Waiting for the Yale decision...

<p>I've applied to several schools, including three Ivies (Yale, Princeton and UPenn). Yale is by far my favorite of all and everyone keeps asking me about the application process. </p>

<p>I have a 2020 SAT (I know, I know...), a 4.0 GPA, tons of volunteer hours and lots of EC involvement (including president, vice-president and secretary offices). However, that doesn't seem like enough. </p>

<p>My essay was above-average and my interview went really well. However, I still feel like I'm going to get rejected, not just from Yale, but from all three of my Ivies. </p>

<p>In my "Why Yale" essay, I wrote that I chose Yale because it is near "Louis' Lunch", which supposedly invented the modern hamburger. I'm praying that I was different enough to catch their eye with that. </p>

<p>Did anyone else apply to Yale? If you did early decision, did you get in? What were your stats and how did you feel?</p>

<p>I'm just looking for people who are/have been in the same place as me. </p>

<p>Any thoughts/comments are appreciated.</p>

<p>Hi there,</p>

<p>It sounds like you put in a very strong application to Yale, from now on I think it just comes down to luck. When I was first applying, I was in contact with a Yale alumnus who told me that Yale will pretty much be able to boil down all their applications to two Class of 2015’s. If that makes sense. She said that there are so many strong applications that they could make two equally great classes, with the perfect mix of people and academic/extra-curricular interests - that’s how much of a gamble it is. </p>

<p>What I’m trying to tell myself is that I have done everything I possibly can, I know that my application is just as strong and diverse as other applications, and I just have to cross fingers that luck is on my side. If not, maybe it just wasn’t meant to be!</p>

<p>That doesn’t mean of course that I’m not counting the seconds until the decisions are published next week! I applied early action and my decision was deferred, so I have effectively been waiting since October! It’s been a long wait, but this last stretch is dragging soooo slowly.</p>

<p>I hope this puts your mind at rest a little. I’m a strong believer that “everything happens for a reason” so I am just crossing my fingers and hoping for the best!</p>

<p>That is somewhat how I feel. I understand the whole “wasn’t meant to be” thing, but I just feel like I really want to get at least ONE. I mean, out of the three, I want at least one because if I didn’t like the colleges to begin with, I wouldn’t have applied. Oh well. There’s nothing I can do to change it, right?</p>

<p>Trust me, I know the feeling! I think it’s great that you haven’t gone down the route of applying for the sake of applying. It’s so often the case that people “panic apply” rather than applying to the places they are genuinely passionnate about. And you’re right, it’s in somebody else’s hands now! It’s still frustrating though… I keep thinking to myself that they will have made all their decisions by now - so why not just tell us and get us out of our misery?! I’m at the point now where I just want to KNOW. Either way. (Although obviously I’m hoping it will be positive, of course)</p>

<p>don’t worry, where ever you get in that is where you meant to be if I have to pick will be "PRINCETON I will be graduating in 2 months and already missing the school</p>

<p>If you can handle some humor while you wait, see how the decisions are made…</p>

<p>[YouTube</a> - How High Schoolers Imagine the College Admissions Process](<a href=“How High Schoolers Imagine the College Admissions Process - YouTube”>How High Schoolers Imagine the College Admissions Process - YouTube)</p>

<p>Don’t worry, this isn’t real.</p>

<p>Haha, the decisions are tonight at 5 p.m.! I hope everyone is ready! </p>

<p>Hope for the best but expect the worst!</p>

<p>seems like the site is down for me. anyone else having trouble viewing their eli accounts?</p>

<p>I didn’t get in. That’s fine, I understand. I got into my second choice, and I’m pretty excited about it. At the same time, I’m starting to feel like the entire college application/acceptance process (and the associated costs) are a HUGE scam: [College</a> Admit Rate Plummets: Big Money College Bonanza Time! | The Awl](<a href=“http://www.theawl.com/2011/03/college-admit-rate-plummets-big-money-college-bonanza-time]College”>College Admit Rate Plummets: Big Money College Bonanza Time! - The Awl)</p>

<p>The article may have a hint of truth, but I think the drop in acceptances can be traced to simple proportions. If you only had 10 spots and you received 100 applications one year and 150 the next, the rate of acceptance will plummet; however, the school does not have to form an overpacked class just for your year. You cannot expect schools to accept many more applications just because they receive more. There just isn’t enough space!</p>

<p>narnio: that article is rife with shallow one-liners. Scam? how so? Is it top schools’ fault that thousands of kids apply to 10+ schools each year? That’s the real reason for plummeting admit rates. </p>

<p>That article also implies that top schools are accepting more wealthy kids who have expensive counselors backing them, pushing away needy kids. Then you have no idea about the FA rates of the top schools. Stop reading internet marshmallow articles and do some real research.</p>

<p>luludatis: you said “I think the drop in acceptances can be traced to simple proportions” – of course it’s due to that. admit rate = accepts/applications If numerator stays the same (spots) while the denominator balloons, of course the rate drops.</p>

<p>@T26E4: that’s my point. I tend to write in a less aggressive way just to avoid conflict lol :] It is a response to the article narnio posted…it is actually part of the same thing you just wrote for him, I just wrote it in an extremely awkward way :p</p>