<p>So I was contemplating colleges seeing as how I'm making a trip out east in a week. I was thinking about college admissions, specifically for Yale. I keep getting bouts of "pee yourself" scared at the thought of not getting in (sometimes it gets so bad I can't sleep at night) intermixed with long stretches of "I know my chances are never great, but I've still got as good a shot as anyone." The bouts of fear are not that often, so don't think I'm mentally unstable or anything like that, it's just a fear I can't shake. My questions are as follows:</p>
<p>Am I the only one who seems to go through these cycles of quite hope/ "pee yourself" fear?</p>
<p>If so, what do you guys do to deal with it?</p>
<p>And my third question is, looking at things collectively, not all students that get in to Yale can be a URM, or legacy, or athlete, or ridiculously overqualified, right? I mean, I'm good, in fact, I excel (as I'm sure you all do as well), but I'm not a Intel Finalist-award winning author-superactivist that I seem to see all across these boards. I'm just a honest, intelligent, and passionate student who know that Yale is the place for him. Please tell me I'm not the only one in the boat</p>
<p>You’re not alone. I know I kind of commented on this in the <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/yale-university/965248-yale-2015-scea-hopefuls.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/yale-university/965248-yale-2015-scea-hopefuls.html</a> thread, but the best thing to do is think positively. You will end up where you are meant to be. My mom says to “put it in God’s hands.” Seeing as I don’t exactly believe in God (or at least its Catholic iteration), I find hard this hard to follow. However, I am not atheist; I believe that there is something bigger guiding us. Additionally, you should never underestimate the power of thinking positively. No matter what, you will probably attend a great university (possibly Yale), and call it fate, God, or whatever, it will be where you are meant to be. If you need something tangible, a reasonable (no more than 2 hrs) of SAT prep or essay writing sometimes works, but don’t go overboard. Don’t let this process consume you; the college you attend is not representative of your self-worth.</p>
<p>Sorry, I got preachy (again) and religious (not me), but I do believe that it’s the truth. I hope this helps. PM me if you want.</p>
<p>Thank you for your support. I personally do believe in God (not Catholic, however) but sometimes I lose sight of this. I guess I already “knew” what you said, but I “forgot” about it. Thanks</p>
<p>I think it depends on how you want to classify ridiculously overqualified. I think that most students, URMs, legacies, and athletes included, would be considered ridiculously overqualified to your average joe.</p>
<p>I am sure that it hurts all the more if you are rejected, but the best thing you can do it put YOURSELF in your common app and not a resume. Yale accepts people, not stats or ECs.</p>
<p>Look at top ten schools as high reaches–they are for everyone. Many great kids are not accepted every year; there are just not enough spots. Put it in perspective, which will lessen your disappointment if you are not accepted and increase your joy if you are.</p>
<p>One of my friends used to say: “I don’t need “Put in Name of School Here” to tell me my kids are smart.” She was referring to kids getting high grades. Likewise, you don’t need “Fill in Name of Sought After School” to verify that you are a great kid with top high school credientials.</p>
<p>I agree, it is important to believe that you did all that you could do and that the rest is out of your control. That will make sleep a lot, lot easier. You need to also be content with the option of not being at Yale. When I went through my bouts as well, one of them being the option that I was definitely not getting in to Yale and that I will be fine. This way, I will have gotten through all the difficult parts of each option. See if that works :)</p>
<p>Don’t lose sleep over it wrightm! I deal with stress/fear mainly by going to God, but taking a walk or doing something I enjoy takes the pressure off.</p>
<p>And I don’t think everyone who goes to Yale is absolutely, brilliantly amazing. The middle 50% of people who go to Yale have an ACT score of 30-34, according to the college board, [College</a> Search - Yale University - SAT®, AP®, CLEP®](<a href=“College Search - BigFuture | College Board”>College Search - BigFuture | College Board)
It helps me to remember this when I get stressed about test scores.</p>
<p>It’s really nice to know that I’m not alone. I’m the only kid at my school applying to any really cut-throat schools (95% of my school ends up at Madison every year), so it’s kind of reassuring to hear it from potential peers. I also greatly appreciate the reaffirming words of imagodei and pkm2232, telling me to just rely on God. I’m a devoted Christian, but many times you can easily forget that your plans aren’t necessarily His. I know He wants me to succeed, but for his goals, and not my own. I just hope His plan is for me to go to Yale, haha.</p>
<p>This verse always seems to help me, I hope for anyone else reading this, it helps too
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11</p>
<p>I’ve felt like that; I take it out on the gym/punching bag…lol… Just don’t let your self-esteem lower your standards. Remember (as my mother says) “Shoot for the stars, and if you miss, you’ll land on the moon.”</p>
<p>I’m a parent, and my advice is that it’s a mistake to give your heart exclusively before you know that your love will be returned. I mean that both for your personal relationships, and your college search. It’s fine to fall in love with Yale, but it’s not fine to fall in love exclusively (before you’ve been accepted). So the best thing you can do to relieve your anxiety is to stop telling yourself that you know Yale is the best/perfect/only place for you. Put your energy into finding other awesome schools to love, put time into your applications to make sure they reflect you as well as possible, and have faith that it will work out for the best.</p>
<p>My impression with this issue is not so much that colleges are more accepting of lower scores from people from certain backgrounds, but that they are more impressed by higher scores from these people. For example, scoring a 1500 on the SAT and a 16 on the ACT is unacceptable regardless of how poor and disadvantaged you are. However, a 2350 will be more impressive if you’re from a disadvantaged background than if you’re from the wealthiest county in the US. Just my two cents…</p>
<p>What if you are from the wealthiest county in the US, but from a disadvantaged background? I’m not trying to be glib/flippant; it’s not a hypothetical question.</p>
<p>I agree with memake. It is a mistake to fall hopelessly in love with any school that has admissions rates in the single digits. The most important thing is to build a balanced list of schools. A few pie in the sky reaches are OK, but be sure you have some more realistic reaches, as well as several matches and safeties. Figure out what it is you love about Yale, and look for schools that are not as hard to get into that share those same qualities. For instance, if you love Yale’s Residential College system, consider schools with similar systems and Living/Learning communities, like Rice and U of Michigan.</p>