<p>I'm going to be a freshman in high school,and my dream school is Yale.I'm a little intimidated about their acceptance rate though.I already know I need near perfect SAT/ACT scores,so what extracurriculars should I do?I was planning on lacrosse,and track(but I really don't think I'll make the team. What clubs should I join,and how many volunteer hours do I need to have a chance at getting into Yale?</p>
<p>The ones you want to do or join. Yale requires zero vol hours.</p>
<p>You seem to be seeking the Yale formula. It does not exist. </p>
<p>Go read on Yale (and others) websites and see what sort of student they are seeking. Hopefully, you have an innate curiosity, drive, and dedication to excellence. These are good traits to have.</p>
<p>Read this thread (especially Doctoroff’s essay)
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/harvard-university/1522348-harvard-hopeful.html?highlight=eighth[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/harvard-university/1522348-harvard-hopeful.html?highlight=eighth</a></p>
<p>All of them. Unless you’re president of every single club and captain of every single sport at your school you’ll be lucky to get into your state flagship.</p>
<p>When you’re reading that thread that T26E4 linked to, follow all the links contained in it. You’re asking a question that’s been asked a jillion times on College Confidential: “How can I make sure I get into [name of college so selective that *nobody *is assured of getting in]?” You’ll learn from reading that thread, and the other articles and threads that it contains links to, that there’s nothing you can do to ensure you’ll get into Yale, but there are a lot of things you can do to make sure you’ll be a competitive applicant when the time comes. </p>
<p>And if you do those things, even if Yale doesn’t work out, you should have some very good options come the spring of your senior year.</p>
<p>You just finished 8th grade. Your ambition is admirable, but I would suggest you start high school with the desire to work hard, make great friends, try lots of activities…those you know you enjoy and/or excel at and some that push your comfort level a little. Maybe I’m the odd duck, but It makes me a little sad that kids who have yet to step foot in a high school classroom are already plotting their course to the Ivy league.</p>
<p>To be honest, that really isn’t a very healthy mindset. You don’t want to end up in a sport/club you dislike just to slightly increase your chance to a certain college. Plus, what if you weren’t admitted? You would have just wasted four whole years doing EC’s you weren’t interested in. Not to mention that the time you would have used to know yourself would have been lost. I would advise you to do what you want and to invest a lot in the activities you do.</p>
<p>Watch the video; read the text: [Advice</a> on Putting Together Your Application | Yale College Admissions](<a href=“Advice on Putting Together Your Application | Yale College Undergraduate Admissions”>Advice on Putting Together Your Application | Yale College Undergraduate Admissions)</p>
<p>No you don’t need near perfect test scores, and there is no set formula to get into an Ivy. If I had the secret formula, I would have patented it and made millions selling it to all those chancers out there.</p>
<p>Hey, if you want to go to yale, just work the hardest you can in high school. Treat it like a job. After school i would come home and study for 5 hours a night on a regular basis. I did varsity sports on top of that (no I’m not a recruit). I just worked hard. I wanted options for college…not specifically an ivy. That kind of work pays off. I had at least 4 full-rides to great schools not counting any Ivies. Just work hard and enjoy high school. But realistically speaking, any extracurricular is great as long as you stick with it and are involved. PLEASE remember there is no formula for applications to ivies. Just step out of your comfort zone and enjoy high school. Yes, there is this idea (and it is somewhat true) that yale and other ivy students were president of like a billion clubs in high school. I was President of 7 organizations, but that’s overboard even for Yale. Just work hard, and if Yale is where you’re meant to be, it’ll happen. But dont start counting down to college application time…it’s a living hell as far as 1st-world-country-stress goes. Good luck.
-Luke
Yale '17</p>
<ol>
<li>You don’t need near perfect scores to get into Yale. The higher the better, but people get in with lower than 2300 SAT scores.</li>
<li>Join the clubs and sports that you want to join. There isn’t an activity that is particularly admirable. All I can say is that if you do have any unusual talents or interests, I would pursue those because they will set you apart.</li>
<li>Volunteer hours are helpful, but they aren’t required. I would do some volunteer work, but don’t volunteer just to get into Yale. Volunteer for a cause you are genuinely interested in.</li>
</ol>
<p>I wish you the best of luck, but enjoy high school. It goes by so fast. I remember when I was in your shoes, and now I’m going to be a senior in high school! Don’t spend the next years of your life stressing about Yale. They reject far more students than the accept, and they reject extremely strong candidates.</p>
<p>Thank you so much for all of the respectful answers,I really appreciate it.
T26E4 and gibby,thanks for the links!</p>
<p>You should really do whatever you enjoy the most. That’s a generally good heuristic to use, because people tend to become good at what they enjoy (being good at anything takes a lot of practice and time).</p>
<p>You’ll probably be more competitive, win more awards, and come across more passionately if you choose something you like.</p>
<p>The other metric I’d use is to do something that develops useful skills. This isn’t about college admissions so much, but high school is a period where you have a lot of time (relative to adulthood). Some skills (like math and programming) tend to be more economically valuable than others skills (like basket weaving).</p>
<p>So, do something you enjoy that helps you develop useful skills. That’s my advice.</p>
<p>My main recommendation that I’ve heard from many other people as well is to do the things you love, but also commit to them. If you want to volunteer that is awesome! But that being said if you do something like volunteering for your local soup kitchen or tutoring for four years that says so much more than a single volunteer trip or just large numbers of hours. If you follow what interests you and show commitment to those things your character and personality will speak for your character, commitment, and drive in your application.</p>
<p>Run for ASB
Leadership positions are very important to ivies
being elected freshman year will also be an advantage on your chances of being in asb again the following school years!</p>
<p>kwak seems to have discovered the skeleton key for Yale admissions</p>
<p>Makes you look like kind of a slow learner, T26E4!</p>
<p>@T26E4. Thanks for that…LOL! kwak…I don’t think you know what you are talking about…my K1 had absolutely no leadership “positions” and got into all TOP schools K1 applied to…and don’t confuse leadership POSITIONS with leadership “QUALITIES”…</p>
<p>…once again…as we have discussed in previous threads…there is no magic formula or secret sauce to getting into Yale or any of its peers…</p>
<p>chill, dude.</p>