<p>Hey guys! Three people in my school are applying to both Yale and Stanford. A lot of people are speculating on who will get into where. If you were an admission officer, which one would look more appealing? All three of them have faults so it could very well be none of them get in.</p>
<h1>1:</h1>
<p>ACT: 34
SAT IIs: 770, 790
GPA: 4.4
Class Rank: 2/550
Essays: Fine, no emotion
Recs: Decent
ECs: Bad</p>
<h1>2:</h1>
<p>ACT: 32
SAT IIs: 770, 780
GPA: 4.3
Class Rank: 14/550
Essays: Good
Recs: Good
ECs: Bad</p>
<h1>3:</h1>
<p>ACT: 29
SAT IIs: 720, 760
GPA: 4.3
Class Rank: 15/550
Essays: Amazing
Recs: Very Strong
ECs: Amazing</p>
<p>To give backround on all three of them, #1 is a shy person who does nothing but study, #2 is someone who is social but studies a lot and really isn't involved, but everyone thinks of #3 as the "poster child" of our school. It surprised me his ACT was low.</p>
<p>The reason I'm asking this is because they're all very different. How do you think Yale and Stanford will see them? #1 is academically focused, #3 is EC focused, and #2 has a bit of a balance. Which of the three would you accept? Why? </p>
<p>Sorry for the open ended question and how weird it is :)</p>
<p>None of them, because there’re so many other applicants you underestimate the competitiveness of Yale and Stanford admissions.
so many more factors come into play in the admission process than just the obvious and objective pieces. for instance, it’s hard to say what extracurriculars are “good” or “bad”. it depends on supply and demand, who else is applying from that region and all across the country. it depends on the applicants’ family background and upbringing, of which you may not have any knowledge.
what’s more, what you think of as “bad” EC may not actually be bad if they happen to be the particular kinds the reader was looking for.</p>
<p>it’s kind of creepy that you know the grades of everyone listed. how do you know the essay of the first applicant is going to lack emotion? don’t predict and judge from the outside, for both essay and recs.</p>
<p>Hahaha oh gosh. Y’all think I’m creepers now No I promise I’m not! The three of them and I have AP Lang together. We had to write application essays and peer edit them. I read all three common app ones! And as far as they know they’re the only three people applying. But everything I know ^^ was brought up while we were discussing stuff. I might apply there … but they don’t know that yet! I’d still like to know everyone’s choices on those three, though.</p>
<p>Explain these “amazing” EC’s, also, can you give their ethnic backgrounds + income status, gender, legacy status, and whether or not they are applying early?</p>
<p>As it stands now, #3 looks to have the best chance but his/her ACT is really low for both of those schools so it looks like a rejection. As for #1, if they sit home and only study - they aren’t getting into either school anyway, especially if their essays also come across as “flat” - but someone like that would be expected to have a 36 on the ACT, and have a higher GPA than 4.4, for any top 25 college. #2 looks like the typical achieving but nominally involved student, so it looks like they’re getting rejected too, especially with that ACT score (which is not low but not high either for these two schools).</p>
<p>If you elaborate on the stats I requested, though, this might change.</p>
<p>“I’d still like to know everyone’s choices on those three, though.”</p>
<p>then I stand with my previous prediction of none accepted. second everything bobtheboy said, especially regarding applicant three having the best chance but the ACT is a little too low, and the rank may or may not cut it depending the rigor of your high school.</p>
<p>Prediction: All three rejected if they are “normal” applicants (no legacy or other “hooks”).</p>
<h1>3 does have the best chance of improving his/her chances, by taking the ACT or SAT-R and getting a higher score (probably 32+ on each ACT section or 700+ on each SAT-R section). But even then, the chances are small (no one’s chances are good, and these schools are reaches for everyone).</h1>
<p>Actually, even if all three were competitive (but “unhooked”) applicants in all respects, the most likely outcome is all three being rejected, though the possibility of at least one being admitted becomes non-trivial.</p>
<p>I agree with a lot of what you guys are saying. I’m kinda also looking for if one WAS accepted, which would you chose? Saying none in is the easy way out :)</p>
<p>I agree - all three rejected. The kids I know who got into Stanford were the top of their class with amazing ECs (either sports, or top music/arts talent or did something extraordinary).Basically they are looking for people who excel academically and outside of class as well.</p>
<p>Come on. If a person had a “chance me at yale/Stanford” with that minimal info, you need to know that a 29ACT puts the applicant in about the 15th percentile of admitted students. I wouldn’t call that “definitely”.</p>
<p>The most likely scenario with all three is rejected, to be frank.</p>
<p>^I meant that #3 should definately get in, in my own opinion. the way I see it, real adcoms would just throw darts and see which application was hit. too unpredictable for us to try to figure that out</p>
<p>OP, let us know who gets in where after they get their acceptances/rejections back.</p>
<p>I was talking to an admission person from an Ivy League. I told her I was interested in her school for a very long time and she said she liked kids who knew where they were going.
Anyway, all I’m going to say is this. She also said “everyone has the right numbers”. Meaning, everyone applying will also have an over 4.2 GPA. No questions. Their SAT scores will average about 700+ per section. No questions. However, they look at the quality of their application and therefore the quality of the student. Those S+Y will look at all those stats and throw out the obvious non-contenders. Point blank. Afterwords, you better cross your fingers and pray to whoever because it is now the essay: they want to get a feel for you and how you may fit into <em>their</em> campus. They only want applicants who will: 1. do well at their school. and 2. reflect that their school is still one of the best.
So don’t simply look at statistics of 9/10 rejects as a fact that cannot be changed. When writing your apps, self assess: Do you think you will do well at that school? What have you done throughout your high school career that will both set you apart from other applicants “with the same numbers” and demonstrate that you are the perfect candidate for their schools?</p>
<p>^Agree. Once you hit the range of scores, they really don’t care that much, it moves on to what you have done, what your essays are like, and what they think you will at their campus. Its not all a numbers game, or a computer could easily do the job of the adcoms.</p>
<p>Still going to say none accepted. Unless one of them went to one of the top 20 prep schools in the United States, won a national science fair, and has an uncle who went to Yale, then no, none of them stand out as having a good chance.</p>
<p>Think of it this way. For every one of those students, there are at least 1000 other students with similar applications applying.</p>
you underestimate the competitiveness of Yale and Stanford admissions.
No I promise I’m not! The three of them and I have AP Lang together. We had to write application essays and peer edit them. I read all three common app ones! And as far as they know they’re the only three people applying. But everything I know ^^ was brought up while we were discussing stuff. I might apply there … but they don’t know that yet! I’d still like to know everyone’s choices on those three, though.</p>