Yale Class of 2019 SCEA Decisions

Colleges and Universities A-Z Yale University
1

<p>Crazy that the time has come - decisions come out tomorrow for Questbridge finalists and in about 1-2 weeks for regular applicants! Please don't post here unless its an actual decision. Use the template below</p>

<hr>

<p>[aB][asize=4][acolor=#008000]Decision: Accepted[/color][/size]**
[aB][asize=4][acolor=#FFA500]Decision: Deferred[/color][/size]**
[aB][asize=4][acolor=#FF0000]Decision: Rejected[/color][/size]**</p>

<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown):
ACT (breakdown):
SAT II:
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0):
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):
AP (place score in parenthesis):
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load:
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):</p>

<p>Subjective:</p>

<p>Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Job/Work Experience:
Volunteer/Community service:
Summer Activities:
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):</p>

<p>Teacher Rec #1:
Teacher Rec #2:
Counselor Rec:
Additional Rec:
Interview:</p>

<p>Other</p>

<p>Applied for Financial Aid?:
Intended Major:
State (if domestic applicant):
Country (if international applicant):
School Type:
Ethnicity:
Gender:
Income Bracket:
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):</p>

<p>Reflection</p>

<p>Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected:
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected:</p>

<p>General Comments:</p>

<hr>

<p>Make sure to remove the 'a' in the bold, size and color in your decision.</p>

2

<p>MODERATOR’S NOTE: Please only post results using the given format so that this thread can serve as a valuable resource for future applicants. There is another thread provided for discussion, congrats, etc. <a href=“Yale Class of 2019 SCEA Discussion Thread - Yale University - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/yale-university/1686090-yale-class-of-2019-scea-discussion-thread-p1.html&lt;/a&gt; Non-result posts will be deleted.</p>

3

<p>Decision: Deferred
Applied through Questbridge</p>

<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown):2200 (730 R, 670 M, 800 W)
ACT (breakdown):n/a
SAT II: 760 US, 710 Bio, 680 M2 (yikes)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 5%
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Biology (5), AP European History (5), AP U.S. History (5), AP Human Geography (5), AP English Language (5), AP Macroeconomics (4, Self Study), AP Microeconomics (4, Self Study), AP Environmental Science (4, Self Study)
IB (place score in parenthesis): n/a
Senior Year Course Load: AP Gov, AP Calculus AB, AP Spanish, AP English Literature, AP Chemistry, Ceramics
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): QB College Prep. Scholar, NM Commended, National AP Scholar</p>

<p>Subjective:</p>

<p>Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Speech & Debate (10-12), Key Club (11-12), Quiz Bowl (11-12), Science Olympiad (11-12), Liberty in North Korea Club (11-12, President), Columnist for a Science website (11-12)
Job/Work Experience: n/a
Volunteer/Community service: Volunteered at local library and Key Club events (80 hours)
Summer Activities: Boy’s State California 2014, Publishing articles about science for a website
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Common App (10), Why Yale? (6), Yale Engineering (7)
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): </p>

<p>Teacher Rec #1: Didn’t read, probably great (9?)
Teacher Rec #2: Didn’t read, probably great (9?)
Counselor Rec: Didn’t read, probably great
Additional Rec: n/a
Interview: n/a</p>

<p>Other</p>

<p>Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Chemical Engineering
State (if domestic applicant): CA
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Korean
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: < $20,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Unexpected events within family occurred throughout the past couple years.</p>

<p>Reflection</p>

<p>Strengths: Common App. essay, AP scores?
Weaknesses: Why Yale essay, Low SAT I/SAT II Math scores
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: QB match is really competitive (40 people got matched to Yale this year out of thousands specifically from QB)
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Deferred Stanford, Princeton, MIT</p>

<p>General Comments: Hopeful for RD, going to retake some tests</p>

4

<p>[color=orange]Decision: Deferred<a href=“Through%20QuestBridge”>/color</a></p>

<p>Objective:

[ul]
[<em>]SAT I (breakdown): 650 R, 680 M, 610 W 1940 Total
[</em>]ACT: 35 Composite 35 E 34 M 34 R 35 S
[<em>]SAT II: 690 Bio, 740 U.S History, 680 Chem, 660 Lit, 670 Math I, 680 Math II
[</em>]GPA : 4.1 (Don’t know weighted
[<em>]Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 5%
[</em>]AP (place score in parenthesis): 10th: Psych (3), Human (4), WHAP (4), 11th: Bio (4), Chem (4), Stats (5), APES (4), Lang (5) APUSH (5)
[<em>]IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
[</em>]Senior Year Course Load: All AP: Comp Sci, Govt (2nd Sem), Macro (1st Sem), Art History, Physics 2, Euro, Calc BC, Lit
[li]Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): QuestBridge Finalist, Biotechnology Placed at Regional and National, National Achievement Outstanding Participant, local awards[/li][/ul]</p>

<p>Subjective:

[ul]
[<em>]Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):Engineering (TSA), Science UIL, Footbal (Varsity), Soccer (Varsity) 3 yrs, Writing Club, Psych Club, Cancer Research
[</em>]Job/Work Experience:N/A
[<em>]Volunteer/Community service:Volunteering with non-profits in my community through Y.I.P, clothes drives, church; over 300 hours
[</em>]Summer Activities: Engineering Nationals, study program at UT
[<em>]Essays:
QB: 7 (Rushed).
Common app 9 - I talked about obesity and my struggle toward healthiness,
Supplements (9-10) - Insightful responses on the shorts answers, a good Why Yale, a great engineering essay, and a really good essay on the other supplement
[</em>]Teacher Recommendations:
Bio teacher - She absolutely loved me and we got on a really close level -10
Chem teacher - Same with Chem teacher, we on a really close level and had a lot of great conversations - 10
[li]Counselor Rec: probably a 9[/li][/ul]</p>

<p>Other

[ul]
[<em>]Applied for financial aid?: Yes
[</em>]Major: Biomedical Engineering
[<em>]State (if domestic applicant): TX
[</em>]School Type: Public
[<em>]Ethnicity: African American
[</em>]Gender: M
[<em>]Income Bracket: <15,000
[</em>]Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): first gen
[li]Interview: N/A[/li][/ul]</p>

<p>Reflections
Strengths: ACT score, essays?, recommendations
Weaknesses: SAT I / SAT II’s, academics, not a strong enough applicant?
Why do you think you were rejected/accepted/deferred: QB is very competitive. I would probably still be crying of amazement if I had actually gotten matched.</p>

<p>General Comments:
I’m so excited for regular decision and really hope I get in. Hope this helps someone.</p>

5

<p>Decision: Accepted</p>

<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): M 780 CR 760 W 710 (2250)
ACT (breakdown): N/A
SAT II: Math II 800, Chemistry 800, Biology M 750, World History 730
TOEFL: 115
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0 (10/10)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/7
AP (place score in parenthesis): N/A
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: Standard Course Load for my country (Math, Chemistry, Bio, Physics, English, German, etc.)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Received an award from the National Society for Emergency Medicine, Received an award from the school board, Recognized for acts of heroism </p>

<p>Subjective:</p>

<p>Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): National Student Council (Secretary), Intern at a Pharmaceutical Company, System Administrator Intern at a Technical University, Researcher with 2 published articles, Organiser of an international student exchange, Varsity Basketball captain
Job/Work Experience: Lead Paramedic on the most advanced unit in the county (24h/week), Volunteer in the Emergency Department
Volunteer/Community service: See extracurriculars
Summer Activities: Did not discuss
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Common App 9/10 - Talked about saving someone’s life. Very powerful and all
Why Yale 7/10 - Boring but filled with details
Supplement 8/10 - Talked about fighting for student rights and raising low 8-figures euros
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): </p>

<p>Teacher Rec #1: 9/10 Chemistry - Enthusiastic - said I was the best student ever
Teacher Rec #2: 7/10 Computer Science - talked about helping her teach the class
Counselor Rec: 9/10 Talked about my extracurricular activities and said that all the teachers admired me
Additional Rec: 10/10 Came from my supervisor at the ambulance company (he is the chief physician and a NATO expert). Talked about my brilliantness, how I impressed everyone there and how remarkable it was that I became Lead Paramedic at such a young age. He also said that everyone there was very sad to see me go study in a foreign country because they could use people like me.
Interview: 8/10 Had some tough questions but the interview went well. I really liked the guy and I hope he judged me well. </p>

<p>Other</p>

<p>Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: MCDB
State (if domestic applicant):
Country (if international applicant): Europe :slight_smile:
School Type: Private
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: Enough so that I qualify for FA
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Beautiful eyes. Also, I’ve asked a YSM professor to put in a good word for me</p>

<p>Reflection
I had pretty good extracurriculars but most of the students in my country that apply have international olympiads.
Strengths: Did I mention my eyes? Extracurriculars, recommendation, essay
Weaknesses: Not enough academic achievements
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: My eyes
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Nowhere</p>

<p>General Comments:
Good luck to everyone! </p>

<hr>

6

<p>Decision: Deferred</p>

<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2350 - 800 CR 770 M 780 W
ACT (breakdown): N/A
SAT II: 780 US Hist 750 Math II
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.96
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 27/247
AP (place score in parenthesis): Euro 5 USH 5 Langcomp 5 Calc AB 5
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Chem, AP Calc BC, AP US Gov, AP French, DE Survey of English Literature, Madrigal Choir, Physics
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): lol</p>

<p>Subjective:</p>

<p>Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Extensive theatre and music, VP of International Thespian Society, Guitar, Saxophones, Vocals, NHS
Job/Work Experience: I run a small live sound/recording firm
Volunteer/Community service: Through NHS, played at and organized lots of benefit concerts
Summer Activities: nothing of note
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Very introspective, perhaps too much so, I give them 10/10 but that doesn’t mean anything, PM me if you want to read them
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): Both very high praise but nothing of note really, 8/10</p>

<p>Teacher Rec #1: APUSH teacher
Teacher Rec #2: DE Eng. teacher
Counselor Rec: ?? probably decent
Additional Rec: none
Interview: average to good</p>

<p>Other</p>

<p>Applied for Financial Aid?: yep
Intended Major: history
State (if domestic applicant): VA
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: public, non-competitive
Ethnicity: white
Gender: male
Income Bracket: <50K
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):</p>

<p>Reflection: Go for it, but remember: chances are slim no matter what</p>

<p>Strengths: Essays, SAT score, extensive music involvement
Weaknesses: I didn’t convey things that well, low class rank, everything could be better
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: just not quite up there enough
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Accepted at Virginia Tech, yet to hear back from UVA, UChicago, Vanderbilt and William and Mary</p>

<p>General Comments: Don’t get emotional</p>

7

<p>Decision: Rejected</p>

<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2130 Math:800, CR: 630, Writing: 700
ACT (breakdown): 34
SAT II: 760 Math IIC 710 Physics
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.87
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School doesn’t rank
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Calculus AB (5) AP English Language (5) AP Physics B (3)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP English Literature AP Calculus BC AP Macroeconomics AP U.S. Gov. AP Chemistry
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Two time national champion in fencing in Division II and Division III. Top 16 in Junior Olympics, Top 32 and Top 16 in multiple cadet and junior North American Cups, Competed in Budapest, representing the U.S. for fencing. National Speech and Debate Association Distinction Honor (303 points). </p>

<p>Subjective:</p>

<p>Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Fencing at national and international tournaments for 8 years. Speech and Debate at #1 team in country for 6 years Congressional Debate chair for two years.
Job/Work Experience: None
Volunteer/Community service: 300 hours Museum Exhibit Interpreter at Tech Museum for 3 years
Summer Activities: Fencing tournaments and Fencing camps
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Common App 9/10, Why Yale 9/10 both were very specific and clearly showed that I was ambitious to achieve.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): Both teachers (AP Calc. teacher and AP Lang teacher) were enthusiastic about writing a letter for me. </p>

<p>Teacher Rec #1: AP Calculus AB Teacher
Teacher Rec #2: AP English Lang Teacher
Counselor Rec: Not much info. since I didn’t visit her well
Additional Rec: None allowed
Interview: I think it went great because I was very personal, it lasted a long time, and it felt very laid back and conversational. I really liked the interviewer. </p>

<p>Other</p>

<p>Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major: Computer Science/Engineering
State (if domestic applicant): CA
Country (if international applicant): USA
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 250,000+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None</p>

<p>Reflection</p>

<p>Strengths: Fencing and Speech and Debate were long time ECs
Weaknesses: GPA? Ethnicity?
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I didn’t expect to be outright rejected, this feels really hopeless.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Only school to hear back from so far. </p>

<p>General Comments: All in all, if a school isn’t right for you it won’t choose you. Apply to the schools where you want to be at and if they don’t accept you maybe it’s for the best. Try not to put too much thought on a single school because it is likely others will accept you that you hadn’t expected to be accepted to at all. That’s what I’m hoping for. Congratulations to those who were accepted it is an outstanding achievement to be accepted by such a selective university. </p>

8

<p>Decision: Deferred</p>

<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2300 (770 CR, 770 Math, 760 W) (2270 single sitting)
ACT (breakdown):
SAT II: 740 Bio E, 740 Lit
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): Not given to me by school. Probably 3.85?
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):Top 5%
AP (place score in parenthesis):
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load:
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Award for Wordmasters lol, Girl Scout Gold Award</p>

<p>Subjective:</p>

<p>Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Soccer (9,10)
Girl Scouts (9,10,11,12) - Gold Award, highest possible achievement
Community Service Club (9,10,11,12) - Chairperson
Mock Trial (9,10,11,12) - 3rd at state two years in a row
Spanish Club (9,10,11,12) - Vice President
Model UN (10,11,12) - Some awards
Model Congress (11,12)
Debate - (11,12)
Yearbook - (10,11,12)
FBLA - Co-founder, VP
Non-profit organization - founder, pres
Other non-profit (lol) - peer mentor</p>

<p>Job/Work Experience:</p>

<p>Volunteer/Community service:
Created a penpal program to connect disadvantaged students in my ethnic homeland with students at my school.
Volunteered as a peer mentor to a girl living in the aforementioned homeland</p>

<p>Summer Activities:
Internship at arguably the best cancer institute in the US</p>

<p>Essays (rating 1-10, details): Common App: 8/10. Idk, it was well written, but I wasn’t a huge fan of it. It was almost too deep haha.
Supplement: 9/10 I wrote it like a Why Yale type essay. I really liked this one :confused: sad that the admissions committee didn’t feel the same way lol.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):</p>

<p>Counselor: 7/10 just because I have no idea
English teacher: 9/10 she told me it was very very strong
History teacher: at least 8/10, but I’m not really sure
Additional rec: 8/10 Mock trial coach</p>

<p>Interview: 7/10 lmao I felt like she’s the kind of person who was really awkward in high school. We didn’t really click.</p>

<p>Other</p>

<p>Applied for Financial Aid?: Nope.
Intended Major: Poli Sci
State (if domestic applicant): PA
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Private
Ethnicity: South Asian
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: >200k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc): None</p>

<p>Reflection: Guess it wasn’t meant to be! I’m mostly just bummed that I have to study for midterms now. Ugh.</p>

<p>Strengths:
Weaknesses: Common App Essay? I’m not really sure. Subject tests could have been better.
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Again, not really sure. Haha if I had known, I would’ve fixed it and avoided the deferral!
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Accepted: Temple, Rutgers</p>

<p>General Comments:
I don’t think I could have changed anything about my application. I have no regrets! :slight_smile:
Yale weather sucks anyway ;)</p>

9

<p>Deferred</p>

<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): None
ACT (breakdown): 34 (superscore)
SAT II: None
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): N/A
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 3
AP (place score in parenthesis): French (5), Spanish (4)
IB (place score in parenthesis): English Literature HL, Chemistry HL, Biology HL, Geography SL, Mathematics SL, Spanish B SL. Predicted 43/45 points.
Senior Year Course Load: All above courses.
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): - </p>

<p>Subjective:</p>

<p>Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Founder/Leader debate club, speech/debate (6 years), piano (10 years), various jobs, multiple work experience placements in medical environments, published research in Swiss medical journal and at international conference.
Job/Work Experience: summer waitress (2 weeks)
Volunteer/Community service: extremely focused on community service for past 4+ years, humanitarian trip to India
Summer Activities: Johns Hopkins CTY Hong Kong/Pennsylvania, Vanderbilt Summer Academy, Work experience placements, community service. Raised 11,000 dollars for a school in Liberia (team of 3).
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Rating 9/10, worked extremely hard for unique, great essays
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): got to see recommendations, outstanding</p>

<p>Interview:
Very last minute (Early December) because of a “technical issue”, overall very good.</p>

<p>Other</p>

<p>Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major: Biology/Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology
State (if domestic applicant):
Country (if international applicant): Switzerland
School Type: Private/International
Ethnicity: White (Dual-citizen USA/Italy)
Gender: Female
Income Bracket:
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): International, v. unique cultural experiences abroad, community service and leadership.</p>

<p>Reflection</p>

<p>Strengths: Essays, research, reflection on international experiences
Weaknesses: No major awards, no major sports.
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: above.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Applied to UK medical schools, haven’t heard back from all, but rejected from University of Oxford and invited to interview at Imperial College London. </p>

<p>General Comments: frustrated but also happy to have another consideration in the coming year. </p>

10

<p>Decision: Accepted</p>

<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2210 (did not send)
ACT (breakdown): 35 (36/36/34/33) one sitting
SAT II: N/A
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): No ranking, but top 10%
AP (place score in parenthesis): Biology (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Physics C, AP Calc AB, AP Statistics, AP Lang, AP French
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): No major awards, but I’ve led a lot of seminars on student diversity and acceptance within a community struggling with these very issues. </p>

<p>Subjective:</p>

<p>Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Job/Work Experience: None
Volunteer/Community service: Camp counselor (2 years), NHS, FNHS, Tutor to local elementary school students, director and founder of local youth church Christmas choir–has expanded to 40 kids in 2 years, and I’ve recruited 2 assistants.
Summer Activities:
Essays (rating 1-10, details): I think the strongest part of my application. 10/10 Yale supplement, 9/10 CommonApp, 9/10 short answer
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): 10/10</p>

<p>Teacher Rec #1: Terrific–I’m a TA for her now and she absolutely loved the way I developed as a student and a leader in her class
Teacher Rec #2: Similarly terrific–developed my passion for public speaking and leadership in the course and it definitely showed to her
Counselor Rec: She went to Yale, with lots of legacy–I think she was willing to help me out
Additional Rec:
Interview: Really great! Had a really long conversation about the stigma of college that ended very well.</p>

<p>Other</p>

<p>Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Econ + Applied Math, History or PoliSci
State (if domestic applicant): MA
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public, medium (350 in graduating class)
Ethnicity: White
Gender: M
Income Bracket: $250000+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Recruited athlete</p>

<p>Reflection</p>

<p>Strengths: Essays, recs, coach support. Test scores are average for applicant pool, but upward trend could’ve helped cause (B+ average freshman year–> almost perfect GPA last year in many more APs/honors)
Weaknesses: GPA?
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Coach support, but also for my work in the community along with beaming essays and recs (Yale has most stringent academic requirements for recruitment–I know others with slightly lower but still very respectable stats who were not offered support by admissions).
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected:</p>

<p>General Comments:</p>

<p>So excited! I know athletics helped a bit, but I’m still excited nonetheless because I have worked very hard to get to where I am today </p>

<hr>

11

<p>Decision: Deferred</p>

<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): M:800 R:790 W:790
ACT (breakdown): 36
SAT II: Math II:800, Physics: 800, Chemistry: 800
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.98
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/863
AP (place score in parenthesis): World History, US History, European History, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Calculus BC, Statistics, English Language all 5s
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: Comparative Government, English Literature, Computer Science, Environmental Science, Economics (All APs), health, band
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AIME Qualifier 10th grade, USAMO qualifier 11th grade</p>

<p>Subjective:</p>

<p>Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Quiz Bowl (10-12), Model UN (10-12, President), Band (9-12), Key Club (10-12)
Job/Work Experience: Internship at hospital during summer 10-11, 11-12
Volunteer/Community service: Food drive, key club activities
Summer Activities: See job/work experience
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Common app 7, Why Yale 8, Yale Engineering 7
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): Didn’t get to see any of the letter of recommendations, although most of the teachers liked me and knew me well to write a decent letter of rec
Teacher Rec #1:
Teacher Rec #2:
Counselor Rec:
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: Went really well, went on for over two hours. The interviewer was really nice, and seemed to like me. The conversation was pretty natural, there weren’t any particularly bad questions.</p>

<p>Other</p>

<p>Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major: Chemical Engineering
State (if domestic applicant): TX
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: M
Gender: Asian
Income Bracket: >200,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):</p>

<p>Reflection: Expected from beginning, although nevertheless kind of depressing.</p>

<p>Strengths: Good academic stats
Weaknesses: Common app essay, Possibly letters of rec
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Not being able to stand out among the application pool. Not really sure about the specifics, if I had known I would have tried to change them [x
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Only school so far</p>

<p>General Comments: Expected deferral/rejection to start with, so it’s not that big of a deal. After all, there is still the regular decision. Congratulations to everyone who got accepted, and good luck to those deferred and rejected for your schools during regular decision.</p>

12

<p>[asize=4][acolor=#FF0000]Decision: Rejected[/color][/size]</p>

<p>Objective:</p>

<p>SAT I (breakdown): 2250
SAT II: BAD!
ACT: <30 oops lol
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0 UW, 4.4 W
IB (place score in parenthesis): diploma candidate
Senior Year Course Load: very rigorous, 7 advanced classes
Awards: 4 pretty good regional awards and 1 awesome school award.
Subjective:</p>

<p>Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): student government, 2 good summer programs, and 3 honor societies and 2 clubs with leadership positions in 4 of them.
Volunteer/Community service: 1 ongoing activity and 1 big service project, probably 200 hours total on my app.
Essays (rating 1-10, details): I’m very critical of myself so take this lightly, but I think common app would be 6/10, why yale 6/10, short takes 8/10, personal statement 7/10. They were all written well but the theme is a problem. I feel like my common app essay may be boring. My why yale was probably not what they were looking for because I talked a lot about the external features of the school. Short takes were good and light hearted; I liked them. Personal statement was again good but probably not what they were looking for. It had nothing to do with my academics or interests, it was about my lifestyle. I also didn’t use as precise vocabulary as I could have for all of the essays.<br>
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): 8/10 for both, I think. I waived my right. Both teachers love me, and I have good relationships with them inside and outside of the classroom, but without reading I can’t assume they were 10/10s. One of the two wrote me a recommendation for a scholarship last year which I ended up getting.<br>
Counselor Rec: No idea. She loves me but it seems like she’d write generic recommendations because she’s so busy.
Interview: Bad! She talked mostly about herself.</p>

<p>Other</p>

<p>Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Political Science
State (if domestic applicant): VA
School Type: Bad school in very good county.<br>
Ethnicity: South Asian
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: ~110k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None</p>

<p>Reflection</p>

<p>[ *] Strengths: Well, stats wise: perfect GPA in very rigorous classes, test scores good enough that they won’t be the reason I’m rejected. EC’s: huge amount of leadership, good mixture of out of school and in school extracurriculars, impressive regional awards. Subjective: good relationship with teacher recommenders both inside and outside the classroom, essays revealed a lot about me. Other: in context of my school, I am a really strong applicant. I have the highest SAT from my school in the past 5 years, and I know I am the only one in my class with a 4.0 unweighted.<br>
[ *] Weaknesses: Stats: ACT and subject test scores. EC’s: only impressive on a regional scale but didn’t do anything nationally, didn’t do anything except for 1 small club that was related directly to my major of political science, although everything was sort of indirectly related because it dealt with humanities. Subjective: Interview, counselor didn’t know me too well and she doesn’t know about the extent of involvement in any of my extracurriculars, recommenders also weren’t able to speak about a few of my major activities because they didn’t know anything about them. ART SUPPLEMENT. NEVER SHOULD HAVE SUBMITTED A SUPPLEMENT, YALE HATES SUPPLEMENTS.<br>
[ *] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/denied: I don’t think I came off as that intellectual. I was really trying to prove myself more as a human being than a candidate, but that backfired. I didn’t even talk about my major in any of my essays. There’s a lot of competition in my area.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Accepted at 2 safeties. Applied EA to two more schools so will be hearing back from them school.</p>

<p>[ /list][ b]General Comments:**
I just kind of applied to apply. I never thought I had a shot at getting in. Up until senior year, I never even thought I would have the SAT scores to apply so I didn’t bother really creating myself as an ivy league candidate in high school. I’m okay with the fact that I was outright denied though because I know for a fact that my application would not have improved and a deferral would have merely been a prolonged rejection. At least I can focus my time on my other applications. </p>

<p>I’m mostly disappointed that all my friends got into their EA/ED schools and I’m the first rejection. People with lower GPAs/SATs got into amazing schools ED this year, so I know that people have even higher expectations for me. I’m terrified of not being able to live up to their expectations. </p>

13

<p>Decision: Deferred</p>

<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): Didn’t take
ACT (breakdown): 33 (30 - math, science; 35 - reading/English)
SAT II:
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/608
AP (place score in parenthesis): Gov (4), Stat
IB (place score in parenthesis): HL Chem, HL English, SL Spanish, HL History, SL Math (5), SL Business (6)
Senior Year Course Load: ToK, IB History, IB Chem, IB English, IB Spanish, ToK, APStatistics
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): 1st place in the state Deca</p>

<p>Subjective:</p>

<p>Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Jazz Band (first chair), Speech & Debate (captain), Cross Country (varsity), Track (varsity), Deca (no leadership, but first in the state)
Job/Work Experience: Receptionist for medical clinic, Video Game Journalist at NE
Volunteer/Community service: Internship for Colorado Democratic Party, roughly 100 hours
Summer Activities: Went to E3, Worked at the receptionist
Essays (rating 1-10, details): I poured my heart into these, and edited the hell out of them to make them perfect. Probably 9-10/10
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Honestly, haven’t got a clue.</p>

<p>Teacher Rec #1: ToK teacher, she said she made me look like Albert Schweitzer, so I guess that’s good…
Teacher Rec #2: HoA (history) teacher. It was probably decent.
Counselor Rec: Everybody knows him as “the weird counselor”, so I didn’t get my hopes up.
Additional Rec: Very good, I sent one from my internship supervisor.
Interview: Absolutely amazing. We spoke for more than 90 minutes, all about Yale, politics, etc.</p>

<p>Other</p>

<p>Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes (although I won’t get it…)
Intended Major:Political Science
State (if domestic applicant): Colorado
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Large Suburban (about 3,000 kids)
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: The upper one :stuck_out_tongue:
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Very unique job…</p>

<p>Reflection</p>

<p>Strengths:I’ve an incredibly unique extracurricular. I know for a fact that my regional admissions officer has never had anybody apply who was paid to write about video games. I also ran the largest voter registration drive in the Colorado 6th Congressional District. My grades/scores were also decent.
Weaknesses: Maybe my essays were not actually as good as I thought they were. Perhaps my recs and my senior year course load (too many off period, probably)
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Absolutely amazing other candidates, not amazing recs, senior year course load.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: I gotta go write like 15 supplements now, so we’ll see…</p>

<p>General Comments: Honestly, this broke my heart. Absolutely grabbed my heart, played with it for about three months, then stabbed it to pieces. I sincerely thought that Yale was for me. It is an amalgamation of so many unique and interesting people, and I would love to be a part of that. I guess the adcoms thought differently. I would leave some sort of advice or something for future applicants, but since I was deferred I feel like my opinions are moot.</p>

<p>I’m not getting my hopes up about deferral, as the chances for me are equivalent to regular decision applicants (about 4%)…</p>

14

<p>Decision: Accepted</p>

<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2360 (800 CR, 770 M, 790 W) - single sitting, second time
ACT: 36 (35 E, 36 M, 36 R, 36 S)
SAT II: 800 Math Level 2, 800 Chemistry, 790 US History
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
AP (place score in parenthesis): BC Calc (5), Chem (5), APUSH (5), Lang (5), Lit (5), Macro (5), Psych (5), Gov (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP German, AP Stats, AP Physics, AP Biology, AP Art History
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Scholastic Art and Writing National Gold Medalist, State History Day Champion and National History Day Finalist, CSPAN Student Cam 2nd Place, National AP Scholar, National Merit Semi-Finalist, writing honored by Goi Peace Foundation, UNESCO, National Flag Day Foundation etc.
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Orchestra (Concertmaster), Democrats Club (President & Founder), Science Olympiad (Team Captain), Student Council (Representative, Principal Selection Committee Member)
Job/Work Experience: Student Election Inspector
Volunteer/Community service: local Museum – 500+ hours
Summer Activities: GAPP exchange student to Germany, volunteer counselor at camp I went to for five years
Essays: Common App about struggling through BC Calc lol, supplement about the museum I volunteer at (11/10)
Teacher Recommendation: BC Calc teacher–said that “there are a few students in a teacher’s career that change their life and you’re one of them,” English teacher–should be pretty good
Counselor Rec: known her for two months so probably mediocre
Additional Rec: from another member of the counseling staff who has known me for 4 years, glowing
Interview: eh, felt like she didn’t really like me
Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major: Math lol
State (if domestic applicant): Midwest
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: public
Ethnicity: Chinese American
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: 250,000+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none!</p>

<p>Reflection
Strengths: Essays, awards, test scores?
Weaknesses: I think I was well rounded!
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: no clue, but I feel really lucky
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: also applied to state school, will apply to Harvard, Stanford + MIT as well
Congrats to everyone who got in, I’ll see you at Bulldog Days. For those of you that didn’t get in–keep your chin up!</p>

15

<p>Decision: Deferred</p>

<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown):
ACT (breakdown): 34 ACT
SAT II:
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 29/687
AP (place score in parenthesis): English III (5) Physics B (5) Human Geography (5) Computer Science A (4) World History (4)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: BC Calc, Speech, AP Govt & Macro, English IV AP, Physics C, Stu Co
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): 3rd Place in CSAW High School Forensics, State UIL Finalist for Swimming</p>

<p>Subjective:</p>

<p>Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Robotics, Stu Co, Swimming at school and club, Trombonist at Church, Bible study.
Job/Work Experience: Assistant Coach, Lifeguard
Volunteer/Community service: Trombonist for Church, Church volunteer, Bible Study leader
Summer Activities: Boys State, work, Swimming
Essays (rating 1-10, details): I thought they were pretty good, maybe 7
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): 8 I hope</p>

<p>Teacher Rec #1: Really good
Teacher Rec #2: bretty good
Counselor Rec: no idea
Additional Rec: nope
Interview: he really liked me, really appreciated my interest in study abroad and my knowledge on Yale. Said he wrote me a positive review</p>

<p>Other</p>

<p>Applied for Financial Aid?: ye
Intended Major: Mechanical Engineering
State (if domestic applicant): TX
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Huge Public
Ethnicity: White-o
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 120,000-150,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Interest in ROTC at Yale, Nationalist in a competition for an emerging field</p>

<p>Reflection</p>

<p>Strengths: I thought my essays and LOCs were great
Weaknesses: Probably my grades and rank
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Maybe not as stellar academically, I really can’t say. Or maybe my area is saturated in applications. I have no idea but I’m glad I wasn’t rejected.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Thankfully accepted to UT for Mech Eng so yay</p>

<p>General Comments: Well, let’s see what happens in regular decision. I don’t know what to think about it we’ll see what Yale thinks. I’m just glad I’ve been accepted to a lot of great engineering schools already. Sadly results don’t come out until April that’s forever from now. ¯_(ツ)_/¯</p>

16

<p>Decision: Deferred</p>

<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2400, essay 10, first sitting no superscore
ACT (breakdown):
SAT II: 800 Math II, 800 Physics, 750 Spanish, 740 Bio M, 710 Chem
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.75
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):N/A but would guess top 5%
AP (place score in parenthesis): Freshman: Human Geo; Sophomore: Calc BC, APUSH; Junior: Micro, Macro, Physics C Mech+E&M, Lit, Lang. 5 on every single one
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: Spanish Language AP, Statistics AP (I ran out of math at my school, took multivariate as a junior), Post-AP english seminar (also ran out of AP english), Economics seminar post-AP, Biology AP, Science Research Class, Orchestra
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit semifinalist, National AP scholar, 2nd place at statewide research competition, selected to present research at AAAS conference in San Jose, University of Chicago Book Award from school</p>

<p>Subjective:</p>

<p>Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): associate concertmaster of major local youth orchestra, made all-state orchestra 3 of 4 years (really bombed my audition one year), submitted an art supplement on viola (instrument of very high need); years of science research lab work showing a true passion for molecular biology; member of a highly regarded student government panel; founding member of school’s sports broadcasting program; 4 year member of the lacrosse team.
Job/Work Experience: none
Volunteer/Community service: got my hours through youth orchestra and volunteering at a hospital
Summer Activities: past two summers have been in a lab doing research
Essays (rating 1-10, details): short takes 10/10. i thought they were perfect. they truly exemplified why i wanted to go to Yale and what kind of student I was. extended 7/10 wrote about where my passion for molecular biology came from (told the story of the afternoon i read my first research paper). thought it was very good and was confirmed by college counselor as such but later received feedback from another source that told me it needed work to be competitive at a school like harvard or yale. common app 9/10 wrote about how much the violin means to me and talked about how its influenced my life.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):</p>

<p>Teacher Rec #1: Research teacher 11/10. short of telling them that i was going to be a nobel laureate, she said it all. normally writes 1 page but wrote 2+ for me filled with years of anecdotes that described my personality and my scientific interest and skill as a researcher.
Teacher Rec #2: econ teacher 9/10. attested to my intellect very well. this year in class we’ve been discussing behavior economics quite a bit and I always apply my aptitude for biology to explain evolutionary reasons for the behaviors that influence our economy.
Counselor Rec: 8/10. she put in a lot of effort on my behalf to make it a great letter, but at the end of the day, i didn’t read it, so i’m not sure what it said.
Additional Rec: None
Interview: The guy was nice. I dont think we made a tremendous connection, but that was a bit in his nature. He dropped an f bomb at the end of the interview so i thought he was pretty comfortable with me</p>

<p>Other</p>

<p>Applied for Financial Aid?: no
Intended Major: mcdb
State (if domestic applicant): florida
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: private (~200 per class) very competitive 8 harvard admits last year
Ethnicity: Hispanic
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 300k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM hispanic</p>

<p>Reflection</p>

<p>Strengths: Test scores, grades, courseload, hispanic, viola player, strong evidence of passion for the sciences
Weaknesses: ??? possibly that one essay?, 1 B+ freshman year (it was in a junior math class, which was by far the hardest class my school offers)?? courseload senior year? a few seminars? stat? idk what to do I took everything I could at my school except euro or world
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I have no idea…I was hooked, had great ECs and was probably the most qualified applicant from my school (or so I was told by many friends and casual acquaintances)
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected:</p>

<p>General Comments: I’m befuddled. I have no energy left to put into regular apps. Maybe I’ll get in somewhere nice RD…</p>

<hr>

17

<p>Decision: Accepted</p>

<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): didn’t take
ACT: 33 (E:34 M:34 R:32 S:31)
SAT II: 750 (Italian), 740 (Chemistry), Math II (710), Literature (670)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/420
AP (place score in parenthesis):
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: French equivalent of AP Chemistry, AP Biology, AP Calculus AB, AP Latin, AP World History, IB Physics, Honors Philosophy, IB English Language and culture
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): </p>

<p>Subjective:</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:

  • conservatory studies: Piano lessons; Ear Training, Music Theory and Musicianship classes; advanced diplomas earned accelerated)
  • pianist in two different ensembles: frequently selected to perform.
  • research (team leader): year-long project; selected for local student science conference.
  • student government: elected class president; elected student representative for School Board.
    Job/Work Experience: church organist, piano teacher (for beginners)
    Volunteer/Community service: none
    Summer Activities: nothing outstanding (reading, traveling etc.)
    Essays (rating 1-10, details): 8
    Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
    Teacher Rec #1: 9
    Teacher Rec #2: 8
    Counselor Rec: I haven’t read it, but I know it is fantastic!
    Interview: 8</p>

<p>Other</p>

<p>State (if domestic applicant):
Country (if international applicant): France
School Type: public high school
Ethnicity: white
Gender: male
Income Bracket:
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): </p>

<p>Reflection</p>

<p>Strengths: ECs, recs
Weaknesses: SAT II scores ?
Why you think you were accepted: I am very passionate about my activities; I took advantage of all the opportunities that were available to me. My essays and recs certainly set me apart from other French applicants. </p>

<p>Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: no other decisions out yet</p>

<p>General Comments: I can’t believe what just happened. It seems surreal…
I am sincerely sorry for those who didn’t get in. I’ll have my fingers crossed for you during the RD round.</p>

<hr>

18

<p>Decision: Deferred</p>

<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2160 (760 CR, 680 Math, 720 Writing) - Did not send
ACT (breakdown): 33 - Sent
SAT II: 760 US History, 660 Biology, 660 Literature, did not send
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.8
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 10%
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Macroeconomics (5), AP Biology (5), AP US History (5), AP European History (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: Religion, Psychology Honors, AP Comparative Gov, AP US Gov, AP Calc AB, AP Literature, AP Physics, Spanish 4 Honors
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National AP Scholar with Distinction, National Hispanic Merit Scholar, National Commended Student</p>

<p>Subjective:</p>

<p>Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):</p>

<ul>
<li>Debate Club (Founder, President, National Forensics League Student Life Committee Member)
-Model UN (Vice President): Attend 5 competitions
-Environmental Club : Started a new school wide recycling program
-NHS (President): Started a new international student mentoring program at school for students on semester abroad trips. Service Chair for weekly Ronald McDonald events. Planned yearly induction ceremony.
-Creative Writing Club (Vice President): In charge of designing and publishing quarterly literary journals. Headed publications of writing competitions at school.</li>
</ul>

<p>Job/Work Experience:

  • Worked part time for a company where I was in charge of their inventory logistics</p>

<p>Volunteer/Community service: Did not report, but have completed over 150 hours. Oops.</p>

<p>Summer Activities:
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 8. For my common app essay, I wrote about going against the family grain and making my first political decision.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): 10. Both were so enthusiastic to write for me and both wanted me to succeed. I was the top participant in both their classes and serve as the NHS president under one of them.</p>

<p>Teacher Rec #1: AP US History/AP Comp Gov teacher
Teacher Rec #2: English 3 Honors teacher
Counselor Rec: It was okay. I mean, she knows me and she thinks I’m one of the top students. She told me that I had the hardest course load of anyone else in the Senior class.
Additional Rec: none
Interview: It felt like a game of 20 questions. I was constantly asked about my views on politics, my opinions on foreign policy, economic policy, art, history, geography. No one else I know has had an interview like it. It was definitely interesting, and I imagine it might’ve hurt me if he was harsh.</p>

<p>Other</p>

<p>Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Economics
State (if domestic applicant): Florida
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Private (Catholic)
Ethnicity: Hispanic
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: <75k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM</p>

<p>Reflection</p>

<p>Strengths: Common App essay, Letters of Rec, ECs
Weaknesses: Test scores, grades, interview
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I couldn’t tell you. My bet is on my average (seriously, Yale ACT average is 33) test scores.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected:
I find out from FSU tomorrow and UF in February. I will be applying to Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Duke, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Princeton, and Stanford RD.</p>

<p>General Comments
Congrats to everyone who got in! And if you’re a freshman or sophomore looking at this, take your first SAT/ACT the fall of your Junior year. Study hard for them and prep! Get off this site. It’ll stress you out, but come back Junior year. Make sure you study hard and get involved.
Don’t be afraid to take risks and enjoy high school.
Best of luck to the future class of 2019 and the high school class of 2015!</p>

19

<p>Decision: Accepted</p>

<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2230 superscore (690 M 790 W 750 R)
ACT (breakdown): 33 superscore (didn’t send)
SAT II: 770 Math II (second try), 730 Bio M, 690 US History, 720 Lit
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0, weighted: 4.34
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): don’t know, was tied for #1 out of 42 last year
AP (place score in parenthesis): 4 (English Lang, Bio, Euro), 5 (APUSH)
IB (place score in parenthesis):none
Senior Year Course Load: AP (Physics C, Calc AB, English Lit, French, Microeconomics, U.S. Government) and Chemistry II Honors (am self-studying for AP Chem)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Achievement Semifinalist, National Merit Commended, some national french contest awards</p>

<p>Subjective:</p>

<p>Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Soccer (jv/varsity, 4 yrs), Quizbowl (4yrs, current captain), Young Republicans Club (president), Speech and Debate (president), French Club (president), several others
Job/Work Experience: AHEC of a Summer (Hospital Volunteer Program)
Volunteer/Community service: National Honor Society, babysitting teachers’ kids, tutoring, nursing home bingo, building a library in my father’s village in Uganda
Summer Activities: AHEC
Essays (rating 1-10, details): I thought they were really bad, honestly. But apparently not!!
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):</p>

<p>Teacher Rec #1: probably a 10, My chem teacher (he inspired me to pursue a chemistry degree)
Teacher Rec #2: probably a 8/9, My 9th grade and 11th grade history teacher
Counselor Rec: probably a 7/8
Additional Rec: none
Interview: It was over skype. I really liked my interviewer. We had a lot of things in common.</p>

<p>Other</p>

<p>Applied for Financial Aid?: Why Not?
Intended Major: Chemistry
State (if domestic applicant): Louisiana
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Private
Ethnicity: African-American (parents from Uganda)
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: don’t know, but we aren’t poor
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM definitely, and the fact that I applied from Louisiana. Other than that, who knows?</p>

<p>Reflection</p>

<p>Strengths: URM again, test scores, gpa, ECs
Weaknesses:
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I think the library project in my dad’s village really hooked me in. I’m so happy!!!
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: LSU, Penn State, UAlabama
Hope to see all future Yalies in the fall!! Go Bulldogs!!!
:o3 :)>- </p>

20

<p>Decision: Deferred</p>

<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2160 (730 Critical Reading 710 Mathematics 720 Writing)
ACT (breakdown): N/A
SAT II: 690 Mathematics Level II, 720 Molecular Biology, 740 Spanish Reading, 750 Ecological Biology
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.94
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 4/129
AP (place score in parenthesis): 5 on AP European History, 5 on AP English Language and Composition, 5 on AP United States History, 5 on AP Spanish Language and Culture, 4 on AP Statistics
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: Personal Finance and Economics, AP Biology, AP United States Government and Politics, AP Physics I, AP Psychology, AP English Literature and Composition, and AP Calculus AB
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP Scholar with Distinction, National Merit Semifinalist, and Virginia Boys State Delegate, All State in Indoor Track & Field</p>

<p>Subjective:</p>

<p>Extracurriculars: Boy Scouts of America (Senior Patrol Leader) [I expect to be an Eagle Scout by February], Order of the Arrow, National Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta (President), Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica (Parliamentarian), HOSA – Future Health Professionals (Treasurer), Indoor Track & Field (Captain), Cross Country (Captain), Travel Soccer (Captain), Varsity Soccer, Scholastic Bowl (Captain), Performing on the guitar, bass guitar, piano, and vocally at various local events and talent shows both with a band, in duets, and as a solo performer throughout my high school years</p>

<p>Job/Work Experience: As a self employed accountant and lifeguarding
Volunteer/Community service: Around 150 hours predominantly as an assistant soccer coach, at the local Humane Society shelter, and with Boy Scouts
Summer Activities: Boy Scouts Summer Camps, Boys State, working, and travel
Essays: Common App essay was about a trip to a unique type of zoo in a foreign country that got me interested in biology and specifically zoology (9/10). Short Takes were well done and had a Harvard alum look them over and said that it was the kind of information they expected (7/10). Yale essay was about what life lessons I had learned from The Great Gatsby (7/10).
Recommendations:</p>

<p>Teacher Rec #1: My Biology I (sophomore year), Biology II: Human Anatomy and Physiology (junior year), and AP Biology (senior year) teacher (8/10).
Teacher Rec #2: My AP English Language and Composition (junior year) teacher (7/10).
Counselor Rec: Does not know me, is pretty disorganized, and seems to care little about her job (5/10).
Additional Rec: None. Will be sending in one from my AP Statistics (junior year) teacher for RD (8/10).
Interview: It went well and lasted the appropriate time and such. The interviewer was an endocrinologist so we talked about pre health at Yale and what I was doing to prepare myself for a career in health among other things.</p>

<p>Other</p>

<p>Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology
State: Virginia
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: <150,000
Hooks: I lived in several different countries growing up.</p>

<p>Reflection:
I didn’t stand out enough in the sciences to be accepted so early on. This was hard to do as my school offers very few AP classes in that area and I haven’t won any major awards in it. I scored decently on standardized tests but mostly just enough to get my application read. I certainly didn’t perform excellently in any way shape or form and was hoping to be admitted as more of a well rounded candidate than a specialist. I’m grateful that I wasn’t rejected and I intend to continue pursuing my dream of going to Yale as it is a top choice for me.</p>

<p>Strengths: Well rounded and traveled
Weaknesses: Test scores and lack of major scientific promise
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Among other things my test scores weren’t all that high. I also didn’t particularly stand out in any way in the sciences
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Haven’t heard from anywhere else yet.</p>