who is most likely to get in?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Yale University
1

<p>there are three applying ea from my school...since my school is an average public hs, yale will at most, take one of them if any...i applied harvard scea, but im posting this for my best friend who is among these three...i will try to be as unbiased and objective as possible in decribing their stats...</p>

<p>applicant a:
sat: 2040
gpa: 3.93 uw with all ap's (ranked in top 20 out of 600ish)
ec's: ballet for last 12 years (huge time committment), show choir, piano
last 12 years, local awards in these musical activities, model un for
two years in hs (delegate awards), spanish honor society prez, nhs
officer, spend lots of time for school's service club, academic team,
act in musicals every year, plans to get involved in fine
arts program at yale
essays: somewhat original...living in saudi arabia...dance...
recs: good like everyone else's, not sure if they'll stand out...
background: asian, affluent background, brother graduated
from yale three years ago</p>

<p>applicant b:
sat: 2120
gpa: 3.87 uw with all ap's (top 30)
ec's: research last two summers in genetics lab (assisted),
physics experiment (very complicated, lots of time,
helped by university prof), prez of a few miscellaneous
but time-constraining clubs, volunteered last year at
a few different places, works part-time as soccer referee,
play soccer recreationally last 12 years (2 years in hs),
academic team captain
essays: original again...family history (he is by inherited title a count)
....other is about fasincation with physics and internship with
physics prof
recs: average...a teacher emailed the entire faculty about a plagiarism
incident, so he had to search far and wide for teachers who
would write ok ones...to his credit, i dont think he will have bad
letters though
background:white, middle class (dad univ prof, mom housewife)</p>

<p>applicant c
sat:2210
gpa:3.97 uw all ap's (top 10)
ec's: soccer player for 12 years of life (local awards...all-region etc), prez
and officer of a few miscellaneous clubs, he's been published a lot
for poetry and won a number of essay contests (just local though),
volunteers at hospital last two years and tutor all school year,
works part time to pay for his club soccer, academic team
essays: original...exploits his urm status in one...favorite author in another
background: hispanic, middle class (both parents univ profs)</p>

<p>...all have solid stats, but none are particularly high achieving in their extra-currics...though they all show passion in some...</p>

<p>so, if only one were to get in, who would it be?...applicant a, b, c, or none?</p>

2

<p>c, best SATs + best Gpa + ethnicity ^^;</p>

3

<p>yeah, i thought that would be the most likely...he is not mexican or puerto rican, rather, his mother hails from a small latin american country...im not sure if that makes a difference...applicant a though is not your typical asian...her dad is from china and her mom is from taiwan (interesting mix given the political tensions), and applicant b is half czech half american</p>

4

<p>C. he's the best even without aa. but none of them are particularly strong in terms of the yale applicant pool (clearly they would stand out anywhere else)</p>

5

<p>C because of AA. If he doesn't declare his race, then B for his research experience - that is, unless the plagiarism incident leaks.</p>

6

<p>c is the smartest. being a urm helps as well</p>

7

<p>interesting...one question that is on my mind is whether having a sibling alum will help applicant a...</p>

8

<p>Yeah, the Taiwan/China mom/dad of applicant A is interesting...</p>

9

<p>what about a's involvement in the arts...does that make her ec's better than b or c's?</p>

10

<p>C (if any), and I'd be willing to bet my (or my parent's) house on that</p>

11

<p>so, it looks like your friend is applicant a. the arts involvement is cool, and can help him/her, but the SAT scores are glaring. good gpa, class load- the truth is that Yale looks for elite students, and b and c seem more that type- but with strong essays you never know. hope your friend gets in, good luck at harvard</p>

12

<p>im trying to be as objective as possible, so i tried to boost how a and c looked, so i wouldnt make b look the best, but the truth is, b is my friend...</p>

13

<p>my bad- well than that's a good thing :)</p>

14

<p>My opinion, based on watching Yale's EA and RD rounds for the last 2 yrs.:
c- has the highest chance of being accepted EA, due to his URM status & very good stats & rank. However, he has frankly not achieved that much, as you describe, outside of school. He has univ. prof. parents as both an asset & a liability: it "privileges" him for acceptance, but reduces any supposed economic deprivation that often accompanies URM. (One special hook is offset by an EA Round liability category.) This is a situation that may come down to essays & recs: it may depend on how he shows his own promise in his essays, & what the teachers say about him. Just as pivotal, however, will be whatever URM's of similar achievement are applying from his region. If he's unlucky enough to be competing against one other URM with no or one Univ.Prof. parent + much better e.c.'s, the other URM may win out.</p>

<p>Alternatively, he may get in RD to Y (if that last situation arises).</p>

<p>I would not discount #a. Y & P highly value long-standing artistic involvement. We know one Asian female similar to this one -- deferred EA at Y, accepted RD. Similar economic background. Similar (sounds like) school, although yours is even larger. Chances increase for multiple admissions with size of school combined with competitiveness/reputation of school.</p>

15

<p>well said epiphany, thing is, i've read on other threads and in other books racial diversity is a high priority of these schools indepedent of socioeconomic status...it makes sense, because the constitutionality of affirmative action reasons that minorities can take preference because of the ethnic diversity they bring to campus...not to make up for supposed discriminations or injustices or even economic unbalance</p>

<p>...basically being an ethnic minority and having a low socioeconomic standing are two separate factors...i even read in a few places that some schools take wealthy minorities over poor ones, because wealthy minorities use less (if any) endowment and still suffice for the school's end of the year statistics...</p>

<p>no one seems to disagree that disadvantaged students should be excused for limited opportunities, but that's a completely different issue than creating an ethnically diverse student body...</p>

<p>neway, i havent done justice to all these applicants in describing their achievements...a and c probably have more going on for them than i've given due credit, and we cant tell how good their subjective portions will be...</p>

<p>btw, our school is in minnesota...</p>

16

<p>p.s. what did you mean by this?</p>

<p>"One special hook is offset by an EA Round liability category."</p>

17

<p>You're right, rickster. I shouldn't have stated it as a "liability" exactly. It is just that middle-class is not an EA hook, whereas URM is. But understand that there are a lot of accomplished URM's out there, & few EA spaces for them, given so many other factors, & so many apps. However,I think region (now that you reveal that) is one thing that "c" has going for him strongly. There are probably fewer URM apps to Y EA from Minnesota than from many high-URM regions (CA, NY, FL, TX).</p>

<p>If this were the same candidate with even one really strong e.c. + economic disadvantage (which he does not have, even compared to many Anglo Caucasians), then he would probably have EA nailed. He still is likely, though, just not a shoe-in, i.m.o.</p>

<p>Many middle-class URM's & non-URMs with his stats were deferred in Early rounds at various schools but accepted later.</p>

<p>Also, I wanted to say about "a" that her arts involvement is complex, as well as long-standing. Further, she wrote about one of those arts. This shows a uniform, consistent degree of interest & ability that is likely to give her extra consideration in the RD round.</p>

18

<p>i see...yes, the midwest will invariably have fewer urm applicants...c's mother is from a south american country and he had a supplementary rec sent in from a former spanish teacher who lives in argentina...he mentioned he wanted to make sure the adcom understood how instrumental his heritage was in identifying himself...(fyi, his dad is a whitie from the midwest)</p>

<p>a's art involvement is very impressive, just no national level achievements...but clear dedication...perhaps im reading too much into your comments ("consideration in the RD round"), but i take it, you think a's scores will keep her out of early contention...?</p>

19

<p>What I meant about "extra consideration" is that it will be a boost for her that she has the length of interest in the arts & the variety of talent & is personally connected enough to devote an essay to it. The fact that she has no national recognition, no economic disadvantage, no super-high stats, no URM status or other EA-type "hook" means that she will more likely be accepted RD than EA. That would just be my guess. Generally, for the really top schools like HYP, they look for special categories as their priority for this round, "saving" (deferring) others for another look with the larger pool which includes a greater variety of students.</p>

20

<p>that makes sense now, i guess at schools with ed they'll have even higher priority for recruits and urms early, because they'll actually lock in those accepted</p>

<p>ironic...talking with epiphany is very enlightening</p>