I’m an underprivileged black male who is considering applying to Yale. But I’ve heard of the ongoing racism that is occurring on the campus. My question is should I apply to Yale, even though there are a lot of students who are demeaning blacks because of the color of their skin? Is it an environment that I will be comfortable in? Also, what has the school done to address this? Do black students feel safe? Does Yale do the best job they possibly can at making sure that racism isn’t a problem?
Please read this thread. http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/yale-university/1838869-erica-christakis-resigning-from-yale.html#latest. Yale does NOT have an issue with student’s demeaning black students on their campus any more so than Harvard or Princeton or Stanford. It was an incentive comment made by one of Yale’s faculty members which ignited the issue. Denzel Washington sent his children to Yale. Sanaa Lathan went to Yale, Malia Obama is considering Yale as an option. Maybe you should too!
I hail from a predominantly black urban school district. At Yale, I was amazed at how welcioming it was for students of color. I have actively recruited minority students for Yale since I graduated +25 years ago. I now live near my alma mater school district and haven’t hesitated a second to continue to recruit. Your belief that somehow Yale is unfriendly towards minorities more than most any other street in America is unfounded. The fact that the administration and the vast vast majority of Yale’s community takes this issue to heart should tell you something. Is it perfect? Of course not. Is it a fantastic place for a black person to attend college? For the vast majority, I’d say yes.
But a dose of realism here: I read your stats. Yale and others of its selectivity are not in your range. I would advise you to broaden your range of target schools considerably – and only apply to maybe one or two top 20s as a super reach. A weighted 3.2 GPA and 1500/2400 SAT, even with your considerable EC achievements – will be overtaken by similarly active students with near 4.0s and higher SAT/ACTs. You have a bright future – but not at schools such as Yale, I’m sorry to say.
Has Harvard or Yale ever accepted someone with my Stats? I still should try right? Because they are dreams.
You should speak to your guidance counselor about more appropriate schools. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say Harvard, Yale and Princeton have never accepted one student with a 1500/2400 SAT.
Look at it another way: Recruited athletes in the ivy league are thought by many to have lower GPA’s and test scores than non-athletes. Yale is not as forthcoming as Harvard, but when you look at Harvard’s athletic recruiting website, it’s spelled out very clearly: http://gocrimson.com/sports/mgolf/faq#Recruiting
If Harvard is looking for golf recruits with 2100+ SAT’s (700+ on each section) and 3.80 unweighted GPA’s, you can be assured the standards are NOT going to be lower for a non-athlete. Given that HYP are peer institutions, I would think Yale and Princeton’s standards are the same.
Mr. Moore: one of the joys I receive from recruiting at my alma mater district (Detroit) is meeting many young people who have overcome difficulty and are striving for more. Very very occasionally, I’m steered towards a handful of students who might be considered viable applicants for Yale and I’m happy to guide and serve them. However, I engage many many others whose academic achievements make them non-viable candidates for Yale (and like schools). I sincerely think you’re in the latter group.
But let me tell you strongly that the school you’ll eventually attend is not nearly as important as the trajectory you’re currently on. One of my best friends came from a very, very rough background and due to an injury, had an athletic scholarship to a prestigious school, withdrawn from him. He ended up attending a lowly-regarded state school. He made the most of it. He became his frat’s president. He became the student body president. He majored in CS and attained a fantastic job in the IT field. Now married, he and his family live near Penn State (his wife is a PhD student there). Not bad for a kid from the depths of Detroit.
I was deferred. And I want to thank you guys so much for this information. I definitely applied to some more realistic options. And we’ll just see what happens later this month.
@amoore001 - I am not going to get into whether or not you are qualified to attend Yale, but I would like to clarify that Yale is a very welcoming and diverse place. As an AA who graduated in 1978 and who has a daughter there that is a sophomore now, I can say that you should not believe everything that you see on television or read on Huffington Post. Are there insensitive (maybe even racist) people at Yale? Most likely since Yale is firmly situated in the real world. Do things flare up every once in awhile? Yes to that too. However the response of the school is more telling. You should also read how the Administration at Yale reacted to the issues raised by the students. That is more telling of how the environment is.
I came to Yale in 1978 from an all black public school system in Washington DC. It is an understatement that my experience there was very difficult academically to begin with but I hit my stride. Socially, there were many kids there that I bonded with who had similar backgrounds. Today, they are still some of my dearest friends.
If you want to know how actual students of color feel at Yale, look up the Black Solidarity Conference at Yale, Black Students at Yale (BSAY), the African American Cultural Center (the "AfAm or “House”), Black Men’s Coalition at Yale, or any other of the many groups there. If you want more specific information, send me a PM and we can talk or I can put you in touch with actual students of color. Hope this helps.
Thank you very much. It appears that my comment about racial issues at Yale was made before I did further research, and I apologize for that.