<p>Hi! I'm a high school senior and I was thinking about applying to Yale.
Do you think this is enough?</p>
<p>Academics:
GPA: 3.96/4.0
Weighted GPA: 5.2 (will increase by end of the quarter)
SAT: 2060 (will hopefully increase before actual application)
SAT II: (really bad) Biology (610), Physics (590)
AP Classes in previous years: AP World History, AP French, AP English Language and Composition, AP US History, AP Calculus AB, AP Physics (didn't take actual class and self-studied for the exam)
Senior Year AP's: AP Macro/Microeconomics, AP Calculus BC, AP Chemistry, AP Physics C, AP Psychology, AP English Literature
Class Rank: 2/250</p>
<p>Extracurricular Activities:
In School:
- Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD)
- Member in 11th grade
- Vice President in 12th grade
- National Honor Society (NHS)
- Member in 11th grade, 12th grade
- Mad Scientists
- Member in 11th grade
Cultural Coalescence
- Member in 10th, 11th, and soon 12th grade
- It's Academic
- Member in 11th grade
- Baltimore County Physics Olympics
- 11th grade</p>
<p>Outside School:
- Eagle Swim Team (2008-current) (takes up most of my schedule)</p>
<p>Volunteering:
- Internship at University of Maryland Medical Center (October 2012 - May 2013)
- (starting October 31) Internship at Baltimore National Aquarium
- Volunteering at Newtown Elementary School (11th grade, 12th grade)
- Baltimore Running Festival (October 2010, 2012)
- Summer Reading Program at Baltimore Public Library (2011)
- Baltimore Country Fire Department Safety Fair (October 2011) (taught CPR and Heimlich Maneuver)
- Swimming Instructor for Children (2011)
- Green Clean for Winterset Community (2009, 2011, 2013)</p>
<p>I really do appreciate all of your comments. Thanks!</p>
<p>If your high school uses Naviance, or some other college admissions tracking system, you should check to see how many kids have been accepted from your HS to Yale with your GPA. If your HS doesn’t use Naviance, ask you guidance counselor, as they can provide you with school-specific information that will be more accurate that any advice you get on CC. </p>
<p>There are more qualified applicants than there are seats at Yale. Great grades, test scores, extracurriculars, demonstration of leadership qualities are pretty much prerequisites for admission. Great essays and recommendations will also play a role in the admissions process.</p>
<p>Because there are many more fully-qualified students who apply than there are seats in the incoming class, at least to those of us looking from the outside, there is a seeming element of randomness in the process. Even if you’re good, you’ll also need some luck to get into Yale.</p>
<p>There is little that you, the student, can do to directly get yourself into Yale. Do your best academic work, engage in non-academic activities that you enjoy or are meaningful to you, and be the best person you can be. But you should be doing all those things, anyway, not just to get into Yale.</p>
<p>For this applicant I’d say it’s the test scores, not the grades, that are the issue. OP, your SATs are below the 25th percentile for admitted students. (The 25th/75th percentiles are 2110 and 2380.) Most students applying will have equally good grades. I’d think about the reasons you like Yale and start finding other schools that you have a better chance of getting into. Good luck.</p>
<p>^^ While I agree the OP’s test scores are low for Yale, his or her class rank is #2 – so I’m guessing they can do better with another go-around on the SAT, or they may want to try the ACT. Colleges put more weight on the transcript than test scores, but test scores still have to be within a college’s mid-range for an unhooked applicant. Good luck StarfishSwimmer!</p>
<p>I believe extracurriculars in general are a concern for OP. Unless he/she is recruited for swimming, the ec’s really don’t show any level of passion or commitment. I would say that just about every single admit to HYP has at least one ec that was continually participated in for at least 3-4 years. OP’s interests are quite scattered and the test scores aren’t helping. The strong rank+course rigor probably won’t get him/her in alone, even with great recs. Definitely apply to Yale but don’t focus your list of schools on USnews top 20 schools.</p>
<p>I think the ECs are fine–this person is a swimmer, but has other activities too. It would be good, of course, if he or she is good enough to be recruited as a swimmer. I agree that the scores are the issue–try the ACT.</p>
<p>I’ll just note that OP doesn’t mention ethnicity. That can make a difference with regard to what scores you need.</p>
Thanks anyways.</p>