Yale - My Chances of Getting In

Colleges and Universities A-Z Yale University
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Hi Guys! I would love your input. I am applying to Yale and wanted to know what my chances are of getting in.

Here are my stats:

Gender: Female

Race: Latina

Rank 2/500

APs : 12 AP Classes - received all A’s

ECs: - founded the Latino Empowerment Club
- founded Students Deserve Club (activist club that partners with BLM and other well-known organizations)
- Student Leadership for three years
- Mental Health Awareness Committee at my school
-Youth and Government
-Volunteered for 200 hours at a program aiming to provide low-income students to access to the arts
- LA Mayors Youth Council
- music for 10 + years

SAT: 1220 (my weakest asset of my whole application :frowning: )

First Generation

I have received a scholarship for bassoon at a prestigious music school.

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I also got participate in a Yale Summer Program this past year and a summer program at UCLA

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I think the only thing that would hold you back is your SAT scores, but hopefully, your transcript will make up for them, good luck!

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I honestly think it is unfair that SAT scores matter so much . I have worked so hard these past four years and I did everything I could to try to improve my SAT scores but without being able to afford private SAT tutors, I was not able to get my SAT score up :frowning:

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thank you for replying :slight_smile:

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I know, the testing is so unfair, I am lucky that my parents could afford a tutor for the ACT for me and my score went up 5 points, which is a lot for the ACT. I think schools should put less stock in them because they are a terrible measure of intelligence.

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I’m in the same boat as you. My ACT score is pretty low and I think I’ve achieved a good amount.

I’m not going to chance you but I’ll offer you my hopes :slight_smile:

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Thank you ! I appreciate your input

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Thank you !

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As other posters have said, your SAT is very, very low compared to the cohort that is typically admitted. From what I understand, very occasionally students in this range are admitted (sometimes athletes, sometimes students experiencing extreme hardship).

I think your chances are quite low because of the SAT score, but aside from this your profile is quite strong (though not necessarily stronger than the average admitted student). If the cost of the application isn’t a burden and won’t stop you from applying elsewhere, then apply! I don’t know how strong the music school is that offered you a scholarship, but if it’s well known, I would consider emphasizing your bassoon accomplishments. That may help to mitigate the expected SAT somewhat if your talents are extremely pronounced in music.

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Thank you for your comment! I really appreciate it

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Even with the URM/SES bump, you’d want to get that SAT up to at least 1400 – average among admits is like 1510 – to be a highly competitive applicant. That said, low-score kids do occasionally get in, so get great rec letters and write great essays – nail the qualitative part – and give it your best shot.

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Unfortunately , I cannot take my SAT again. December 2 was the last day for me to do so :frowning: but I appreciate your comment. Thank you !

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Your 1220 SAT score is equivalent to a 1700 on the old three-part SAT: https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/pdf/higher-ed-brief-sat-concordance.pdf

If you look at the C9 Data Points on Yale’s Common Data Set, you’ll see that about 2% of admitted students to Yale had test scores similar to yours (Yale is still using the old three-part SAT scale based on 2400 overall points): https://oir.yale.edu/sites/default/files/cds2016-2017.pdf.

Selective colleges use test scores to gauge how well an applicant might handle the work load on their campus. The higher your test score, the less an Admissions Director will question “If I admit this kid, will they struggle on my campus?”

No college wants to admit a student and set them up for failure, so an Admissions Officer is going to look at your 1220 SAT test score and wonder why a top student at their high school has such a low SAT score. Perhaps you had a bad day when taking the SAT? Or, perhaps your high school has grade inflation, which is why you are ranked #2 in your class, despite scoring low on a national rubric? Or, perhaps the courses you took in high school were not that rigorous? Or, perhaps you have a disability and qualified for extra time for your high school tests, but did not receive extra time on your SAT? As you can see, your SAT score actually raises more questions than you might think.

Admissions Officers look for reasons to admit a student, so an AO is going to have to dig deeper in your application. Decisions often come down to more subjective factors, such as personal qualities, character and leadership as well as intellectual curiosity, creativity, and love of learning. Admissions Officers learn about those factors from your essays, guidance counselor’s Secondary School Report (SSR), teacher recommendations and alumni interview. To gain admissions to Yale with your SAT score, your teachers and GC must really write against your test score. IMHO, that’s really the only way an acceptance letter will come your way.

FWIW: I posted this several years ago and haven’t had the chance to update it with the class of 2020 and 2021, but you should look through those decision threads as well.

If you look through the College Confidential Harvard and Yale Class of 2019 Decision Threads and just focus on test scores, you’ll see that URM tests scores for admitted students are just about the same as non-URM test scores. So, there seems to be very little bump from being a URM based on test scores.

Harvard Class of 2019 SCEA Decision Thread http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/harvard-university/1714730-official-harvard-university-2019-scea-decisions-only-p1.html

Harvard Class of 2019 RD Decision Thread: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/harvard-university/1752941-harvard-university-class-of-2019-rd-results-p1.html

Yale Class of 2019 SCEA Decision Thread
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/yale-university/1713050-yale-class-of-2019-scea-decisions-p1.html

Yale Class of 2019 RD Decision Thread: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/yale-university/1752938-yale-university-class-of-2019-rd-results.html

Granted, you really can’t make a judgment based on 32 data points on College Confidential, Unfortunately, there really isn’t much data on Latina students, however The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education every year posts an interesting chart about African American acceptance rates at various colleges vs. the overall acceptance rate: https://www.jbhe.com/2017/01/black-first-year-students-at-the-nations-leading-research-universities-2016/

As you can see – depending upon the college – being a URM can boost an applicant’s chances, but by how much depends on the school. For example, at Cornell, the African American acceptance rate was 17.6% vs the overall acceptance rate of 14.1% – so a slight advantage. At Vanderbilt, the African American acceptance rate was 18.9% vs a 10.7% overall acceptance rate – a large advantage. However, at the University of Chicago the African American acceptance rate was 8.3% vs the overall acceptance rate of 7.9% – not that much different. And, at UCLA, the African American acceptance rate was 8.7% vs the overall acceptance rate of 17.7% – not very encouraging at all. So a URM’s milage will vary depending on the school. Unfortunately, there isn’t published data for the African American acceptance rate at HYPMS. If I had to make a guess, I would think Yale’s African American acceptance rate would be similar to UChicago – so not much of an advantage for a AA or Latina student.

Best of luck to you!

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Test score data for the Class of 2021 https://admissions.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/class_profile_2021_final.pdf so @Gibby 's estimation based on prior CDS data is still valid. Most of the students who get accepted at the bottom end are likely athletic recruits, children of major donors/famous people. I frankly think there is a larger test score advantage for URM’s at highly selective schools than CC result threads would indicate – that is a major part of the suit against Harvard although it is framed in the suit as how much higher of a score that Asian students have to achieve vs whites and URM’s. That having been said, 1220 is really low. It will require some amazing subjectives, whether in your LoR’s or essays. Your EC’s don’t particularly stand out compared to the top candidates who will be considered, with the possible exception of the bassoon if you are indeed a highly accomplished artist.

Good luck.

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Thank you so much for your thorough input. I really appreciate you taking the time to write that.

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Thank you !