<p>I'll start. Deferred.
Test scores weren't stellar. EC's good, but lacked focus and volunteerism. No major awards.</p>
<p>Deferred. Why? I honestly have no idea. Maybe its because I’m Chinese. I had superior EC’s including varsity swimming and debate, etc. 35 ACT, stellar essay. National piano awards + siemens semifinalist. Apparently that’s not enough. Just wait four months to find out.</p>
<p>Deferred.
I have a sneaking suspicion about essay #2, and my EC’s were good, but not great, like communists101’s
Also I’m white, non-legacy, non athletics…We shall find out laters.</p>
<p>Deferred.
Because Yale deferred 50%+ of their applicants.</p>
<p>Accepted: Track and Field in combination with my work done for a software company here in the bay area and in Beijing this past summer. It definitely wasn’t my grades.</p>
<p>deferred because I don’t have a ‘catch’ (a bizarre nonacademic interest, sick little sibling, legacy, research- whatever the heck the qualia is that Yalies have).</p>
<p>accepted. National recognition in some politics-related extracurricular activities paired with secondary commitment to science. Plus the random luck factor in all selective college admissions.</p>
<p>Deferred.</p>
<p>My supplement essay wasn’t very good, lack of strong leadership positions, they might have preferred if I stayed in high school and took AP courses, I didn’t waive my right (Though there’s still no clear answer as to whether this makes a difference or not. I signed the thing before I really knew what it meant. Nevertheless, I haven’t asked to see any of my recs.), it’s Yale.</p>
<p>Looks like I’m proof that being an URM isn’t everything. Maybe I should’ve waited until RD and used the time to polish my essays.</p>
<p>Accepted:</p>
<p>I think my international experience (living three years in Beijing, attending an international school) helped me stand out from other ORMs with similar stats and activities. My leadership positions, while there weren’t an incredible number of them, were impressive given that I had attended three very different high schools. I also displayed great consistency in my activities and pursuits with multiple awards and recognitions to show for each. They’re pretty strongly focused (primarily public speaking/debate, newspaper, MUN, tennis, music), so it may have helped give my application a sort of ‘identity’.</p>
<p>Also, my glowing additional recommendation letter (from an internship mentor, in which he effusively praised my initiative in essentially creating my own position, my maturity, and my contributions to the firm, which outshadowed those of their paid, college/graduate-student interns) may have been the push I needed.</p>
<p>Accepted. </p>
<p>I got a 2300+ on the SAT, by the end of senior year will have taken 14 AP’s and gotten all A’s, (amongst other EC’s) interned at two political offices, won a national award given out to high school students who serve their community well, and my main EC was that I founded a free after-school arts program for underprivileged children in which I recruited high school volunteers to provide free music and art lessons to over 60 children in my city. I’m happy I got into Yale, but I’m looking forward to applying to other colleges and seeing what my options are.</p>
<p>Hi Communist101-
You are not alone; my daughter is also a Siemens Semifinalist, Straight A from a reputed independent school from NYC, Model UN award, Writing Awards, Bausch & Lomb, 2350 SAT with multiple 800 SATIIs and AP 5s; Execllent EC: Varsity Field Hockey, Model UN, Piano, Wonderful paintings; + She has college courses from Harvard and Columbia. Can you believe she got deferred?</p>
<p>It’s important to realize that Yale defers 50% of applicants. Many of those are people they expect to get in regular decision, many of those are people they don’t expect to get in. Don’t stress out if you have amazing stats and haven’t been accepted yet. Wait for RD.</p>
<p>deferred</p>
<p>Eh, who knows? ECs didn’t stand out, I guess? No major awards, though I did have a fairly significant number of more minor ones. In retrospect (hindsight is 20-20) my Why Yale was kinda crappy too–I just talked about the Residential Colleges and campus layout lol. But honestly maybe my adcom’s starbucks was s h i t t y that day–who knows?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>And yes, I can. If your daughter does get into Yale eventually, trust me, it will be a humbling experience. Your daughter has achieved great things, but it’s not hard for me to believe that she got deferred given the immense accomplishments of some of my peers. Not to take anything away from her achievements, but hundreds of people across the country are Siemens semifinalists every year. You are competing with people who win International Chemistry Olympiad medals (notice the plural), while being an amazing pianist and athlete, or people who win national music AND computer programming competitions, not just one or the other. These are accomplished by much, much fewer people.</p>
<p>This is not to say I did anything more extraordinary; I doubt I’d have gotten in early either. It is simply not as easy as people think it is, especially early. That said, best luck to both of you getting in regular decision; I think it’s fairly likely that it’ll happen.</p>
<p>wow… ^</p>
<p>If you are not exaggerating (which I suspect that you are not) then just wow. I catch myself forgetting every now and again how absolutely talented these classes are. Thanks for reminding me.</p>
<p>Nope, I’m not exaggerating; those are real people I know haha. Obviously not everyone has won multiple national or international competitions, but even the average student seems to be an incredible person in some fashion. When there are people like I mentioned above in the class, you really cannot expect to get in, especially early action, although I do think Communist101 should have gotten in haha.</p>
<p>Deferred.</p>
<p>Lack of any prestigious awards, exceptional ECs. Essays, maybe - my supplement was a bit risky. Possibly my lack of a decent Math Level II SAT II score, being Asian? Though that didn’t seem to be the only reason. I had a typo on my app, and I kind of want to blame that. :)</p>
<p>Accepted.</p>
<p>Yale is really trying to expand its science/engineering programs, so I think my strong science background pushed me to the accepted pile (one published paper that was presented at a national conference, another one that is pending publication, USABO, glowing research mentor rec, etc.) I also had national recognition in my other EC’s and community service.</p>
<p>In the end though, I still think that I got incredibly lucky.</p>
<p>Accepted.</p>
<p>I wish I knew the exact reason, 'cause I’m extremely curious. My test scores weren’t incredible but they weren’t ridiculously horrible either. Yet looking at everyone else’s stats, at times I may disagree. I think I came across as very passionate in my essays and I think I did very well in presenting myself as “not the average A+ student.” I’m also the first one in my city to be accepted into Yale. I don’t know if that did much, but it was an interesting thing to find out.</p>
<p>Accepted.</p>
<p>I’m one weird chick. Let’s just keep it at that.</p>