Sorry for this-- I'm in a real weird situation and have spent hours and hours trying to find a forum with even a remotely similar topic to help me out, but I haven't found one, so here goes my question....
I'm a student who had exemplary academics, International-calibre extracurriculars, stellar SAT scores, finished up at a feeder school and comes from an interesting personal story + URM background. I was very interested in going to a top tier college up until the last year of my high school when I got really sick, totally disengaged from everything, and am basically in a situation where I'm on a gap year and will be retaking my IB exams this November.
Yale will look at everything-- not just my retake IB exams, but my original ones as well. Would you say that having messed up my final year of high school and having to redo it-- even for a legitimate reason-- is enough to get completely ruled out for Yale admission?
Essays and other things I haven't started, but I will, and I'm confident that I'll be able to work hard and churn out some good ones.
I'm just terrified that I've really just completely thrown away any chance at a good school because of this.
Last edited by Blindwheel; 09-13-2012 at 06:50 AM.
Reason: Flailing fingers
Everything will be looked at, you're correct. For everybody, will the interesting or outstanding items in your file grab the readers' attention? Will they make up for areas that are mediocre or deficient? Who is to know? But why worry about something that's out of your hands? Present the best application possible and be done with it. Of course make sure you're also applying to alternatives so you'll have someplace next Sept regardless if it's Y or not. Good luck.
Thank you for the advice. I've for the most part just been looking for some reassurance that my chances haven't diminished entirely from where they were before. This is because my school doesn't allow us to apply to an unlimited number of colleges; I need to approach my college application choices with a little more caution than most college-bound seniors would. If I could apply to 20 or even 10 schools, I'd be a little more easy-going about this... but I can't.
That said and in regard of my academic situation, would (hypothetically) being an Olympic athlete with a fairly ridiculous CV of experiences grease the scales for me at all with this? Is it worthwhile to delegate one of my few university choices to Yale assuming there is more than a 0.0000000000001% chance I could get through?
^^^ I've been following this discussion on the Harvard thread, and I am in 100% agreement with JHS. Given the limited number of colleges you can apply to, you need to stop being Harvard and Yale obsessed. You need to concentrate on a broader range of non-binding early schools -- colleges such as MIT, Georgetown and UChicago. Then you should apply to Harvard and Yale in the regular round.
As to your Olympic scenario -- it's a complete fantasy.
To be a recruited athlete in the ivy league, you first need to register with the NCAA Clearinghouse. That process takes anywhere from 3 to 6 months to get clearance. Concurrently, you need to interest a coach, who has seen you play your sport in a showcase, and who agrees to push for you in the admissions process. Given that you have two months before the SCEA deadline and 4 months before the RD deadline -- I don't see either of those events happening. The Ivy League NCAA Eligibility Center Yale Bulldogs Prospective Student-Athletes - Harvard
To start, I didn't say I WAS an olympic athelete. I said hypothetically. I can assure you what I managed to accomplish before I was sick is no fantasy-- I'm just trying to maintain a degree of anonymity here. My CV is not even remotely related to athletics, but it is significant. I didn't just run for class president or something.
I don't disagree with JHS, as you've no doubt read. It's just that my circumstances are really, REALLY peculiar. Trying to get advice catered to what I'm dealing with without completely giving myself away makes things difficult. Yes, I posted on multiple forums, but that was an attempt to get as many eyes on it as possible.
Last edited by Blindwheel; 09-13-2012 at 08:15 PM.
JHS -- with many years of experience and over 9,200 posts -- has given you the absolute best advice anyone can give you on College Confidential.
If you still have doubts, you should call the Yale Admissions Office and ask them directly. They are very nice and will patiently listen to your situation and offer advice. The number is 203.777.6120. You can speak with someone from 8:30am-4:30pm EST Monday-Friday.
