Yale: Do I Stand Any Chance?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

OBJECTIVE:
Rank: 6/427 (school is ranked ~1500 nationally by US News, so not “super competitive.”)
GPA: 3.81/4.31 (non-academic: 3.83/4.27; UC or 10-12: 3.72/4.45)
ACT: 34 (E-35, M-36, R-33, S-32; W-27, basically a 9)

SAT II:
Math II - 800
Biology M - 750

APs (for a total of 5):
5s - Calculus, Biology, Psychology
4s - English Language (Self-Study), World History
3 - Spanish

Senior Year Courses: APES, AP Gov/Econ, Medical Interventions, Physics, English, and Calculus II (DE).

I’ve also taken Statistics and an Anthropology class Duel-Enrollment in previous years (both As).

EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES:
–Research at UC Davis 200+ hours. Will be co-author of paper. (12th)
–Co-Governor of my Interact District, which oversees 60+ Interact clubs throughout Northern California. Organizing several district-wide events and fundraising efforts (some could potentially raise $40,000+). (12th)
–Co-Founder and Co-President for student run science demonstrations. This was a project my friends and I had been working on for several months and we’re currently anticipating funding from our local education foundation. (12th)
–Senior Leader and volunteer for hospital. 350+ hours at time of application. (10-12th)
–Hospice volunteer. (12th)
–Volunteer tutor for previously homeless children. An article said I “inspire” others through my work. (11-12th)
–Vice President of Medical Club. (12th)
–Shadowed two doctors for 60+ hours. (12th)
–Tennis. (9-11th)

Did not have room on Common Application but is on resume (although most schools do not ask for resume):
–Vice President of California Scholarship Federation (an honor-society/volunteer focused club). (9-12th)
–President of Interact Club. (10-12th)

AWARDS (I acknowledge these can be considered weak): AP Scholar with Distinction, Hospital volunteer award, Tutor volunteer award, School award in science, School award in AP BIology.

RECOMMENDATIONS, in order of expected quality/importance: Counselor (fantastic person, known for excellent recommendations, and likes me), research mentor from UC Davis, AP Calculus AB teacher, AP Biology Teacher.
I am assuming they’re all relatively good.

ESSAYS: I received mixed feedback (parents had some problems with it; counselor liked it) on my Common Application (it may be a hit-or-miss, but I did spend a fair bit of time on it); however, I believe my supplemental essays should be fairly decent and centered around my medical focus.

MISC:
Ethnicity: Caucasian/European.

State: CA
Income: ~$400,000

I currently have 7 unsubmitted schools on my Common Application: Harvard, Yale (Top, but understandable reach), Dartmouth, Columbia, Northwestern, Vanderbilt, Claremont McKenna

As a note, I am applying to several dual-degree medical programs (i.e. the remaining 13 CA slots) and have already submitted my UC App (B,LA, Davis, etc.). For non dual-degree programs, my major is generally Biochemistry.

What are my chances? Is it worth reconsidering these 7 schools/are there schools I should apply to instead?
I’m fairly concerned that I’m not even slightly competitive for some of these colleges (my UW GPA in particular concerns me); I apologize if that comes off as arrogant and/or ignorant - that’s not my intention.

Thank you in advance.

2

A very small chance at Yale, like everyone else who applies.

Your 8 schools are all reaches. Do you have matches and safeties that you have visited, and that you really like?

3

@MidwestDad3 As stated, I’ve submitted to the UCs. Are there any specific concerns with my application, or is it just, in general, lacking? But thank you very much for your reply.

4

Which UCs are the safeties, and can you see yourself thriving there?

5

@MidwestDad3 USD/Irvine/Davis are the safeties. Berkeley asked for recommendations, but I don’t believe that means anything. Do you have any recommendations?

That said, in posting this I understood the schools listed are reaches. I was more concerned in the sense of “should I even bother” to have at least a somewhat reasonable chance?

6

By all means apply to reaches. But what you really want around March and April are some choices. Maybe consider as well some great schools like Union College, Lehigh, etc.

7

@MidwestDad3 One of my 13 Common App schools for BSMDs is actually Union (specifically the LIH program).

8

Additional chances would definitely be appreciated :smiley:

9

Bump

10

Your profile gives you a ticket to the lottery but you won’t know until decision day.

11

Your ECs are all over the place! How did you connect them in your app? If you did a good job of showing the connected interest then it makes you a more desirable applicant.

12

What do your parents do for work?

13

@poptarts4hire My interests are kind of at the intersection of using science (i.e. research) and collaboration/leadership to address “larger scale”/global issues in medicine. I do genuinely enjoy all of my extracurriculars, and hope that does show through.

@coyne81486 My dad is a programmer. My mom is a doctor.

14

good luck with yale my friend! did you apply ED/EA?

15

@Toshka It seems like you have a good understanding of it so I’m sure it will show through in your application

16

@coyne81486 yale is SCEA; I did not.

17

Just looking at your raw gpa, it seems weak BUT your class rank says otherwise, which is all of these schools will be aware of (albeit at a ‘meh’ school it seems like). Academics 7-8/10. ECs are solid with demonstrated leadership, initiative, and achievement (after all, positions do mean anything unless you actually do something). Surprised you did not put VP of Scholarship Fed/President of Interact on you common app but did put shadowing, since only the BS/MDs will care about the shadowing. ECs 8-9/10. You have a shot at Yale and some good BS/MDs, though academics hold you back a little.

18

your gpa, test scores are not that great
your extracurriculars look amazing (but the fact that many of your ECs that seem time consuming are ALL in your 12th grade is a little bit suspicious–how did you do all of those in the first half of 12th grade while doing your college apps?? i feel like colleges might think you may have exaggerated or made up some of those :confused: )

19

@theofrelord To some extent, this is also one of my concerns. However, it should be noted that my research and shadowing (both listed as “12th”) where done over the summer, so while I’m not currently participating in them, they do saturate my list of 12th activities. Also, something like the science demonstrations was actually in planning since early last year, but only established this year.

I am hoping that my counselors recommendation does show that I am actually very focused and committed to my ECs.

20

Your stats are impressive, but then again, ivies are a reach for everyone. You definitely have a shot though in my opinion. Good luck!