<p>Af. Am female, inner-city school, valedictorian, 4 AP classes this year, 2 last year...., only 34% of students from high school go to 4 yr colleges, overcome enormous obstacles in life, top-notch couns/teacher recs ("one of the best," etc), strong in activities, exc. personal essay</p>
<p>does yale superscore...would a 23.5 be a 24?</p>
<p>…isnt that equivalent to a 1200 or something on the SAT? If that is the case, it is extremely unlikely for yale… im pretty sure theyll just throw ur application away. I think you should be wondering if that score is good enuff for state schools?</p>
<p>Sorry.</p>
<p>If you bump up the ACT about four points I’m sure you’d have a shot. But with a 24, I’m sorry I don’t know if they would take that.</p>
<p>It’s like an 1100 CR+M. And no.</p>
<p>Well if you want to improve, take a lot of practice tests.</p>
<p>I definitely think that if you get your score up to around a 28 or 29 you could have a chance to get in, a 24 is about six points higher than the national average (which I am pretty sure is an eighteen)…I would recommend taking an ACT class or buying a book and studying…GOOD LUCK :)</p>
<p>The national average is 21.</p>
<p>if you explained these ‘enormous obstacles’ and the rest of the app is as stellar as ye make it out to be then ye should apply…</p>
<p>however try giving it again? im a bit confused as to how a val ends up with a 24…if yer one of the val’s who get selected based on high GPA’s.</p>
<p>A 24 would cause them to doubt your academic abilities greatly. While you may be URM, they still want people who can do the work.</p>
<p>Sorry, but that’s a 99.9999% rejection.</p>
<p>Time for a little perspective (that is, the opinion of someone who is > 18 years old and has gone through the college application process a couple of times in the past few years).
Sorry (or is it happy?) to be contrary, but I think you are potentially a viable candidate at any of the top schools to which you’ve applied. I hope you’ve got a good list of schools beyond the Ivies and Swarthmore, because if not, there’s an equal chance that come April 1 you could be looking at several acceptances – or none.</p>
<p>If you’ve put all your eggs in the top-tier basket, you might want to start a thread looking for good schools – meeting whatever characteristics you deem important – that are still accepting applications. You can definitely end up at a great school – but only if you apply.</p>
<p>If you can improve on the ACT, that would be great. ACT scores are rounded up, so a 23.5 is reported as a 24.</p>
<p>According to the Yale Common Data Set, the range of ACT scores for the middle 50% of freshmen who matriculated in fall 2010 was 30-34. That means that 25% of freshmen who submitted ACTs had less than a 30 composite. Still, even with a hook, a 24 is very low for Yale. If you love Yale, apply, but be sure you have less selective schools on your list.</p>
<p>chugabi: I recruit in a large urban school district. Viable candidates I’ve seen have about a 29ACT. I’m afraid that your 24 doesn’t make you likely in Yale’s very very competitive pool.</p>
<p>It will be close. Clearly, you represent the best of what your school has to offer and that will probably be a factor in the decision. I can’t honestly say that you have a good shot at Yale, but you never know. Sometimes these highly selective institutions surprise us. On a related note, last year’s accepted class of UChicago had the lowest ACT score of an accepted student be a 23. 
So, I suppose there is hope. ;)</p>
<p>Yeah, but UChicago’s acceptance rate is somewhat higher than Yale’s. I’m not dissing UChicago, it’s an amazing school that I really wish I didn’t take off my list, but I’m just stating what should probably be stated to look at that statistic more thoroughly.</p>
<p>I expect that the admissions officers will doubt whether you are academically qualified for Yale. What were your AP scores?</p>
<p>A low ACT like that might put to doubt the meaningfulness of your valedictorian status. Still, it’s possible. This is America.</p>
<p>It has been suggested by Michelle A. Hernandez(former admission officer of Dartmouth) that a low standardized test score can be made up for by a high class ranking, when it comes to URM’s.</p>
<p>1) She’s a former adcom, and the process has changed drastically even in just the last couple years</p>
<p>2) That’s also for Dartmouth. I’m aware that Ivies have very similar practices and whatnot, but Dartmouth is still Dartmouth, and Yale is still Yale.</p>
<p>Good that you brought it up though, it is still a valid point.</p>
<p>@chugabi - I can justify it no longer. Please retake. :/</p>