<p>i got a letter in the mail from yale today saying "Through the College Board or the American College Testing Program, We have identified you as a student who may be a good candidate for Yale."
what strikes me is..
first, my SAT score was a pitiful 1240.
second, i took the ACT last Saturday, not enough time for me to get a letter since I donot even know my score yet!
third, i'm hispanic. does affirmative action play a role here?</p>
<p>am i getting my hopes up and should i just dismiss this letter? or do they send this to everyone? or do i really have a chance?</p>
<p>It means that they think your test scores, background and gpa (if you reported it) will make you competitive in the Yale pool. They think you have a chance of getting in. So don't get your hopes up, but be happy that your test scores and whatever else put you in range!</p>
<p>I got the same letter. 2270 (1490 M+CR) SAT, 3.77 UW GPA/4.22 W GPA, white. I don't know if they had a screening process. I didn't think Ivies had send out letters to entice prospective students!</p>
<p>All the ivies sent these out to about 100,000 students who get above a certain score on the SAT's (they buy it from collegeboard). More applicants = more selective = more $$ = more prestige. Don't look into it. at all.</p>
<p>If you search online you can check your SAT percentile rankings by demographic group. That may give you some insight into the letter. Congrats - go for it!</p>
<p>Yeah. Everyone gets mail from tons of colleges. It doesn't mean ANYTHING. But I have to ask the OP: are you talking 1240 on just math + cr or all three sections combined. Because a 1240 on math + cr is very good, maybe a little low for YALE but by nearly any other standard an excellent score.</p>
<p>The letter from YALE did make me feel special though lol. the letter was also pretty long and has made Yale my number 1 choice. ( I love the emphasis on activism and leadership as I am somewhat of a leader-scholar not an intellectual in the purest sense) Even though it means nothing, I'm happy I recieved it.</p>
<p>I disposed of it but it just talked about how Yale students are very involved in the New Haven Community and that there are clubs for everyone's choosing and things of that sort</p>
<p>Yale places a huge emphasis on activism and community/social leadership, and its students are much more into that than students at any other Ivy. Just look at the number of Truman Scholars from each over the past 10 years and you'll see there is a huge disparity between Yale and the other Ivies in this regard. The strong tradition of social service (and leadership in general) at Yale dates back centuries.</p>
<p>Yes, 5 of the past 7 once Hillary is elected. </p>
<p>Also, at least one Yale alumnus has also been on one of the major party tickets in every U.S. Presidential election since 1972 (in some cases, 3 out of 4 of the Pres/VP candidates); and a Yalie has occupied the White House continuously since 1980.</p>
<p>Yale does court minorities with special mailing. My son is bi-racial and he got many inquiries from "top schools" but didn't apply to most. He hadn't planned on it and didn't feel at the time that they were legit. But, later on he found that students from our public schools that had lower than average Yale SAT scores got into Yale, but they were very promising in other areas. They like their share of underdogs, although it doesn't make up most of their pool.
I met a Yale professor at my gym and she told me you'll see everyone from the rich snobs to a virtually homeless student (paper did an article on him last year) The ones that make it stay focused, don't feel like they are competing and manytimes, show more enthusiasm than the ones groomed from birth. But again, the chances are slim, if someone doesn't mind losing the application fee, go for it.</p>
<p>Yeah, I got one of those letters too. I didn't think much of it, but the letter was longer than most of the other letters and sounded very nice, so it made me feel all warm and fuzzy and like they actually cared- until I remembered that they got my name from a database. That being said, I don't know how they select who they mail. Do they send it just based on scores or other info you provide? If it's the latter, I think they sent it to me because I have the scores and because I'm not an American citizen so maybe some sort of minority status there or something. But who knows. Either way, I'm applying, but I already decided that way before they ever sent me a letter. It did make me happy though, even if it means nothing.</p>
<p>i know how special it feels, cause i had one too. mine seemed personal, intimate and truly affected me. however, this is called "RECUITING!" when you check "i would like to receive informations about colleges and scholarships" on SATs, APs, PSATs, etc, your name goes under the database for thousands of colleges to see. they will pick and choose, or even just mail a whole crowd, just to spread the word about their college and fatten those application numbers.</p>