<p>Nobody here knows what Yale is looking for, we just have good guesses. What you need to do is form your OWN theory about what Yale is looking for and supply it - if you guessed at least partially right, chances are your app will stick.</p>
<p>Yale admissions officers will tell you that they take a holistic approach to looking over an application, which means that they will look at everything, in the context of your school's curriculum as well as globally. They want people who are actually intelligent people, not one-dimensional people who consist of a 4.0 and high test scores. Luckily, I think most people are much more than one-dimensional, so you should be fine. :)</p>
<p>ok...
this one of the most helpful threads I've ever seen!
please...continue~:)</p>
<p>I think a high SAT score gets you up there ( :( boo for me) but I think essays are most important... it would suck if they put a lot of weight on teacher recommendations because for example, I thought my AP lang teacher form last year would write me an amazing one.......NOPE. I saw it later for another school; it was the crappiest, most generic thing I had ever seen, he did that for everyone. Which seems kind of unfair on the part of all the students who were counting on great recommendations.</p>
<p>I don't think this should be taken out on the student. Sorry about this rant, but I'm just frustrated about this and want to know, like the OP, if this is a very important factor?</p>
<p>I would be the last person to really answer this question, but I live next to Yale and frequently meet students. My parents both teach at Yale and we all discuss our favorite students at the dinner table. From what I and my parents have seen recently, it seems that newer students that have elected to take my parents' classes (which are admittedly perhaps a little off the beaten track) have more and more international experience and are more racially and culturally diverse. Many are of mixed backgrounds and they frequently know several languages. Their SATs are not always 800/800/800 excellent but they have varied interests and extracurriculars, great passion, and lots of initiative. There are unfortunately also a scattering of generally less intelligent freshmen who seem to have only been accepted for outstanding athletic abilities or personal experience, but by and large the students I have seen and heard about are motivated, quick-witted, and hard-working. </p>
<p>Of course, the students I hear about are usually the extremes - the ones my parents like the least or the most :)</p>
<p>I guess this doesn't really answer your question but I hope it was in some way interesting nonetheless.</p>
<p>J</p>
<p>Stand out BUT fit in. That is, most of these extracurriculars that people are involved in necessitate joining groups. I’m not talking about one’s arcane interests, which obviously can be solitary pursuits. I’m talking about all this LEADERSHIP crap. You have to lead other people! What if you don’t like to spend your time in groups? What if your particular kind of genius goes with a personality who is mostly bookish and alone-ish?</p>
<p>I think this is a point that needs to be considered. These top colleges want “unique” people, but they also want people who are players in the dominant culture. </p>
<p>you know, George W. Bush FIT IN when he was a Yale. He was not laughed off the campus!</p>
<p>Welcome to CC DMelan: but you’ve got to post to current threads. The original posters are probably college juniors now.</p>