<p>kaman, Yale has everything. However, if your mind were fixed on technology, the hardcore, I would look into schools like MIT, Princeton, Caltech and Olin. If you have an open mind and would like to have more options in the future, I would consider Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Columbia and schools in that category, which provides opportunities for early exposure to professional schools in additional to graduate schools. Most of the students change their minds in collage. It is always wise to keep your options open.</p>
<p>Another thing about Yale is that they have followed Harvards step and provide more financial support to students. If your familys income is in the range of 120K-180K, you virtually get tuition free. However, if you simply cannot qualify for financial aid since your parents make substantially more than 180K, you would have a better financial package from Olin. But then your parents probably do not care to pay tuition anywhere you go or love to pay to Harvard or Yale as long as you can get in.</p>
<p>Pshh, I'd rather be at Olin. I've lived near New Haven for my entire life and have been immersed in Yale, and although I applied and have zero chance of getting in, I'd rather be at Olin. Heck, Olin is insanely far above all the other schools I applied to.</p>
<p>inconnu said
"I think Olin looks at an applicant holistically to understand what type of a person they are. Rather than letting numbers and letters speak to them, they allow the personality behind the transcripts and scores to present a case."</p>
<p>And I know its a bit late, but if anyone reads this before applying next year, I really think that they should consider that, because I had score a lot lower than some of those people who were wait listed or rejected and my essays weren't that great, and compared to some of the people who listed their ECs, mine are very average, but I still got in to CW2.
my stats are probably below average; I am definitely not in the top % of my class, I've had my fair share of Bs to taint my GPA, given I have taken a lot of APs, its not that many, and my sats leave a lot to be desired.</p>
<p>I didn't think i would get to even CW, but Olin seems to take a lot more than just your stats into account, so if anyone who doesn't have stellar grades looks at this in a year and is thinking about considering Olin, they should seriously give it a shot. I mean you never know.</p>
<p>I was wait-listed and then I said no to being placed on the waiting list because I figured I probably wouldn't fit in at Olin. Plus I got a full tuition scholarship elsewhere.</p>
<p>SAT: 2130 (V-710, M-740, W-680) yeah... wasn't too happy about it
ACT: Composit-34, Math-35, Reading-33, English-34, Science-33
SAT II's: Math IIC-800, Bio M-740, US History-680 haha you can tell I'm not very good at anything that isn't math or science =)</p>
<p>Essays: probably not too good, my heart wasn't really in it because I didn't like the school that much when I visited
Recs: really good according to my counselor
Counselor rec: really good
Extra currics: 11 years club swimming, 4 years varsity swim, 11 years piano, 300+ hours community service, lots of other stuff
School Stuff: President of a club, in three other clubs, ASB Historian, freshman class president, core council, student council...
Others stuff: two summers of research with graduate students. One was on a portable hemodialysis machine and the other one was on optimizing hydrogen production in cyanobacteria for fuel cells or solar panels. </p>
<p>Hope that helps! I have a feeling (like the rest of you) that the essays were probably the most important part. So for those of you applying next year:</p>
<ol>
<li>make sure you actually like the school</li>
<li>write really good essays</li>
</ol>