<p>oh, and quota wise: i dont think they do something like that. while ive been in high school, yale has accepted at least one kid from each of the classes i saw graduate, and two in 03. But apparently before this recent string of acceptances there were barely any. So I think it's totally random, and if they had some rule of "always accept 1 kid from _______" then i probably wouldve gotten in or something.</p>
<p>my pet theory on why i was deferred: my grades declined second semester of 11th grade year and the adcom wanted to make sure it wasn't a trend. hopefully that is the reason because my grades improved drastically. i don't think anyone else at my school is even applying to Yale. most top students are going for Stanford, for some reason.</p>
<p>who knows at all... </p>
<p>my overall application was pretty good: nothing was weak, but nothing stood out, either.</p>
<p>Actie, yes,my public school got 3 in last year, as did yours (I assume from your post that it is Ridgefield...my cousin was one of the 2 accepted RD, 1 was accepted EA)and 5 kids at Ridgefield got deferred, not 2, all top 10 GPA's, and 1 got rejected.) The Westchester school was Chappaqua and that info was published in a recent school newsletter you can access online. Also, about the geo representation: I think Yale's less tempted by this than many, given even the football coach's admitted desire to "take more kids from CT and less from Texas". Last, NOBODY has a good chance RD. Single digits. Also, I think it is kinda bush to discuss other people's "chances" when you have already specified the school in your post.</p>
<p>Even worse to mention soemone's parents donating/not donating and posting "someone else's" SAT's. Also how do YOU know where the two klids you mentioned stand vs. the applicant pool??? Maybe you should discuss THEIR stats on this public forum while you're at it!</p>
<p>8 to Yale? Wow. I know someone from Chappaqua who was deferred from Yale this year. It must be even worse for him/her, considering many of his/her classmates got in. For those who don't know, the school at Chappaqua is ranked 18th in the country (Newsweek). My school's ranked in the 300s...</p>
<p>What ranking us that, Suburbian?<br>
What also needs to be considered is how many alums/legacies are present in these high-yielding high schools, and what percent of kids apply...in Westport (2 years ago) something like half the class applied early to Ivies...so you'd expect a big percentage.<br>
Kind of a chicken and egg thing...it is certainly that way with high school's state test scores...when a town does well, people flock in for "the good school system", when often the test scores are less a function of the school and more a function of the demographics.</p>
<p>Oh, I found that Newsweek thing. That was a controversial ranking, tho, along several dimensions, especially the AP thing. One criterion was "percent of students taking AP courses", which automatically excluded Connecticut's nationally-reknown "A-group" towns (mostly Fairfirld County) because taking AP courses in most of them is an honor, not a choice...you can't just elect to take AP courses at most of them.</p>
<p>Doesn't the Newsweek thing also not take into account if the students are passing the course? You could sign a whole school up for AP classes and have them all make 1s.</p>
<p>I was deferred because my standardized tests scores were too low. I got a 1410 on the SAT but I also have an A+ average (top 3% of class) at one of the best Public Schools in NY state. I also did medical research at the Yale Medical School with a professor (who wrote me a letter of recommendation). I also run track 4 seasons and have been the MVP for 3 years (4:30 mile and 2:04 800). So the only thing I could think of is low SAT and SAT II scores. Too bad for Yale- I got into Wash U ED II and am thrilled!!!</p>
<p>Congratulations! I have a feeling that I will end up at Wash U too. :)</p>
<p>How much time did you have between the Yale deferral and the Washington ED II deadline?</p>
<p>And Sara7246, since you live in Chicago, how is the area around UChicago? </p>
<p>For anyone who cares, sorry about going off topic. (But this thread is for deferred students, and I think most of us need to consider alternatives). </p>
<p>Yeah, I guess that system of ranking by Newsweek has some major issues, but for all of the schools I know in my area (Westchester, NY), it seems to be true according to the relative reputation that I've heard that these schools have. (Edgemont, Chappaqua, Scarsdale, Ardsley, etc.)</p>
<p>LLama, no it did not take that into account...it was "how many take them" and that caused a huge uproar in Fairfield County...the whole reason they are restricted here is to guarantee everyone gets 5's and thereby upholds the reputation of these schools. The Westchester rankings seem correct but in Fairfield County, premier schools like Darien, for example, weren't on the list yet some very not-so-hot schools were...it was kinda wacky. Anyway, this is off topic, sorry I got us onto it! Back to deferred issues...</p>
<p>Cruncha, I lived in Westchester County but sent my kids to private schools because all of those wonderful districts strictly gatekeep. My kids would have had difficulty taking more than a few AP courses. What we bought were those courses which they all took the last 2 years of highschool. And they did fine on the tests. Jay Matthews has roundly critisized Scarsdale for their gatekeeping but they still do this. The year I looked at Scarsdale, they had over 30 kids in one AP English class because kids squeezed in when parents threw a fit. There was a limit on who could get in but it was clear that it was strictly enforced. I just did not feel like fighting for these things. My son took all APs with hardly a struggle and did much better than he would have at Scarsdale where he would have likely been in the bottom half of the class and without the most rigorous curriculum offered.</p>
<p>suburbian, Hyde Park is a really cool area. Some people might not be comfortable in the surrounding neighborhoods, but don't let that factor into your decision. Besides, the University of Chicago has GORGEOUS architecture. And Hyde Park is a nice mix of university people and artsy people.</p>
<p>jamimom, I agree, there's NO upside to getting lost in the sauce at a strong, big public h.s.; but if you are lucky enough to be in the top percentage of kids, it works for you. Think about how all those not-good-enoughs at the strong publics would do if they were in smaller environments! Kind of a waste of national resources...</p>
<p>just thought i'd post this. most people say that 1 or 2 seems the norm for the number of acceptances to Yale. well, it just so happens that this year my high school had 5 EA kids accepted early to Yale and 3 EA to Harvard. Our high school's norm is usually that 2 or 3 kids get accepted overall (combined RD and EA) to Yale and Harvard. The only unique thing I can think of is that this year our graduating class is extremely smart and one of the best in years (hence the high rate of acceptance). also, Yale tends to not like our school bc a lot of kids turned down in high numbers year after year.</p>
<p>just my 2 cents.</p>
<p>Very interesting two cents...that's a ton of kids. What part of the country?</p>
<p>New England area (MA to be more specific)</p>