I apologize that’s not how I mean at all! I’m not anymore likely to get accepted or rejected than any one of the other 15,000 or so qualified applicants. Someone earlier made the point that a great supplement was not going to be enough on it’s own and I just wanted to make the point that I am as accomplished in academics as any one of the other applicants.
I’m entitled to all that I have worked for. I worked to pay for my instrument, my schooling and my citizenship fees. I have worked hard through all high school and I know that be it Yale or my safety I will go to a great school that I am a great fit for. I’m not entitled to an “Elite” education, and I don’t put a whole lot of value on the name of any institution. To be perfectly honest I hadn’t even heard of Yale until about 2 years ago. I did the global scholars program and despite my initial determination not to fall for a school that’s next to impossible to gain admission to, I did. I visited Harvard and was distinctly unimpressed. I visited Princeton and left with a bad taste in my mouth. Yale is also the only school my parents liked too, and even though they tried so hard to like Harvard (it was the only school they’d actually heard of before) when we left they told me that it’s not a good school for Russians? not sure what that’s about but it may have had something to do with the rudeness our guide showed to non English speaking parents,including several Chinese families.
I’ll be the first to say that I am not a perfect cellist, nor even the most talented but I would dare to say that I am among the most hardworking. I’ll be the first to say that I am not the perfect applicant. I’ll be the first to say that I will in all likelihood be rejected at Yale. I will also be the first to advocate for myself. I do get a little defensive about academics and awards especially on a site like this, being a low income immigrant puts many in a position to assume that I am less capable. I am not less than, please do not misinterpret this as arrogance.
This also could be a language issue. English is not my first language and I have learned that Americans often find Russian syntax and “bluntness” to be very rude. Through years of awkward fumbling I realized that English is a language of lies :). In Russia, when someone says oh we should hang out sometime, you immediately get out phone and calendar to get a date. In the US it’s said in passing, with no real commitment. When someone asks how you are doing, you go into detail. If someone looks bad, you can tell them without being absurdly rude. I could write an anthology of all the times “Russian honesty” has gotten me into trouble.