What are my chances of getting into Yale

Colleges and Universities A-Z Yale University
1

Hi, I am currently a sophomore in high school. My high school is ranked in the top thirty in America, and is basically a college preparatory high school.

I’ve been looking at schools like Yale, Brown, Cornell, Northwestern, etc and wanted to know what are the chances of me being accepted specifically to Yale.

Below is a few things about me that colleges look at

  • I identify as white
  • My GPA is 3.9 at the moment
  • I will have taken 9 AP courses by the end of my high school career
  • I was adopted at 13 (I am 15 now) my biological parents were alcoholics and I was abused growing up, as well as my brother (My college essay is centered around my past)
  • I will be the first in my biological family to attend a university
  • I have played on JV soccer, and Varsity field hockey as a goalie, ranked 4th in my region
  • I am on the board of two clubs
  • I tutor students
  • I volunteer at two clubs that help younger students, and I help out with a lower level Yearbook
  • I volunteer with two different out of school activities that help children with disabilities
  • I have worked at my summer camp as a dishwasher, and I have been apart of their barn staff
  • By my senior year, I will be named Editor In Chief of my school Yearbook (I know bc I am the only one in my grade who is apart of yearbook at the moment)
  • I plan to get a 32 on the ACT, I recently took a pre test and scored 28
  • I've run for class president for the past two years, but have placed 2nd out of at least 15 students both years):
  • I plan to major in pre-vetinary studies or biochemistry

I hope some of that helps! Please be honest in your answer, I would like to know if I am getting my hopes up or not hahaha

Thanks!

2

You’re a sophomore and already writing your college essays??? Your test scores will be low for Yale, even if you do as well as you’re hoping, but GPA will be good-ish if it stays as-is. You’re a sophomore, so there’s really not too much I can predict. Do well. Come back in 2 years.

3

@walkingoncustard , I know it’s early, and this is only an anonymous web site, etc., but pay attention to grammar and spelling. It will affect how people react to your writing. I’m not just being an old man; trust me on this.

4

Thank you both!

5

You’ll probably need to shoot for more than a 32 ACT for Yale, I’d shoot for a 34 ACT. Remember that Yale is a reach for almost anyone though, including near-perfect test scores.

6

IMHO, it is too early for you to be chanced for college yet. You should wait until the summer before senior year to write your college essays a) because the prompts may (unlikely but possible) change, especially with school-specific supplements and b) something may happen to you in the next two years that you want to write about.

From what I have learned, and I’m a current senior so take my advice with a grain of salt, admissions at the top schools is less about test scores/GPA and more about your passion and drive. Once you pass a certain academic threshold, they want to see what type of impact you will make on their campus. That matters more than yet another AP or 1 point higher on the ACT.