Tips For Yale

Colleges & Universities A-Z Yale University
1

<p>Hey everyone,
Many people on CC need to read the book "How to be a High School Superstar" by Cal Newport. People just try to do too much. For example, here is a list of Extracurriculars that I saw posted on a chance thread:</p>

<p>"Extracurriculars:
Temple City Voice Newspaper: Joined Junior Year, Assistant Editor
Junior Statesmen of America: Joined Sophomore year, Current Convention Director on Chapter, Current Vice-Mayor of Angeles Region
Rubik's Cube Club: Joined sohpomore, Activities Director Junior Year, Current President, also currently ranked 192 in the nation for fastest solve
Model UN: Meeting Director and attended one Conference at UCLA.
History Club: Joined sophomore, PR Officer Junior Year, Current President
Chess Club: Joined Freshman, Current PR Officer
Founded the Ocean Science Bowl Team at my school and Directed Science Bowl team my junior year. Founded the Quiz Bowl Team at my school Senior year
Trading Card Game Club: Joined Sophomore, Vice-President Junior Year, Current Vice-President
Speech and Debate: Joined sophomore, Acting Director of TTI Forensic Academy Junior Year
Tennis: Co-Captain Sophomore and Junior Year, Played Singles 1, 2, and 3. Led team to CIF Div. 2 Quarterfinals Freshman/Sophomore Year, and CIF Div. 1 Round of 16 Junior Year
Individual Doubles went to third round of CIF Finals.
Computer Programming: Member of Temple City High's Zero Robotics Team hosted by MIT that requires C-Programming.
Violin: Member of Euphonic Young Musician's Orchestra, which participates in a charity concert every year, Member of Private String Quartet which plays for weddings, member of Honors Orchestra of Temple City which won Unanimous Superior in my Sophomore and Junior Year.</p>

<p>Awards:
Tennis: Won Rio Hondo League Individual Doubles 3rd Place Freshman and Sophomore Year
Won Rio Hondo League Individual Doubles 2nd Place Junior Year
Won Rookie of the Year Freshman Year and Shot of the Year Junior Year
Won four satellite tournaments, two open doubles tournaments, one one open Singles Tournament
Community Services: Won Youth Teaching Services Award at FAITH United Methodist Church
Speech and Debate: Second Place California Lutheran Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Four Best Speaker Gavels in JSA, 5th Place Ramona Museum Speech Contest (50 dollar scholarship)</p>

<p>Summer Activities
Intern at Center for Asian American United for Self Empowerment Junior Year
Intern at Kaiser Permanente Hospital Fontana Junior and Senior
HSPDP Parliamentary Debate Camp at Claremont McKenna College Junior Year
WSDC Parliamentary Debate Camp at Claremont McKenna College Senior Year (auditioned for Team USA, not sure if I got in yet.)
Georgetown Summer School Session II: Speech and Political Communications"</p>

<p>Here is the reply that I gave to the person:</p>

<p>"You have a very impressive list of activities. BUT that's all it is. A list of activities. It's a list of activities where you did a lot and did get some awards, but it doesn't show interest. The only thing that I think you truly care about is Tennis, and maybe Debate.</p>

<p>Yale see's many kids that are sleep-deprived their four years in high school to build up a list like yours.</p>

<p>What they want to see is someone who goes above and beyond. This person spends most of their free time on this activity. They love to do this activity, and would choose it over browsing the web or watching TV. It's their (Forgive me for saying this word, but I couldn't find a substitute) PASSION. These will be the people that will choose this passion as a career and then make changes to the world. These people don't care about getting awards; the awards come as a result of their time and TRUE interest.</p>

<p>These are the people Yale is looking for. If I was to compare you to the average High-School student looking to apply to Yale, you are simply fantastic. But if I was on the admissions committee, I would say "This kid did a lot, but didn't care about it."</p>

<p>It's better to be focused on one activity than to be a Jack-of-all-Trades. Many people think that all colleges, including the Ivy Leagues, look for well rounded people. This is a play on words. They look for a well rounded CLASS made up of FOCUSED people.</p>

<p>This was just my take on your application. Good luck! "</p>

<p>Adding on to what I stated above, I will give a quick summary of one part Cal Newport's book (Forgive me Cal :) ). First off, follow the law of under-scheduling. What this means is that you will never be able to find an interest and pursue it if you are taking 8 AP classes and are involved in Tennis, Baseball, XC, Debate team, and robotics. You MUST drop some of these activities. </p>

<p>Many student might react with shock when they first hear that you must do less in order to be more impressive. Cal then goes on to give examples of students that followed this rule and got into the Ivy League, MIT, Stanford, and others. There was an example that I recall. This guy (Maneesh) dropped many AP's and activities, and even got his school to let him go home after lunch, around 11:30. </p>

<p>He would go home and do what he loved; Computer Programming. His true interest led him to write a best selling book on computer programming. He is now a student at MIT. Many readers think "He probably had to do more work than the over-achiever to write a book like that!"</p>

<p>Maneesh himself admitted that he spent ( I don't recall exactly) around 4-5 hours a WEEK. He was so laid back that he even gave the book to the publisher 1 YEAR after it was due. Now Maneesh didn't start computer programming because he had plans to write a best selling book a few years down the line. He had the true interest. </p>

<p>Find something that truly interests you, but don't think about the awards. Your interest might be as crazy as dressing up as a unicorn to go deep sea diving. But it's your interest. Do what you love, and the awards will come tumbling after. </p>

<p>Thanks for your time. If this gets positive feedback, I will continue to add more thoughts. </p>

<p>Oh, and everything on this thread can be applied to ANY college, not just the Ivy's.</p>

<p>P.S. I'm not an expert on the subject by any means. Heck, I'm not even in college yet. But I have read plenty on this subject, and have talked with even more people who know about this.</p>

2

<p>Really insightful! are you doing yale? :3</p>

3

<p>Thanks!</p>

<p>I’m actually going to enter my junior year in high school. But Yale is one of my top choices, along with Brown (PLME) and UChicago.</p>

4

<p>wow i wish i knew as much as you when i was entering junior year</p>

5

<p>My goodness. I would probably reject him just because it looks like he is trying hard to get accepted, or doesn’t know what a admission officer means by “Well Rounded” so he tries everything.</p>

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<p>This is really weird – i think I actually know the person who created this resume… I went to JSA Georgetown Session II this year and there was someone from Temple City who could solve the Rubix Cube insanely fast…</p>

<p>It’s a small world, haha</p>

7

<p>^ LOL.</p>

<p>I have seen this person’s post and I hope he finds success because he sounds like such a hard worker,brilliant, etc. But there are so many activities going on I can’t fathom how he had the time for that. That goes for many people I see on CC though. Sometimes I just stop reading and skip half the list.</p>

<p>I also feel bad for saying this-but I see sooo many EC’s that are related to: tutoring, library, hospital, debate, key club, tennis… Often a person might do all of these with no clear intention on whether he/she really cares about them… While the truth is that these activities require a lot of work and dedication, admissions officers probably see them too much. Heck, if I see them a lot and tend to disregard them just on CC, the admissions officers are sure to be flooded with these types of activities.</p>

<p>On a side note, I get dismayed when I see other students @ school talking about how they want to do a charity or community service not so much to help people, but more because “it’ll look good for college.” Or they copy activities/charities that students older than them have successfully done. </p>

<p>I also wish I had followed the depth-not-breadth thing when I started high school, But I’ve done my best eh? You sound like you’ve already passed the application process, lol. Good luck!</p>

8

<p>Macaronicheese,
I feel the exact same way. People just try to do too much and end up working too hard and hurting themselves. Thanks though!</p>

<p>Next up, I just want to show how I managed to find what I believe is my “passion”. </p>

<p>I first saw my dad and my grandpa playing chess at the age of 6. From the start, I was hooked. I asked my dad to teach me how to play. Unfortunately, he replied that I was too young. However, I kept on bothering my dad until he decided to attempt teaching me.</p>

<p>I learned how to play the game within a month. I then played with my dad or anyone I could find. I just found the game to be really fun and interesting. On a side note, I want to make an important point here; At this point, I was not thinking “How can this help me for college?” (I mean jeez I was only 5! xD). I just did what I loved.</p>

<p>I also didn’t look for any rewards because at the age of 5, you really don’t think about much :P. However, soon you will see that the rewards came regardless.</p>

<p>Fast forward a few years. I was in the 5th grade and I still loved to play chess. One of my teachers noticed this, and suggested that I start playing in tournaments. However, I didn’t really understand at this point and forgot about it. Fast forward another year and I entered middle school.</p>

<p>Our middle school had a very large chess club, made better by the fact that the teacher was an amazing person. I joined because it provided a way for me to…well, play chess! Keep in mind that at this point, I STILL wasn’t thinking “How can this help me for college?”. In 6th grade, you’re more worried if you have the same classes with your friends or not…</p>

<p>My chess club “mentor” told me to start playing tournaments; However, he didn’t just stop there. He gave my parents information on how to sign me up for tournaments. 2 months later, I entered my first tournament. My parents never told me that there were trophies involved or that my games now go on my permanent chess record. I just saw it as a chance to play more chess on the weekends!</p>

<p>I ended up winning 2nd place in that tournament. This went on and on. My parents signed me up, and I just kept on playing. Somewhere down the road, I realized that I was getting awards for playing, but I didn’t let this become my main motivation for playing. </p>

<p>Fast forward a few more years. I’m a junior in high school right now. I can proudly claim that I have won over 50 awards for chess, all of them ranging from 1st place-5th place. </p>

<p>I have also won the award for the best 8th grade chess player in my state.</p>

<p>I have also placed 4th, 6th, and 7th in my state for K-12 Championships. </p>

<p>I was also recognized as the number one chess player in my chess club (A club that easily has more than 75 members each year).</p>

<p>Please believe me, I’m not trying to brag here. I’m just showing that if you do what you love, the rewards WILL come. It doesn’t matter WHAT your activity is. If you love it, do it. </p>

<p>I never let my greed for awards be my primary source of motivation for playing chess. Still to this day, I play because I love it.</p>

<p>Many of you may now start thinking “What do I love to do…?”. And then when you settle on something, a nagging thought in your mind will say “But that’s not impressive to colleges! Pick something else…”</p>

<p>I beg you, please ignore this voice. Go and do what YOU want to do. Trust me on this one.</p>

<p>I hope that my post has proven to you that rewards DO come. And hopefully, in my post, I didn’t act like an arrogant snob :). Forgive me if it seems that way! That was not my intention.</p>

<p>Please let me know if you have any questions, or if you found this helpful. I may address other issues regarding this topic further on…thanks!</p>

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<p>wow. thank you for this post.
it really made me think.</p>

10

<p>^No problem!</p>

<p>I actually never knew about any of this information until the summer of my sophomore/junior year. Just decided to share it with the motivated crowd on CC. :)</p>