I will be applying to Yale. I will also be applying to Brown, Harvard, Princeton, Duke, Northeastern, SUNY ESF, Dartmouth, UCF, UF, and Wisconsin-Madison.
DS was an IB student; he’s a Yale junior now. As I recall, the IB score wasn’t regarded, hardly at all, but that might have been because his SATs were good and Yale AO knew the school well, taking 3% of the graduating class on average. That also meant that they could read recommendations astutely, and tbh, I think that, and essays, are what got DS accepted.
Schools know that IB students know how to manage their time (doing what I call reading list triage) and can write well. To me, that’s the value of an IB diploma. This is not the place to have an IB debate, but DS found that he had to get math and science chops outside of the IB curriculum. YMMV.
:-h Joining the overly-concerned-juniors-wanting-to-apply-to-Yale party!
Not sure if I should apply as I don’t stand a chance & my school restricts you to applying to 10 schools… don’t wanna waste some of those spots on a school I have no chance at haha
/\ /\ Wish more schools did this. There is no reason why you shouldn’t do well with 2 safeties, 4 targets and 4 reaches. Anyone applying to 7-8 Ivies, several of which are hugely different, has been thoughtless going into the process and is at least misguided over “prestige”.
@YaleGradandDad i agree… that girl on the new that applied to (& got into( all 8 ivies and stanford. Granted she was super qualified but she applied AFTER she got admitted early to Harvard. Like woohoo great accomplishment but were you seriously genuinely considering those “lower tier Ivies” (sounds absurd, I know, but relatively speaking) after you got into Harvard? You’re just taking the spots of other people…
@junior1818, it’s funny how the media is generally aghast at how crazy admissions has become, and a bit anti-Ivy/ Stanford in terms of the anxiety they cause during the admission process vs. the value of the education they provide. They then turn around and give huge PR to applicants like the girl you cited. While kudo’s to her and all the kids that got into multiple highly selective schools for their accomplishments, I agree with you if you get into one EA, it’s just ego/showing off if you apply to all 8 + Stanford. Back in the day when there was no Common App and you had to physically type or write on each school’s application form, you had to be much more thoughtful and selective in the application process. I think your school’s policy is a great one, and I agree with @YaleGradandDad that more schools should apply this rule given the application process now.
@BKSquared, when DS got his EA acceptance to Yale, a bunch of his fellow students urged him to apply to the other Ivies. Notably, they were the same kids that urged him to retake the SAT, where one mistake on an Easy math question kept him from a 2400, and it was the testing period where one wrong had an outsized effect on the score. He was happy to be “one and done.”
I asked him, if he could trade his EA to Yale for any other school admission, which would it be? He thought about it, said he’d keep his Yale admit, and enjoyed a relaxed rest of senior year.
I am disappointed in the advice given by the guidance counselor, teachers, parents, etc. to the media star who applied to 7 Ivies and Stanford after being accepted at H. One could make a case for one or two other schools (e,g., I know someone who applied to S after EA at H, and matriculated at S), but ALL the Ivies? Nah.
@IxnayBob, I was pretty proud of my son after he got into Yale SCEA and decided not to apply to the 5 other schools for which he already had the applications tee’d up, including H, S and P because a couple of his friends had been rejected or deferred at their first choice schools, and he did not want to compete with them for a “spot”. He too is having a relaxed senior year, and his old man has an extra ± $500 bucks in his pocket, which is nice.
I can’t wait for the application to come out next month!
Is it true that Yale asks you to send in a video with your application? I’m a potentially Environmental Science major with a passion for filming and video editing, so it would be super awesome to share some of my “green” videos with the admissions officers!
@anxiouswreck I don’t believe a video is required, but you can always submit the video as a supplementary material as part of your application.
@anxiouswreck the video is if you are applying via the coalition essay
Oh yeah, and I’m applying to Yale SCEA
Hi everyone, I have an interesting situation if you guys feel like reading and sharing some much-needed advice. I am currently a rising senior (HS Class of 2018), and I’m deep into the process of figuring out what colleges I am going to apply to, and when. However, I have a dilemma. After visiting Yale back in the Spring, and doing a ton of research on their programs, I fell in love with the school. But, I have double legacy (both my parents) at Johns Hopkins, another school which I like a lot and would completely be happy with going there. A senior who has graduated from my high school (at Duke now) strongly recommends that I ED to Hopkins (who only consider legacy with ED), with a very high chance of getting in. However, if I am true to myself, Yale, and some other Ivys and top schools might be a little above Hopkins for me. Reaching for Yale SCEA and then seeing how I do in RD would be a no brainer, but a Valedictorian a couple years back, with a perfect SAT and great EC’s from my school got denied from every Ivy League RD, and I personally believe that to be because my school is not great for sending kids to top colleges. My chances of getting into Yale or another top school other than Hopkins early is much lower than Hopkins. What do you guys think I should do? My GPA is 4.0 UW, I am 4/323 in the class, 1540 new SAT (750E 790M) w/ 24 essay, 800’s couple subject tests, most rigorous classes taken (All AP’s), some school, state/regional, and minor national academic awards, some cool Volunteer experience abroad and a Neurophysics research internship this summer. My prospective major is Physics/math, really interested in Science. Some extra info: a Yale admissions staff member/presenter visited our HS earlier this year, perhaps showing that they have interest in getting applicants from my region. I also want to eventually go to Grad school, if that factors in at all.
Hey guys
@WinnerWannabe A video is required if you’re applying with Coalition? Is it the same for other schools?
@n2theoah, this is a common dilemma without a good answer. No doubt your admissions chances are much better at Hopkins ED than Yale SCEA. Will you regret not trying for your dream school instead of “settling” for a more assured one? This decision has more to do with your personality and sense of risk than anything that can be guided on a forum. Understand that the vast majority of your Hopkins boost is applying ED and not your legacy. Given that several schools are a “little above Hopkins” for you, think carefully about using your ED option there.
@n2theoah ,since I don’t know you, I can’t advise you, but I will say that my wife, some 40 years later, still wonders how things would have turned out had she had applied to a particular school rather than applying ED to another. She’s had a good life, regardless, but she still wonders.
It doesn’t so much apply to young people, but I find that much of life is regret avoidance.
I think that if you were my kid, I would have you apply to your dream school over a school that has legacy. ED not only means that your decision is final but if you applied only because of legacy then it was decided long before you were born. It is a wonderful thing to offer a legacy to your child but that is like choosing their college for them. I would recommend my own kid to take a shot at the stars for a reach school and apply RD to the one I went to but that is just me.
Another thought is that if you fear you would not be accepted if not for a legacy then your chances at Yale might be even harder as they are both difficult schools but Yale is considerably more difficult to achieve. JMO
I don’t see anything in your application that truly stands out (it doesn’t appear you’re a “must have” for Yale and you don’t have any hooks) for Yale to accept you EA, which means that you would be deferred to RD. That being said if you don’t try, you won’t know, and as long as your happy at your state flagship then I’d go for it.