me.<br>
I'm a Senior this year, graduating 2011, planning on entering Yale's Class of 2015.</p>

<p>*SAT I: 1530. (I know, I know. I plan on bringing this up. I'm a horrible test taker. I get all nervous and whatnot. So, I'll take the test 3 more times if I have to :)
*ACT:N/A. Taking this year.
*SAT II: Taking this year. (Probably English and US History. My strengths)
*Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9
*Rank: 1/79 :)
*AP: English III (last year). Gov & Politics, Bio, and English IV this year. All other classes are honors and always have been.
*Senior Year Course Load: AP classes listed above as well as Civics and Economics (Honors), Anatomy and Physiology (Honors), Spanish IV (Honors), Yearbook (Honors), and Pre-Calc(Honors).
*Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): None. :(</p>

<p>*Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Student Council (President 12th, Junior Rep 11th). Yearbook (Editor-In-Chief 12th, Copy Editor 11th). (I make progress:)) NHS, Spanish NHS, National Beta Club.<br>
* Job/Work Experience: None, but still looking.
*Volunteer/Community service: Tutor twice a week after-school. Relay for Life Committee (Raised Money for school).<br>
* Summer Activities: None. Nominated for NC Governor School. Does that count?</p>

<p>*Applying SCEA?: Probably
*Applying for Financial Aid?: Definitely
*Intended major?: Political Science, English
*State: NC
*School Type: Public. Yet, very unique with 4 small schools in one.
*Ethnicity: African-American
*Gender: Female
*Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Is African-American URM for Yale? First-Generation.</p>

<p>I don't want to brag but, I'm a great writer. I get complimented on my writing 24/7. And, it's something I love to do. I'll attempt to enter some competitions before applying or write a short novel, which I'm already working on.</p>

<p>Also, when I was a Freshman, a Senior was excepted to Yale. I'm not sure that has ever happened before. And, I also don't know much about him. But, will Yale consider the fact that they've only received one other student from my school in the past...3 years? </p>

<p>I know this isn't much information. But, any info would be nice.<br>
What are my chances?
Evaluate. :)</p>

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<p>You have plusses but your 1530 SAT practically negates it. Maybe take the ACT instead? Have you checked out Questbridge?</p>

<p>You also mean “accepted”</p>

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<p>If you’re a great writer and can write some awesome essays, I think you’ll have a good shot, so long as you get your SAT up a few hundred points. Are you studying a lot? I agree about trying the ACT also, you never know!</p>

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<p>I think she means 1530/1600. If not, I don’t think “a few hundred points” is enough. You’d need around 2000, which is a good 500 points away.</p>

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<p>Does she mean 1530/1600? Because that’s a good score… </p>

<p>But a 1530/2400…not so much…</p>

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<p>Thanks for taking the time to review my thread!
Also, thanks for the “accepted”. Stupid mistake. I was in a hurry while typing this.<br>
And, yes I am definitely going for the ACT as well as retaking the SAT. I have been studying.<br>
Also, in place of the SAT, can I submit only the ACT with Writing and SAT IIs?</p>

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<p>I mean 1530/2400. :frowning: I know. It’s horrible. But, I wasn’t well prepared.<br>
Also, @ T26E4: I actually received something in the mail today from Questbridge about their National College Match program. What can they do for me?</p>

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<p>Yale accepts the ACT in lieu of the SAT and Subject Tests, but many colleges do not. </p>

<p>The only thing holding you back is your 1530, which is, as you know, far too low to yield any decent chance at Yale. Check out my SAT [url=&lt;a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/955109-silverturtles-guide-sat-admissions-success.html]guide[/url”&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/955109-silverturtles-guide-sat-admissions-success.html]guide[/url</a>] if you haven’t already and definitely try the ACT, especially if you don’t think that you cannot succeed on two Subject Tests. And yes, African American is a URM for Yale.</p>

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<p>Jandell, I dont know much about Questbridge, but here is a link that should provide you with some valuable information. </p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/questbridge-programs/927477-official-questbridge-national-college-match-2010-2011-a.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/questbridge-programs/927477-official-questbridge-national-college-match-2010-2011-a.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Can someone answer this question for him? Im dying to know as well.</p>

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<p>Are you asking if that’ll benefit you? Or if it’ll hurt you?</p>

<p>I don’t see how it could help you. College admissions don’t really take those kinds of things to account; they don’t go looking at their records and accept people based on that.</p>

<p>If anything, I think it’s an indication that your school is not particularly strong and acceptance to Yale is not easy. I hate to be blunt, but a valedictorian with a 1530 SAT isn’t a good sign for your school …</p>

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<p>They wouldn’t say “oh we don’t take kids from this school often so we’re taking this one.”</p>

<p>If anything, going to a school that doesn’t send many kids to Yale and/or equivalents will work against you. You really have to be different from the applicants they’ve seen before to make it possible.</p>

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<p>Uh…take the test 3 more times and applying SCEA? Its going to be hard to increase your score drastically, and you pretty much have to have testing done safely before november (meaning at most 1 time). Your ec’s dont seem too special, and it just seems there are a bunch of school activities seen way too often on other people’s apps. Your school seems way small, and that would hurt your index scores. How are your grades letter wise? Oh, and taking financial aid with pretty average stats doesn’t really help either.</p>

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<p>^ On Yale’s website it says that it is “need-blind” when it comes to admissions, so I don’t see how asking for FA would impact an application. </p>

<p>Anyway, OP, I don’t think anyone here’s going to sugarcoat it: your SATs aren’t good. However, if Yale is your top choice, I say go ahead and apply. The worst that can happen is they deny you outright and you’re free to apply to as many schools as you want RD. In a best-case scenario, something in your application gets you in. This was the case with one of my friends last year, abeit she was applying to John Hopkins. She had SATs barely breaking 1800 overall, lackluster ECs (no leadership, maybe 2 Ecs done on and off in HS), and she was Asian, arguably an over-represented minority when it comes to admissions to John Hopkins. Our school GC told her to give up on applying to any top schools and just go to a state school (we live in Nevada so our state U’s are horrific), because she’d CLEARLY never get into a good school, especially John Hopkins. </p>

<p>She was accepted ED to John Hopkins, while the Saluditorian of our school was waitlisted at every school she applied to, finally only getting into a school because her father had legacy status at one of them.</p>

<p>The moral of the story? Anything can happen. Do what you want to do.</p>

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<p>thank you owlwise for your information–it was inspiring. :slight_smile: And you’re right. Yale IS “need blind”. So, why anything was mentioned about financial aid subtracting from my admission, I don’t know.</p>

<p>redivorys: I’m a GIRL. :(</p>

<p>Some of you should really pay attention to the initial thread.</p>

<p>My school ISN’T small. it’s broken up into 4 SMALL schools.</p>

<p>East Wake High School=East Wake School of Integrated Technology, East Wake School of Engineering Systems, East Wake School of Arts, Education and Global Studies, and East Wake School of Health Sciences.</p>

<p>Also: Yes, I am a valedictorian with a score of 1530. This was my first time taking the test. I was nervous. And, I didn’t get a good nights sleep before hand. I didn’t think the test would be as intense as it was. And, some people just aren’t good test takers.<br>
My SAT score does NOT make me stupid. It may keep me from getting into Yale, but do NOT insult my intelligence.</p>

<p>I am really grateful that you are looking at my thread–some of you are really helpful, but some of you are just plain rude.</p>

<p>Also, I wanted to know if only one student being accepted to Yale in the past 3 or so years would HURT me. Sorry I didn’t clarify that in the beginning and Thank You skifreak01.</p>

<p>That’s all. :)</p>

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<p>You will want at least 2000 to have a reasonable chance. Go check silverturtle’s guide, get grammatix, get Gruber’s for math, and get Barron’s 2400 as well. Also - the blue book. Really work on getting it up. That is the most important thing you can do.</p>

<p>Don’t apply SCEA. You’ll have to send in your 1530 if you do.</p>

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<p>Hahalolk: "Don’t apply SCEA. You’ll have to send in your 1530 if you do. "</p>

<p>I didn’t know that. Thank You. :)</p>

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<p>Yep. If you apply RD you will have time to get your other test scores in. Good luck!</p>

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<p>If you do well with your writing with the competitions and short story publishing, you’ll be a solid applicant. And also if you did well in Intel and USAMO you’ll show a passion for science/math. As for your SAT, the worst thing that you can do is get nervous. When really smart kids get nervous for the standardized tests, they tend to score in the 1500s or, for ACT, low twenties. You have to get over your nerves. Maybe you’re more of an ACT person, too. But since you’re retaking, just don’t retake it too many times without big improvements.</p>

<p>One person being accepted to Yale may mean that you’re high school isn’t well known to the ivies. You can’t really control your high school, so just stay at the top of your class or close to the top and you won’t have too big of a disadvantage. It’s nothing that will ruin your chances.</p>

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<p>I agree with all the posters above with raising your SAT score and not sending in SCEA app. your application might be lackluster as of now. But make yourself stand out with an awesome essay and a memorable rec/interview.</p>

<p>^why the sudden mention of intel/usamo?</p>