<p>How do you think Yale treats applicants from rural areas? I live in a place where 95% of kids go to state schools, and no one's gone to an ivy league in the school's forty year history. I don't think anyone has gone to a top 50 in ages either.
Because of this, I've done everything by myself. Since freshman year, I've been on the college search and preparing myself, but I've had zero help. I'm in a very different place than someone at a top public school or a prep school. With that, I've never seen anyone with circumstances like this accepted to Yale. Has anyone gotten in from an area like this? (please reassure me)</p>
<p>Admissions judges applicants on a case-by-case basis. That’s true if you come from an urban environment such as Detroit, or from a rural area like Nome. Admissions seeks applicants who have taken the most rigorous courses available to them at their high school and have done well. (95% of last year’s incoming Freshman were in the top 10% of their high school’s graduating class – so you still need to have the stats to be admitted.) I believe Yale tries to admit at least one student from all 50 States, Puerto Rico and Washington D.C. in each incoming class.</p>
<p>I’m relatively new to this whole selective admissions business, but I have a strong sense that Yale (and similar) are really trying to get the best students, bearing in mind their environment, challenges, etc. </p>
<p>On the plus side, your solitary journey can make for a compelling essay 
You should feel very proud to have persevered. I don’t know what the admissions outcome will be, but you are a stronger and better person for having dealt with the adversity.</p>
<p>Hi! I come from the same position.</p>
<p>I think being rural is fine, and that it doesn’t hurt you (maybe it helps you slightly diversity wise, but this all really depends on where you’re from.)
I got in SCEA with an SAT <2000 and a school with 2 AP’s. I wasn’t valedictorian or salutatorian, or even close. I self studied, I figured out everything on my own and I was greeted with an acceptance rather than a deferral. I am the first in my school’s 100 year history to go to a school in the top 100 (maybe top 200 even), much less an ivy or the ‘old three’ ivies. For reference, I go to an underfunded public school with 56 kids in my class, promptly in the middle of no where. I have four major cities all about 200 miles away from me. There is nothing here-- if I want a store it’s a two hour drive!</p>
<p>As long as you’re trying your best, write awesome essays, and work hard, you’re not more disadvantage than anyone else. It’s really a crapshoot all around though, honestly.</p>
<p>I’m not saying it’ll hurt or help you, but don’t count on anything, especially with these super selective schools. It honestly is so unpredictable.</p>
<p>Thanks so much! I’m like top 3-5% of my 400 person class, have the best ACT (that I know of) in the school, and I go to an online science and math high school in addition to my home school. We have 10 APs, so it’s not the worst, but like I said, I’m the only one to apply to HYP in the past ten years. I was just so nervous because basically everyone I heard of getting in goes to like a New England prep school or a huge public in a city.</p>
<p>
Nah, they let some normal people in also 
Not to be dismissive of CC, which I quite like, but I think there is some skew to the active CCers as opposed to lurkers.</p>
<p>I totally agree with IxnayBob-- I think CC skews the pool a lot. This website had me so convinced I was going to get a denial… </p>
<p>Although, your school sounds like the average school, in all respects. Not that rural. Theres going to be a lot of people like you so make sure you are taking all (or most) of those AP’s and make really unique/awesome essays and recs because you seem to represent that average public school applicant.</p>
<p>Yeah, I was just wondering! My school is in a small town, with a lot of poverty. This isn’t a chance thing, but for reference I have a 32 ACT (36R, 33E, 31S, 27M), my GPA is 3.6/4.4W (rising on midyear reports- also we do seven point scales so <92 is a B) which puts me in the top 5%, maybe a little higher. I’ll take nine APs before I graduate. I’ve done four years of theatre (leads/stagemanager/ student leader/ “drama queen”) and dance, marching band and winterguard, with two years at an online high school. I’ve definitely challenged myself, and I think that comes through in my app. With so few students going even to the nice public college from my school, I was just hoping there was someone like me out there who got into Yale!</p>
<p>With 400 per grade, I really wouldn’t classify you as a small town (sorry!) and I think theres a decent amount of poverty everywhere. I say keep challenging yourself, but theatre is also a really common EC for Yale (sorry again!)
They are super unpredictable in admissions, but I don’t think your location help you unless someone in your community made the poverty glaringly obvious (my guidance counselor calls us our state’s ‘third world country’)
Good luck!</p>
<p>My D was accepted SCEA (she is a legacy). As I was trolling through the admitted students’ FB page, I saw many kids with backgrounds like yours. I saw posts from Nebraska, Wisconsin, small New England towns, etc. Many of the students were the first in their school, town, family, etc. to apply either to college and definitely to an east coast Ivy. Most said the majority of the kids in their schools apply to their local state school or somewhere else close by.</p>
<p>All of them seemed very excited about the prospect of coming to Yale, though they were very nervous. I think going through the page and seeing lots of other kids like them made them feel a lot better and they knew they were not going to be alone.</p>
<p>Hope this helps some.</p>