Just Wondering...Chances?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Yale University
1

<p>I apologize upfront for another one of these threads, but I would like to read some feedback with regards to my stats. I know that standardized tests are not my strongest suit, but do my extracurricular activities and other qualifications still leave me with a good chance for a Yale acceptance?</p>

<p>Stats:
• Fee Waiver Used?: No
• SAT I (by section): Probably my biggest weakness 620M 670CR 800W 12 Essay
• SAT IIs: 790 Spanish Language, 700 U.S. History, 680 English Literature
• ACT: 31 (better than the SAT, and in the middle 50% for Yale)
• APs: 5 US Government, 5 Spanish Language, 5 Spanish Literature, 4 Art History, 4 English Language (didn't take the class, just the test), 4 US History, Chemistry (I'd rather not say<br>
• GPA, Weighted and Unweighted:5.21 W, 3.92 UW
• Rank: 3/162
• Senior Yr Courseload:AP English Literature, AP Calculus BC, AP Psychology, AP Computer Science, Honors Philosophy (required), Honors Latin American History (required), and Peer Ministry (theology is required, and this has all of the aspects of theology + we have to plan and give retreats to kids in the younger grades; Catholic, Jesuit school)
• Number of Apps from Your School: 2 (1 athlete (football) + me)
• Other Stats: All male private Catholic-Jesuit high school
Subjective:
• ECs and awards submitted:
* National Honors Society (2004, 2005, 2006
o Senior Class Director (2006)
* National Junior Honors Society (2003, 2004)
* Mu Alpha Theta (Math Honors Society) (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006)
o Attended a number of local math competitions
* National Science Honors Society (2005, 2006)
* Spanish National Honors Society (2005, 2006)
* Rowing – Varsity (2005, 2006)
o 1 gold medal
o 2 silver medals
o 1 trophy for best in category at regatta
* Rowing – Novice (2004, 2005)
o 3 gold medals
o 1 bronze medal
o 2 plates for best in category at regatta
* Junior Varsity Swimming (2003, 2004)
o First Place: Ransom Everglades Swim Meet: 100 meter Medley
* Key Club (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006)
o Grade Representative (2003, 2004)
o Staff: ARC (Association for Retarded Citizens) Pledge for Kids
+ Organization’s largest fundraiser
o Over 200 hours of community service with Key Club
* A.L.P.H.A. (Art, Literature, Photography, Humanities, and Acting) Clubs (2003, 2004, 2005 2006)
o Over 300 hours of participation in a number of activities such as attending a Disney Animation Seminar, viewing Broadway shows, and visiting major art exhibits
* Bishop San Pedro Spanish Club (2003, 2004, 2005)
o Worked on the José Martí Canastilla Drive (Collection of baby items to create a full package for poor mothers who give birth on José Martí day)
* Model United Nations (2004, 2005)
o Attended local conferences such as the one at FAU
* Acting in a Professional Theater Production (Hispanic Theater Guild)
o Fuenteovejuna (2004)
o Dialogos de las carmelitas (2005)
* Christian Life Community (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006)
* Theater (2006)
o Co-wrote and starred in a play
* Student Council (2006)
o Multimedia Chairperson
o Sixth Grade Big Brother
o Tour Guide for new and prospective parents and students
Awards and distinctions:
* Chosen as the school’s representative to be one of five high school students in the nation to attend the Princeton-Harvard Cuba Conference in April, 2006.
o Attended this conference on full scholarship
o Learned about the horrors that happen daily in Cuba and worked to come up with a solution to inform individuals about the active role they can take to help bring freedom to this oppressed nation
* Three Academic Achievement Awards (awarded for maintaining an A in at least 5 courses for two consecutive semesters)
* 3 Gold (Theology, Economics, World History), 3 Silver (AP Spanish Literature, AP Art History, Theology), 2 Bronze (AP U.S. Government, Honors British Literature). These medals are awarded to the top three students in each class.
* College of the Holy Cross Book Award
* Canvas and wood medium art work, If You Can Dream It…, displayed at the Saladrigas Art Gallery
* First place for a Spanish Writing piece at the Miami-Dade County Fair
* “Lema ilustrado” won first place at school’s Modern Language Fair
* First place for a 3D model at school’s Modern Language Fair
* Essay on bilingualism won first place in a school-wide competition and was selected to represent the school at the state level
* 200 and 300 hour commitment awards for A.L.P.H.A. clubs
* One of five students chosen by the Social Studies department chair to vie for the position of Senate Page for Senator Mel Martinez
* Photograph Flying High professionally published in Impressions of Yesterday ISBN# 0-7951-5264-7
* Article selected to be published in the school newspaper.
* Received CollegeBoard’s AP Scholar with Distinction Award
* School’s President’s Honor Roll throughout High School
School Travel:
* Argentina and Uruguay (2003) (Invitation Only)
* Spain (2004) (Invitation Only)
* Italy (2005) (Invitation Only)
* Washington D.C. – Close Up (2006) (Subject to departmental approval)
Activities independent of school:
* Volunteered in the Presidential and Senatorial campaigns for George W. Bush and Mel Martinez, respectively (2004)
o Was a press escort at a pre-election rally
o Worked at a phone bank
* Worked for Stonegate Homes (Summer 2004)
o Office work, construction
o 9 hours/day, 5 days/week
* Volunteered at the Marian Center (School for mentally retarded children): 50 hours in the summer of 2005
* Took Piano lessons (2003, 2004)</p>

<p>• Job/Work Experience: Did construction/office work (1 summer)
• Essays (subjects): Short Essay: Rowing, Common App: My curiosity (interesting essay), Supplement: Re-discovering my Cuban culture so that I can help those on the island oppressed by Fidel Castro
• Teacher Recs: 4; 3 Amazing, 1 unread. The three that I read all support my essays (accidental, but positive, coincidence)
• Counselor Rec: Incredible
• Interview (feel and general location): 1 at Yale and 1 Alumnus; Both went extremely well. The interviewers and I had good dialogs
• Hook (if any): Rowing, URM
Location/Person:
• City, State or Country: Miami, FL
• School Type, Average Stats of School (if available) :
• Ethnicity: Hispanic (Cuban)
• Income Bracket: $250K +
• Gender: Male
• Strengths/Weaknesses: Well rounded, rowing is a "Yale sport"; Standardized tests are kind of weak
• Why you think you will accepted/deferred/denied: Accepted because of aforementioned extracurriculars; denied because of SAT/ACT scores (I shouldn't have sent the SAT)</p>

<p>Thanks for responding, I really appreciate it!</p>

<p>JAG</p>

2

<p>Anybody???</p>

3

<p>Well...you certainly have a long list of awards and accomplishments, but I don't see any club or anything group that you've been especially committed to. That being said you obviously have a passion for languages and photography and yes your test scores are a little on the low side for Yale, but nobody on these forums knows any more than you do. You'll find out in 15 days.</p>

4

<p>Looks good. I think your URM status will help a lot. Your test scores arent weak at all. I think your ECs are all over the place. But if you organized them well on your app you stand a good chance.</p>

5

<p>^^SAT's are decent for a URM ^^, so if you can fit all those EC's in the given fields (coherently), Yale is an attainable reach.</p>

<p>good luck.</p>

6

<p>100 medley.. so you do a 25 for each stroke??? LOL.</p>

7

<p>Yeah, I know its not amazing in terms of swimming length, but it was a big race in 9th grade. (My strengths were butterfly and freestyle.) After four years of swimming, I decided to do another (water)sport, rowing, and I couldn't be happier I made the switch.</p>

8

<p>i usually don't comment on these, but your ecs were just all over the place. i think maybe you should take out stuff that isn't really that important and focus on things that you really care about and are comminted to. your list now is just so long that each thing means nothing, and some of them do, like where you listed time in art museums and watching broadway shows. i don't think that is worth mentioning. should i mention all the hours i spend watching movies? sorry, i hope that wasn't mean.</p>

9

<p>I know my EC's look really out of order on the forums. They are actually neatly organized on the activities résumé I submitted into the categories below:</p>

<p>Honor Societies
Athletics
Extracurricular Activities
Awards and Distinctions
School Travel</p>

<p>I basically copy-pasted the entire word document into the post, so it completely lost its formatting.</p>

<p>With regards to this entry,:</p>

<ul>
<li>A.L.P.H.A. (Art, Literature, Photography, Humanities, and Acting) Clubs (2003, 2004, 2005 2006)
o Over 300 hours of participation in a number of activities such as
attending a Disney Animation Seminar, viewing Broadway shows,
and visiting major art exhibits</li>
</ul>

<p>I felt that I needed to elaborate on what A.L.P.H.A. really is. Some of the things that I highlighted later in my list, such as my acting in professional plays, stems directly from my involvement in A.L.P.H.A.. I wanted to give some general explanations of what the club does. All of the art exhibitions, for example, required at least 5 hours of travelling time, and Broadway shows are seldom presented in Miami, so they also required travel. There were so many things under A.L.P.H.A., 300 hours worth, that I just mentioned a few of the things I've done. You have a good point, seempand, about that not seeming to be worth mentioned.</p>

<p>Also, about the EC's, *'s are particular activities and o's are some of the things I've done with the group. I have few things in which I've contributed less than 100 hours. Also, my essay (Common App, Curiosity), explains why I've participated in so many activities: my passion is getting to know as many things as possible, but working hard to make sure that, in my quest to learn about these myriad things, I don't give a half-effort on any one of my activities.</p>

10

<p>what is your 2k?</p>

11

<p>Because we had a coaching change (again) this year, we have not erg tested for this present year. My 2k from about March last year is 7:25.3, but I am certain that that has changed, I just haven't erged on my own to figure out my current 2k. My new coach almost sees erging as a waste of time, and we go out on the water or run every day, unless it's windy, in which case we'll do a 15k endurance erg piece. I think over Christmas Break, though, we're going to concentrate on erging to prepare for the Florida Erg Sprints. Do you row? What's your 2k?</p>

12

<p>6:40- my team is going to florida for a training trip this year- we are racing area crews what team are you on?</p>

13

<p>o m g...your awards list is scary.</p>

14

<p>I am on my school's team, Belen Crew. (<a href="http://www.belencrew.com)%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.belencrew.com)&lt;/a>. Last year we did some training in Georgia for Spring Break. What team are you on? Impressive erg time, by the way.</p>

15

<p>Admissions is a tricky thing, but I think you have a good shot! I got in with SAT scores that wasn't all that great... good luck!</p>

16

<p>Well, that makes me feel a little better, but you're right, admissions is an incredibly tricky thing.</p>

17

<p>Wow! You have a lot of stuff. Your scores aren't great, but your extensive extracurriculars really ought to help you. What's more, you sound like a really interesting person. I think you'd make a great addition to the Yale community.</p>

18

<p>Thanks, Lanzabelle. :)</p>

19

<p>I think you have a great chance. Good luck to you :)</p>

20

<p>Thanks, Tomminer, these comments help me deal with the anxiety of WAITING! 11 days to go!</p>