Yale Class of 2019 SCEA Discussion Thread

<p>Surprised that no one has opened this thread yet! I'm an international applying to Yale early this year; good luck to everyone applying!
Please discuss here to save the confusion of multiple threads with same names.</p>

<p>Great that someone started this!</p>

<p>Application is all finished. I’m a recruited athlete and I should know in the next week or so if I have a spot. Fingers crossed! If all goes well that app will be going in next week so I can get a likely letter in the first week of October. It’s been quite a journey. Best of luck to all!</p>

<p>@CardioParty‌ Could you explain what’s a likely letter?</p>

<p>I just have to upload my common app essay (after I finish revising it again), and then I’ll be ready to submit my app. Good luck to everyone applying!</p>

<p>You guys are all so fast! Does anyone know if it makes a difference submitting applications earlier vs later? </p>

<p>Im applying SCEA and I’m nowhere near completing my app. It’s not good to be pressed for time, but whats the point in submitting 2 months before we have to?
Im finishing up my common app essay, done with Why Yale, onto the short takes and supplemental essay!</p>

<p>ProximaCentauri - a likely letter states that Yale is interested in admitting you and will most likely do so in December. The Ivy League schools have a pact that allows this type of letter. For SCEA, as far as I know, these letters are only used for athletic recruiting which is typically about 25% of the SCEA group. For regular admission, all types of applicants receive likely letters - some think more so for STEM field majors but that is anecdotal observation.</p>

<p>keesh17-I see. Quite interesting. Just to make sure, but not every applicant that eventually gets admitted in the early round will receive an likely letter before Dec right?</p>

<p>Likely letters usually go out in Jan to Feb timeframe and are not geared for SCEA applicants. If they do go out early, they’re sent to highly coveted athletes. <a href=“Quick Facts about "Likely Letters" - Yale University - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/yale-university/804816-quick-facts-about-likely-letters.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>ProximaCentauri - No, except for probably most if not all recruited athletes very few of these letters get sent. </p>

<p>Thanks keesh17 for your explanation and T26E4 for the link.
Though I don’t expect getting one of those letters!</p>

<p>Anybody planning to send in Art/Science supplements or extra recommendations? </p>

<p>I’m hesitating because I fear my extra rec will go unread (and I believe it will be stronger than one of my regular recs). Does anybody know for a fact if the two regular recs have to be both from teachers who have taught me? On Yale’s website it actually states: “Yale requires letters of recommendation from two academic teachers. A recommender must have taught the student in an academic subject for credit”. Not both. </p>

<p>My kid did not send two letters from teachers two years ago. I don’t know if the requirement was different then. His high school only allowed one teacher LOR per application and always sends an LOR from the guidance counselor. He also sent an additional LOR from a university professor he did a summer internship with. I don’t think anything you send will be “unread” - that just doesn’t seem like a Yale thing.</p>

<p>Yale will always read what you send but for them less is more. If you send an extra letter or recommendation, it had better be worth the effort to read it and contain information about you that provide additional necessary insights,</p>

<p>SCEA applicants find out in December (last year December 16) the admission decision. Likely letters went out to applicants who had applied RD in January/February timeframe. Of course, recruited athletes are a different animal and may get likely letters during different times. I speak from the vantage of an alumni, recruiter/interviewer, and parent of a current freshman who was admitted SCEA. </p>

<p>There is nothing to be gained from finishing your SCEA application earlier - except for the stress of waiting till the last minute. Yale does not have rolling admissions so your early app will be given the same consideration as those that get there 5 minutes before the deadline. I will say finish early so that you have time to review it and have 2-3 people you trust read it. I did not read my D’s until she was ready to send it and found a typo that both she and her GC had missed.</p>

<p>Thanks people!
I’ve decided that my supplemental rec will be strong so I’m sending it! The one concern is that Yale requires extra recs to be sent by mail directly, but my supplemental recommender is actually a teacher in my school who unfortunately, doesn’t teach me.
Also, @Tperry1982‌ , from you experiences, would you comment on the advantages and disadvantages (if any) of applying SCEA? I mean the admit rate is higher statistically but is the early pool in general also more competitive? Also, can you confirm that Yale really defers 50ish% of their SCEA applicants? I learned this from last year’s pledge thread. That appears very high(though I don’t know about other schools).</p>

<p>There were 4750 SCEA applications for the Class of 2018 with 735 being offered admission, a rate of 15%. Not sure what the deferral rate was. Nor do I know how many deferrals were ultimately offered admission. I know I saw it somewhere but have not been able to find it.</p>

<p>I can’t speak for the advantages for anyone else but you need to know that Yale is your first choice because you can’t apply to any other school but your state school. The good thing about SCEA is that you don’t have to make a decision to May 1 - though my daughter hit “accept” the next day!! Many of the SCEA kids that I know accepted, that’s why, I assume, they admit a higher percentage at that point - a higher yield rate.</p>

<p>For my kid, who knew no other school but Yale, from going to reunions with me and other trips there, it was a no-brainer.</p>

<p>Haha, its great to love only one school and eventually get in!
Yale is my first choice. So is it safe to say that in general, to get in SCEA is a little (however little it may be) easier than to get in RD? </p>