What are my chances at Yale?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Yale University
1

Hello,
I have been receiving letters and the like from Yale recently and I feel as if I am taking interest in it. I would like to know if I have a shot at catching admission’s eye:

GENDER: Female

ETHNICITY: White

FROM: Northern Virginia (Fairfax.)

INCOME: (Fairfax…)

WEIGHTED GPA 3.898

APPROXIMATE CLASS RANK: Don’t know, if I had to guess probably top 10-15%, but that doesn’t matter to me in the slightest, though I know it might to colleges.

SAT COMPOSITE: 1360 (retook in June and actually studied this time. Hoping for 1470+)
MATH: 690
READING & WRITING: 670

ACT COMPOSITE: 32 (this puts me about 25th percentile at Yale, I believe.)
MATH: 28
ENGLISH: 35
READING: 34
SCI.: 29

PSAT COMPOSITE: 1340
MATH: 690
READING & WRITING: 650

I had all As in freshman and sophomore year, maybe one or two high Bs. I took the more difficult courses both years. Junior year I slipped a bit, though to be fair I had more going on than just grades (just a lot of little things, not exactly anything fit for a sob story):

Junior year courses:
-AP Lang (enjoyed!)
-AP US History (didn’t love or do excellent in the class (I think I ended with a high C), but I was switched to a new teacher halfway through the year due to my math schedule change, and I soaked up a lot of fantastic philosophical, religious, and general knowledge from the new teacher. The best advice he gave me was to stop caring about grades and instead care more about knowing stuff.)
-AP Psychology (something I enjoyed and did quite well in, and hope to pursue.)
-Spanish 4
-Creative Writing
-Honors Precalc, switched to regular precalc almost halfway through the year and went from an F to an A immediately. Weird, I know. Nobody really cared to tutor me or even explain things to me at all when I asked in honors so there wasn’t much I could do. I’ve never been a true math god, so I was glad to have made the switch where I could finally learn with people who didn’t have to cheat just so they could get into a good school.
-Regular Physics

Weirdly enough, even though I hated the lack of challenge in the regular science and math, I would never take it back. I had never taken lower level classes before and I was exposed to an entirely different group of people with different mindsets. Although, being surrounded by less motivated people in an educational setting does tend to drag me down in some ways, and that is one reason why I consider the Ivies. My teachers have told me that I would fit at/could get into Brown or Stanford, though Yale seems like a better fit for a person like me.

Senior classes:
AP Statistics
AP Environmental Science
AP Spanish
AP Government
AP Literature
Geospatial Analysis
Studio art 3

ECs:
-I just got a job, Chick-fil-a, which is a great social skill opportunity for me.
-Writing and all kinds of art in my free time
-Archery in free time
-On my school’s cross country team, which I have done freshman, junior, and now for my senior year (Regarding why I skipped my sophomore year, it is because I was doing Best Buddies as well as checking out some other clubs)
-American Sign Language club and learning sign language in spare time
-Spanish Honors Society
-National Honors Society
-Human Rights Club, which I think I have dedicated the most of my time to. I have many friends within the LGBTQ+ community, and I’m always trying my best to make sure that they are safe and happy. I’m receiving a recommendation from the sponsor for the group, who also happened to teach me in Spanish for 2 years.
-I love the outdoors (kayaking, hiking, skiing, fishing etc.) and would love to join an outdoors group in college.
-I enjoy taking time to acquire new and random skills, whether it is designing a video game in Unity or just learning a new magic trick.

Goals:
-Looking to join a church this year (alone - my family has never really been religious), which I think will open up not only spiritual but also volunteer opportunities for me.
-I feel like trying fencing. It’s something I’ve always wanted to try.
-Becoming more politically active. I go to the marches, sure, but I have a few calls I’d like to make.
-I would love to publish some things that I have written
-Studying abroad in a Spanish-speaking country sound great and all, but before college, I would like to utilize language for local community outreach.

2

Yale is a reach for even the best candidates so keep that in mind, the same goes for Brown and Stanford. In order to be a strong candidate, I think you’ll need to raise your GPA and most definitely, you’ll need to raise your test scores. Most Yale admits have a 4.0+ GPA, multiple AP or IB courses, and extremely high SAT or ACT scores. There are lots of great colleges out there and I encourage you to find options that fall within the range of your GPA and test scores. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try for your “reach” choices because you just never know. Good luck!

3

I would not pay much attention to any letters you receive – they are most likely just a marketing tool.

You have done very well in HS, but right now your standardized test scores and class rank are a bit low for Yale and I don’t see anything in particularly that might help you stand out from the crowd of exceedingly well qualified applicants. It is fine to apply but understand that it would be a major reach. Yale accepted under 7% of all applicants in this cycle and routinely turns down students with perfect grades/test scores etc. There is simply not enough room for Yale (and other top tier colleges) to accept all of the well qualified candidates who apply.

4

Reach schools are good to apply for, but don’t put your hopes and dreams on a school with a 95% rejection rate. It’s not healthy. You have tons of options, including scholarships. You’re doing great!