Hello. I am currently a sophomore in high school who shares the ivy dream of many other students across the nation. What would be my chances for my dream school (Yale) with the following?
93 avg (weighted)
1500/1600 SAT
10 ECs per year (Includes Lacrosse, President of Stock Market Club, Piano etc)
2 alumni letters of recommendation
White Male from an all boys catholic school
Thank you in Advance!!! :)>-
Your post does not provide enough information to allow others to provide you with any useful analysis. Look at the “Chance” threads and also at the decision threads to see the level of information typically provided. Your notation that you have 10 ECs a year is useless. Schools what to know specifically what you have achieved not the number of memberships you have. A weighted GPA of 93 suggests that you don’t have a track record of being an excellent or outstanding student but it is hard to tell. You may have D’s in gym and A’s in Calc3, Physics and French 5. Schools consider the rigor of your high school-and the rigor of your curriculum. You have not provided that information. If you provide that information, at least people can provide you with an informed opinion.
i didn’t want to bore with the details …
all ecs are as follows; Lacrosse, Guitar, Piano, Pres of stock market club, Bio-chem club, Spanish club, math club, school newspaper, school tv, PEAK mentor for mentally disabled kids.
GPA break down;
freshman year very weak (86 avg) in all honors classes
Sophomore Year 97 avg in all Honors classes.
The quality of your ECs really matter. Anyone can say they are in X number of clubs just to impress colleges (unfortunately), but the question is, do you have any paarticuular achievements to show for them?
You’ve still not provided the needed information. How good are you at Lacrosse? Will you be D1 material? Club memberships are pretty meaningless. They are like subscribing to magazines. They show you are interested in a topic otherwise you’d not have subscribed/joined but they do little else to help an application unless you have achievements in that club.
Why would you be asking about Ivy League schools? It’s like me saying I’d always dreamed of having a Maserati but I only have 20K to spend for a car. Well many people want Maserati’s because they are elite cars. But if everyone had one they would not be elite cars any more. More importantly, I have not accrued the money that would allow me to buy a Maserati. Luckily there are hundreds of other cars out there that are in my price range and more suitable for me. And, the same for you and colleges.
There are great colleges out there that would be glad to have you attend. The 8 you express interest in typically admit the top students in a given school. Are you the top student in your class? Are you among the top 2 or 3 students? Are you recognized by most people in your school as the go to person when there is an opportunity or a contest that involves an academic pursuit and they want someone they know will nail it? Of not, then no, the Ivy schools are unlikely just like a Maserati is unlikely for me. But there are great schools out there. The Ivy schools get a lot of press but it is worth learning about the other wonderful choices you have.
Alumni rec letters = no value. Teachers from core subjects in your 11th or 12 grade year will be the most important LORs.
^^ Agree. I would go even a step further to say that two alumni letters would have “negative” value.
^^I would totally agree.