Yale and MIT Chances (All Criticism enjoyed!)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Applying to Yale SCEA and MIT RD

Before I get started just want to say thank you for the chances and good luck to all.
Also, I know both of these are a crap shoot and it doesn’t matter if I have a 33 or 36 ACT when it comes down to it.

This is more a thread of helping what I should focus on in the specifics of my applications (like what i should include or not)

Well here’s me

ACT (33 ACT)
SAT II (780 Math / 720 Chem)
PSAT(1450)

GPA-3.88/4.00
Rank 37/650 - Really wish I applied myself in High School more :confused: Still haven’t read a text book

NASA High School Aero Space Scholar- Very selective program out of (insert state here) to go down to NASA for a week and study astro. Competed Rigorous course over school year and went to an onsite experience at (Insert NASA facility here). Elected as 1 of 44 kids as the System Manager by other peers while there.

Air Force Academy Summer Seminar Cadet- 1 of 500 kids to go during the summer and experience life as a cadet (7000 applied) national

Certification of completion and acceptance to the national guard engineering program. Selected as a freshman to complete the program

Senior Course Load: Professional Communications, AP Macro, AP Government, AP Physics, AP English 4, AP Calculus AB, Self studying astronautical engineering using MIT open course ware, Advanced Debate, Engineering Design and development

Job- Head Instructor (Only other ones are college grads) at Zaniac. Teach kids STEM fields such as coding, 3d Design, mathematics, etc. Worked extensive hours taking apart and reassembling the 3D printer after errors.

Computer Science Club- Co founder and VP, organize 20-25 people around projects and give guidance to them about how to fix errors and progress

Robotics Club - Treasure and Team leader: Led team of 5 people the entire year over the VEX challenge and went to states

Engineering Club- President, discuss and arrange projects for 30+ kids to work on, ie building a 3D printer out of an old projector and disk drive. (My design)

Varsity hockey team: We won regional out of 16 teams, and I was selected to participate by other coaches in our region in the State of Texas All Star game

Varsity Debate: Policy Debate Board member and 2016 debater of the year. Oh plus District and state champion. But eh I wouldn’t stay my state is the most difficult

Natural Helper- Picked 1 of 12 biannually to participate in training to aide pears in case of extreme depression, anxiety, etc.

NHS obvi

JV Lacrosse Team Captain: Eh idrc about this one, was a very young captain but still its JV

I am also pursuing AF ROTC and have been offered a scholarship, which I’m pretty sure this factors in because the common app asks about it

My essays have been ranked very high by people that have read them and “Shows maturity and ability to find way through difficulties”

White - Male
Military Brat - never stayed in same state for more than 3 years
Single mother
<50k a year

THANK YOU ALL SOOO MUCH, WILL CHANCE BACK AND REPLY. ANY CRITICISM IS WELCOME AND ENJOYED.

2

You have a shot but probably not. Cast a wide net.

3

@ClarinetDad16 I am auto accepted in a school that I would very much like to go to and has a high ranked program, so just applying to my reaches :slight_smile: Thank you for the reply

4

You would have a really good chance with a 4.0 and maybe a 35-36 act. But those ECs will bolster you significantly if you really let them shine through in your application and essays. So maybe.

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@decent There really is not a difference, at least in my medium educated opinion, between a 33 and 36 and 3.8 -4.0 just because of the lack of standardization in gpa and the fact the scores are more just a ticket into the process. But thank you for your response!

6

So what if I told you at another Ivy published the statistics showing the kid with a 36 had a 2.5+ times better shot at being admitted than a kid between a 33-35 score.

That means the difference between the 36 and 33 is more than 2.5 times.

7

I don’t know for sure, of course, but to my understanding then isn’t a huge difference between a 33 and 36 in most cases. However, MIT expects almost perfect. To be in the 75th percentile, you would need a 36 Math, 35 English, and a 35 Composite. Plus, 800s on both math and science SAT IIs. Right now, you are sitting in the 25th percentile in all of those. Of course, perfection doesn’t set you apart or will get you in, but it is important to realize what you are up against. You DO seem very accomplished and passionate and I hope you get in somewhere great! Good luck! :slight_smile:

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I find it a bit ironic you were cagey about which state you were from in one part, and mentioned it in another. But whatever. You are a very interesting candidate I would think, but certainly such schools (especially Yale) are a crap shoot. To be sure, I am not sure either of the schools you ask about are a great fit for you. I know you didn’t ask them to be evaluated on fit, but when I look at your background and attempt to infer things about your personality, I see a very driven and pragmatic hands-on person that probably wouldn’t be happy with the liberal arts + engineering combo at Yale. (Again, just my opinion.) MIT is more of a maybe to me. The standardized test scores would make it tough because they have so many near perfect candidates to choose from. But for them, like most, that is just part of the puzzle.

For some reason I like schools like Georgia Tech, UT honors, Michigan, and Carnegie Mellon better for you. You just seem like a person who likes to make things happen. I know the places you asked about might be more “prestigious,” but I suspect these other places I mentioned would make you happier.

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What AFROTC scholarship have you been awarded? They have not begun awarding scholarships yet for 2017 graduates.

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@ClarinetDad16 I know what article you are referencing; however, the article did also relate that these chances are like that due to the fact that applications with perfect scores are also applications with extremely good(High ranked internships, international champs. etc.) ecs

@toolegittoquit Im actually above the 75% in the subject test for at least one. And thank you very much! Good lucky to you as well

@inn0v8r Its just because I had it copied from previous idrc now tbh, I have personal reasons for both schools and have visited them both individually. Yale I enjoy because even though I am an engineering hopeful I extremely enjoy liberal arts (as you can see through my debate and other activites) because I like learning about a lot. Plus I absolutely love the environment there, and that is my main reason of choosing. As for the others schools, I have already gotten into one of them and have that as safety.

@jcc One that isn’t through that application, I will elaborate if you pm me if you want to know

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OP, no article it’s the freshman profile on the school’s website. At that Ivy the numbers show the kids with a perfect ACT were admitted far more often than those with a 33.

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@ClarinetDad16 Oh well the article I was referencing kind of describes that phenomenon.

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Hey, looks like you have a shot! I mean, like you said it’s a crap shoot, but tbh you seem like a strong student with a lot of ambition, especially when it comes to your own specific interests.
I’m also a senior this year and will be applying to Yale! I don’t consider myself to be an ~AmAzInG~ student or anything, but tbh I’ve gotten over the “chance-me” threads simply because it just makes me freak out more. So my advice is to absolutely go for it! If you had abysmal test scores or something I’d probably think you were wasting your time applying, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. If I were you, I’d realize that I DEFINITELY have a shot at these schools. Then, I would get off CC until I had my entire application written as perfect as humanly possible and just wait to hear the results. There’s not much we can do with a chance me thread, but if you take the time you’re spending obsessing over whether or not you’ll get in, you’ll probably be able to dedicate it to making an even better application!! (sorry I really hope that didn’t sound mean!! I think you have a chance, so now the next step is to make a stellar app). Good luck!:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

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I give you a 4% chance to be specific.

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@moscott LOL?

@SugarSmarts No it wasn’t mean at all :slight_smile: And ya I understand, I’ve basically been doing this just so I can get advice on my application more and the best way to do that is through chance mes. Good Lucky too!!!

16

I think you have a really solid shot based especially on your ECs, though a slightly higher GPA and class rank would improve your odds. But I’d give you as good a shot as any student who has an impressive resume/meets the base qualifications. Can’t really judge accurately w/o reading your essays (which if you’d like another eye on them, I’d be happy to do).

17

I’m guessing you’re in Texas since you mentioned auto admit. You should know that you have automatic admissions to the university but not whatever major you want. Don’t slack on the application because if you’re applying to Cockrell or McCombs it isn’t a safety.

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First off, as the child of an active duty soldier I’d like to say thank for your service. I am the proud Aunt of 5 military brats and I know that when your mom or dad serve you serve too. As the child of a soldier you are mature, resilient, and offer diversity to any school due to your experiences.

That said, I am the mom to four children. One currently a junior in college and one applying this year (also to MIT.) My suggestion is that you should go for broke! You have a solid transcript, excellent ECs and by your responses to some of the less kind posts here, I would say you are mature beyond your years. My attitude when my kids applied to schools (prep and college) is “why the hell not?”

You never know until to try and I think any school would be lucky to have you! Check out Anchor Collegiate on Facebook, the woman that runs it worked with The Military Child Education Coalition for years and has recently started a business specializing in helping military kids apply to school - some great advice there!

Good luck to you!

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@cleoforshort O.K. Thank you for the reference and kind words! I will definitely attempt to look into that program!

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@RoadTriptoCollege2017 Your EC’s are really amazing! ACT score is a bit low, usually for those schools most applicants have a 34 or even 35+. That being said, even if you did have a 35 or 36 it would still be extremely hard to predict your chances at these schools. So you should definitely apply, and don’t be disheartened/freaked out by what people say on here…their prediction is only as good as mine or yours.

At the same time though also make sure to have matches and safeties. Have you considered high-ranked public schools like UMich, UCLA, Berkeley, UVA, UIUC? Not sure what you want to major in, but looking at your EC’s I’m assuming it’s CS or engineering, and those all have extremely strong programs in t.hose They’re not by any means safeties, but most of them would probably be solid matches based on your stats and EC’s. Also make sure to have some safeties - places where you wouldn’t mind going AND that you can afford. Best of luck to you(: