Yale University Class of 2023 SCEA Decision Result

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I can’t hold myself anymore to start this thread. Good luck guys on Friday and good job with what you’ve done so far!

Please replace the “[a” below with just “[” before posting.

[aB][asize=4][acolor=#008000]Decision: Accepted [/color][/size]**
[aB][asize=4][acolor=#FFA500]Decision: Deferred [/color][/size]**
[aB][asize=4][acolor=#FF0000]Decision: Rejected [/color][/size]**

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown):
ACT (breakdown):
SAT II:
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, Questbridge, etc.):

Reflection

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

General Comments :

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3

Decision: Deferred [/size]**

Written before decision so my vision wouldn’t be impeded by the steady flow of tears that awaits me Jk it was to try to be unbiased

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1500 (780 E, 720 M) – taken and submitted to Yale October of junior year… oops.
ACT (breakdown): 35C (33 M, 34 S, 36 R, 36 E)
SAT II: 710 Lit, 730 USH.
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.95
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):73/600 #oof
AP (place score in parenthesis): USH (5, self-study), Eng Lang (5, self-study), Eng Lit (5), Psych (5), US Gov (5, self- study), Enviro (4, self-“study” lol i didn’t), Bio (4)
IB (place score in parenthesis): Math Studies (7), Spanish SL (6)
Senior Year Course Load: IB Lit HL, IB TOK HL, Medical Anatomy and Phys, IB Math HL 1 (BC Calc), IB Bio HL, IB History HL, IB Chem SL. IB IS KILLING ME i have 3 IAs due this week if anyone in IB sees this I’m sorry u have to feel this pain
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): not major but AP Scholar w/ distinction, National Merit Semi

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Ballet, Climbing, Skiing, Family responsibility
Job/Work Experience: Summer job x4
Volunteer/Community service: Mentor kids with disabilities. It’s a huge part of my life but doesn’t look that impressive on apps and we all know nobody reads this section unless there’s something super impressive
Summer Activities: Until last summer, ballet intensives for 6-8 weeks (dancing 40+ hours/wk). Last summer, sailed 500 nautical miles!! idc what colleges wanted to see, best experience of my life hands down.

Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Common app: 8. Choppy, informal, candid, raw, articulated my feelings about ballet really well. Depending on the reader, could’ve come off really well or really poorly. Risky.
Why do these areas appeal to you? 5. You can tell I used a thesaurus. It doesn’t feel genuine, just show-offy and stilted.
Why Yale? 4. I scrapped my kiss-a** essay about Yale’s intellectual electricity and wrote a slightly cynical essay about my legacy and gender
Short takes: 6. Quirky but nothing special; referenced ballet, Tim O’Brien, the Grateful Dead and Pilates.
Intellectually exciting: 7. Wrote about sailing. Pretty honest and reflective; I just wish I hadn’t used the phrase “dove into” unironically. Watch out for cliches kids!
Community: 8. I liked this one cause it was sentimental but flirted with sarcasm and a bit of cynicism (my forte).

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: ??? Math teacher. She’s only had me this year and she writes super generic recs so probably like 5? Y’all why are we rating recs we never got to read?
Teacher Rec #2: 7/8 TOK teacher. He’s hard to read but he doesn’t agree to write a lot of recs and the few he does write are “the best I’ve ever seen” according to an adcom at State U… so hopefully decent. Whoa sorry about the run-on
Counselor Rec: Idk, probably 6-7 range. She counsels the entire IB program so she’s seen quite a bit more impressive than me.
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: Hoooo boy. This went poorly. Turns out I’m not very good at articulating why people should care about the arts. This interview was awkward. I don’t think she liked me. Probably called me mediocre on her forms tbh, cause I think I came across that way.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: I ranked them as English, then Ethics, POlitics, Economics, then Neuroscience. I currently want to double major in Philosophy and Math. Check back next week !!!
State (if domestic applicant): prefer not to answer
Country (if international applicant): USA
School Type: public, soul-destroyingly-competitive
Ethnicity: white
Gender: female
Income Bracket: 65-100k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, Questbridge, etc.): none

Reflection

Strengths: I tried to show my personality in my app. Could’ve been a weakness hahahaha. Also this form didn’t really give a designated space, but I’ve been a pretty serious ballet dancer my whole life, lived away from home for two years, did online school in sophomore year to dance 40 hr/wk, struggled with some dark stuff and then saw the light of contemporary dance and education LOL so I have a story that could potentially be compelling. or maybe repelling haha depends

Weaknesses: I’m literally all over the place in my app. Even though I watched so many YouTube videos about presenting yourself as a nice little package I ignored them and presented myself as a STEM loving Humanities loving sailor dancer athlete mentor cause that’s really who I am (!!) and that just doesn’t always jive well with Ivies. I will also say that 95% of '22 were top 10% of their class so my 12% may not have boded well

Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: hmmm I feel like this section is a lil destructive. If I’m ever an adcom I’ll come back and let y’all know why people are accepted/deferred/rejected but since we don’t and can’t possibly know, the speculation is lowkey just killing us and killing the potential hopes of the 24s and 25s…

Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: still waiting, but my dream school is CC so fingers crossed

General Comments: Fork college admissions, honestly. So many of y’all are so ridiculously bright and have such incredible senses of humor, drive, and perseverance; you have people skills and you’re insanely creative and maybe you have a really special talent you haven’t even developed yet. These skills are what will get you far, but often you’re just not able to showcase them on your application or the ACT/SAT is stupid and test anxiety is real or stuff happened and you got a few B’s. It. Doesn’t. Matter. What will make you successful is that desire to be great that has you relentlessly reading these forums in the first place, not a few stupid numbers that are overvalued because colleges are businesses that need to generate revenue because #capitalism. But hey, if you’re into capitalism that’s cool too; just know that less than 40% of Fortune 500 CEOs went to so-called elite schools (Washington Post, 2015).

But seriously, if you’re reading this rn, chances are you’re already pretty freaking great and you need to stop stressing yourself out with this website and get outside. You can’t get high school back… learned that one too late. Or if you still wanna dwell on the future, get a job. Cause this college thing is gonna be expensive.

if you’re a stressed out junior, senior, or whatever feel free to PM me and we can make each other laugh. just be warned, my sense of humor is pretty meme-dependent

4

**Decision: Rejected **

Objective:
ACT (breakdown): 36 superscore (twice)- 36E, 36M, 35R, 35S => Essay: 10
SAT II: 800 Math II, Biology (800 expected), Physics (780-800 expected)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.87
Weighted GPA: 4.26
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): No rank, but approximately top 5%
APs:
Sophomore - World History (5), Environmental Science (4)
Junior - Calculus BC (4), Statistics (5), Language & Comp. (5), Biology (4), Psychology (4), Human Geography (3/4)

Senior Year Course Load: AP Chemistry, AP French, AP Econ (both), Multivariable and Differential, AP US History, AP Lit

Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
Carnegie Hall Soloist (violinist)
National AP Scholar (expected)
Two-time AIME Qualifier (score of 4)
Math Kangaroo 5th place National Winner
Presidential Volunteer Service Award
Local scholarships for excellence in music

Subjective:
Extracurriculars: Chess team founder and co-captain- now the most popular cocurricular in the school with thirty active members per week (9-12), math team captain- led the team to second in the division (9-12), JV track and field (9-10),varsity rower (11-12), 1st chair highest-tier school ensemble and pit orchestra (11-12), founder of a local School Chess League - nonprofit (11), financial manager of the robotics team - raised over $50k alone this year which helped us win multiple district competitions - also the assistant programmer of the team,orchestra (elected) class officer (11-12), NHS (nothing special here)

Job/Work Experience: work at local pizzeria (part-time), paid violin teacher (currently 12 students), paid math/science tutor (currently 5 students), intern for the Cambridge Science Festival/ MIT Museum

Volunteer/Community service: weekend Chinese teacher at local Chinese language school,

Summer Activities: paid intern at a cancer research lab at Boston University, paper to be published in Blood Journal.

Teacher recommendations:

biology teacher - She loves me, and I will be doing an independent study with her next year. She does get a lot of requests though, so I am afraid that she may be rushed when writing mine

history teacher - I’ve had this teacher for two years, and he has watched me grow to enjoy humanities (as I am a STEM person). He doesn’t get many recs, and so I am hoping he will spend time on mine.

outside recommender - This recommender works for MIT, and she adores me. I have interned under her for over three years, and each year has been an absolute blessing. She is the kindest soul, and I know that she will write an absolutely glowing recommendation (though I’m not sure if universities take outside recommenders highly into consideration?).

Interview: Went great. I interviewed someone from the admissions office on my college visit.

Essays: Personal statement was a metaphor on subways and their role in my life, and the supplements were mostly on my personal projects pertaining to the environment.

Financial Aid: Probably not
Intended Major: Environmental engineering
State (if domestic applicant): MA
School Type: Public, 300 students in my class
Ethnicity: Chinese
Gender: M
Income Bracket: Upper
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None :frowning:

Reflection

Strengths: I hit the range of test scores, but maybe my GPA is low. I also really thought my extracurriculars were outstanding too. My essays were strong, but I suppose not strong enough?
Weaknesses: GPA, AP Scores, and… hate to say it… my race?
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Perhaps there was a red flag in my application, or maybe I really am just not good enough.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: No other decisions yet.

General Comments:
I am honestly shocked. I really thought that I’d at least get a defer. :frowning:

Ah but such is life. :slight_smile:

1 Like
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Please replace the “[a” below with just “[” before posting.

**Decision: Rejected **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): Did not take.
ACT (breakdown): 35 (35E, 35M, 34R, 34S). First time.
SAT II: 800 Math II, 770 Spanish with Listening
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.84 (bad first trimester)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Idk; top 20%
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Spanish Lang (5), AP Macroeconomics (5), AP Microeconomics (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: English (random electives each trimester), Linear Algebra (first trimester), Multivariable Calculus (second two trimesters), Science Research class (first trimester), US History Honors (no APs at my school), Cognitive Neuroscience (one term), Monetary Theory (one term), Spanish Lit, Behavioral Econ (one term).
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National - US Geography Olympiad (20th place), NSF Geography Bee (20th place). School - History Award (9th grade), Honorable Mention in a character award my freshman year.

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Research
11
Yale Lab Intern

Student Govt./Politics
9, 10, 11, 12
Form Representative

Journalism/Publication
9, 10, 11, 12
School
Editor-in-Chief of an econ magazine

Social Justice
11
US Representative at Nuclear Disarmament Forum

Student Govt./Politics
9, 10, 11, 12
Model UN Vice President

Student Govt./Politics
11, 12
Student Democrat Organization
Member

Cultural
9,10,11,12
South Asian Students Club

Study Abroad
10
Spain

Academic
9,10,11,12
Geography Tutor

Athletics: JV/Varsity
10
Varsity Cross Country Runner

Job/Work Experience: i worked at yale for a summer at a lab. got a rec from my mentor, who is a grad student at yale.
Volunteer/Community service: i climbed mount kilimanjaro for money that was donated to a charity whose proceeds go towards people who need facial reconstruction.
Summer Activities: study abroad soph summer in spain, worked at yale in lab for junior summer
Essays (rating 1-10, details): common app (i thought it was good but maybe its an 8 or something), yale supps (i thought they were good too but maybe a 7).
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: Spanish (10). I got an A+ in her class and was the strongest. She loved me and definitely wrote me a glowing rec.
Teacher Rec #2: Science Research Teacher (idk, didnt see but probs an 8). A few other kids in the science class applied to yale and they got in. i got an A in the class, but compared to those kids, I wasn’t as strong.
Counselor Rec: we have a good but somewhat distant relationship so probably an 8.
Additional Rec: grad student mentor at lab. thought it would be good but probably a 6.

Interview: went well; had a great discussion about my intellectual curiosity and a good conversation about politics and US political history lol

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: no.
Intended Major: neuroscience, epe
State (if domestic applicant): CT
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: boarding
Ethnicity: indian
Gender: male
Income Bracket: >250K
Hooks (URM, first generation college, Questbridge, etc.): none at all

Reflection

Strengths:
Weaknesses: idek. im gonna look at my app tonight and figure out what went wrong because I was somewhat surprised; I was hoping for a deferral.
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I dont even know anymore
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Nowhere so far; I applied to UConn and am applying to many more schools in the regular round.

General Comments : Sad but confused. I don’t know what went wrong with my application. I thought it was good, and so did all of my friends, some of whom have already been accepted into good schools! Aghhhh I’m so nervous now

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

Objective:
ACT (breakdown): 35 (36 reading, 36 English, 34 math, 34 science)
SAT II: 780 math II
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.99
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 23/413, 6%
AP (place score in parenthesis): Lang (5), US history (5)
Senior Year Course Load: 5 AP classes
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National merit commended, 3rd place in local art show, Girl Scout silver and bronze (not gold eek)

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): national honor society (VP), art club/national art honor society (secretary), literary magazine (layout editor), soccer team (2 state titles), cross country and track
Job/Work Experience: summer preschool job, work at local elementary school to teach art
Volunteer/Community service: humane society volunteer, church volunteer trips every year (leader)
Summer Activities: volunteer trips, shadowed an architect
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 8/10 I’m not the best writer but I worked very hard on them and think they showed my personality, passions, and goals.

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: 7/10, AP US history teacher, probably pretty good but not amazing
Teacher Rec #2: 9/10, art teacher, very good relationship with her so I’m sure the letter was great
Counselor Rec: none
Additional Rec: 10/10, my Girl Scout leader, who said she wrote the best letter she could about me and thinks I am amazing lol

Interview: Went very well, he used to go to my church and was super friendly and casual

Other:
Applied for Financial Aid?: Y
Intended Major: architecture
State: WA
School Type: public
Ethnicity: white
Gender: F
Income Bracket: upper middle

Reflection:
Strengths: grades, test scores, unique interest in art and architecture. Also visited twice and met with director of undergrad architecture so I think that helped.
Weaknesses: Extracurriculars and awards are nothing special
Why you think you were deferred: I submitted an art portfolio so maybe they needed more time to look at it. I also think I was probably on the borderline.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: nowhere yet!

General Comments : Kinda disappointed because I waited for this day for so long and now I have to wait some more.

7

**Decision: Deferred **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1560 (770R, 790M)
SAT II: Math II - 800, Physics - 800
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School does not rank

AP (place score in parenthesis): Computer Science (5), World History (5), Physics 1 (5), Chemistry (5), Calculus AB (5), United States History (5), Statistics (5), Physics C: Mechanics (5), Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism (5), English Language and Composition (5), Calculus BC (5)

Senior Year Course Load: Software Engineering, AP Micro/Macro Economics, Multivariable Calculus, Photography, Film Production, AP English Literature, AP Psychology, AP Biology

Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Some top school/regional awards (school ones are pretty competitive, especially top science student), but I never participated in any academic competitions

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): (from Common App)

Community Service (Volunteer)
11, 12
(District Webmaster), Florida District of Key Club
Implement tech resources for all 27,000 Key Club members in FL & Cayman Islands: redesigned website, created blog & forum, implemented team management

Computer/Technology
11, 12
(Software Developer), Keymmunity Hub
Coded custom intranet for reporting/event management for large organizations (self-taught); currently in use by Florida District of Key Club

Career Oriented
(Founder), Code Coachers
Company to provide personalized comp. sci education; selected Young Entrepreneurs Academy National Semifinalist; funded at investor panel

Computer/Technology
9, 10, 11, 12
(Founder/President), Computer Science Club
Host courses in software development, programming basics, and algorithms; participate in local universities’ comp. sci events

Computer/Technology
9, 10, 11, 12
(Team Leader), Competitive Programming Team
Train competitive programming team for competitions at UF, UCF, Lockheed Martin, & Stetson

Computer/Technology
10
(Team Head), App Development Team
Created official school app w/ dynamic schedules, school news, & lunch menu; planned teacher recruitment app; taught app development

Job/Work Experience: (from Common App)

10, 11
Freelance Full-stack Web Developer
Developed websites/tools for companies (Firestore Online/Sunshine Elec. Recycling/AllIn1Inspections), including e-commerce & inventory (self-taught)

10, 11, 12
(Manager), TNT Fireworks
Manage family-run fireworks tent during holidays; helped pioneer new inventory, sales, & management methods; increased profit by 170%

11
Boutique PC Builder
Built custom PCs; largest PC built cost $10,000 and included custom hard-tube watercooling (self-taught)

Volunteer/Community service: Tutoring, service projects, Key Club - 823 logged hours
Summer Activities: Occasional work, software development, extracurriculars
Essays (rating 1-10, details):

Common App (9):
I felt that my common app essay really explained who I was and why I did what I did. I had a few people read it and got positive feedback so I’m hoping it was decent.

Why Yale? (7):
I wrote this essay pretty straightforwardly, just explaining what Yale specifically had that made me want to go. I didn’t have names of professors or courses, but I did have specific research.

Why do these areas of study appeal to you? (7):
A quick explanation of why I think computer science is an incredibly helpful tool for modern society and the impact it can make. Again, nothing special.

Short questions (6):
Not much to say about these, just a quick sentence each.

Think about an idea or topic that has been intellectually exciting for you. Why are you drawn to it? (8):
I really liked this prompt, and wrote an (I hope) interesting exploration of what makes physics so interesting.

Reflect on your engagement with a community to which you belong. How do you feel you have contributed to this community? (5):
A mostly standard extracurricular essay. I wasn’t a huge fan of the end result but it did the job.

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: English (8) - I had very positive feedback from this teacher and was at the top of the class, but I only had him for one year and he gets recommendation requests from 50% of every class.
Teacher Rec #2: Physics (9) - I had this teacher for 2 years, and had a pretty personal connection with her. I would eat with her during lunch discussing physics, tutored her students after school, and explored some research projects.
Counselor Rec: (8) - I’m not very close with him, but I have had a few meeting and he usually has very positive feedback for me about my college chances.
Interview: (7) I feel I connected with the interviewer, and he was interested in what I was doing. Nothing stood out to me as a negative moment here.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Computer Science/Physics/Business
State (if domestic applicant): N/A
Country (if international applicant): U.S.
School Type: Private (w/ financial aid)
Ethnicity: Hispanic
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: <50k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, Questbridge, etc.): Hispanic

Reflection

Strengths: Tons of classes/APs (I took extra classes after school), solid extracurriculars including a very difficult state position, top test scores, a (hopefully) strong Common App essay

Weaknesses: No academic competitions (I despise competitions, but in hindsight, it may have been good to do them anyway since my awards are really lacking), am hispanic but don’t speak Spanish, nothing beyond the state level, even though I do a lot of things they are nearly all concentrated on technology

Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: It could very well be that not having awards or being on the national/international level is a dealbreaker. I had the opportunity to have an international position in my main extracurricular, but I felt that I could do more at the state level. Ah well, such is the penalty for not playing the game. I’m still glad I didn’t force myself to do competitions and apply for positions I didn’t feel was best because it would look better.
I may have also not been well rounded enough. I’m interested in a wide variety of subjects (including humanities), but my resume is essentially technology because that’s where I’m more experienced.

Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: No other decisions yet

General Comments: I honestly don’t know what you have to do to get accepted. I know admissions officers say to do whatever you want and not try to play the game, but if your interests don’t happen to fall in the mold the Common App is designed for (ex. no competitions, focusing very heavily on a single high-effort extracurricular) I feel like it really does hold back what you can show and hurt your chances. If you were accepted, good luck on your journey. If you were deferred, welcome aboard :).

8

**Decision: Accepted **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 790 reading, 780 math
ACT (breakdown): 36 (36R,M, and W, with 35S)
SAT II: 800 literature, 780 Spanish
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.8
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): No rank or percentile
AP (place score in parenthesis): English Lit (5), Spanish (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Calc BC, AP Bio, AP Enviro Sci, an English, a Sociology, and a Spanish class
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Semifinalist, National Hispanic Recognition Program Finalist

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Student govt (VP), school news show (director), I ran a few school culture related activities/programs, XC, swim, Arabic self-study, medical service trip to Honduras
Job/Work Experience: Counselor at town day camp
Volunteer/Community service: Typical NHS tutoring
Summer Activities: Counselor at town day camp
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Common app: pretty vanilla, but I liked it - probably a 7; Why Yale: clunky but impassioned, another 7; Short takes: I let my quirkiness shine in these and they were much stronger for it, maybe as high as a 9? Essay: I was more measured but chose to showcase my writing skills in these, probably an 8.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: Probably a 9, this teacher is known to write astounding rec letters and he and I get along great.
Teacher Rec #2: Probably an 8, this teacher and I are really close and she minored in English so I assume she’s a great writer!
Counselor Rec: Probably an 8, I read this and it was as enthusiastic as a counselor rec can get - I love my guidance counselor :slight_smile:
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: Honestly I didn’t think it went so hot, my interviewer and I didn’t really have a super fluid conversation and we really didn’t talk about me that much, but here I am so it can’t have been horrible! I got to give her more information I didn’t have space for on my application and also explain some unclear stuff. I’d give it a 6.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Anthropology/Environmental Science
State (if domestic applicant): MA
Country (if international applicant): N/A
School Type: Public (small)
Ethnicity: Latina & white
Gender: F
Income Bracket: UMC
Hooks (URM, first generation college, Questbridge, etc.): URM (not sure if that means minority or major, but I’m both!)

Reflection

Strengths: obviously applying early, but the strengths of my application were probably that my entire application had a central theme (though it obviously showed my breadth as well), my rec letters to affirm my personality (my personality is the strongest part of me, not really my academics or sports), and the little risks I took in my short takes. Also my test scores are nothing shabby
Weaknesses: My common app is very vanilla, and my grades are nothing overly spectacular though they’re good
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I guess just my strengths! Somehow I stood out from the crowd because of those little things.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Not sure yet - Yale was my first

General Comments : This entire process is such a crapshoot, and I’m happy for myself and proud, but I’m also proud of everyone who even decided to apply. If future applicants are reading this, hi! Maybe I’ll see you around, or maybe I won’t, and that won’t define either of our lives. You’ve worked so hard, and that will not fail you. I’m proud of all of us.

9

**Decision: Accepted **

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): 1590 (790 Reading, 800 Math)

ACT (breakdown): 36 (all sections)

SAT II:

  • 800 Math II
  • 800 Physics
  • 800 Chemistry

Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9

Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A

AP (place score in parenthesis):

  • AP Physics I (5)
  • AP Calculus BC (5)
  • AP Lang and Comp (5)
  • AP Spanish 5 (5)
  • AP Euro (5)
  • AP CompSci (5)
  • AP Biology (4)

IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A

Senior Year Course Load:

  • AP Physics C
  • “Great Books” English
  • Teacher’s Assistant for MV Calculus
  • Kinetic Wellness
  • AP Economics
  • AP Psychology
  • AP Statistics

Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):

  • Chemistry Olympiad National Finalist: Honors (Top 150)
  • USACO Gold Division
  • “Semifinalist Alliance Captain” at FTC Robotics World Competition
  • Science Olympiad “Robot Arm,” 1st in State, "Anatomy and Physiology” 2nd in State
  • American Invitational Mathematics Examination (AIME) Qualification

Subjective:

Extracurriculars:

  • Blogging
  • Founder and Cohead of Chemistry Club
  • Cohead of school CompSci Club
  • Cohead of JETS/WYSE team
  • Lead Programmer for FTC Newton Busters
  • New Trier Science Olympiad Varsity

Job/Work Experience:

  • Interning at a NW biomedical lab

Volunteer/Community service:

  • Hospital volunteering (~100 hours)
  • Co-founder and Board Member of a charitable organization

Summer Activities:

  • Not much in particular; learned how to drive. Also spent lots of time with younger siblings!

Essays (rating 1-10, details):

  • 8: I think they were pretty good. Every one of my answers had some element of narrative in it. I really tried to show myself as someone who was deeply interested in studying philosophy and ethics along with all my STEM studying.

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Who knows honestly, but probably around an 8. I had pretty strong relationships with both my rec teachers, though. I was in my math teacher’s MV Calc class junior year and TA’ed for him senior year. My AP Chem teacher helped me study for the Chem Olympiad junior year, and I founded Chem Club with him senior year; I was also a cohead of JETS/WYSE, which he sponsored. My counselor knew my transcript and activities, and also helped me review my essays, so she probably knew enough about me to write a strong, personalized recommendation.

Interview: 9 or 10. Very strong. It was initially kind of awkward, but eventually, my interviewer and I found a common interest in literature. Talking about various philosophers and writers, I think she understood my values and humanity across quite well by the time we were done.

Other:

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes.

Intended Major: Biomedical engineering

State (if domestic applicant): IL

School Type: Public, ~1000 graduating class

Ethnicity: Korean

Gender: Male

Income Bracket: <$50K

Hooks (URM, first generation college, Questbridge, etc.): None in particular.

10

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): didn’t take
ACT (breakdown): got a 33 then a 34, 30M 36 E 36 R 33 S
SAT II: 790 lit and low 730 us history
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: idk 4.73 or something
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): school doesn’t rank
AP (place score in parenthesis): USH (4), Govt (5), Comp Govt (5), Lang (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): Spanish (6)
Senior Year Course Load: Full IB DP
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Scholastic National Gold in Poetry, NCTE, in-school awards
Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Writing, debate, campaign internships, lots of social justice/community service programs. Never did sports or music- weren’t my thing. Led a lot of clubs bc that is what makes me feel happy.

Job/Work Experience: not yet (this semester though)
Volunteer/Community service: Nursing home, creative writing camp at local shelter
Summer Activities: leadership program locally, yearlong social justice program, writing camp for 5 years
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Common App"
Wrote about immersing in a bath w my family. It’s hard to explain but it was about religion and identity and contradictions. I edited it for weeks and weeks and even then I wasn’t quite happy with it. I can say confidently that in it I spoke about something that felt real, and I worried for so long that it didn’t “say enough” about me.
Community Essay: wrote about my little sister, who means more to me than anyone in the world, and coming to be friends with my sister as i became a feminist (sounds weird, but this essay reflected me more than almost anything else. i think it showed how i view the world even though it was about my sister.)
Issue I care about: wrote about a picture book I loved as a kid and the civil rights movement
Why major: was pretty vague, talked about humanities in general and EPE in specific but i have no idea what i want to major in
Why Yale: talked about how I felt on campus and why the community spirit at Yale particularly resonates with me. Vibes. didn’t get super specific with programs but did mention the writing/debate activities that excited me at Yale
These must have been influential in my acceptance.
Short Takes: Mentioned my favorite novel series and robots and Pho. Don’t get me wrong. I took these really seriously. But I didn’t WRITE super serious things.

Lots of people edited my essays, but I was super stubborn about every sentence. I refused to sell myself or explain why I was a good applicant in my essays. I was so worried they wouldn’t say enough about me or how I’d fit into Yale. I talked about things that truly had nothing to do with college or even academics-- my sister, how I felt about my family when I was a kid, my religion, my politics, my love for playlists. Etc.

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
10/10. Got 3, all from teachers who have known me for many years including my writing teacher. I couldn’t be more grateful for my teachers; they light up my life and I think their recommendations must have been critical. My counselor is also great.
Counselor Rec:
Additional Rec:
Interview: It was eh honestly. We didn’t have a deep connection. But I showed that I knew the school specifically and brought questions about professors etc.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: I didn’t
Intended Major: History, EPE, Comp Lit is what I put. I have no idea actually.
State (if domestic applicant):
Country (if international applicant): US
School Type: Public school
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Income Bracket:
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None at all

Reflection

Strengths: Essays were so genuine and I worked so hard on them. I call them strengths now, but if I had gotten deferred or rejected I might have said something different. I read these threads for hours and heard people say “omg my essays were so genuine” and never believed them. I am a writer. But I doubted my essays. In the end I went with what felt right to me, even if it wasn’t “impressive.” Please DM me if you want to know more I feel so disgusted by all the terrible advice around this process LOL. It always felt so inauthentic and gross to me. Also, two of my teachers and I do really feel like friends at this point. Also, I love all my extracurriculars and wouldn’t be myself without them. I worked really hard on them.
Weaknesses: Some of my scores especially math scores, my demographics, like a million people from my school applying to Yale
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I was sooooo shook when I got in I would never have predicted it ever ever ever. I don’t even know if I will end up at Yale I had started to fall in love w a lot of my other schools and think I will still apply to like 5-6 more.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Nowhere yet
General Comments: The college process is disgusting. I wish all my friends were happy right now. I am really thankful for this opportunity. I am very averse to competition; the thing I am most looking forward to in college is making new friends and reading books and learning things freely without too much pressure. I hope Yale is a good place to do those things. If not I may end up picking a different school. But I love Yale and I was so happy when I visited. Sending you all so much love and light in this difficult process

11

**Decision: Rejected **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1550 (780 Reading, 770 Math)
ACT (breakdown): N/A
SAT II: 790 Chemistry
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): N/A
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 4/~270
AP (place score in parenthesis): Chemistry (5), U.S. History (5), BC Calc (4) AB subscore (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP U.S. Gov, AP Spanish, AP Art Studio, Honors English, Honors Band, Honors Multivariable Calculus, Honors Physics, CP Drawing
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
Only minor awards:
-AP Scholar
-Wellesley Book Award
-National Honors Society and Spanish National Honors Society
-Scholastic Art Gold Key
-Scholastic Art Silver Key
-Excellence in Drawing Award in College Competition
-other assorted school awards

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):

-Community Service Girls Mentoring Program (Mentor)
-Community Service Relay for Life (Event Leadership Team Survivorship Chair)

  • Local Flute and Select Flute Choir
    -NHS (Officer)

    -Women and Gender Studies Club
    -Social Justice Institute-seminars and volunteering at local food pantry and soup kitchen

Job/Work Experience: none

Volunteer/Community service: over 200 hours, see extracurriculars

Summer Activities: Previously mentioned Social Justice Institute, Traveled to Israel and took debate classes there, Wellesley Pre-college course Women Breaking the Glass Ceiling

Essays (rating 1-10, details): Common App 7- Wrote about discrimination and learning how to speak up for my beliefs and becoming involved in social justice
Why Yale and other supplements: 7-they were fine but probably not standouts

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): Did not read any but know both teachers very well and was at the top of their classes

Interview: 10/10 Amazing-my interviewer and I had so much in common with our shared interest in social justice and spoke for longer than the allotted interview time period. She made me fall in love with Yale even more.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Studio Art or Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies
State (if domestic applicant): MA
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Hooks (URM, first generation college, Questbridge, etc.): nothing

Also submitted an Art Portfolio which I felt was strong and so did my art teacher, my school is known for a strong art department and I have received many school awards in addition to those other awards previously mentioned

Reflection:

Strengths: All Stats fit within Yale’s spectrum, unique interest in the overlap between art and activism (made clear in application)
Weaknesses: no hooks and overall no standout awards or extracurriculars
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: When everyone is so qualified, who knows which little things made the difference.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Haven’t heard yet

General Comments :Very disappointed as I felt that Yale would be an amazing community for me to grow in and contribute to. I was hoping to be deferred and not have my first decision be a flat rejection. Seeing the other amazing and qualified applicants who got deferred makes me feel a little better, and I know that we’ll all find our place and Yale was simply not meant to be. Congrats to everyone accepted! You’ve all accomplished so much and I’m so proud of how supportive everyone is about these decisions.

12

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

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): Overall: 1530 M: 770 R: 760
ACT (breakdown): Overall: 33 R:36 W:36 S:32 M:28
SAT II: Lit: 730
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.7
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Not ranked
AP (place score in parenthesis): USH(5), Lang(5), HGeo(4), CalcAB(3)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Lit, AP Art History, Physics H, Spanish H, 6-7 arts classes/semester
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Mostly minor awards:

  • 1st place in state microbiology research paper, publication
  • Scholastic silver keys
  • 1st & 2nd for state essay & art competition
  • Best in show for state art competition
  • Best in show for school art competition
  • NMSF

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):

  • NHS (officer)
  • Running club (captain)
  • Honor council (elected junior yr)
  • JV XC and track
  • Rec/club soccer all 4 years
  • Lots of general arts-related activities

Job/Work Experience:

  • 6 months tutoring at Kumon
  • Summer job as a STEM coach for elementary school program
  • Nannying/babysitting

Volunteer/Community service:

  • Member of my school’s arts/community service club

Summer Activities:
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Common app: 9/10, I really liked it and my guidance counselor raved about it a good bit
Yale-specific questions: 8/10, I let my quirkiness show some but probably could have improved some
2 short answers: 7/10, one represented my experiences pretty well and the other was meh but showed leadership

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
AP lit teacher: 9/10, he likes me and we talk a lot outside of class
AP art history/department chair: 8/10, we’re pretty close but he waited until the last minute to submit lol
Painting teacher: No idea, he can be unpredictable but he seemed pretty excited to write it so I hope it turned out ok!

Interview: Went pretty well! It took a few minutes to get the conversation going and I feel like I focused on my art too much but my interviewer was really nice

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Studio art & English
State (if domestic applicant): Southeast
School Type: Residential public art school
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Hooks (URM, first generation college, Questbridge, etc.): None

Strengths: Test scores, essays, and recommendations. I also submitted a visual arts portfolio I felt was pretty strong, so hopefully that helped - I know that doesn’t go to the admissions committee though. I think I had a pretty well-rounded profile as far as awards and extracurriculars (combining arts, sports, academics, and writing).

Weaknesses: Definitely my gpa, lol. I suck at math so I’ve gotten B+s pretty consistently, and that definitely worked against me. I also don’t have a ton of aps, or any national awards, which kind of sucks.

Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Honestly I wasn’t even expecting a deferral, so I was a little surprised! It’s kind of a bummer to have to wait for another 4 months, but I’m glad I’ve made it this far. It’s kind of useless to speculate on why exactly I was deferred, but I’m sure my academic weaknesses (APs and UWGPA) were partially responsible. I submitted a metric ton of art to Scholastics and NSECA this year, and those results come back next month, so hopefully I’ll have more awards(maybe national?) to update the committee on before RD round!

Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: I only applied EA to USC, and was accepted.

13

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

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1550 (760 EBRW, 790 Math)
SAT II: Math II= 800, Physics- 750
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.99?? We don’t really use unweighted out of 4.0
Weighted GPA - 4.56 (out of 4.0) 102.36 (out of 100)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 5%, class of around 125
AP (place score in parenthesis): 5- APUSH, 5- AP Lang, 4- AP Physics 1, 4- AP World, 4-AP Human Geography
Senior Year Course Load: AP Computer Science, AP Calculus BC, AP English Lit, AP Psychology, Journalism, Religion classes
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Various awards throughout HS but nothing major

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Theater (leading roles in musicals), Journalism (co-editor-in-chief), GSA (president) (those are the major ones, I filled out my top 10 activities)
Job/Work Experience: Worked at summer camp
Volunteer/Community service: Volunteered at same summer camp, did after school tutoring program
Summer Activities: Camp, study abroad in France
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Common app- could have been better- 6
Why Yale- 7. Not the most interesting but I think fit Yale.
Others maybe 8? Not sure. Didn’t write pulitzer-worth essays but I think I did pretty well on the short answers.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): Not sure, should be generally positive

Teacher Rec #1: AP Lang teacher, great teacher but didn’t do my best in her class, hopefully she wrote about my work effort or something to that effect
Teacher Rec #2: AP Physics/ AP Calculus BC, another great teacher and I’ve been really engaged in his class, we should
Counselor Rec: Should be positive, LOVES me and has a good understanding of my role on campus.
Additional Rec: Didn’t get one. Might try for RD round? We’ll see
Interview: It went well! (I think) I touched on everything I was

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: no
Intended Major: Computer Science, Math/Physics, Linguistics???
State (if domestic applicant): GA
School Type: Private/ religious
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male

Reflection

Strengths: Good tests scores/ grades for my high school; tried to show my personality through my essays; had a good interview (but not with a ~chill~ interviewer so idk)
Weaknesses: Dropped foreign language this year (I went to France over the summer and the next level French class was busy work); Weak Why Yale essay; no one has gotten in from my school in the past few years, so we don’t really have a relationship; just the overall crapshoot of a YALE TM acceptance
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Chance/ wasn’t
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Accepted at St. John’s

General Comments : Thought that Yale would be a good fit for me. Maybe it’s not meant to be. Feeling like deferral is just a denial in disguise. At least I have time to resolve any issues they may have had with my application.

14

Posting my son’s stats

**Decision: Deferred **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): not sent
ACT (breakdown): 33
SAT II: never took them
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.93
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 5/400
AP (place score in parenthesis): a handful of 4’s
IB (place score in parenthesis): n/a
Senior Year Course Load: magnet school, all others GT or AP
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): no major awards. Locally recognized for several plays.

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Theatre, theatre, theatre. Participated in nearly 20 school productions and 4 professional productions. Ran theatre honor society and always ranked in state theatre competitions. Runs the marketing campaigns, designs costumes, sets, builds sets, produces posters, dramaturg, props, lights, sound.
Job/Work Experience: none except the professional theatre
Volunteer/Community service: Some scouts, some church-related, nothing too impressive
Summer Activities: A play each summer, community college courses
Essays (rating 1-10, details): I can’t really rate his essays because I’m too close. I liked them, but they didn’t follow the standard ‘tell a story’ format. They were not 10s, they were not 6s, I’d put them around 8 but I’m his mother.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
I can’t rate either teacher rec because I don’t know them personally. I know that both teachers he chose were veteran teachers who gave him good grades and feedback and who told me on back to school night how fond they were of him. But he waived his rights and they didn’t show him copies so we’re in the dark.

Counselor Rec: We know this counselor well since his schedule seems to get messed up every year. She is a good woman but she’s much more experienced at getting kids into trade schools or the local community college than into Ivies.

Additional Rec: Did not send, which I think is a mistake. Will send for RD round.

Interview: Was not offered an interview

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: yes
Intended Major: Theatre and psychology
State (if domestic applicant): MD
School Type: lower income public
Ethnicity: white
Gender: male
Income Bracket: 100k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, Questbridge, etc.): grandfather legacy

Reflection

Strengths: Obvious passion for theatre, legacy, from an underrepresented school cluster and underrepresented economic demographic
Weaknesses: the essays were good but not great, he didn’t send that third letter. He didn’t take a lot of standardized tests and we didn’t buy any prep service so I think his scores were not as high as they could have been.
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I don’t know. I’m hoping that this is not just a courtesy deferral because of Grandpa and that they actually do want to consider him seriously in the spring.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: accepted to the safety, waiting on a whole slew of other apps

15

**Decision: Accepted **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1400/1600
ACT (breakdown): N/A
SAT II: N/A
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 6.75/7.00 (IB)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 5 out of 100 or so (idk tho)
AP (place score in parenthesis): N/A
IB (place score in parenthesis): Predicted 43/45 (i think lol i’m not sure exactly)
Senior Year Course Load: Full IBDP, HL History, HL Global Politics, HL English L&L, SL Math, SL Spanish AB, SL E-Systems
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): national scholarship to attend UWC, national stipend for success in Russian language studies, international science competition award for a urine test I created, youth delegate at the UN Youth Assembly etc. etc.

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Non-profit (Co-Head of Management), Amnesty Write for Rights (Management Head), MUN (Lead Organizer, then Dep Sec Gen), World School Debate Club (President, Founder), Piano, Urine Test Creator, LGBT Discussion Forum (Participant), EU Campaign (Planner)
Job/Work Experience: Internship at the New York City Council (summer before senior year), Internship at top 3 law firm in the country (throughout senior yr)
Volunteer/Community service: Mostly the non-profit I run
Summer Activities: Brown University Pre-College Program “Introduction to International Law”
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Common App: 9/10 (about the way a bra managed to deteriorate my political naiveté and how it acted as a culmination of my personal growth and my aspirations to improve humanity in the future – I think I conveyed my critical thinking skills and open-mindedness very well)
Yale Supplementals: 8/10 (nothing out of the ordinary, I just conveyed myself through the questions and made sure to not be generic with any answer)
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

1: HL English L&L Teacher: 10/10 (she's high-key my life coach, we're so close it's surreal and I knew she'd write an amazing recommendation)

2: HL History & GloPo Teacher: 8/10 (I'm one of his top students but the way he writes lacks figurative language and enthusiasm)

3: College Counsellor: 10/10 (I'm probably the student who has the closest relationship to him, we get along very well outside the scope of just college and I'm sure he conveyed my personality and my role in the community properly)

Interview: Took 1h and 35min. Went very well, we spoke about everything ranging from German nazis overtaking the government in the 1930’s to my musical background and corporate social responsibility.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: EPE, GA, Poli Sci
State (if domestic applicant):
Country (if international applicant): Nordics
School Type: Private, Boarding (UWC)
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 200-300k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, Questbridge, etc.): Underrepresented country, UWC, LGBTQ+

Reflection

Strengths: My extracurriculars and personality I guess?? Strong IB grades, too.
Weaknesses: SAT, my grades dropped a bit during midterms (which were sent to Yale) due to personal reasons (my counsellor did explain them, nevertheless)
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: No clue lmao I’m still letting it all sink in
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Some schools in Europe, still waiting to hear from the rest of my US schools in the spring so I can compare financial aid packages.

General Comments : I think the reason that I’m a UWC student lowkey played a big part in getting in. I’ve heard it makes the pool which you’re compared to a lot smaller so who knows. I also conveyed a very strong profile for social justice, politics, legislation, and human rights in my application.

16

**Decision: Deferred **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): didn’t send
ACT (breakdown): 35 C 36R 36W 34M 33S
SAT II: 800 Bio M, 780 Math II
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): out of 100, 98.7…
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/230 (was 2 when I applied)
AP (place score in parenthesis): APUSH: 5, AP Bio, 5
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: Dual Enrollment Gov/Econ, Regents Physics, AP English, AP Enviro, AP Calc AB, Concert Band
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Hispanic Scholar, National Merit Semifinalist, NYSML Qualifier 2018

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): XC (MVP, 2x All League, 1 year captain). Indoor/Outdoor Track, Community band, Concert band, jazz band, BOB, Math Club (2018 NYSML qualifier and participant)
Job/Work Experience: Library Page, Market Assistant at a local farmers’ market
Volunteer/Community service: NHS, Assistant coach for summer youth program
Summer Activities: Battle of the Books! (if ya know, ya know) 4x champion :slight_smile:
Essays (rating 1-10, details): I can’t rate myself. But I didn’t have much faith in my essays. My best one was probably the ‘what interests you’ one, which was a super nerdy couple of paragraphs about my genuine love of biochemistry. My short takes were pretty concise and witty as well. But the rest weren’t anything special. Unique, maybe, but not special.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): Once again, terrible at rating. But see below.

Teacher Rec #1: Both of my recs were kind of bland, definitely supportive of me but nothing stood out
Teacher Rec #2:see above
Counselor Rec:Didn’t read, but I’m sure it was great, she loves me. She could also speak about me taking local college courses in chem that none of my other teachers knew about
Additional Rec:
Interview: I don’t know how my interview went

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Biochem
State (if domestic applicant):NY
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Small city public
Ethnicity: Latina
Gender F
Income Bracket: Middle class
Hooks (URM, first generation college, Questbridge, etc.): Latina (wrote about being mixed Afro-Latina and mestiza)
immigrant parent

Reflection

Strengths: My test scores were pretty good, I never received any prep from tutors or at school, never really took any review.
I’m at the top of my class, I work multiple jobs, volunteer, MVP XC, but I don’t know. I’m not good at seeing what my strengths are. I was anticipating rejection.
Weaknesses: My essays weren’t that strong, I believe. Writing isn’t my strong suit. I don’t know if Yale judged me on this, but I feel like I haven’t had the opportunities that a lot of their other applicants have, especially in their schools. My school’s kind of broke. But I highly doubt that’s what it was. After all, you have to make your own opportunities in life. And maybe I didn’t do that enough, and Yale saw.
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Honestly, I don’t know why I was deferred. I spent so much time assuming that I would be rejected and beating myself up for wasting money on the application fee that I didn’t really consider deferral as a possibility. I’m just going to assume that I’ll be rejected RD and move on with my life. Yale is an amazing school, definitely my top choice, but I think I need to look elsewhere. I pretty much accepted it the second I sent in my application that nothing was going to happen, so I’m not upset. I’m just disappointed that I’ll have to wait until late March and April to find out where I’m going. But hopefully it will be somewhere awesome :wink:
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Haven’t heard back from anywhere yet

General Comments : Congrats to the Yale Class of 2023! I wish you all the best:)

17

**Decision: Deferred **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): Didn’t send
ACT (breakdown): 29C 23M 33W 33R 25S (9 or 10 essay, I forgot)
SAT II: None
Unweighted GPA: 3.78
Rank: Top 15%
AP: USH (3), Eng. Lang (4), Seminar (4), World (4)
IB: School doesn’t offer
Senior Year Course Load: Spanish 3, AP Psych, AP Lit, Marine Bio, Alg 3/Trig, General Art, AP Research
Major Awards: Honorable mention for state art award, AP Scholar w/ Honors, AP Capstone Diploma Candidate

Subjective:
Extracurriculars: Mana’o Art Club (Co-founder and secretary), Debate Council (Secretary), Korean Culture Club (General Officer)
Job/Work Experience: I’ve been teaching Hebrew language and culture for 3 years
Volunteer/Community service: Volunteer for a organization that removes Hawaii’s invasive algae. Internship at University of Hawaii’s cultural gallery.
Summer Activities: Attended a selective Jewish philosophy/culture summer program on Yale Campus before my senior year (Wasn’t directly linked to Yale, it was just on the campus).
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Maybe a 7? I’m pretty terrible at ranking my own stuff. It was about the program at Yale, not a kiss-up essay, more so about finding community and peers (since I’m Jewish, and there’s like, no Jews in Hawaii).

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 7. My AP Psych teacher, and also last year’s AP Lang teacher. She knows me pretty well, and we get along fine.
Teacher Rec #2: Another 7. My AP Sem and AP Research teacher. Apparently he writes pretty good letters, but I’m not as close to him as I am with my psych teacher.
Counselor Rec: 6. I don’t know her that well at all, but her recs seem okay.
Interview: Holy hell. I was dreading this, because I literally cannot hold my own in an interview at ALL, but when my interviewer walked in with a Star of David necklace, I just about melted. The first question she asked was if I’d ever been to Yale, and I talked about the summer program. She spent the next hour talking about Judaism (barely asking any questions) and I listened and made the occasional comment or joke. We covered a few other subjects, since I asked about the Beinecke and Peabody Museum (expressing my interest in history and culture), but otherwise, there were barely any questions on her part. I ended up inviting her to my synagogue because she just moved to Hawaii and said she didn’t like the one she was attending, so I felt genuinely awful lol. The interview lasted 2 hours. She was very sweet.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major: Anthropology
State (if domestic applicant): Hawaii
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: White/Japanese
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: High(ish)
Hooks (URM, first generation college, Questbridge, etc.): Legacy (from my mother)

Reflection

Strengths: The interview (maybe, it was hard to read whether or not I did well, since I talked so little), demonstrated interest, the program at Yale and the essay that took place on Yale campus. My other writing for the app was alright; I like to think my writing in general is a stronger point for me. Legacy, maybe?
Weaknesses: Literally. Everything. Else.
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I have no idea. I expected a flat-out rejection. When I visited, I’d never felt more at home on a university campus, and that thought drove me to apply (although I laughed at myself after). My math ACT is 23, like, hold on. That should be an instant dealbreaker.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected:

General Comments: I feel absolutely terrible. Looking at the other people who got rejected here, I can’t understand how this happened. Going to Yale would be the absolute dream and I’d like nothing more; I’m amazed that I have some elements interesting enough for a deferral, despite my grades, but… over people with the scores, grades, and EC’s shown here? I’m so sorry. I really, really am. (In the end, though, thrown in with the rest of the regular applicants, you know my app is going straight in the trash). Congrats to everyone who got accepted, good luck to the rest of the deferrals, and for those who got a rejection: know that if I can get a deferral here, literally anything is possible for you. Go get 'em.

18

**Decision: Rejected **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): Never Took it
ACT (breakdown): 34C (34E 32M 35R 35S) (SS is one point higher in English)
SAT II: 710 Math 2 750 Chem
Weighted GPA: 96.5/100
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
AP (place score in parenthesis): Only can take APs Junior Year, Chem (5) APUSH (5) AP Lang (5)
Senior Year Course Load: AP Physics 1 (only physics offered), band, AP Lit, AP Calc AB, AP Spanish IV, debate, AP Gov

Awards
AP Scholar
District band (State audition upcoming)
NHS
Science NHS

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Tri-M Music Honors Society (President)
Prestigious Local Youth Symphony
Prestigious Local Brass Band, national champions
Scholar’s Bowl, State runner-up

Job/Work Experience: Work 30 hours a week during summer, 10 during the school year
Volunteer/Community service: 300+ hours as a volunteer attorney for minors who commit first-time misdemeanors
Senior Leader at a local group that helps children with ADHD
Summer Activities: Trip to Europe with a local symphony

Essays (rating 1-10, details): I won’t rate my own essays because of my obvious bias. I did enjoy writing my “contribute to community” supplemental essay because I wrote about how I never really got involved with the LGBT+ community out of fear of discrimination and reflected on how that was silly.

Recs: I had two teachers I consider good friends to write my recs. I had good relationships with them and with my counselor. I haven’t read them so I cannot rank them.

Interview: N/A

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Ethics, Politics, Economics, Philosophy, and music were all listed
State (if domestic applicant): Midwest
Country (if international applicant): USA
School Type: Private
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 200-300k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, Questbridge, etc.): If I had a “hook”, it would either be that I’m gay or that I play the horn. Both of these I saw as things that set me apart, and I had hoped that Yale just might need a horn player and that would be me. Obviously, I was a liiiitle delusional though haha

Reflection

Strengths: My test scores were at standards, they weren’t weak, but they weren’t incredibly strong. I feel like I have strong extracurriculars and work experience
Weaknesses: My GPA. I talked in the additional information section about how I was diagnosed with ADHD last year
Why you think you were rejected: I thought I was going to be deferred, but I bet my essays were a little sloppy and my GPA was not the strongest.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Nowhere notable at this time since I’ve only heard back from Yale

General Comments: I was expecting a deferral, and I was really hard on myself when I read that I was straight up denied. Still, life goes on and so will I. I had some stumbles in my time in high school but I think I’m ready to kill it in college, even if it isn’t in New Haven. To everyone on these forums, don’t take it too seriously. My initial reaction was that I was delusional to even apply to Yale because ~everyone~ who is even slightly qualified gets deferred. Maybe I’m still delusional, but I don’t think that’s the case.

Also, realize EVERYTHING on here is biased. And parents, please get off of here. Raise your children to be bright, moral, and well-rounded characters, but don’t place unwarranted stress on them. At the end of the day, it is not the institution one attends that gives them their success.

Best of luck to ALL! <3

19

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

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): n/a
ACT (breakdown): 33C (36R, 35W, 33S, 30M)
SAT II: 750 US, 770 World
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.5
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 15/363
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Bio (4), APUSH (5), AP Lang (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Lit, AP Psych, AP Studio Art, AP Calc AB, Honors Anatomy, Honors French 4, Honors Creative Writing
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): idk how major, but Anthony Quinn Scholarship Recipient, Foyle’s Young Poet, bunch of regional Scholastic Art&Writing, coupla publications/gallery exhibitions

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Creative Writing Club (President/Founder, 9-12), Art Club (Secretary, 9-12), Adroit Mentorship, First Reader @ National Lit Mag, New England Young Writers Conference
Job/Work Experience: Cashier (didn’t put on app bc I started working legit 2 weeks before applying, but it’s included in my letter of continued interest)
Volunteer/Community service: nothing awe-inspiring but 100+ hrs, mostly free art lessons for elementary students
Summer Activities: UVA Young Writers,
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
CommonApp—7/10, about my super long German last name&my family history both in Turkey&Germany, my teachers loved it but idk how much it rly said about me
Why Yale?: 3/10 Truly terrible.
Interest: 4/10 WELL-WRITTEN, but also terrible
Activism: 7/10 talked abt armenian genocide denial, talked about yale’s spirit of activism, decent but not amazing
Short Answers 8/10—only part that legit showed my personality. I was pretty proud of “Romaine and Juliet: Symbolism of Food in Literature,” but I’m having doubts now.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 10/10 My 10th/11th grade english teacher, loves me and called me “the best writer” he’s ever had. Absolute king.
Teacher Rec #2: absolutely no idea. didnt read. it was my precalc/calc teacher and he called me “loosely his favorite” student last year but hes a bit of a wildcard
Counselor Rec: prolly a 6/10 (?) didn’t read, but she told me she wrote I was “a student like she’s never had before,” so that’s a good sign, right?
Additional Rec: 9/10 My art teacher who! I! Love! So! Much! Wrote like a 2pg rec on my work ethic and “talent” (neither of which i have lmao) and she does nothing but support me an absolute baller and imma miss her so! freakin! much!
Interview: 1/10 Truly awful, and all my fault. I’m incredibly shy and not very coherent when I’m nervous. It was on-campus and I just stuttered a lot. I didn’t say anything derogatory so i guess thats cool but i did acknowledge i was a privileged white girl and i feel as though that’s a big nah-uh.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Oui
Intended Major: English, Art
State (if domestic applicant): MA
Country (if international applicant): N/A
School Type: Suburban Public
Ethnicity: White (both white white and the spicy ethnic white that is Middle Eastern)
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: 150k+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, Questbridge, etc.): nada.

Reflection

Strengths: RECS, extracurriculars, huge art and writing spike
Weaknesses: Test scores, class rank, the fact that I have two B’s in math, an application truly devoid of personality
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I doubt it helps that I’m from MA either.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: U of Arizona, U of Iowa, havent heard anywhere else. Will prolly go to Arizona regardless if I’m accepted to Yale bc they gave me a huge scholarship and, more importantly, my gma lives in Tucson and is sick, and the Ivy League is less important than loved ones, y’know?

General Comments : Honestly what a blessing that I wasn’t rejected. Two other girls from my school applied and both were rejected, so I’ll take the deferral. Only two people from my school have been accepted to Ivies in the last 10 years, so I’m actually p grateful, especially considering my awful class rank/scores. It’s a reach school and one way I’m staying positive is imagining that my spot is going to someone who really needs it (like a low-income kid), not someone who doesn’t deserve it. I’m still optimistic about RD, but still realistic. I sent in a letter of continued interest that more realistically portrays me, but idk if I’ll get in. And it’s ok if I don’t. I’m going to do something with my life regardless if I’m a bulldog or not, I’ll make sure of it.

20

^^Also apparently got deferred because I have no capacity for handling disappoint holy cow that entire post is so cringy

Anyway, congrats to the class of 2023 and good luck to all the other applicants. Y’all are going to do great things with your life and I hope y’all know it.