<p>Okay, I'm really confused.... well, not really, but I'm just not really clear on what's up. I've read some places that Yale's going for "diversity" and then others that you have to absolutely positively have top SATs and GPA and thats final. Since our junior GPA's haven't come in and I'm feeling pretty lazy right now, I don't feel like posting my stats but I am an above average student attending a public school in TX. Not to brag, but teachers have always complemented my writing style and I have written articles for the Dallas Morning News and I am a yearbook editor, so I do have some superb writing skills. What would Yale (and/or other Ivies/selective colleges of the same caliber) think of a person who maintains very high grades (although not a 102 GPA) but wrote a killer essay? A sort of essay that would make the admissions officer think, perhaps laugh, but sort of an out-of-the-box essay that caught their attention? I'm just sort of wondering to myself if my desire to go to Yale is completely silly. Thanks for considering.</p>
<p>yeah, you totally have a shot with a great essay. Yale in particular puts a tremendous amount of weight on it. From what I've noticed, it seems to me that it is perhaps the single most important part of the Yale application. Dartmouth, Columbia, and Brown also give it a ton of consideration. I know mediocre students with okay ECs who have gotten into these schools due to their wildly creative, brilliant essays.</p>
<p>I wish I had known that earlier, but then again, I don't know if I'm capable of "wildly creative, brilliant essay"
One of mine was quirky, the other very honest and personal.</p>
<p>I don't think mediocre students would write wildly creative and brilliant essays. The student's recs cannot possibly be as mediocre as you thought the student was, because otherwise no admissions officer would take a student like that seriously. I think many would be skeptical that a wildly creative essay by a mediocre student was the mediocre student's own work.</p>
<p>Joey</p>
<p>I actually wonder what Yale considers mediocre or below standards...do they receive many people that make mostly B's and C's...i thought that these students wouldn't even bother applying if they knew they didnt have a strong transcript.</p>
<p>I guess mediocre at a school like Yale would be someone who doesn't have leadership roles nor hooks...</p>