****YALE UNIVERSITY CLASS OF 2021 SCEA RESULTS****

[zoebrittany]

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
SAT I : superscored 2380, 800(M), 800(CR), 780 (W)
ACT (breakdown): NA
SAT II: 780 (M II), 770 (LIT)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.8
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
AP (place score in parenthesis): Stats (5), Lit II (4)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Econ, AP Calc AB, Mandarin IV, English, History, Ethics/Philosophy, AP Psychology; Orchestra
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Academic and Music

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Co-President 3 Clubs; Editor, School Newspaper; Classical Music Pre-College; Blog.
Job/Work Experience:
Volunteer/Community service: 5 Years leading Friday evening services in nursing home.
Summer Activities: Classical Music
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 9-10
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): 10

Teacher Rec #1: 10
Teacher Rec #2: 10
Counselor Rec: 10
Additional Rec: 10
Interview: Yes, on campus.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: No.
Intended Major: East Asian Studies, EPE, Music
State (if domestic applicant): NY
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Private
Ethnicity: W
Gender: M
Income Bracket: upper middle
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None.

Reflection: I had a full scholarship to a great private high school after spending eight years in public school. My fantastic teachers taught me how to write, think, and helped me gain the confidence necessary to assume leadership roles in club-activities that I genuinely care about and will continue to devote time to in college. I have pursued interests in and out of school that I love and wrote about those things in my essays.

Strengths: GPA, SAT, EC
Weaknesses: Many, but no one talks about these on college apps!
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I only pursue activities that I love and do them well. My school pushed me to excel academically and that helped enormously.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Withdrew all applications after receiving acceptance from Yale!

General Comments : Spend time thinking about what you care about deeply and do those things as well as you can. Colleges have distinctive cultures and if you know yourself well you will find the right one where you will feel “at home” and flourish for four years.

[YaleGirl2021]

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
SAT I : superscored 2350, 750(M), 800(CR), 800 (W)- took the old once twice
ACT (breakdown): 32 (didn’t send)
SAT II: 770 (M II), 770 (LIT)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 6/400
AP (place score in parenthesis): didn’t send any (I got a few fives and fours and three 3’s LOL)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Psych, AP Physics 2, AP Cal BC, AP Gov, AP Lit, AICE Global Perspectives A Level
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Ranked in top ten nationally for debate, AP scholar w distinction, National Merit SF, State service awards, Yale Young Global Scholar

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): debate captain, various feminist service projects (including founding a national non-profit), congressional intern, DECA president, art and writing honor societies and awards
Job/Work Experience: paid debate coach over summer
Volunteer/Community service: 4 years volunteering at local hospital
Summer Activities: Indian classical music training
Essays (rating 1-10, details): I applied early so after SCEA I realized my essays were actually awful and redid them entirely, but the I got accepted after being deferred so I guess the originals weren’t as bad as I thought?
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: This one was by my debate coach and we’ve been close for four years, she’s like a parent figure so the rec was probably really personal and detailed (10/10)
Teacher Rec #2: By my english teacher who’s a really good writer and is the advisor for a club I’m part of (9/10)
Counselor Rec: We only have one counselor for the whole grade so this was probably not the best, but she and I worked on it together and she really did care about helping me out (8/10)
Additional Rec: none
Interview: Was truly just average, lasted about 45 mins

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: EPE, Global Affairs
State (if domestic applicant): FL
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Indian
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: middle
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None.

Reflection: I really beat myself up about the college application process. I feel like all I did for a year was read posts on college confidential, obsess about the 3’s I had on AP’s, the average class rank I had, and whether or not I was winning enough debate tournaments or entering enough writing/art contests. And I definitely had this whole misconception about how being asian meant I wouldn’t get in anywhere. Getting deferred crushed me, but it was good because I snapped back to reality and started focusing on doing the things I love again. In the end, it didn’t even matter, and I got in regular decision after sending almost no updates to my original application. I’m still amazed that I get to go to my dream school, and it’s a great feeling, but in the end, the whole process amounted to this one letter. And all I can say from the other side is that it’s not worth beating yourself up for, because it will never define you. I always thought people who said ‘you’ll end up where you belong’ where ridiculous optimists, but from the other side I can see that it’s true. Colleges accept you based on how you’ll fit on their campus, so an acceptance or denial is never a judge of worth, but rather a judge of applicability, and everything happens for the best. I’m just making this post because 1. I hope it reminds some people that you can get into an ivy even if you’re an asian with imperfect stats 2. these posts were a guide for me 3. if you’re genuinely passionate about something, let it shine through
Strengths: Debate accomplishments, passion for feminism
Weaknesses: Rank, SAT II, and AP scores
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I think I was accepted because it was clear that I only did things I was really deeply passionate about
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Accepted to Stanford, Brown, Cornell, Duke (AB full scholarship), Emory (full scholarship); Waitlisted at Harvard and Columbia, Rejected at Princeton

General Comments: BOOLA BOOLA

[slando123]

**Decision: Accepted **

[CheckMyBrain11]

**Decision: Accepted **

Objective:
ACT (breakdown): 34C (35S, 35E, 34M, 33R)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: school doesn’t weight, would estimate a 4.2ish at time of applying
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 2/412
AP (place score in parentheses): Physics 1, Gov (both self-studies, didn’t report scores)
Senior Year Course Load: I had a funky schedule due to issues w my science credits so I’ll break it down by semester!
Semester 1: Sociology, AP German, AP Macro, DE English, Business Management 2, AP Calc AB, Internship
Semester 2: Organic Chemistry, DE Biology, American Gov, AP Macro, DE English, Business Management 2, AP Calc AB, Internship (yeah, extra class! It’s been fun)
Number of other applicants in your school: a kid applied REA (Rejected)

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description): in order of importance
DECA - State President for WY, former chapter president, won 11 first-places in three years at the state level, 7th at internationals twice.
WAC (Quiz Bowl) - Top-scoring student in state. Reigning state champion, state all-star, won every meet I’ve competed in.
Community Service - 100+ hours between three projects I care about.
Politics - Managed a candidate for the state legislature’s campaign (got a 21 year-old 25% of the vote against an incumbent, beat a candidate with 5x the funding), volunteered with a Congressional campaign, & Boys State
Job/Work Experience: Work 25 hours/week at local internship to pay expenses/gain experience, work another 10 hrs/week at restaurant during weekends to make extra money (35 at restaurant in the summer)
Summer Experience: Working!

Writing (Subject, 1-10 rating, details):

Essays:
Common App: 8/10. Talked about maturing in a single parent household in a very upbeat way. Showed to former AO’s and they liked it.
Yale Specific Essays: 7/10. I spoke with my AO and she said my Why Yale was unique, and that my other ones weren’t stellar but were well-written.

Teacher Recommendation #1: 10/10. Physics teacher from junior year. He talked about my leadership in the class, how intellectually curious I was, my character, etc. Best one I’ve seen!
Teacher Recommendation #2: 8/10. English teacher from last year. Knew me more personally and discussed my background, and my qualities as a person, as well as in the classroom.
Counselor Rec: 3/10. Provided no value to my app. I’m very self-read and taught with applications and plans, kids from my school typically don’t apply to elite schools so I ended up helping her more than she helped me.
Additional Info/Rec: Didn’t add one. Should’ve added my DECA advisor but hindsight is 20/20.
Interview: Went very well. Spoke for almost two hours. We discussed economics, real estate, history, and Yale. Wasn’t particularly killer, but could’ve went 10x worse.

Other

Date Submitted App: 12/23/2016
U.S. State/Territory or Country: Wyoming!
School Type: largest public school in the state
Ethnicity: White (reported)
Gender: Male
Income Bracket Range: $45k/year
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athelete, development): being from WY, basically first-gen.

Reflection

Strengths: EC’s (in terms of depth), rank
Weaknesses: Not the most rigorous schedule, EC’s (in terms of breadth)
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I have no clue.
What would you have done differently?: Taking harder classes as a sophomore, taken the SAT 2’s, maybe started a company
Where else did you apply? Yale (accepted), Harvard (rejected), Notre Dame (accepted), Michigan (accepted), GA Tech (accepted), Williams (waitlisted)

General Comments & Advice:
Take shots to make shots! I used the same essays for Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. And they went a couple of ways… haha. Never be afraid!