<p>Please help me!! I'm having a crisis of confidence. My transcript request forms are due tomorrow at my school for early college application deadlines, but I still haven't decided definitively where I want to apply early.
My guidance counselor is rooting for me to apply to Yale, but I don't think I'm good enough. </p>
<p>Should I trust her and go for it, or should I make a safer choice to take advantage of the higher acceptance rate from applying early decision to a school I have a better chance of getting in to? </p>
<p>My guidance counselor loves me so I'm sure her recommendation is absolutely fantastic, but I'm not sure that my other teacher recommendations will be to that level... would that show inconsistencies? How much does the guidance counselor's word weigh in comparison to teachers'?</p>
<p>our school has decided not to rank starting this year, but I know that I am not val/sal, one of which traditionally gets into Yale from my school. However, I am sure that I am in the top 10 students from my class and I’m one of 3 kids to get national merit semifinalist in my grade. Out of the three, one of them does not get stellar grades</p>
<p>I have a 35 act (one sitting), which is okay, but it’s 36 W+R, 34 Science, and then only 33 math… I also only got a 10 essay, but I actually write really well albeit slowly. (My history teacher who is writing one of my recs raves about my writing)</p>
<p>As for ECs, I have 5 leadership positions, including founder of the Art club. I also have numerous art awards, two of which are national but not <em>prestigious</em> national awards. </p>
<p>If your high school routinely has students admitted to Yale, then your counselor knows whether or not your profile is good enough to be in that category. So, if Yale is at the top of your own personal list, go for it.</p>
<p>If the truth is that you really aren’t interested in Yale, thank the counselor and move on.</p>
<p>Given the stats you describe, you certainly have a decent shot, so trust your GC. This is not a case of thinking that admissions are a lottery ticket, so why not try, you’re a legit candidate. So if you’re interested, apply. And if the answer is no, there are plenty of top schools with ED2.</p>
<p>Also, given your GCs track record of getting people in, they are probably a better evaluator of talent than you’re giving them credit for. Most GCs I know do not encourage people to apply to schools they have no chance at - it’s usually the opposite, they need to tell people not to apply, as they have almost no chance.</p>
<p>You are an excellent candidate for the most selective schools, so of course you should apply. Since the most selective schools reject most of the excellent candidates who apply, you should apply to Yale AND the safer school.</p>
<p>Strikes me that you don’t sound excited about this. Do you feel you would fit and thrive there? Or you just have nerves? Have you looked at the school in depth, visited?</p>
<p>Because remember, it’s not just about maybe getting in. It’s about the four year experience and how you grow. There is no ‘one size fits all.’</p>
<p>You can still apply to other schools regular decision. Unless you have an early decision school you definitely want to attend (more than Yale) or an early action school you want to attend (more than Yale), give the Yale application a try. Most schools don’t have SCEA, take advantage of the opportunity. This isn’t going to hurt your chances at most other schools.</p>
<p>@lookingforward I never considered Yale as a possibility before this fall even though I’ve always loved the school! I really never thought I was good enough and I truly mean that. I’m not being falsely modest here in an attempt to fish for compliments.
As a result, I find my guidance counselor’s faith terrifying and thrilling. I fear her judgment is impaired because we’re friends, and I respect my classmates’ accomplishments so much that applying feels like the height of arrogance. After all, only 1 or 2 people get into Yale each year. Usually it’s one and it’s the val/sal and I’m definitely not one of them. </p>
<p>I will admit though that I might be a more “interesting” applicant than the val/sal, but then I believe I have fellow classmates of similar academic caliber who are as well. </p>
<p>TLDR; I’m extremely unconfident. Will my guidance counselor’s special support really make that much difference?</p>
<p>This is what I told one of my kids: If your second choice school is an ED school that you would love going to almost as much as the SCEA school, and it is a school that also has a very low acceptance rate, then you need to consider whether you want to give up that extra bump that applying ED would give you. He ended up applying to and being accepted to Columbia ED. Would he have been able to get in RD? Who knows? But he wasn’t willing to take that risk in order to apply to a SCEA school with an even lower acceptance rate. </p>
<p>You are definitely competitive for Yale, or any other university in the country for that matter. Just make sure you have some financial / academic safeties lined up - which shouldn’t be hard to find with your stats.</p>
<p>I don’t think the GC would mislead you, based on friendship. Her confidence in you may be the reason she is encouraging you. If your rational side has looked, researched the school and loves it, if you feel you could thrive there, maybe you can go with that. I mean, maybe skip the analysis about your chances. If there is another school your heart prefers, that’s different. Best wishes.</p>
<p>@lookingforward I hope so. Honestly, I can’t be sure of what will come of this, but I can only try my best. Thanks for the support everyone! It means a lot to me. I handed in the form today and you guys were a big part of the reason why- not because any of you can guarantee anything, but because I need to tell myself more often to take chances on myself. </p>