**** YALE UNIVERSITY CLASS OF 2020 SCEA RESULTS*****

Colleges and Universities A-Z Yale University
21

**Decision: Accepted **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): CR 790 M 670 W 740 (2200 superscore, 2180 highest sitting)
ACT (breakdown): N/A
SAT II: 720 MBio, 730 USH
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 3 (out of approximately 500)
AP (place score in parenthesis):
Calculus AB (5), Eng Lang (5), US History (5), Biology (4), Chemistry (4), World History (4)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Physics C: Mechanics, AP Calculus BC, AP English Literature, AP US Govt/Honors Economics
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Girl’s State, Scholastic AWA - Writing

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Junior State of America (chapter founder, chapter president, state cabinet)
Robotics FTC (secretary, president)
Good Neighbors (chapter founder, co-president)
ScienceBowl (captain)
WriteGirl (no leadership, but was published and have performed with them!)

Job/Work Experience: N/A

Volunteer/Community service:
Nepal Trip - medical internship and volunteer work (topic of essay)
Community Center - mentor/tutor
(Good Neighbors is a charitable group)

Summer Activities:
UCLA NeuroCamp
Girl’s State

Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Common App 10/10
Everyone told me not to submit it (because it was on a service trip), but I did anyways. It was well written and speaks entirely to who I am. I really don’t think it was the annoying, cliche essay that people expected.
Full Supplement: 9/10
About my dead teacher. A little morbid, a little sentimental, overly poetic… Very me lol
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): 8/10? IDK
Teacher Rec #1: Biology - Probably very good, seemed last minute, but he’s a good writer and speaks to a subject that I have interest in but no clear demonstration of strength outside the classroom (He’s also my sassy gay best friend, but never tell him I said that)
Teacher Rec #2: English Language - “It was easy to write and I was happy to do it” Of course, a great writer, and she LOVES me. She’s been there for me through a lot.
Counselor Rec: Very typical, strongly positive
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: I couldn’t tell, but she seemed happy to find out today! It went on for a long, long time so that was a good sign. Very conversational - and an interesting conversation at that!

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: WILL DO ASAP (wasn’t ready to, still need to…)
Intended Major: (Applied with History of Science, Medicine, and Public Health, with molecular biology and cognitive science as my other two.) (Clear I want to do pre-med, also interested in their dual MPH program.)
State (if domestic applicant): California
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: Lower Middle
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Eh? None

Reflection

Strengths: Essays, Extracurriculars, GPA, recommendations
Weaknesses: SAT, awards??
Why you think you were accepted: Well, they say transcripts, essays, and recommendations are most important… So my transcripts, essays, and recommendations? lol
Where else were you accepted: YaleNUS (their Singapore daughter school)

General Comments :
I am overjoyed. This has been my DREAM. I want to say to all the younger students freaking out as they read this:

I WAS BELOW THE 25th PERCENTILE FOR MATH ON THE SAT. I obsessed over that for so long. I had to listen to people who hadn’t read my essays criticize them on the basis of the topic, and I had to be told again and again that this was a long shot because my test scores weren’t good enough.

I’m from a public school, and my interviewer was interested in its recent sex scandal. I didn’t have particular advantages. I’m not valedictorian (although that’s because I didn’t game the system lol) [Note - my school does send people to Ivies and Stanford and MIT, but not many…]

And I still got into Yale. AHHHHH YAY YAY YAY

Don’t think strategically as you go through high school. Just do what you love, and do it really well. Schools match themselves to you. I knew deep in my heart Yale was right for me, and my instincts were proven right. I didn’t do anything in high school just to get into Yale. I did these things to be a better person. And they saw that. :slight_smile:

22

**Decision: Rejected **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2040 (690 M, 680 W, 670 R); one sitting; 1950 first time
ACT (breakdown): didn’t take
SAT II: took in December, didn’t submit
TOEFL: 111 iBT
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): international applicant; 9.69/10
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 10%
AP (place score in parenthesis): not offered
IB (place score in parenthesis): not offered
Senior Year Course Load: not able to elect classes, so it’s irrelevant
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): no international award, but I have a few Olympiad awards (English, Logic, Linguistics); third place at the National Public Speaking competition

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): a lot of film and theater acting experience;
-one theater acting school, begun in 7th grade and ended in 10th grade, six theater plays at an important theater in my city;
-film acting course, with two shows;
-improvisational theater band;
-attended a debate club
-German courses
Job/Work Experience: worked for Avon for a little bit
Volunteer/Community service: -taught English to children in foster homes and held theater activities with them; took those children to activities like movies, museums, conferences organized for them; organized fund-raising events for those children; Volunteer coordinator, supervised other volunteers’ schedule
-volunteer for Save the Children: held classes about drug consumption and STD prevention to middle-school children; raised money for purchasing incubators for maternities, reducing infant mortality
Summer Activities: -summer before 10th grade, took part in a Movie Camp, in which I starred in a feature film that premiered at a cinema in my town and afterwards aired on national television
-volunteer activities described above continued during summer
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Common App essay- 9/10: wrote about being rejected from my high school’s drama club in 9th grade and how that determined me to work harder and how I eventually got selected to play in a movie(Movie Camp activity). Made it visible how passionate I am about theater.
Why Yale: 8/10: wrote about specific things about Yale that interested me, beyond the Ivy League reputation. But with 100 words I felt like I couldn’t convey everything
Yale Supplement: 10/10: This was more of a creative and metaphorical essay, but showed my personality. I really liked it.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 8-9/10- English Teacher, she really liked me and I went to English competitions in high school. Took a lot of initiatives in her class
Teacher Rec #2: 10/10 Social Studies Teacher with a PhD(dunno if that’s important), highlighted my qualities both in and outside of the classroom. Told about how interested I was in the subject and how I extended study on my own
Counselor Rec: 10/10: We do not have a counselor in my school, so I chose the teacher that I was the closest with.
Additional Rec: no
Interview: didn’t have one

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: yes
Intended Major: Psychology
State (if domestic applicant): -
Country (if international applicant): Romania
School Type: public
Ethnicity: white
Gender: female
Income Bracket:
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): no hook I guess

Reflection

Strengths: essays, recommendation, activities(?), passion for acting, volunteering
Weaknesses: SATs, no SAT subject, no interview, international applicant, no major awards
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Fist of all, admission to a schools like Yale is almost like a lottery. My scores are on the low(ish) end, I didn’t submit subject test, I am an international student with no hooks, etc. But I think it was mostly because I didn’t fit with what they were looking for this year. And, of course, because so many amazing and talented people applied and I couldn’t stand out among them.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Deferred: Yale-NUS
Accepted: three UK colleges (City University London, Surrey, Southampton).
Applying to a lot of other schools in the US, but I’m not going to hear from them until March… Missed my chance with Early Action :frowning:

General Comments : Feeling kinda weird to post the first rejection, but since I’ve been following last years’ threads, I’m just gonna go ahead and do it. I am not going to lie, I was devastated when I saw the decision. I really hoped to at least be deferred(come on, 53%?!), and the fact that they outright rejected me makes me reconsider some of the reaches I wanted to apply to. Yale has been my dream school for three years and I could really see myself going there. I knew form the beginning that my chances were really really low, but I hoped that Yale would see beyond my test scores and awards. Guess it didn’t happen. Life goes on and I can still apply for Grad school and make sure my chances are bigger. I’ll even consider transferring after the first year… Maybe. Idk I honestly loved every single thing about Yale…

Congratulations to those who were accepted! You guys rock. And for those of you who got deferred, remember that you get another shot. They liked you enough to reconsider you. Don’t lose hope, you will all get into amazing colleges.

23

**Decision: Deferred **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): N/A
ACT (breakdown): 34 (34 W 34 R 33 M 35 S, 10 essay)
SAT II: 800 Math II, 780 Chem
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.994 (1 A- freshman year, rest are As and A+s)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
AP (place score in parenthesis): 5 AP World, 5 AP Psych, 4 AP Chem
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Calc, AP Lit/Lang, AP Stats, AP Bio, IB HL French, Symphonic/marching band, Internship, Etymology
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
Le Grand Concours: Lauréat National, Bronze level winner, (95th percentile)
AP Scholar
$1000 Korean-American Professionals in Automotive Industry Academic State Scholarship
Chemistry Olympiad Regional Level Competition Qualifier
KLAA Scholar Athlete

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Varsity Track (Pole vault “captain” (I lead practices when coach is not there))
Rotary Interact (Secretary)
National Honors Society (Junior class secretary)
Key Club (Senior class Officer)
HOSA (Event leader)- Nationals finalist (top 10%) in “Health Care Issues Exam”
Symphonic band- Flute player; wrote about how I progressed upwards in chair number every year until I became third chair out of 27th. Solo and Ensemble division I (regionals and states)
Color Guard (Color guard captain)- introduced new skills to guard like rifles and tosses.
French Club (officer)

CIA (community impact awards) Local awards for volunteering, awarded by mayor

Job/Work Experience: Interned/shadowed at a Pharmaceutical Kinetics lab

Volunteer/Community service: ~150 hours volunteering at cancer hospital

Summer Activities: see above

Essays (rating 1-10, details):

Common app: 9.9999/10 I fine tuned my common app essay over and over again until I could say that I was really proud of it. I felt like my voice and who I really am shone through. I took on the “challenge” prompt and talked about my journey with pole vaulting

Why Yale: 8/10 I poured out my heart in this essay and tried my hardest to show how absolutely in love I am with Yale

Short Takes: 9/10 I was my honest self; I let my personality run free in this section.

Additional Yale: 9/10 I talked about how my circumstance of moving across countries to start high school made me who I am today, and how without this great change in my life, I would not be grateful for the little things.

Why major: 8.5/10 talked about how chemistry was the first challenge in my life that I loved overcoming. Also talked about how I wanted to have a truly well rounded education, with knowledge about the physical and social world in order to become a pharmacologist (that’s why ethics is also in my major preferences)

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 9.5/10 My french teacher; I had her for 3 years. I got to read it and it was spectacular.
Teacher Rec #2: 8/10 My math teacher. I had her my freshman year and my junior year; she got to see my progression/growth really well.
Counselor Rec: ???/10 I have no clue-- I wasn’t really that close with her. (maybe this was my downfall??)
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: 8.5/10 My interviewer was from a town in Canada that was very close to my hometown, so we hit it off pretty well. I was pretty tense in the beginning because it was my first college interview, but by the end it was like we were talking very comfortably.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Biochemistry, Chemistry, Ethics
State (if domestic applicant): Live in MI
Country (if international applicant): Canadian citizen
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: East Asian (Korean)
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: 100,000-150,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):

Reflection

Strengths: ECs, GPA, steady upwards progression (without sacrificing grades)
Weaknesses: recs? Senior year schedule? General blandness? Test scores?
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: guess I didn’t have that great of a wow factor- I really thought that my background story would be special/appealing to ad coms.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Michigan state (accepted, safety), U of M comes out this Friday. Applied to WUSTL, Duke, Dartmouth, Northwestern, Rice, and some other safeties

General Comments : I think I have fully gone through the 7 stages of grief. There was definitely a lot of crying-- I’m kind of taking this deferral as a rejection because the chances of getting in during the regular round are so low… I’ve thrown my whole entire soul into Yale and now I feel so lost. Out of all this I have learned that the college admissions process is so unpredictable and so incredibly non-personal. I’m never going to give up my dream of Yale though; I just know that this school is my perfect fit.
Now we wait, now we hope.

24

Decision: Deferred

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2250 (800 Math, 740 CR, 710 W)
ACT (breakdown): did not take
SAT II: 800 Math II, 760 U.S. History, 760 Chemistry, 740 Bio (did not send)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.8
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
AP (place score in parenthesis): Biology(5), U.S. Gov(5), Comparative Gov(5), BC Calculus(5), U.S. History(5), Language and Composition(5), World History(4), Chemistry(4), Music Theory(3)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Literature, AP Physics I, AP European History, AP Spanish Language, Honors Advanced Calculus
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National AP Scholar, Boys State delegation, National Merit Scholarship commended,

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
High school select choir senior year and selected for CT Western Regionals
3 years of outside of school orchestra playing cello
Fencing team(captain), 4 years varsity state championship team freshman and sophomore year
3 year varsity rugby 6th in the nation junior year
Model UN Team (won honorable award at Princeton conference 2015)
Debate team, 2nd place CT state debate 7th grade, 1st place CT state debate and best speaker 8th grade
Science National Honors Society(president and founder)
National honors society member
Local Teen Center executive leadership board
Town health department STD peer education leadership board

Job/Work Experience:
Internship at private equity real estate firm summer of junior year, was the only high school intern, worked alongside Cornell interns
Plastic surgery medical mission to china as a documenter(video and photo)

Volunteer/Community service: ~350 hours total: local hospital, local food bank, teen center, misc.
Summer Activities: Johns Hopkins CTY 7th(Logic), 8th(Econ), 9th grade(Chem), UCONN Mentorship Connection 10th grade summer (nanoparticle research)

Essays (rating 1-10, details): Hard to judge my own writing, I would say common app 9/10, Yale 7.5/10

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: 10/10 AP US History teacher sophomore year, really liked me
Teacher Rec #2: 9/10 Honors English teacher junior year
Counselor Rec: 9/10 have a strong relationship with my counsellor and got good comments from other teachers/coaches/members of boards
Additional Rec: CEO of private equity real estate fund (9/10)
Interview: 8.5/10 Went well, skype with a student who had graduated 2 years ago and is now doing graduate work at Cambridge. Thought I represented myself well

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major: Undecided
State (if domestic applicant): CT
Country (if international applicant): n/a
School Type: Public ~2700 students
Ethnicity: Mixed (southeast asian and white)
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: Upper middle class
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Pursued independent scientific research sophomore and junior year - Strong academics with a lot of EC’s/sports

Reflection

Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Nothing stand out about my app(i.e. Intel, USAMO). No clear academic/EC focus
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Rejected from Oxford, accepted to Kings College London

General Comments : Chances for RD?

25

Choose One:
**Decision: Accepted **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2240 (CR=700) (M=740) (W=800)
ACT (breakdown): 34 (36=E) (36=M) (36=R) (28=S)
SAT II (place score in parentheses): 780 Math II, 680 US History
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.99/4.00
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 5% out of 263
AP (place score in parentheses): English Lang. and Comp. (5), US History (4)
IB (place score in parentheses): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: Concert Choir, AP Statistics, AP Latin: Vergil, Government (1st Semester), AP Microeconomics (2nd Semester), Honors Physics, World Religions (1st Semester), Contemplatives in Action (2nd Semester), AP English Lit. & Comp.
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Semifinalist, Perfect Score and Gold Medals on National Latin Exam, Hugh O’ Brien Leadership Award (School)

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Football, Track & Field, Latin Club (President), Quiz Bowl (Co-Captain), Nebraska State Junior Classical League (Secretary), Harvard Model Congress
Job/Work Experience: Lifeguard at Omaha Country Club and Usher/Ticket-Taker at NCAA College World Series
Volunteer/Community Service: Volunteered over 200+ hours at several service organizations
Summer Activities: Work, Football workouts, HOBY Leadership Conference
Essays: 10/10 (First Common App prompt; wrote about love of birds and ornithology)
Teacher Recommendations: 9/10 and 10/10
Counselor Rec: 9.5/10
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: 9/10 (I had a really good interview with a Yale alum who is an eye doctor; really chill guy and our conversation was enjoyable and fun)

Other
Applied for Financial Aid? Yes
Projected Concentration: Classical Languages, Pre-Veterinary Medicine, Ornithology
State (if domestic applicant): NE
Country (if international applicant): USA
School Type: Private Catholic (About 1000 students, male only)
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 200K+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): N/A

Reflection
Strengths: Great essays and recommendations
Weaknesses: Not many SAT II Tests or AP Exams
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I talked on my Why Yale? Essay about how I specifically wanted to do ornithological research at Yale using the Peabody Museum of Natural History and William Robertson Coe Ornithology Library
Where else you are applying or have already applied: Accepted: Yale, Notre Dame, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Fordham; Deferred: Harvard; Waiting: Northwestern, Cornell, Miami of Ohio, Boston College, TCU
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight:

26

[aB][asize=4][acolor=#FFA500]Decision: Deferred [/color][/size]**

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): Composite 2170, Reading: 720, Math: 750, Writing: 700, Essay Subscore: 10
ACT (breakdown): Composite 35, English: 35, Math: 35, Reading: 36, Science: 35, Writing Sub: 11
SAT II: Math II: 770, Spanish: 730
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): NA
AP (place score in parenthesis): Spanish Language (5), Calculus AB (5), Calculus BC (5), US History (5), English Language (5), Physics C (3)
IB (place score in parenthesis): NA
Senior Year Course Load: Multivariable Calculus (semester 1 @ local community college), Linear Algebra (semester 2 @ local community college), AP Computer Science, AP English Literature, Government and Economics, AP Biology, AP French, AP Statistics
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): NA
Minor Awards: Commended National Merit, AP Scholar with Distinction

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Soccer (captain), Varsity Dance Team, Musical Ensemble, Swim Team, Ballet, President of the Star of David Club (officer for past 3 years)
Job/Work Experience: Lifeguard, Swim Instructor, Swim Team Coach
Volunteer/Community service: Save the Bay Cleanups, Enhanced Fitness co-instructor (fitness for disabled elderly)
Summer Activities: NSLC Health and Medicine, STEM Cener
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Common App: 9-Essay about growing up with a sister with Down Syndrome, being forced into being an adult; well-written, brought family members to tears.
Yale Supplement: 7-Run of the mill white girl and dance essay. I talked about putting in the work necessary for a strenuous sport.
Why Yale?-7-talked mostly about Residential Colleges
Engineering-8-talked about a biomedical engineer I know very well and about summer programs that introduced me to the relationship between medicine and engineering. Also discussed the Yale Center for Innovation and Design and opportunities unique to Yale’s engineering school.
Recommendations: DISCLAIMER I never saw the letters, these are guesses.

Teacher Rec #1: 8-AP Physics and Calc BC teacher who I have known since I was 4. She loves me as both a person and a dedicated student. I also drive her daughter to school every other day. She is a math and science teacher, so the rhetoric most likely was not beautiful.
Teacher Rec #2: 9-APUSH teacher who I am very close with. He is extremely intelligent and a strong writer so he most likely wrote something impressive.
Counselor Rec: 6-Large school, but my counselor knows how dedicated I am to my education. Probably and average rec.
Additional Rec: NA
Interview: Very casual, lasted 1 1/2 hours, so longer than normal. Not so sure the guy got such a great impression of me though as we had more of a conversation than an interview.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Biomedical Engineering
State (if domestic applicant): CA
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public school (2,000)
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None

Reflection

Strengths: GPA, courseload, EC’s & work experience
Weaknesses: SAT Scores
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Nothing impressive, average
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Haven’t heard yet

27

[aB][asize=4][acolor=#FFA500]Decision: Deferred [/color][/size]**

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): Second try - 2220 (CR: 700, Math: 720, Writing: 800)
ACT (breakdown): N/A
SAT II: Biology E: 800, World History: 800, Math II: 750
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.95/4.00
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/17
AP (place score in parenthesis): Bio (5), Human Geo (5), Enviro (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: British Lit., AP Chem., AP US Gov., AP Calc. AB, Ethics, Honors Physics
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): None

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Pretty standard fare:
MUN Club (President), Newspaper (editor-in-chief), LGBTQ+ activism (policy head), Varsity cross-country, NHS (president), tutor
Job/Work Experience: None
Volunteer/Community service: ~200 hours as a tutor, arboriculture
Summer Activities: Gay Pride Parade (lol), tutor, etc.
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Common App: 7/10 (talked about being LGBTQ+ in a rather, uh, homophobic environment), Yale Supplement: 8/10 (I genuinely liked this one. I wrote about how I left organised religion and embraced sound science, esp. evolution).
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: Didn’t read. But I knew both teachers pretty well. Can’t rate the recs because I never read them.
Teacher Rec #2: (see above)
Counselor Rec: We got a new counselor this year, so I don’t know her at all. Her English is rather poor, so 1/10? (I’m being a bit harsh here haha).
Additional Rec: None
Interview: Unfortunately, I wasn’t offered one.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Ecology
State (if domestic applicant): N/A
Country (if international applicant): Rep. of Korea (US citizen, however)
School Type: Private Christian
Ethnicity: East Asian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: ~$50,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): LGBTQ+? (But I heard that ~20% of Yale is LGBTQ+, so not exactly a hook).

Reflection

Strengths: Hm, can’t exactly think of any.
Weaknesses: ORM, geographic location, SAT I/Math II score, class size, no job experience
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I was probably deferred due to the enormous amount of talent present in the application pool. To be honest, I wasn’t exactly counting on getting accepted (Asian male with a 2220 on the SAT is a rarity at Yale). However, I am rather relieved that I wasn’t outright rejected.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Rejected from Yale-NUS (apparently, I didn’t complete the application haha).

General Comments: Congrats to all those accepted! For those (including myself) who weren’t accepted, don’t be too hard on yourselves. For the past three years in my school, one person per graduating class has applied to Yale, and none were accepted. Also, don’t blame affirmative action if you got deferred/rejected. Just remember that nobody is entitled to anything!

28

[aB][asize=4][acolor=#008000]Decision: Accepted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2090, superscored: CR: 630, M: 670, W: 790
ACT (breakdown): N/A
SAT II: Bio M: 680, Spanish: 660, Chem: 650
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.94
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 5/366
AP (place score in parenthesis): N/A
IB (place score in parenthesis): Full IB Diploma
Senior Year Course Load: SL Spanish VI, SL Math Studies, HL World Topics, HL English, HL Biology II, SL Chemistry II, SL Theory of Knowledge II, Earlybird Honors Choir
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Commended

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Model UN (Co-President), Medical Interest Club (President), piano for 13 years, musical theatre, just General ECs.
Job/Work Experience: Soccer referee
Volunteer/Community service: Science Museum of Virginia
Summer Activities:
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Common App- Wrote about my experience in the hospital and my recovery which inspired me to be premed 9/10, Yale Supplement- Everyone said it was the best college essay they had ever read 10/10 I just wrote about all my quirks, Why Yale- 8/10 I felt like it was too short and abrupt to communicate my love for Yale effectively, Why Major- 9/10, it really communicated my love for cognitive science, but like above it was too short.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 9/10- She saw my ups and downs and I really related to her.
Teacher Rec #2: 7/10- We had four people in our class so I really got to know him very well
Counselor Rec: 5/10, She was just hired and doesn’t know me well at all.
Additional Rec: 8/10 My piano teacher of 13 years, I read this one and I didn’t think it was that great. Or it just wasn’t as great as I wanted it to be.
Interview: Yes

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Cognitive science
State (if domestic applicant): Virginia
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Medium public, only competitive at the top
Ethnicity: African American
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: ~200k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM

Reflection

Strengths: Essays, life story, interests, rank, and GPA
Weaknesses: Standardized testing
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: My essays
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: I was accepted into my safety school, George Mason University on the same day but that news was definitely overshadowed by Yale.
My list has been adjusted by this acceptance but I’m waiting for: UVA, William and Mary, University of Richmond, and Washington and Lee University. And over winter break I will apply to Duke, Penn, and Brown.

General Comments: Yale has been my first choice for so long, but I haven’t submitted any financial aid yet so I can’t commit. As for advice, I would say please put a lot of time and energy into your essays because it will pay off. I was always told this and never realized the importance of actually taking the advice. Also, do your common app essay over the summer when the prompts come out because all the supplements will begin to be released during the school year and you just don’t want to worry about both (same idea with testing).

29

**Decision: Deferred **

SAT I (breakdown): 2330 (750CR, 800M, 780W)
ACT (breakdown): N/A
SAT II: Math II (800), Bio E (790), Chem (800), US History (770)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
AP (place score in parenthesis): Bio (5), Euro (5), Calc BC (5), Stats (5), US History (5), Comp Sci (5), English Lit (5), Chem (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: Honors Physics, AP US Gov, AP Micro/Macro, AP French, PE, AP English Lang
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Siemens Semifinalist, USABO Semifinalist, Physics Team Semifinalist, AIME, Scholastic Writing Silver Key, National Merit

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): (Mu Alpha Theta), (Volunteer for Senior Citizens), (Bio Club), Drama
Job/Work Experience: N/A
Volunteer/Community service: Volunteered at UCSF, several senior centers, Presidential Volunteer Service Award gold medal
Summer Activities: Mainly research and volunteering
Essays (rating 1-10, details): I really liked all my essays except for the supplement.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): Didn’t get to read any of them, so not entirely sure

Teacher Rec #1: Lit teacher, said explicitly that she really enjoyed writing it, so hopefully it was good
Teacher Rec #2: Chem teacher, on good terms, I’m TAing for him this year, so hopefully that was good too
Counselor Rec: I honestly have no clue how they do this at my school. There are 600+ students in my graduating class and we just have to fill out this form.
Additional Rec: Got a letter from my research mentor at Stony Brook
Interview: Went pretty well, we talked for 30 minutes about PC culture on college campuses

Other:

Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major: Molecular, Cell and Developmental Bio
State (if domestic applicant): California
Country (if international applicant): N/A
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: High enough such that I won’t get any financial aid
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Unfortunately none

Reflection
I was really bummed when I got the decision. I was under the impression that Yale liked science people, so I got overly excited for this decision. I pinpointed some weak spots in my application that can be fixed, so I guess I still have hope for my other schools? My friends tell me that these decisions are all really unpredictable, but that seems like kind of a defeatist attitude. Oh well! Only one more week of writing college apps and I’ll be a second semester senior yay

Also, some of my now-in-college friends gave me some comforting advice - that we will all inevitably be happy with our schools and feel like we belong one year from now.

Please forgive my almost incoherent writing, this is not how I wrote the essays lol

Strengths: Major awards, every essay except the supplement, test scores/grades
Weaknesses: I think my leadership was somewhat lacking.
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: The 500-word supplement is more important than any other essay (so I’ve heard), and that essay wasn’t my best work. Obviously I have absolutely no insight into the mind of an admissions officer, but if I had to pinpoint a certain weak spot, that would be it.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: N/A

General Comments :
This isn’t over yet! Time to write more apps.

30

Decision: Deferred

SAT I (breakdown): Didn’t send
ACT (breakdown): 33
35 English
34 math
33 reading
28 science
10 on essay
SAT II: 760-US History, 700-Bio M, 710-Math 2
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0? school doesn’t do unweighted
4.52/4 weighted
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 9/477
AP (place score in parenthesis): took 6 exams so far. 5’s on microecon, macroecon, and english lang. 4’s on bio, us history, and world history
IB (place score in parenthesis): n/a

Senior Year Course Load:
AP Calc AB
AP German
AP Comparative Gov, AP US Government (combined course)
Physics
AP Chemistry
AP Literature and Composition

Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
AP Scholar with Distinction
Commended for National Merit (didn’t list on my application)
Department Awards for AP Biology and German

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Camp Counselor
Library Volunteer
(Vice President of the Future Health Professionals Club)
(President/Founder of the DIY Club)
100 hour youth volunteer program
Red Cross Volunteer
German National Honor Society,
Attended Virginia Governor’s School

Job/Work Experience:
Cashier at a local grocery store. I just love bagging groceries and making memories

Volunteer/Community service: See extracurriculars

Summer Activities: Netflix? See extracurriculars

Essays (rating 1-10, details): I personally thought my common app essay was okay but everyone who read it seemed to really like it. I choose the failure prompt and wrote about my experiences as a Camp Counselor. This one girl didn’t like me at first, but I eventually became her favorite counselor. 8/10

My Yale essay I really liked it. I compared my brain to a planner 9/10

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: My first teacher adores me. 10/10
Teacher Rec #2: Rec was probably good, never read though 7/10?
Counselor Rec: Probably good. My counselor really like me, but I imagine with the number of recs she has to write, each student receives a watered down recommendation
Additional Rec: I had a Yale Alum write a third recommendation for me. It wasn’t as good as I expected it to be.
Interview: Never had one.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Economics
State (if domestic applicant): Northern Virginia
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public, fairly large, very competitive
Ethnicity: Asian and Proud (Afghanistan)
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: 200,000?
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): I’m pretty friendly

Reflection: Didn’t really know what I was expecting. I never really expected to get in, but I didn’t ever think about getting denied of deffered either.

Strengths:
Weaknesses: Test Scores, No interview, Recs (maybe?)
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I guess my application just wasn’t competitive enough

Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Applied to UVA, VCU, Washington and Lee, UMW, Dartmouth. Yale was the first to hear back from.

General Comments : I wish I was native american. Congrats to everyone who got accepted!!

31

**Decision: Accepted **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2390, 790 math (Single sitting, only sitting)
ACT (breakdown): 33 (8th Grade, didn’t send)
SAT II: 700+ on Math I, World History, 750+ on Bio M, US Hist., Chem, 800 on BioE and Math II
Unweighted GPA (out of 100): 98.01
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/396
AP (place score in parenthesis): Bio, BC Calc, Music Theory, Chemistry, English Language, World History, APUSH (All 5s), taking 5 more this year
IB (place score in parenthesis): n/a
Senior Year Course Load: 5 more APs, music, Science Research
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): One major national science award (won’t list bc I don’t want to be identifiable)

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): SciOly (1st at regional and state bio events), Orchestra and Quartets, A cappella (president and group leader), xc and t&f
Job/Work Experience: summer research internship, current research work, employee of gov’t science angency doing research for them
Volunteer/Community service: not worth listing
Summer Activities: biological research internships
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Best things I have ever written, hands down. Probably a 7/10 (CA) and 8/10. Why yale was funny
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: Bio. He loved me to pieces
Teacher Rec #2: History. My 2nd best subject, said I was “best student she has ever had the pleasure to teach” so that might’ve helped
Counselor Rec: Good enough
Additional Rec: n/a
Interview: n/a

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major: Biology (EEB)
State (if domestic applicant): NY
Country (if international applicant): n/a
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: white
Gender: female
Income Bracket: no FA haha
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): n/a

Reflection

Strengths: Science. Clearly skewed for science. I did what I loved to the highest degree
Weaknesses: Overachieving area of the country. No major hooks. Overrepresented Majority. Took too many tests.
Why you think you were accepted: Science
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: n/a

General Comments : This is not worth the stress it causes, and I saw my overqualified, hardworking, asian friend get rejected in favour of a kid who has decent grades and scores but eh but whose parents were big donors :frowning: It’s bs. If you were accepted, yay! If not, remember: the system works so that you’re guaranteed that all the kids accepted are smart … but you’re not guaranteed that all of the smart kids will be accepted. Good luck to you all.

32

@theleenbean You lying motherfucker. No one gets that good standardized scores and gets deferred. You clearly need to learn how to lie while behind the screen.

33

Decision: Rejected

Objective
SAT I (breakdown): 1970 (CR: 730, M: 660, W: 590) [Didn’t Send]
ACT (breakdown): 34 (R: 36, W: 35, S:35, M:28)
SAT II: Biology-E (750) and World History (800)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): N/A
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):School Doesn’t Rank
AP (place score in parenthesis):
IB (place score in parenthesis): 41 Predicted Score
Senior Year Course Load: Biology HL, History HL, Literature HL, Psychology SL, Math SL, French B SL
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): None

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Secretary-General of one of India’s largest MUNs, 10 MUNs as an EB member and delegate (with two best delegate awards), King Duncan in intensive school production of Macbeth, Literary Magazine Founder and Editor, Green Conference EB member and delegate (Best Innovator Award), House Vice-Captain (School Prefect Council), Internship at Asia’s 2nd largest hospital
Job/Work Experience:
Volunteer/Community service: Event Director of a NGO
Summer Activities: Student Global Leadership Institute in Honolulu, Mandela-Gandhi Youth Summit in Johannesburg
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Common App Essay: 7/10 (I wrote this essay on my experience as Secretary-General, the essay may have come out too cocky and was disjointed)
Supplement Essay: 7/10 (This essay was on my experience at the Student Global Leadership institute, again it may have been disjointed and too similar to the first essay)
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 9/10 History teacher who adores me.
Teacher Rec #2: 9/10
Counselor Rec: 9/10
Additional Rec:
Interview: None

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Global Affairs
State (if domestic applicant):
Country (if international applicant): India (U.S. Citizen)
School Type: Private
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 100,000-150,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None

Reflection

Strengths: Good Recommendation letters, Committed to my Extra-curriculars, Good IB Predicted Score and ACT Composite score.
Weaknesses: Math ACT Score, Overly dramatic/cocky essays that were very similar. Asian. No hooks or major awards.
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: In hindsight my essays came off as very cocky and sometimes shallow, I focused too much on making a good piece of writing rather than a good essay.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: N/A

General Comments : Although I was rejected from my number one choice school, I think positivity is essential! The college admissions process is very subjective and although there are several things I could have done to improve my application I still may have been rejected. At the end of the day what we do with our education matters much more than where we attend. I would have loved to be Yalie but alas that ship has sailed away. Regardless of this decision I will still be applying to other top universities (after major application edits) because I firmly believe that no battle is over until hope is lost. Congratulations to all who have been accepted, if you choose to attend Yale I wish you all the very best with the incredible 4 years you are bound to have. To everyone deferred, I sincerely hope Yale accepts some of you in the spring. And to those rejected, never forget that you are amazing. You applied to one of the best universities in the world and although you got rejected, that does not devalue the last 17 years of your life and what you have achieved. I wish everyone all the best in the future and hopefully all of us will end up happy in the end! :slight_smile:

34

Sigh…
**Decision: Deferred **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): N/A
ACT (breakdown): 35 (Reading - 36 everything else - 35)
SAT II: Bio - 790, Math 2 - 780, US History - 750, Literature - 740, Chemistry - 730 (Didn’t submit this score though bc I took it December)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9705
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): school doesn’t rank but I’d say top 5%?
AP (place score in parenthesis): APUSH - 5, AP Bio - 4, AP Euro - 4, AP Music Theory - 5
Senior Year Course Load: I have block scheduling so I can’t take a lot of classes: Early Bird Gym, AP Physics C (Electricity&Magnetism and Mechanics), AP Chem, AP World History, AP English Lang, AP Calc BC, Orchestra, Advanced Honors Research Project (all the work is done outside of school and I had to apply to get in)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): no really major ones except for National Merit Semi-Finalist I guess?

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): literary magazine for juniors and seniors 11-12 (Editor in Chief 12), a different literary magazine 11-12 (Vice President 12), Protecting Animals’ Welfares by Students 9-12 (President 12), Tri-M National Music Honor Society 10-12 (Historian 12), Glenbrook Symphony Orchestra 9-12, school writing tutor 11-12. I think that’s it.
Job/Work Experience: Math tutor
Volunteer/Community service: Over 260 hours at a hospital in downtown Chicago
Summer Activities: Worked at Northwestern University research lab for 175 hours with drosophila. Was able to work with two amazing professors, grad/undergrad students, and post docs.
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Common App: I wrote about my “journey” with science. Honestly it’s probably not that strong. I kept worrying it wasn’t personal enough. probably a 7.5 or 8/10
Why Yale: 10/10 I think I had a pretty unique essay, that wasn’t on how the school has great teachers and facilities. Even my interviewer was impressed with my reason because he hadn’t thought about it before.
Yale Supplement: 9-10/10 I wrote a very flowery essay on music that I think very clearly showed who I am. I actually realized that it answered one of the UChicago creative prompts after writing it…
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: Junior Honors English Teacher - I wrote a six page long answer to her recommendation questionnaire and I’m pretty sure I had a good relationship with her. She’s super smart too so I think her recommendation would be like an 8.5-9ish/10
Teacher Rec #2: APUSH Teacher - This one was a 10/10. I’m super close with him and he’s also my advisor for the research project. He wrote me a rec last winter for an internship and I got to read it. It was pretty awesome and he said he didn’t change much about it for college recs.
Counselor Rec: 9/10? My counselor retired last year so I got assigned a new one but I was able to sit down with her for like an hour and tell her about myself and what I wanted in the rec.
Additional Rec: I got scared off by the website saying not to put additional stuff if necessary so I didn’t.
Interview: oh my god it was horrible. I went to his business and it felt more like an interrogation rather than a conversation. He only let me ask him a single question at the very end and I was super nervous the whole time.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Biology and Humanities
State (if domestic applicant): IL
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public ~400-500 kids per grade
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: ~60-70k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None

Reflection

Strengths: Research experience at Northwestern, Why Yale essay, Yale supplement essay, GPA/ACT
Weaknesses: THE INTERVIEW - It was just so bad, No major awards other than school awards, no hook
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I’m not gonna lie. I was pretty down when I found out I got deferred.
I have pretty strong ties to UChicago since my mom went to grad school there and I lived in Hyde Park for a large portion of my life. I accidentally mentioned this in my interview after he kept prodding me about other places I was applying. And like I mentioned abovehand, I realized my supplement perfectly answered one of the UChicago creative prompts. Maybe this had an impact on decisions?
I mean, I don’t know for sure why I got deferred. I guess I just wasn’t a strong enough applicant.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: I have to wait until April for the rest of my colleges :frowning:

General Comments :

35

Decision: ACCEPTED

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 730 (reasoning), 750 (writing), 760 (math)
ACT (breakdown): didn’t take
SAT Subject Matter Tests: 800 (Math), 770 (Biology), 730 (Chemistry)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.8
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): n/a
AP (place score in parenthesis): English (4), Physics 2 (5),
IB (place score in parenthesis): n/a
Senior Year Course Load:
AP Spanish, AP Calculus, AP Chemistry 2, Honors English, Bioethics, Gourmet Cooking
Major Awards (American Chemistry Society local chapter): 2nd Highest Score in the region.

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Chess Team President, Team, 2nd in State 2015, Individual 10th in State 2012
Varsity Swim Team 4 years
Track, Varsity 2 years, JV 2 years, 5th in State, 4 x 400 Relay Team, 2015
JBS Players, actor 2015
Diversity Team, 4 years, executive board member 3 years
Environmental Awareness Club 2 years

Job/Work Experience: None.

Volunteer/Community service: Humane Society and Zoo, about 400 hours over 3 years

Summer Activities: same as volunteer, except attended Summer College at Cornell at took a class in Conservation Medicine in the Veterinary Medicine School and earned an A+ which was a college credit course.
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Common App: - passionate about work at humane society
Why Major?: - strongly worded about intended major.
Why Yale?: - interdisciplinary opportunities
Yale Supp: - music and its power and influence. Included recommendations of songs…
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: History Teacher + diversity club faculty.
Teacher Rec #2: Math Teacher.
Counselor Rec: 1Had not had counselor for any clases. Relationship is new.
Additional Rec: Supervisor at Humane Society
Interview: Had an interview with a recent alum that was quite in depth (90 minutes)

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Biology
State (if domestic applicant): MO
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Private
Ethnicity: African American
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: over $100K

Reflection

Strengths: GPA, scores, essay passion
Weaknesses: Not a lot of school activities and no paid work experiences, only 1 major award
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Not sure. Just thrilled to have been accepted.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: So far Indiana University. Applied so far to Univ. of VA, Univ. of Miami and Harvard

General Comments :

36

[aB][asize=4][acolor=#008000]Decision: Accepted [/color][/size]**

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2320. Reading 800, Writing 800, Math 720. No superscore, only took it once.
ACT (breakdown): N/A
SAT II: English Literature 800, US History 800, Math 2 790
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.89
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School doesn’t rank or do percentages, but probably top 10%
AP (place score in parenthesis): APUSH (5), English Lang & Comp (5), Spanish Language and Culture (5), Chem (4)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Literature, AP Spanish Literature, AP Calc AB, Honors Physics, AP Studio Art, International Business and Culture
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Third place at the Congressional Art Competition, AP Scholar with Distinction, National Merit Letter of Commendation,

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Model UN (Vice-president). Need to brag a little–I was a four-year member of a competitive team consistently ranked in the top-10 nationally. School art and literature magazine (lit editor as a junior, editor-in-chief as a senior). One year of varsity lacrosse between knee injuries. Poetry published in print nationally. Also submitted an art portfolio.
Job/Work Experience: 3 years at a local bagel shop.
Volunteer/Community service: Part of a program that does sex ed workshops at schools and juvie centers, over 250 hours of community service. Also stocked shelves at my public library one summer.
Summer Activities: Mostly just working.
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 10/10. Common App was about my mother’s sacrifices, and how I don’t want to follow the same path she did. Very feminist bent. Yale-specific essay was about Terry Pratchett and Hayao Miyazaki, and how their art shaped my childhood. Drew a comparison between their death/retirement and the end of my adolescence. Also really proud of the 150 words on 'Why Yale"–wrote about seeing Goya’s Desastres de la Guerra at the university gallery.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): Probably 9/10, didn’t get to read them.

Teacher Rec #1: My AP Lang teacher literally begged to write one for me so I assume it was pretty good.
Teacher Rec #2: APUSH teacher. Probably pretty good too.
Counselor Rec: She liked me but I also had almost no interaction with her so who knows.
Additional Rec: Nope.
Interview: Went really well, I think. Interviewer was a theater major so we hit it off talking about art.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes.
Intended Major: Art and Economics double major.
State (if domestic applicant): New Jersey
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public; very competitive.
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: Over 100k but less than 200k.
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None.

Reflection

Strengths: Essays, test scores, everything told a story.
Weaknesses: Not one of the top few students at my school, no hooks.
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I think I got in because I said I had these two passions, art and politics, and everything from my essays to my classes to my extracurriculars to my intended majors supported that. Also my essays and art portfolio probably stood out.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Accepted at Rutgers and UPitt with scholarship opportunities.

37

[aB][asize=4][acolor=#008000]Decision: Accepted [/color][/size]**

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 790 (CR) 770 (M) 790 (W)
ACT (breakdown): Didn’t take
SAT II: 710
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.):

Subjective:

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

Teacher Rec #1:
Teacher Rec #2:
Counselor Rec:
Additional Rec:
Interview:

Other

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.):

Reflection

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

General Comments :

38

I’m sorry for messing up on the first one. Here is it in reality.

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 790 (CR) 770 (M) 790 (W)
ACT (breakdown): Didn’t take
SAT II: 710 US History 780 Literature 790 Molecular Biology
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.97
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/170
AP (place score in parenthesis):Biology (5), Literature (Currently taking), World History (Currently taking), Calculus AB (Currently taking), Statistics (Currently taking)
IB (place score in parenthesis): None
Senior Year Course Load: Calculus, AP Literature, AP World History, AP Statistics, Physics, Spanish, PE
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Scholar

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Fencing (captain), literary magazine (co-editor), math team (captain), quiz bowl (captain), writing club
Job/Work Experience: Referee at local fencing tournaments
Volunteer/Community service: Summer work with environmental nonprofit, week-long science camp with elementary schoolers
Summer Activities: Biology camp (5 weeks, overnight)
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Common essay (8. I went with the failure prompt and wrote about how I find fencing rewarding because I’m not naturally talented at it. I think it’s funny and at least a little meaningful, but not exactly a thrilling topic), Yale supplement (9. I wrote about my undying love for data sets. I think I pulled it off well and made myself appear geeky and lovable), Why Yale? (7. I talked about how other schools look like masses of miserable humanity around finals week, but Yale students were focused yet happy), Short takes (9. I believe that I was fun and funny with my responses.)

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 10, my English teacher called me a gift to humankind. She wrote well and enthusiastically.
Teacher Rec #2: 8, my Biology teacher was very positive and said that I was an amazingly motivated and intelligent person.
Counselor Rec: 9, my counselor and I really like each other and she made a point of mentioning that I am an authentic person and not a valedictorian clone.
Additional Rec: None.
Interview: 10, my interviewer said that I was the best public school student he had interviewed in forty years. We had a good conversation, even though it was only 45 minutes.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Biology
State (if domestic applicant): NH
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: $80,000-$100,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): My school isn’t

Reflection

Strengths: SAT, recommendations, interview, extracurriculars
Weaknesses: Lack of awards, US History subject test, few AP tests taken
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: In my application, I showed my personality (the good parts, that is) as well as my academic strengths.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Nowhere yet, but I’ve applied to Clark and Brandeis.

General Comments: I recognize that I got lucky.

39

Decision: Accepted

I know I’m late but I found these helpful, so I figured I’d pass it on.

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown):
ACT (breakdown): 36 (35E, 36R, 36M, 36S)
SAT II: 800 Math II, 770 World History
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.35 (my school is weird)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1-2/350 (no official rank)
AP (place score in parenthesis): 5 on World History, US History, BC Calc, English Lang
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: Multivariable Calc, AP Macro, AP Micro, AP Gov, AP Physics C, AP French, AP Stats, SUPA English
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Harvard Book Award, NMSF, some Model UN stuff

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Piano, Viola (private study + various ensembles), Board of Education involvement (too much to detail here, but this was significant), Model UN (president), Politics Club (co-president), Youth Court (board of directors), School Newspaper (opinion editor), Tutor
Job/Work Experience:
Volunteer/Community service: Some pro bono viola engagements (nursing homes, etc.)
Summer Activities: Hospital office volunteer, summers before junior and senior years
Essays (rating 1-10, details): I won’t rate them, but I believe my essays helped push me to an admit. I’ll leave it at that.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): I won’t rate these either, but…

Teacher Rec #1: APUSH teacher, great relationship
Teacher Rec #2: AP English Lang/SUPA teacher, great relationship
Counselor Rec: Spent a lot of time with her working with college stuff, etc. so probably very good
Additional Rec: “Official” additional rec came from my district superintendent with whom I’ve worked extensively the past couple years. My principal sent in an unsolicited additional rec, which is uncommon and probably helped me.
Interview: Great, she was a teacher so we spoke extensively on education policy

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major: Ethics, Politics, and Economics or Political Science
State (if domestic applicant): NY
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 150,000+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Dual-citizen

Reflection

Strengths: Great scores/grades. Commitment to my activities, especially involvement with my school district, which is relatively unique and helped support my interest in education policy/politics. Very strong essays with a cohesive narrative.
Weaknesses: No extraordinary awards/activities/hooks
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Who’s to say, other than that I presented myself as authentically as possible and put together my application thoughtfully
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Nowhere - I enrolled at Yale and actually withdrew my Vanderbilt app already

General Comments: Think deeply about why you want to go to college. Put “fit” above the name. (By that I mean, I applied to and was accepted to Yale because it was the best fit, not because it was “Yale.”) Go deeper than the typical achievement-based essays - and start your essays early. Lastly: relax.

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[asize=4][acolor=#008000]Decision: Accepted [/color][/size]

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2380 if you just look at the highest sections, but i actually did worse the second time (lol)
SAT II: math 800 bio 800 english 790
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.98ish
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): ??
AP (place score in parenthesis): 5s and 4s
IB (place score in parenthesis): a 7 and a 6 so far
Senior Year Course Load: ib stuff
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): LOL no. the highest awards i’ve ever gotten were state science awards, and one regional scholastic writing gold key. national merit semifinalist? does that count

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
school paper (Editor in Chief)
school science olympiad team (captain)
2 science/medical service related club type things (started)
another science/service related non profit’s regional branch (president)
wind instrument in local orchestra (invited to Kennedy Center SMI program + national high school orchestra thing one summer)
school science club (president)
coach of local middle schools’ science olympiad teams
local science fair in freshman year

Job/Work Experience: science-y shenanigans

Volunteer/Community service: volunteer at local hospice

Essays (rating 1-10, details): i personally liked my common app one (took me about a century to finish), and hated my yale supplement.

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
idk how people can just rate these themselves? they were nice to me (and most everyone), so i’m sure they were a-ok
Interview: nice dude. I just asked a ton of questions to continue the convo, otherwise it would’ve been done in about 15 minutes. had fun!

Other

State (if domestic applicant): kentucky
School Type: public, IB
Ethnicity: asian
Gender: Female

Reflection

Strengths: ?? i try very hard in all the variety of things i enjoy and I feel like i came across very (truthfully lmao) enthusiastic about life, science, and helping others
Weaknesses: gpa, test scores, no real “peak” with awards or anything
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: i thought i sounded like a chill and contributory gal
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: didn’t apply anywhere else

General Comments : Message me for details on anything! Happy to help :slight_smile: