Official Yale 2013 SCEA Results Thread

you_llsee · December 15, 2008, 7:54pm

Decision: Accepted

Objective:[ul]
[] SAT I (breakdown): 720 Cr 710 M 740 Wr (retook in Nov. for 2270...but got to Yale too late)
[] SAT II: 780 Math II 730 US History 740 Literature
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.00
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/322 (Val)
[] AP (place score in parenthesis): US Hist (5) Statistics (5) US Gov't (5) Chem (5)
[] Senior Year Course Load: AP Calc., AP Biology, AP Eng. Lit., AP Psych, AP French, Jazz Band
[] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Nat'l Merit Semi, Nat'l Achievement Semi, US National Brain Bee Finalist, American Chemical Society Award, AP Scholar w/ Honor
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Hi-Q Team (captain), Student Council (president), National Honor Society (President), Jazz/Concert/and Marching Band (officer/section leader), Tutor in Math/Science/English, Science Olympiad (medal), Tennis (Summer Team Only...1st Singles)
[] Volunteer/Community service: Volunteer at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Volunteer at Summer Camp for Low Socioeconomic children in West Philly, MLK Day of Service, Tutor in Math, Science, and English.
[] Summer Activities: Tennis, Summer Camp Volunteer, CMU Ap/Ea 2008,
[] Essays: I didn't like them, but everyone else said they were good...eh.
[] Teacher Recommendation: Good I suppose
[] Counselor Rec: Good
[] Additional Rec: Really Good
[] Interview: Went really well. The alumni's ending comment was "You seem like someone who would really thrive at Yale"
[/ul]Other[ul]
[] Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
[] Intended Major: Psychology
[] State (if domestic applicant): PA
[] School Type: Horrible Public (1160 avg. SAT...all 3 sections)
[] Ethnicity: African American (Black)
[] Gender: Male
[] Income Bracket: $60,000 to 69,000
[] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM
[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[] Strengths: umm...AP Scores, SAT Subj. Test, Dual Enrollment @ Drexel
[] Weaknesses: I thought it was my essay..but i guess not.
[] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
[/ul]General Comments: Congrats!!! I can't believe I got in...this is sooooo surreal!

FunIntheSun91 · December 15, 2008, 7:55pm

Question for all deferees-

If we did not have an interview with Yale originally, could we possibly have one in the next few months now?

AdmissionsAddict · December 15, 2008, 7:58pm

FunIntheSun--yes to deferred candidates possibly getting an interview now.

hooray_47 · December 15, 2008, 7:59pm

Decision: Accepted

Objective:[ul]
[] SAT I (breakdown): 800 CR, 790 M, 800 W
[] SAT II: 790, 780, 760
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.99
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 2% at competitive public
[] AP (place score in parenthesis): Three 5's
[] Senior Year Course Load: 4 APs, a couple other required classes
[] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): NMSF, if that counts as major on CC lol
[/ul][ b]Subjective:[ul]
[] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): 2 varsity sports (captain of one), an instrument [not on a high level though], a few clubs/committees with some leadership or recognition
[] Job/Work Experience: yes--a few hours a week since freshman year
[] Volunteer/Community service: yes--done through my activities
[] Summer Activities: shadowed doctors at a medical clinic; most of my activities listed above continued into summer
[] Essays: both were well written. one of them was completely unique (trust me, it definitely was).
[] Teacher Recommendation: Didn't read them, but I'm sure they were at least good. Not on the "best student in my entire life" level, though.
[] Counselor Rec: Read this, it sounded really good (but I feel like everyone's must?)
[] Interview: was on campus and went really well
[/ul]Other*[ul]
[] Applied for Financial Aid?: no
[] Intended Major: Biology
[] State (if domestic applicant): CT
[] School Type: competitive suburban public. usually sends a couple to a few to the ivies every year.
[] Ethnicity: white
[] Gender: female
[] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): one of my essays...I guess you could say I had a compelling reason as to "why yale"
[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[] Strengths: essays, well-rounded (?), personable, idk i translated well onto paper i guess
[] Weaknesses: not a URM or someone who overcame adversity, no national "super-amazing" awards
[li] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: my essay, plus maybe my stats (hooray for standardized testing!)[/li][/ul]General Comments:* Wow. This thread is unbelievable--there are so many qualified applicants with every outcome. Congratulations to those who were accepted, and for those who weren't, you will all end up at truly amazing colleges!!

kd5qdf · December 15, 2008, 8:06pm

Decision: Accepted

Objective:[ul]
[] SAT I (breakdown): 800 M, 780 CR, 800 W
[] ACT: None
[] SAT II: 800 Chemistry, 800 US History, 800 Math Level 2
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1 / 950
[] AP (place score in parenthesis): US History (5), Chemistry (5), English Lang (5)
[] IB (place score in parenthesis): None
[] Senior Year Course Load: AP Biology, AP German 4, AP Calc BC, Orchestra, AP English 4, AP Stats, AP Economics
[] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Siemens Semifinalist, National Merit Semifinalist
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Math and Science UIL (president), Violin, Boy Scouts (Eagle Scout), amateur (ham) radio operator holding highest class license
[] Job/Work Experience: Kumon Tutor
[] Volunteer/Community service: Through Boy Scouts
[] Summer Activities: Summer Research and German Immersion Program in Germany
[] Essays: One about overcoming visual disability and one about science research
[] Teacher Recommendation: Didn't read them but I believe they were strong
[] Counselor Rec: Also didn't read it but my counselor likes me, so I'm asuming it was very strong
[] Additional Rec: One from the professor who oversaw my chemistry research
[] Interview: OK but not great. My interviewer lectured me on how difficult it is to get in.
[/ul]Other[ul]
[] Applied for Financial Aid?: No
[] Intended Major: Chemistry
[] State (if domestic applicant): TX
[] Country (if international applicant):
[] School Type: Public
[] Ethnicity: White
[] Gender: Male
[] Income Bracket: > 200,000
[] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): No official hooks, but I guess it can't hurt to be visually impaired
[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[] Strengths:Test scores, grades
[] Weaknesses: Did not have a great breadth of ECs
[] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected:I was probably accepted because I demonstrated in my application that I persue activities that I truelly enjoy.

[/ul]General Comments: Good luck to all, it's been a streessful yet thrilling ride!

sunshineyday · December 15, 2008, 8:07pm

Decision: Deferred

Objective:[ /b][ul]
[] SAT I (breakdown): 2130 730 CR 660 M 740 W
[] ACT: 33 (36 E 33 M 28 S 36 W)
[] SAT II: 760, 770, 690
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): school doesn't calculate (but straight As/A-s)
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):top 10%
[] AP (place score in parenthesis): 4,4,5,5
[] IB (place score in parenthesis):
[] Senior Year Course Load: AP Bio, AP Euro, AP Calc, English, Spanish
[] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): head of 3 publications, a varsity sport member, cultural club, etc
[] Job/Work Experience: 2 jobs (summer)
[] Volunteer/Community service: none put down
[] Summer Activities: jobs
[] Essays: I loved 'em.
[] Teacher Recommendation: One great, one OK
[] Counselor Rec: ??? Dunno, couldn't see it.
[] Additional Rec:
[] Interview: Good.
[/ul][ b]Other[ul]
[] Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
[] Intended Major: Undecided
[] State (if domestic applicant): Not telling
[] Country (if international applicant):
[] School Type: Private, uber competitive
[] Ethnicity: Not telling
[] Gender: F
[] Income Bracket: on the line of getting FA and not getting
[] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):
[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[] Strengths: ECs (one was really unique), unique situation discussed in essay, grades, rank, recs
[] Weaknesses: Scores were not amazing
[] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Probably because of my scores, which sucks because that's the only thing I can't change.
[/ul]General Comments: I'm OK with it though. I'm sorry everyone got deferred. I'm keeping my app in though.

Hunt · December 15, 2008, 8:08pm

Hunt's S:

Decision: Accepted

Objective:[ul]
[] SAT I (breakdown):800CR, 800M, 790W (8 essay)
[] ACT:N/A
[] SAT II:USH 790, Lit 790, Math 2 800
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.8
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Not ranked
[] AP (place score in parenthesis):Calc B/C (5), USH (4), Govt (4)
[] IB (place score in parenthesis): French SL (6), Math SL (6)
[] Senior Year Course Load: IB
[li] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Music stuff[/li]
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):Music composition--Boston University Tanglewood Institute, other music stuff; Eagle Scout
[] Volunteer/Community service: Through church and Scouting
[] Summer Activities: BUTI, CTY, World Jamboree
[] Essays: Good
[] Teacher Recommendation: Good, extra music recs
[] Counselor Rec: Good
[li] Interview: Good[/li]
[/ul]Other[ul]
[] Applied for Financial Aid?: No
[] Intended Major: Music
[] State (if domestic applicant): Md.
[] School Type: Magnet IB program in good suburban public
[] Ethnicity: white
[] Gender: male
[] Income Bracket: no financial aid
[] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Double legacy (both parents Yale College)

[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[] Strengths: Legacy, SATs, Music recs and supplement (composition)
[] Weaknesses: GPA
[li] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Legacy + music composition[/li]
[/ul]General Comments: Good luck to everybody. Remember that Yale gets to decide whether to admit you, but it doesn't really get to judge you.

Cogito_Ergo_Sum_1 · December 15, 2008, 8:11pm

Decision: Accepted!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Objective:

<pre><code>* SAT I (breakdown): 2310 (800 CR, 770 M, 740 WR)
* ACT: 35 (36 Reading, 35 Math, 36 Writing, 34 Science)
* SAT II: 800 MathIIC, 790 WH, 740 Lit
* Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.954
* Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): we're not ranked, but def top 5%
* AP (place score in parenthesis): 5 in Macro, Micro, Calc BC; taking Physics C E&M and Comparative Politics this year
* IB (place score in parenthesis): taking World Lit HL, History HL, Environmental Systems SL
* Senior Year Course Load: most rigorous, lots of APs/IBs
* Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Merit Semifinalist; few others that are too distinctive to mention
</code></pre>

Subjective:

<pre><code>* Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Rotary Club International (9-12, Chapter President and Regional Liason); L-D Debate Team (9-12, Co-captain); Model UN (9-12, Head Delegate); School Newspaper (10-12, Executive Editor); Mock Trial (11-12, Captain and Defense Attorney)
side note: have won various awards in many of these extracurriculars (ie Best Delegate awards, debate tournament wins, mock trial wins...listed on app but not here)
* Job/Work Experience: summer job in soph year
* Volunteer/Community service: volunteer leader with Rotary; Red Cross freshman year summer
* Summer Activities: junior year: attended prestigious summer program on scholarship; soph year: part-time job; frosh year: volunteering with Red Cross
* Essays: i feel extremely good about them. outstanding.
* Teacher Recommendation: One amazing, one very good
* Counselor Rec: Outstanding.
* Additional Rec: From a relative notable in the world of academia. Short and forceful, very good.
* Interview: On-campus, went quite well as far as I can tell.
</code></pre>

Other

<pre><code>* State (if domestic applicant): NY
* School Type: sends MANY grads to top schools (we have 8-10 applying SCEA :)
* Ethnicity: ORM
* Gender: M
* Income Bracket: > 250k
* Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none (sigh)
</code></pre>

Reflection

<pre><code>* Strengths: oodles of leadership and success in EC's; very cohesive profile (it seems obvious that i have a well-developed passion for debate/public policy stuff)
* Weaknesses: i honestly can't think of any...some of the other kids applying from my school are a few hundreths higher in GPA or a few tens higher in SAT, but is that really a huge deal? maybe the lack of a real hook is one, in my super-competitive region =\
</code></pre>

General Comments: Honestly, I feel like I put in 3 and a half years of hard work, and got the outcome that was deserved...I'm ecstatic!!!! Congrats to all who got in, and for those who didn't, you WILL attend a college that you'll love!!

TheShiningSun · December 15, 2008, 8:18pm

** Decision: Accepted **

Objective:

<pre><code>* SAT I (breakdown): 800 CR / 870 M / 800 W (12 essay)
* ACT: ---
* SAT II: 800 MathII / 800 Chem / 800 US Hist
* Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
* Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1
* AP (place score in parenthesis): 5 tests 5 on each
* IB (place score in parenthesis): ---
* Senior Year Course Load: AP Physics EM, AP Macro, AP English, AP French, AP Stat, AP Biology
* Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Harvard Book Award, Schoolwide Science and Math Awards, 9 Science Olympiad Medals, 4 Science Fair medals.
</code></pre>

Subjective:

<pre><code>* Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Student Council (VP) Class Officer (VP) National Honor Society (President) Science Olympiad (President) Mentoring Program (Chairman and Founder) Other community service
* Job/Work Experience: None
* Volunteer/Community service: Service Club leader
* Summer Activities: PA Governor School of Science
* Essays: Great
* Teacher Recommendation: Known both for 3 years now
* Counselor Rec: I'm basically on first name basis with counselor
* Additional Rec: ---
* Interview: Very Positive I think
</code></pre>

Other

<pre><code>* Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
* Intended Major: Chemistry
* State (if domestic applicant): PA
* Country (if international applicant): ---
* School Type: Public
* Ethnicity: Chinese
* Gender: Male
[ *] Income Bracket: Upper Middle Class
[ *] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): 5 Leadership positions, founder of schoolwide mentoring program, recommendations
</code></pre>

Reflection

<pre><code>* Strengths: Recommendations, Leadership
* Weaknesses: Essays
* Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Leadership
</code></pre>

General Comments: Yay?, Leadership really counts, some people in this thread have more qualified objectives than me with deferred, i think its the leadership that does it for them. Congrats to all no matter what the decision

davezhan · December 15, 2008, 8:21pm

Deferred...

dragonwriter · December 15, 2008, 8:25pm

Decision: Rejected

cinnamon9724 · December 15, 2008, 8:36pm

Decision: Deferred

Objective:[ul]
[] SAT I :2350
[] ACT:35
[] SAT II: 800 Math II, 750 Chem, 750 World History
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1
[] AP (place score in parenthesis): Calc BC (5), World History (5), English Language (4), U.S. History (5)
[] Senior Year Course Load: AP Literature, Journalism, Calc 3, Differential Equations, AP Physics, AP Spanish
[] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): NONE :)
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
[] Job/Work Experience: Worked at a survey place for about a year
[] Volunteer/Community service: MANY, repaired homes for a week in Appalachia, day camp for children of immigrant workers, animal shelter, etc.
[] Summer Activities: volunteer stuff, beach, reading ;)
[] Essays: best I could do
[] Teacher Recommendation: wasn't able to read them, but I think they should be alright
[] Counselor Rec: haven't a clue; she's a very eccentric woman
[] Additional Rec: glowing
[] Interview: VERY well! We got along great; he said he'd strongly recommend me.
[/ul]Other[ul]
[] Applied for Financial Aid?: No
[] Intended Major: Chemical engineering
[] State (if domestic applicant): IL
[] School Type: Public
[] Ethnicity: White
[] Gender: Female
[] Income Bracket: 150,000
[] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Nada
[/ul][ b]Reflection**[ul]
[] Strengths: Strong stats
[] Weaknesses: I have no major awards and never went above and beyond what was offered at my school (besides volunteering)
[] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Please see "weaknesses"

[/ul]General Comments: Quite frankly, after looking through everyone else's stuff, especially those who were rejected, I'm so grateful for my deferral. I had no reason to expect an acceptance and now have no reason to be disappointed. Yale thinks I'm good enough for a second look at least, and I couldn't ask for more :)

cinnamon9724 · December 15, 2008, 8:38pm

hmm, missed the EC's: Newspaper (editor-in-chief), class secretary for 4 years, state qualifier in badminton, etc.

limetime · December 15, 2008, 8:40pm

hmm. If I could have gotten an 870 on Math section like TheShiningSun did, maybe I would have gotten in too! XD

hookem168 · December 15, 2008, 8:41pm

^ hahahahaha, I know! It appears he found the super-secret bonus question!

whsdrummer99 · December 15, 2008, 8:42pm

[ size=+2]Decision: Rejected[/size]

Objective:[ul]
[ ] SAT I (breakdown): 2020 Math: 700 Writing: 650 Reading: 670
[ *] ACT: 34
[ *] SAT II: Math II: 780 USH: (can't remember, in the 700s though)
[ *] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
[ *] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/200
[ *] AP (place score in parenthesis): Calc BC (5) English (4) Psych (5) USH (3)
[ *] IB (place score in parenthesis):
[ *] Senior Year Course Load: as hard as possible
[ *] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit, AP Scholar, NHS
[/ul]Subjective:[ list]
[ *] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Marching Band (section leader), jazz band, concert band, pep band, baseball team (chaplain), cross country (chaplain), track, ski club, Mu Alpha Theta (secretary), FCA, Christian Teens, Teenage Republicans (treasurer), Student Council (VP), and church organizations.
[ *] Job/Work Experience: Summer job
[ *] Volunteer/Community service:
[ *] Summer Activities: Job
[ *] Essays: decent
[ *] Teacher Recommendation: 1 amazing, 1 good marks, but a really dull essay (it was my old AP English teacher, she can not write at all...)
[ *] Counselor Rec: very good
[ *] Additional Rec:
[ *] Interview: incredible
[/list]Other[ul]
[ *] Applied for Financial Aid?: yes
[ *] Intended Major: economics
[ *] State (if domestic applicant): WV
[ *] Country (if international applicant):
[ *] School Type: public
[ *] Ethnicity: white
[ *] Gender: male
[ *] Income Bracket: upper middle
[ *] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none
[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[ *] Strengths: ECs
[ *] Weaknesses: low SAT scores...
[ *] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: SAT scores and lack of a hook
[/ul]General Comments:* Good Luck!!

confused_vnese · December 15, 2008, 8:44pm

Decision: Accepted

Objective:[ul]
[] SAT I (breakdown): 750 CR/ 780 M/800 W - 2350 (single, 2nd sitting. 1st time: 2180 - 720/750/710)
[] SAT II: 780M2 / 760 M1 / 740 Chemistry / 730 Physics (only Physics taken twice, 1st time 640)
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): School doesnt calculate
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 2%
[] AP (place score in parenthesis): Nope. A - Level
[] IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
[] Senior Year Course Load: A Level: Math, Physics, Chemistry, History. History Honours, English mandatory.
[] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): 1 international writing award - 1st Prize, Science fair awards, international science conference representation, national History award, MUN, Odyssey of the Mind award, Astronomy award. (Disclaimer: Singapore - the country i studied in- is too small that all awards are "national". They're still competitive though. Think all-Asian country :D) 1st in level for History, 2nd for English (class size 700)
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Science club VP (organised a major international science event and many intra-school science events), House Activities Team (a subset of student council - organised and led all school events), Astronomy club (executive member), Drama - as far as i remember.
[] Job/Work Experience: Secretariat intern with the Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs this year during the Asean ministerial meeting in July, 1 stint intern with the Vietnam MFA, co-translated Harry Potter.
[] Volunteer/Community service: in Singapore (this one is lame), overseas to Indonesia, in Vietnam - all very long term. Initiated 1 comm service astronomy camp for lower secondary school students.
[] Summer Activities: Research + Comm. Serv. + translation jobs
[] Essays: - CommonApp one is the international prize winning essay (abridged and reformatted). Incidentally, it explains why i started doing comm service in Vietnam at 14. I dont know but people like it. I received one really nice letter of appreciation from the essay committee of the organisation and he explained how it's touched him and changed his viewpoint and stuff.
- Supp. essay was about my dad's fall from grace (think Bill Clinton) and how it affected me. TBH i love this one more than the first one, probably because i've read the first one way too many times i got scared by it. I have reservations about it but everyone i sent it to (a CC parent, my friends from Columbia and Yale) loves it and they're tough critics :)
[] Teacher Recommendation: Nothing spectacular. 1st one was by my History teacher, did comment on my "writing ability" and how i'm interested in Politics and always have some opinions to say LOL. Oh mentioned Yale is my dream i think. 2nd one was by my Chemistry teacher. He loves me but his letter was rather...mediocre but i respect him too much to ask him to change it.
Disclaimer: I waived access but they let me see them anyway. The chem teacher asked me to vet it actually. I saw the tick boxes. Not fantastic. Chem: All "one of the best" save for two options - you cant imagine how those two boxes haunted me for the past two months. But again, i didn't ask him to change anything. History: scattered, but "one of the best" in all the Intellectual-related boxes.
[] Counselor Rec: Not bad. Looks more like my condensed resume, but did stress how prestigious the essay competition is (over 6000 entries from >50 countries, how i'm the 3rd in the country to every win and the 1st for my high school. even though English is only my 2nd language). Did say how active my school life is and my interest in politics. Tick boxes: "One of the best" for Academic and Overall, the other one is ticked in the "Top 5%" column.
Disclaimer: Again, I waived access. But the teacher said that since my English is much better than hers why dont i help her write it and she'll get it vetted by all my other teachers and ECA teachers for accuracy. I'll admit that i sound better in that paper than in real life :D
[] Additional Rec: One from my Vietnamese middle school teacher (mentor since grade 6 til now). Basically quite glowing cos she talked about how i'm one of the best the 100-yr-old school has seen yet and I was also in Student council then and initiated quite a number of projects. BUT there's a catch: she did mention my clashes with the headmistress (-.-) because i'm a notorious non-conformist. Although it did conclude nicely (that i have principles, i stand up for friends etc.) i kept wondering if it was such a good idea to mention not-so-conventional stuff like that.
[] Interview: Okay. I thought there were parts where i screwed up. Went for about 1 hour and i was told the guy (a very distinguished industrial leader. I was puzzled he even find time to interview 18 yr-olds) only interviews 4 people per year.
Highlights: He mentioned a movie about the CIA in its early years and I got the name - The Good Shepherd - he looked quite pleased that i'm engaged and not cut off from the world due to my studies.
- I talked passionately (my eyes went red!) about my community service. He seemed to enjoy it.
- I conversed with him about politics (mostly US politics, and I was able to cite Johnson, Lincoln, Clinton, Obama and McCain - ahah!). I mentioned that i was studying US History for fun. Also mentioned why I like McCain, and how i believe he'd be a much better President than his campaign made him out to be.
- I talked about how i disapprove of my school's policy of pushing kids to do ECAs just to pump up their portfolios.
- I talked about my family: dad's a western educated PhD, mom's a communism-embracing cop. how that facilitated debate and toleration of ideas since young.
- I advertised my country (cos he was visiting)
- I came early (!). I glanced at his notebook where he was writing stuff about me and he noted this fact. Btw, he filled about 4 A5-sized pages.
- I made him laugh several times.
Low-lights:
- For some reason my top drooped rather low as i sat - blame lousy fabric. Forever 21- that's you! I thought that was unprofessional.
- At the end he asked "Do you want me to convey to them any thing else about you?" and I launched into a cliche-ridden self-advertising campaign that was lame and boring. Dont know what possessed me then.
[/ul]Other[ul]
[] Applied for Financial Aid?: THIS IS THE BEST PART. Yes. My family indicated 10,000 USD contribution per year but the financial aid award was full 100% (50,000USD). I'm freaking happy man. Okay our annual income is about 20,000USD max but i thought the financial crisis would have killed my chance at a full financial aid.
[] Intended Major: POL SCI POL SCI POL SCI :D I wrote about how Professor Gaddis introduced me to the Cold War and how i lurked around in the Yale Pol Sci Dept website and found great things in my Why Yale essay (about 500 words or so). Also wrote about how my whole family loves Bill Clinton and so i knew of Yale before I actually knew how to read or do math. Say something like Yale is my dream (for alll prospective Yalies: stress this as hard as you can :D)
[] State (if domestic applicant):
[] Country (if international applicant): VIETNAM
[] School Type: Huge Public in Singapore (~760 in senior class). Hyper competitive
[] Ethnicity: Asian
[] Gender: F
[] Income Bracket: Upper-middle in Vietnam, Low in US
[] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None?
[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[] Strengths: SAT I (?, for a Vietnamese national), definitely community service, some would say essays (i'd send them to you if you're nice to me :D). ECAs all long-term and i've achieved some thing (either national awards or leadership positions) in all of my ECAs. I'm quite humorous in person and i think it showed in my interview and writing. I showed that I have an opinion (not necessarily the popular one) and i'll go all out to defend it.
[] Weaknesses: All the little things i mentioned. My essays are super long (all about 1,000 words), but if i cut some more they'll be butchered.
[li] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I was really lucky :D The sheer fact that my teachers let me read/edit their recommendations. That i scored high for the SAT. That my estimated postage was somehow enough. That the mails didn't get lost (when you send via normal mail to another country half way around the globe, there's the risk. In fact many of my friends didnt get so lucky.)[/li]- I worked my ass off, esp for the essays and short questions. I wrote the 2nd essay in 2 days but it's super draining. I wrote 3,000 words and cut it down to about 1,000.[/ul]

*Fun fact: Who said the bulldog dances? It doesn't. There's just the picture of a bulldog and some music playing. Quite funny though but my internet is so slow that the music doesn't load..
Sorry this is long but i wanted to be as detailed as i could.

b1ah8p · December 15, 2008, 8:53pm

[ *] SAT I (breakdown): 800 MATH 800 CR 800 WRITING
[ *] SAT II: MATH2C: 800 LITERATURE: 710 US HISTORY: 730
[ *] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0):3.83, 4.43(UC GPA)
[ *] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):12/774
[ *] AP (place score in parenthesis):
World History: 5
Calc AB: 5
Physics C: 3-3
European History: 5
Calc BC: 5
English Lang: 5
Psych: 5
Chemistry: 2
US History: 5
[ *] Senior Year Course Load:AP Eng Lit, AP Bio, Auto Mech, AP Stat, Lit Analysis, AP Macro, AP Gov
[ *] Major Awards: Steve Allen Excellence in Education Award, Duke Moot Court Best Speaker, 2 Science Olympiad Awards, 6 Speech and Debate Awards

[ *] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):Speech and Debate (Co-Pres), V Tennis (Captain), CA Scholarship Federation (historian, secretary)
[ *] Job/Work Experience:Intern for Assemblyman, Intern for Superior Court Judge, Worked as an SAT tutor
[ *] Volunteer/Community service:Recording for Blind and Dyslexic
[ *] Essays:I'm pretty sure one of them was good
[ *] Teacher Recommendation: Top 5% in career
[ *] Counselor Rec: Probably Good
[ *] Interview: Pretty good. We talked for over an hour about everything related to Yale

[ *] Applied for Financial Aid?:yep
[ *] Intended Major: Econ/Poly Sci
[ *] State (if domestic applicant): CA
[ *] School Type:Public, I attend HGM program
[ *] Ethnicity: Korean
[ *] Gender:Male
[ *] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): nada

[ *] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Korean male? Possibly not enough major leadership roles or enough leadership roles; stronger ECs because I think my academic record is pretty strong.

1012 · December 15, 2008, 8:58pm

Decision: Accepted

(have to be a bit careful - lots of identifying information)

Objective:[ul]
[] SAT I (breakdown): 800 CR, 750 M, 780 W
[] ACT: did not take
[] SAT II: Bio M:800, Bio E: 800, Math II: 800, Chem: 800, US History: 800
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1st/354 (3rd weighted)
[] AP (place score in parenthesis):
[ol]
[]Chemistry: 5
[]US Government & Politics: 5
[]English Language & Composition: 5
[]US History: 5
[]Calculus AB: 5
[]Statistics: 5
[]Microeconomics: 5
[]Macroeconomics: 5
[li]Biology: 5 [/ul][/li]
[] IB (place score in parenthesis): None
[] Senior Year Course Load: 6 AP classes out of 7 total
[li] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Siemens Regional Finalist, Publication at an international conference, Yale Science and Engineering Award, Coca-Cola Scholar Semifinalist, Congressional Award (Gold), bunch of piano awards (state, national), NMSF, Chem/Bio Olympiads, etc etc[/li][/ol]

Subjective:[ul]
[] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): NHS, Math Team, Internship, etc
[] Job/Work Experience: Library
[] Volunteer/Community service: > 400 hrs
[] Summer Activities: math camp
[] Essays: Pretty well-written. It may not be spectacular, but I think it was OK.
[] Teacher Recommendation: very good.
[] Counselor Rec: very good.
[] Additional Rec: very good recommendation letter from my science mentor
[li] Interview: Good. Connected very well, since interviewer recently graduated from my high school and played piano.[/li][/ul]

Other[ul]
[] Applied for Financial Aid?: No
[] Intended Major: Neuroscience (in Cellular, Biological, and Molecular Biology)
[] State (if domestic applicant): Northeast
[] Country (if international applicant):
[] School Type: Suburban Public
[] Ethnicity: Asian
[] Gender: Male
[] Income Bracket: See "Applied for Financial Aid?"
[li] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Published a paper; Yale Science and Engineering Award, piano[/li][/ul]

Reflection[ul]
[] Strengths: Science Research
[] Weaknesses: General lack of humanities stuff
[li] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: As a scientist well-versed in the humanities, perhaps I fit well into Yale's mold. [/li][/ul]

General Comments: I feel for Atlas' pain, and I am glad I'm now not him.

Leadership is not a magical formula. I had less than stellar leadership, but I was passionate in what I did, and that fit Yale.

NB: The Congressional Award is perhaps one of the least heard-of, yet very good award. Parents out there, get your child to do it! Eminently doable; I loved it.

Finally, I'm excited for all this! Aren't you all? For those of you who are deferred, I fully sympathize. For all of you who are rejected, I'm going to stop to avoid sounding callous.

Nick017 · December 15, 2008, 9:03pm

size=+2][ color=green][ b]Decision: Accepted[ /b][ /color][ /size]
[ b]Objective:[ /b][ list]
[ ] SAT I (breakdown): 800M/800CR/720WR
[ ] ACT:none
[ *] SAT II:800 Chem, 800 Math, 760 Spanish (w/ listening, non native).
[ *] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
[ *] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Val 9000
[ *] AP (place score in parenthesis): BC Calc, Euro, US, Chem, Psych, Econ. (5s and 4)
[ *] IB (place score in parenthesis):
[ *] Senior Year Course Load: 2 courses in post calculus math at college, hardest everything at school.
[ *] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AIME (not major). Yale Book Award (ditto)
[ /list][ b]Subjective:[ /b][ list]
[ *] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): So much stuff, none of it random, all of it ties into my overall theme of science and discovery.
[ *] Job/Work Experience: Tons of top notch chemistry interning
[ *] Volunteer/Community service: Volunteering is totally gay, as South Park says.
[ *] Summer Activities: High quality courses at colleges, but also going to disgusting countries and helping set up orphanages and junk.
[ *] Essays: One was pure science and math based - straight up love of (X). But any liberal arts would have cried, I guarantee it. Then i wrote about the band that I have and how I'm so amazing at the guitar and light effects and sound and all this technical baloney. I knew they were BS, but my GC thought they were profound or something.
[ *] Teacher Recommendation: Amazing, both of them, I am a good actor and that is all that matters in this process.
[ *] Counselor Rec: Same as teacher.
[ *] Additional Rec: My Yale science research buddy postdoc. I know it was good because my dad literally saved his life, but Yale doesnt know that.
[ *] Interview: GOOOOD. (Actor) Talked about how classic rock's devolution to this rap ** mirrors America's cultural disentigration and moral evaporation, and how i was one of the few students who should have been born in the good old days.
[ /list][ b]Other[ /b][ list]
[ *] Applied for Financial Aid?: Yeah
[ *] Intended Major: Chemistry/Engineering, with a serious tinge of music and drama
[ *] State (if domestic applicant): CT
[ *] Country (if international applicant): US
[ *] School Type: Private
[ *] Ethnicity: I neglected to put down my race.
[ *] Gender: Male
[ *] Income Bracket:200K-250k
[ *] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Legacy isnt a hook, since my parents havent given them anything and they only did their graduates their. I think not putting down your race may have confused them and hooked me, but probably not.
[ /list][ b]Reflection[ /b][ list]
[ *] Strengths: Overall ability to lie and politic. And sound so, so convincing when I try.
[ *] Weaknesses: None, I mean, at first I seem like a science nerd, which is true, but I guess Yale needs one or two of those with the new science development going on.
[ *] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I understand how Yale picks its candidates and instead of being all like, oh ill just be me, I was like, ill just be 'this dude'
[ /list][ b]General Comments:[ /b] Good Luck!! Deferrees - HPS wants you. Remember, Yale DOESNT want YOU, I dont care what they say. It wants HIM or HER. Now think of who those people are. And become them on paper.

Thread		Replies	Views
Official Yale Class of 2017 SCEA Results Thread Yale University	85	672	April 18, 2021
*Official Yale 2013 SCEA Decisions Thread* Yale University	43	311	April 17, 2021
Official Yale Class of 2015 SCEA Results Thread Yale University	331	2047	April 17, 2021
Yale University Class of 2024 SCEA Decision Result Yale University	3	5144	April 18, 2021
Official Yale Class of 2018 SCEA Results Thread Yale University	57	1226	April 18, 2021

Official Yale 2013 SCEA Results Thread

POPULAR STATES

SEARCH SAT SCORES

SEARCH ACT SCORES

SEARCH GPA’S

Official Yale 2013 SCEA Results Thread

Related topics

POPULAR STATES

SEARCH SAT SCORES

SEARCH ACT SCORES

SEARCH GPA’S

CONNECT WITH US