My Chances at Admission?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Yale University
1

<p>So I was just wondering what people thought my chances at getting into Yale (SCEA) would be. Other Ivy's, too, but Yale as my first choice.</p>

<p>I'm a white, Jewish male and I go to school in New York at Stuyvesant High School, which is a powerhouse in terms academics and just sending kids to the Ivy's in general. We don't have a rank system and we scale our GPA out of 100. We also don't weight scores at all, so APs and honors classes are worth the same as any other class (except gym, which doesn't count at all unfortunately =P).</p>

<p>So here are my stats:</p>

<p>GPA - 95.6%
Class Rank: top 10%
Class Size: >800</p>

<p>Scores:</p>

<p>SAT I -- 2360 (Math: 800) (Critical Reading: 770) (Writing: 790)
SAT II U.S. History: 780
SAT II Math Level 2 (IIC): 800
SAT II Chemistry: 800</p>

<p>AP Euro (5), AP US (4), AP Language and Composition (4), AP Chemistry (5), AP French (didn't take exam)</p>

<p>I'm going to be taking AP Government, AP Calculus, AP English Literature and Composition, and AP Computer Science. </p>

<p>For extracurricular activities, I've been dancing for the past 13 years in assorted styles (ballet, ballroom, and modern). It's been a cherished part of me for a significant portion of my life, and thankfully still is. I'm the leader of my modern dance group, which is one step below the actual teacher/choreographer. I've done a lot of volunteer hours through my dance group, because we perform at various public and private events to celebrate a certain event and to give the audience a good time! I think I've done well over 150 hours at these various shenanigans.</p>

<p>I'm also on the Speech section of the Speech and Debate Team. I've been somewhat successful, more in my junior year than anytime else. I now help the underclassmen with accustoming themselves to the team, picking speeches, and perfecting themselves and their oratorical skills. </p>

<p>My last major extracurricular activity is my position on the Events Committee of our sector of the National Honor Society, ARISTA. Through it, I've been the leader of several major events and have organized for the passage of many more. With it I've had over 50 hours of volunteer hours.</p>

<p>In my summers, I've done many programs that have helped expand my horizons and let me dabble in various subjects, such as the Manhattan Multicultural Program, which had a focus on broadening our knowledge of the United Nations and understanding the idea of tolerance in an ever changing world. This summer, I took math classes in Advanced Problem Solving and Advanced Algebra and Trigonometry at the Macaulay Summer Honors Institute.</p>

<p>With all this in mind, what are my chances at getting in?</p>

2

<p>No one can help? ):</p>

3

<p>Stats are strong; make sure that your essays convey passion and you should be in a very good position.</p>

4

<p>I’d say your stats are very good. Obviously you’re extremely passionate about a very select few of things. I totally understand that it is in fact quality, not quantity, but at the same time, 3 clubs is a tad short in my opinion. I mean, what are you interested in studying in school? If it’s dance (I think they have dance majors at Yale, not my thing so I’m no expert) that’s great, you’re solid. But say you wish to study chemistry, and none of your EC demonstrate that. Most schools will be sort of surprised to see nothing in conjunction with the area of study you wish to pursue. Be sure to write great essays, and you’ve got a good shot.</p>

<p>Take my comments with a grain of salt, I’m NOT a Yale student (yet, haha)</p>

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<p>You sound like you have a strong chance, but being a white male from New York definitely won’t help you. However, you seem like you could probably get into a HYPSM school.</p>

6

<p>^^ Your stats are very good and your commitment to a few ECs is fine and does not need to tie into anything you want to study. It is easy and fruitless to pad your ECs with clubs that meet once a week to fill in blanks. The majority of admitted Yale students don’t pursue the field they put on the application and would have no opportunity to even get exposure in many Yale majors (?Anthropology, Geology, Sociology, etc.). My guess is that a male modern dancer who leads his organization with a 13 year commitment offers more to the campus environment than a similar student who is captain of the math team, science olympiad, and college bowl at the same time. It wouldn’t matter that the latter has more lines filled out on the application.</p>

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<p>Just to reiterate. YaleGradandDad is absolutely correct when he said your EC’s don’t HAVE to relate to your intended area of study. My comment was simply based on my personal feelings . For example, my interest is in biology. I eat it up, so many, if not most, of the ec’s I do are focused in biology and the other sciences, but I guess the idea is to do what you’re passionate about. (which you obviously have accomplished). NEVER JUST FILL LINES</p>

<p>Although I do take beef with the idea that “a male modern dancer… offers more to the campus environment than a similar student who is captain of the math team, sci. olympiad, and college bowl”.
Not that a dancer could not contribute more to a campus environment, just that it is sort of an ignorant statement to imply that a math, sci olympiad, college bowl captain inherently contributes less. That student could be just as, if not more, of a contributing factor. Ultimately, that is based on a case by case basis, and cannot be generalized. </p>

<p>Please do not think that I am trying to insult you or YaleGradandDad in any way, I was simply making an observation.</p>

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<p>wrightm:</p>

<p>By the nature of taking the most academically talented students in the country who also have time to pursue ECs, Yale probably gets a disproportionate number of students who excel in those academic type clubs. My comment was more about recognizing that a male modern dancer offers more to increasing diversity on campus than another academic bowl champion of which there are many in the 2300+ SAT 4.0 GPA crowd. If this were a Julliard thread and we were looking at comparable violin prodigies, I would have said that the academic bowl champ would add more interest to the student body than a dancer of 13 years. I did not mean to say a dancer adds more to the campus than the academic bowl champ, just that another dancer adds more than another academic bowl champ of which there are many at Yale and similar top tier schools. Likewise, being all-state on the Harp may mean more for admissions than being all-state on the violin. Both are needed for the orchestra but one is much more “valuable” when you look at its rarity.</p>

9

<p>Okay, I understand where you are coming from. My apologies.</p>