just visited Yale.. and..

Colleges and Universities A-Z Yale University
1

<p>i love it! then it kind of struck me that everyone else in the country does too. the situation is kind of complicated.. so here goes..</p>

<p>my mom works at tufts and you have to work there for at least 5 years in order to have the tuition waived. when my brother applied for college, she hadn't worked there for 5 years yet.. so he got to go to the college of his choice (which happened to be cornell). me? i'm a different story.. she's put a great deal of pressure on me to apply to tufts ED (which would be a .. well.. a bummer.. for lack of a better word). i've complained a lot and we've negotiated a fair bit. Before the trip.. the deal had been that i would go to tufts for at least 2 years and then she would let me transfer out.. but today.. she finally said something incredible (yes.. incredible considering she's an asian mother.. and i'm sure you guys know how stubborn asian mothers can be).. she said.. if you can get into yale.. maybe i'll let you go.. so here i am.. should i apply to yale (early or regular) or should i work really hard freshman year at another school (most likely tufts) and attempt to transfer?</p>

<p>here are the stats (and i only wish i were a 'typical' yale applicant)</p>

<p>Cumulative Unweighted GPA - 3.57
Cumulative Weighted GPA - 4.21/4.49
Cumulative Weighted GPA (used for rank) - 8.54 / 9.5-10 ish?? (we are the first class that they are using this new gpa system on)
Rank-in-Class - 8 / 306</p>

<p>My school only allows seniors to take AP courses. I've taken all honours courses so far and pulled a few strings freshman year, so I completed AP French this year (This gives me a significant weighting boost which accounts for my low unweighted and high weighted GPAs). I really like foreign languages so I skipped French 2, Spanish 1 and Spanish 3.</p>

<p>Senior Year Courses:</p>

<p>AP European History
AP Physics
AP Chemistry
AP Calculus
Honours Idea of Man (12th grade English, no AP courses offered)
Honours Spanish IV (maybe a scheduling conflict.. but we'll see)</p>

<p>SAT:
M-770
W-710
V-610 (retake? this was on my second try.. i came up from a 600.. so i'm not sure how drastic a change a retake would bring)</p>

<p>SAT II E. Bio - 640 (freshman year)
SAT II Chem - 710 (sophmore year)
SAT II French - 740 (following 3 junior year)
SAT II Physics - 730
SAT II Math IIC - 760</p>

<p>AP USH - 4
AP French - 5
(APs listed above coming up and possibly self-studying macro / microeconomics)</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:</p>

<p>Cross Country- 9,10,11,12
Volunteer Work at Local Chinese School - 10,11,12
Piano at New England Conservatory Prep School - 9 years
Tutoring Two Chinese Girls Adopted by American Parents in Chinese- 9,10,11,12
Tutoring Chinese to an American Middle Schooler (just started this summer.. plan to continue next year)
Founder / President of Young Republicans - 11,12
Republican Advisor to Current Events Club - 11,12
Community Service Club - 10,11,12
International Club - 11,12
Spanish Club - 11,12
Elected Delegate to Student Gov't Day at State House - 11
Campaigned for local GOP candidates
The Young Republicans also put out a bi-weekly conservative publication (i'm the editor). </p>

<p>Interestingly enough, because of the newsletter, some teachers were a little peeved and my application to join National Honour Society was rejected due to "character flaws." I brought it up with the administration and the decision was overturned.</p>

<p>I'm an asian-american (parents from taiwan) living north of boston..</p>

<p>what do ya'll think? (boy you would never know that i was born in philly and raised in boston.. what a yank i am)</p>

<p>... by the way.. wicked nice campus.. the architecture was so nice that i walked into a stop sign whilst admiring the law school building..</p>

2

<p>your ECs are alright, but get your scores up (without retaking too many times). apply EA to yale if that's where you really want to go.</p>

3

<p>im going to try really hard to get my critical reading up. i just find it incredibly difficult to perform consistently. i took a princeton review class (along with a bunch of other practices) and scored anywhere from 570 to 780 on the section. my biggest problem is that i overanalyze the questions. although i have little faith in my ability to get into yale, i will definitely try my hardest. i really want to apply ea, but ill have only one more chance to get that verbal score up in the fall (it'll be the 3rd time taking the test). thanks for your input.</p>

4

<p>what were the EA acceptance rates this year?</p>

<p>and as for the essay.. i've been getting really mixed signals from my teachers and my guidance counselor.. my guidance counselor insists that i should stay away from politics.. but my teachers insist that my firm beliefs are the key to getting into a competitive school ('do you honestly think that a selective school will accept you if you write just another cookie-cutter, well-rounded, safe essay? if you're thinking about applying to yale etc.. you've got to take a chance. what have you got to lose?).. i can sort of relate with both sides</p>

<p>on one hand.. after putting out the first issue of our conservative publication.. many of our contributors faced significant hardships.. including rejection from the national honour society (all were overturned after an appeals process).. and i was nearly suspended on the grounds that it was too controversial (although the school board reviewed it and saw nothing wrong with any of the content). none of us, however, quit the club (or stopped writing for that matter)</p>

<p>on the other hand.. it is controversial and i don't want to seem like i'm attacking liberals and i don't see how i could solve this problem with the 'call it an affiliation with a majour political party' fix.. </p>

<p>would this entire fiasco be a good topic representing my holding on to my beliefs through adversity?</p>

5

<p>Well they want to know more about you, usually meaning some experience or even that has shaped your life. If you just argue a political belief, unless you have some twist to the essay, I don't see how that would be interesting to the admissions officers. But you should post your essay here so that people can critique it.</p>

6

<p>For last year, the EA rate was about 23% and the RD rate was about 7%.</p>

7

<p>thanks for all your input.. </p>

<p>if i bring up my verbal score to a 700 (hopefully.. lol).. do i have an alright shot (granted nothing ensures acceptance into a school like yale) compared to other applicants if i apply EA?</p>

8

<p>esp as an asian from MA, its a very low chance you'll get in...but personality counts more than the third-party "we know how admissions works" propaganda makes you think.</p>

<p>does tufts give you the same package if you get in regular (cuz you probably will)?</p>

<p>my dad works for princeton, and they pay 10k/yr wherever the child goes. tufts seems very defensive.</p>

9

<p>ya.. tuition is completely waived.. which would be around 33k for fall 2006</p>

<p>i had a feeling that it would be tough.. seeing as asian really doesn't count as an AA benefit .. plus the NE is super competitive.. i tell you.. it's those stupid kids from Andover and Lexington who can each manage to get in like 6 people to yale a year.. and of course PA</p>

10

<p>Money issues aside, apply to Yale Early Action if that's where your heart is at.</p>