<p>Obviously, they want passionate, intelligent people. But, (especially for the people that got in), what do you think one of the biggest factors is aside from high GPA/SAT score?</p>
<p>I'd say that admissions officers at Yale will very heavily weigh your essays and rec letters, as they shed light on who you are and what others think of you. They'll also look at your EC's and community service.. and ideally you'd want to have a really strong focus on one thing and maybe a few others rather than just going all over the map, as it shows that you are focused and passionate about that one particular thing. </p>
<p>hope this helps.</p>
<p>I think that, for most top universities/colleges, the essays are unquestionably a HUGE factor in the decision process. I completely agree with altec_lansing about extracurriculars, too. I was accepted to Yale, and I am a SINGER. I do some other things, especially with kids, but I am a member of 4 choruses (2 school, 1 semi-professional, and 1 professional) and 3 acapella groups (one of which I direct), I study opera/oratorio privately, I sent in a music supplement, I do musicals, etc. Being well-rounded is great, but it seems to me that FOCUS with extracurriculars is more impressive than being, say, the president of three totally unrelated clubs.</p>
<p>^ Definitely. I am editor-in-chief of 3 publications (yearbook, lit mag, school dvd), section editor of another (newspaper), have gone to 3 journalism conferences (one of which I taught classes at), have numerous awards across the state and a few national ones for my publications, etc.</p>
<p>Focus in extracurriculars, shining essays, and heartfelt recommendations are key.</p>
<p>I'm pretty sure that once you're across the GPA/SAT threshold, the rest is more important. As an Asian, I had a B, took the SAT thrice to get my score, and had a smattering of 4s and one 3 on AP tests. My SAT IIs were nowhere near the 800/800/790 range we usually see on CC. I wasn't focused on one thing, but had two huge focuses - science and business leadership. National awards definitely help, and I think my national leadership position helped tip me over the edge. But like someone said, essays are pretty important, and should display your intellectual vitality. Basically, be a human. Not that those who weren't admitted aren't human...</p>
<p>I'm iffy about my recommendations. Don't think they were stellar. Good, but not great.</p>
<p>What is Yale's GPA/SAT threshold? I might end the semester with Bs and Cs in one or two classes and I want to know if I still have a chance. :/</p>
<p>Yale will heavily weigh letters/essays?</p>
<p>I know none of us are admissions officers.....(uh...if you are....I'm in love with Yale, especially because in the 1840's Charles Salisbury taught there, and Whitney was his student and Lanmann was his student, and they're all cited in the Sanskrit texts I enjoy reading so much...),</p>
<p>AHEM, getting back to my query; How heavily would a top school rate things like that?</p>
<p>Essays
Recs
ECs
GPA
Hooks
Interview</p>
<p>What order should those be in? Is there one?</p>
<p>blue<em>star</em>cadet, I didn't mean to imply that Yale has a GPA/SAT threshold. Obviously, someone with a 1.9 GPA and 900 SAT score most likely stands no chance at Yale, but there is no definite cutoff, like a 3.8 or a 2100. There are students with 2400s and 4.0s that don't make it; there are also students with 1800s and 3.7s that do. However, I do think that without stellar extracurriculars and personal qualities, there is an academic standard that needs to be met for consideration, and vice versa.</p>
<p>What is Yale looking for? Well, as it became clear in the decisions thread, it mostly has to do with the sixth letter of the second paragraph of your CommonApp essay.</p>
<p>how about if a student has like i dunno, 3.6 gpa and like 34 act?
would one outbalance the other then?
or would the threshold still stand?</p>
<p>Q&A:</a> College Admissions - Questions/Answers Blog - NYTimes.com</p>
<p>really interesting article you guys!
another poster--forgot who--posted it on another thread so I thought I'd share.</p>
<p>Some interesting quotes from it that might answer your question</p>
<p>On Grades/Test Scores:
At the same time, we are not particularly drawn to one-dimensional students who have made their sole or primary objective in life amassing the largest number of honors or AP courses conceivable, accompanied by multiple efforts to achieve the world’s highest test scores.</p>
<p>Transcripts:
Weaker transcripts face tough sledding in a highly selective college environment. They don’t automatically disqualify a candidate for us, but you have to remember that we have many thousands of applicants with extremely strong transcripts who are also just as exemplary in the other ways that count.</p>
<p>Geography:
It is not well understood that we are not aiming to pick out the best candidate in a particular school or from a particular area, as measured by some predetermined criteria. Rather, we are trying to assemble the most varied and most interesting class we can from an extremely diverse group of close to 25,000 outstanding applicants. We do not aim to compare a student primarily with other students from his or her school; we look instead for students who will bring something of particular value to the entering class.</p>
<p>Conclusion:
For us at Yale, for instance, standardized test scores generally do little to differentiate applicants, because virtually all our applicants score very well. Most important to us are the transcript and the school and teacher recommendations, which students can do little to influence once it comes time for an application.
Essays and interviews round out an application, and we look here mostly to see whether they convey information that enlarges or enhances, while remaining consistent with what we hear from counselors and teachers. </p>
<p>Anyways..I thought this was extremely interesting as you can see haha</p>
<p>I've been trying to find what makes admissions tick for the last two and a half years on CC, but no luck so far... even after being accepted. </p>
<p>Some factors give a bigger boost than others, but on the whole, admissions seems completely random... I'd swear that your application's fate in front of the committee is determined more by the mood of the adcoms(they're people too), time of the day(hopefully not being reviewed two minutes before lunch time), climate (god help you if its raining...) and the temperature inside the room.</p>
<p>Edit: to the above poster... that article seems to be good general advice. :)</p>
<p>Haha, "God help you if it's raining."</p>
<p>Yale's looking for what is not there. Seeking what cannot be sought. Finding what cannot be found....</p>
<p>In other words, interesting engaging personalities who make their hobbies Pokemon cards or killing dead babies or throwing shoes at Presidents or whatever it may be. Just special.</p>
<p>Split a human genome in half. Learn to break dance while stirring ice tea. Start a condom factory. I don't know, stand out.</p>
<p>^^lol w....t....f.......</p>
<p>I NEED HELP!!! what if my ECS are "all over the map!?" I dont focus just on ONE activity, I do creative writing, physics, rowing, etc... :s.... how will this affect me? or... how could I make it.. hm.... advantageous?? any help appreciated!!</p>
<p>I'm pretty sure schools appreciate depth of ECs over breadth. However, if you've shown a true commitment to a wide variety, I don't think that will count against you in any case.</p>
<p>Let them know you didn't sample a bunch of things, and stopped doing them, let them know you didn't get involved in things just so you could put them down.</p>
<p>They just don't want to see someone who joined 7 clubs to pad his/her resume, but didn't actually achieve much.</p>
<p>If you participated in those things all four years, then it works to your advantage. However, if you just did oall this things for one year each and then quit, then they'd rather have someone that just did 1 or 2 things very passionately.</p>