Okay, I give in- my EA chances?

Colleges & Universities A-Z Yale University
1

<p>I can't believe it, but I've given in.
Also, I feel kind of bad posting right after H20Poloer. lol. But here it goes...</p>

<p>Basic stuff:
-white female
-location: colorado
-school type: public magnet for the arts- admission by audition. I double major- in creative writing and cinema (meaning i take classes in each of those subjects for an hour and a half each day).</p>

<p>Stats/Application:
-ACT: 36 science, 35 reading, 35 english, 30 math (34 composite)
-class rank: 2/130
-GPA: 4.8, hardest available courseload
-APs: US history, 5; Euro history, 5; Calc AB, 5
-Teacher Recs: very good, but both by english teachers
-Essays: well, I like them. Not really sure though.</p>

<p>ECs:
-Documentary filmmaking (9, 10, 11, 12) (see awards)
-Independent Writing (9, 10, 11, 12) (see awards)
-Gay Straight Alliance (10,11,12) - president (11), branch president (12)
-Writing Club (Literary Magazine staff) (9,10,11,12)- judge, layout artist, contributor to lit magazine. organized use book drive (2006). officer (12- only avaiable to seniors)
-PeaceJam (12)- Amnesty Intl/Community Service club started (not by me) in 06/07 school year. organize letter writing drives, organize/participate in weekly after school art classes for low income elementary kids
-Senior Senate (12)- elected by sr class
-I also work (see 'other' section)</p>

<p>Awards:
-National History Day: 1st place/history channel award (2006), 2nd place (2005), 3rd place (2004): Senior Individual Documentary category
-Colorado History Day: 1st place, 2004-06: Senior individual documentary category
-Gold award for novel writing, scholastic art and writing awards (working with editor to publish novel)
-Natl Merit semifinalist
-1st place in two statewide essay contests (banned books and ACLU)
-winner in two statewide poetry contests</p>

<p>Community Service:
-150 hours freshman year as a counselor for the wilderness program my school district runs for 5th graders
-100ish hours at an animal shelter jr year
-25 hours planning a nonprofit special event sr year</p>

<p>Other:
-have worked 20 hours a week at a drugstore for all of junior and senior year
-attended Telluride Association Summer Program (TASP) at Washington University in St Louis in 2006
-documentaries have been screened at the Denver Academy Film Festival for Youth, the Breckenridge Film Festival, and the Japan-America Society of Colorado
-no one from my school has ever applied to Yale before. does this help or hurt me?</p>

2

<p>Did you take the ACT with Writing?</p>

3

<p>that 34 is without writing. i retook in october (still don't know score...)</p>

4

<p>I guess the October score is the one that Yale will "count" officially so good luck to you!!!!!:)</p>

5

<p>lol. don't sell yourself short. You have a crucial aspect that my application is lacking and that is direction. Your ecs and application as a whole is focused in one area. It's people like you who get into Yale and become part of the well rounded class.</p>

6

<p>The numbers look like solid, typical Yale numbers. We all know you need an extra thing or two, though. Here are the things I think work in your favor:</p>

<p>I think it's very important that you were working during your junior and senior years. It shows that you're capable of doing a lot of other things and still getting a perfect GPA. More important, though, is the simple fact that you've had to work for something. Many Yale applicants are wealthy East-Coast kids who haven't had to work in their lives. Your job experience will count a lot more than you might think.</p>

<p>Writing seems to be very important to you, and I hope you stressed that on your application. This is the part where you show your interests, passions, and all that stuff. Hopefully you could bring it to life in one of the essays or the 150 word thing. That's where you make yourself more than "just another valedictorian." Somewhat fittingly, how they evaluate your passion for writing will probably be decided by how well you write.</p>

7

<p>thanks all!
it seems to me (and i think you guys would probably agree) that I, like many of the rest of Yale's applicant pool, have "bought" myself a raffle ticket with my scores/ECs/etc, and now it just comes down to a certain level of randomness. </p>

<p>oh december 15th, why are you so far away?</p>

<p>Yaguarre- it's interesting the things you mentioned about my profile, because I wrote my 150 word deal on people watching at my job (combining the writing thing and the working thing, lol). my main common app essay is on how a lot of my interests relate to storytelling.</p>

8

<p>Your stats look great, and you seem like you would have an amazing shot at Yale, but don't you have to take 3 SAT II's to be considered for admission to Yale?</p>

9

<p>Yes, Yale requires 3 SAT IIs.</p>

10

<p>It's three SAT IIs OR the ACT.</p>

11

<p>^ thankfully :]</p>

12

<p>^agreed. I would be so screwed.</p>

13

<p>According to the College Board website, less than 5% of the freshman class took the ACT without the SAT. I wouldn't personally put myself in that minority.</p>

14

<p>JSB - could it be simply that most kids take the SAT first, then took the ACT?</p>

<p>and where did you read that? do you have a direct link?</p>

15

<p>^Maybe that's because Yale is an East Coast school and the SAT reigns supreme everywhere outside the Midwest???:rolleyes:</p>

<p>Look, if Yale preferred the SAT over the ACT, then they would clearly ask for the SAT only, let alone allowing applicants to substitute the ACT w/ Writing with the SAT I and 3 subject tests.</p>

16

<p>ITA
Don't overanalyze. Yale allows both, and treats them equally. End of story.</p>

17

<p>thank goodness. JSB made me panic for a while there.</p>

18

<p>A lot of applicants who live in the northeast are now taking the SAT and if they don't do as well they take the ACT and if they score higher they are submitting the ACT instead of the SAT. Where the applicant submits the ACT and the SAT II subject tests, I think the top ivy league schools therefore assume that they took just the ACT and then the SAT II subject tests, or vice versa. However, Where an applicant is from an area like the northeast where the SAT is considered the test of choice for the ivy league, and other states where the SAT has been the test of choice, but submits just the ACT with writing alone, there is always a chance that the top ivy league schools might suspect that the appilcant took the SAT and did not do well and therefore chose to submit just the higher ACT. There are applicants who might have performed better on th ACT. I have heard of applicants who scored a 2000 on the SAT but received a 34 on the SAT.
Therefore it is possible that the top ivy league schools might look more favorably upon an applicant from the northeast who submitted high SAT scores versus an applicant from the same area who submitted just the ACT score with writing.</p>

19

<p>Regarding my previous post - what i wanted to add, is that perhaps the admission officers don't care which you take, but I thought they might wonder. I could be wrong.</p>

20

<p>When I attended a Yale info session, the speaker (an alum who happened to be a mid-westerner himself) said you could send either. In fact, he seemed to lead the group towards the ACT...he said, "put it this way, you can take the SAT AND 2 SAT II's, over two different Saturdays, OR you can spend ONE Saturday and just take the ACT!". So, on that note, my daughter just sent the ACT! I really don't think it matters much. My own personal note is that given the SAT's scoring issues of last year, more kids will be taking the ACT.</p>