captainbrohab

Firstly, I'd like to thank everyone in advance for being helpful in this forum as a whole

Secondly, on to a few questions I have:

1. Are recommendation letters from 11th grade teachers highly recommended or is it okay to get sophomore teachers to write them for you? For example, in my case specifically, I took AP Chemistry as a Sophomore and was the only one to do so. The teacher I had, taught me as a freshman too and liked me a lot so I think I can get a powerful recommendation from her that will speak personally about my experience as the only sophomore in the class. Or I could get a relatively generic recommendation letter from my junior AP Biology teacher. I am confident it will be good, as he like me a lot, but I don't think it will be as personal. Which one is more beneficial to send in this case?

2. I have gone to a summer program and worked on a research paper that I am proud of, but did not submit to a Science Fair. Is it still a good idea to submit this paper as a science supplement, or would it be basically useless? Would it help in any way? Does Yale like seeing science background even without significant achievement?

3. How much does Yale value the AIME? I am not sure this question is possible to answer, but I am highly interested in pursuing Math at Yale, and as a Junior I qualified for the AIME (something I did not even know about until I qualified) which is rare from my school. We haven't had many in our history from what my teacher tells me.

4. Lastly, is anyone here a Math major at Yale? If so, I'd like to hear a little about your experience. You can write it here or PM it to me if that is preferred!

Sorry guys, I know it's a lot, but I'm applying SCEA and with only a month and a half left until the deadline, I'm trying to get everything together to avoid last minute problems. Thanks so much for all of you help and support!

YaleGradandDad

1. Fine to use that recommendation from the Freshman-Sophomore teacher since the two year history and performance as the only sophomore in the class will mean something, Get the other recommendation from the junior year.

2. Mention the summer program but you don't need to send the research paper. The adcoms don't read that stuff and they are not going to send the type of paper you describe to the science faculty to read and review.

3. Mention the AIME score. Clearly top scorers mean more than basic qualifiers.

captainbrohab

Thanks so much YaleGradandDad! I was thinking of getting the second recommendation from my junior year AP US History teacher, so by your suggestion I think that will be okay then. What types of papers do they send to the science faculty out of curiosity? Is it based on achievement in Science Fairs, or some other criteria? I will definitely mention it. It isn't spectacular, but it falls in the top 50% in the nation, so I think it can't hurt.

entomom

Both of my kids used an LOR from a soph AP course, both had positive results.

YaleGradandDad

You do realize that the competition you are up against makes top 50% in the nation meaningless?

When the admissions office receives some extra piece of information like a scientific paper, a musical performance, and art portfolio, etc. they have the opportunity to forward it to the respective department for an evaluation by someone with particular expertise. If you are published in a peer reviewed journal like Science that may not be necessary. Same thing goes if it is just a big project but not something exceptional. There is some middle ground where they may pull the experts in.

Don't make the mistake of diluting your achievements with other fillers and unimpressive accolades. If you are bothering the adcoms with additional materials or an extra letter of recommendation, it better be really good.

captainbrohab

Thanks for the advice entomom.

YaleGradandDad: Oh shoot sorry. I wasn't talking about my research when I said top 50%, I was talking about my AIME score since you said top scorers were better than qualifiers, so I was just commenting that I was neither, but rather middle of the road. Sorry I didn't make that clear.

I definitely understand what you are saying about the research. I didn't mean to sound impressive about that, but I was actually just curious. Originally, I just wanted to know whether they wanted a copy as proof of the research, but I definitely do not want to give them extra meaningless material. Thanks for the overall advice though, I highly appreciate it!

Parent2015

Couple of years ago, when our son was applying to Yale, reading these forums that often compare Yale Math to some other top schools, I used to think that math majors at Yale might not be among the tippy top ones. [Begin bragging] Our son was decent at math. He did AP Calc BC as a sophomore and followed it with two years of courses and research in math at a research University), got all A's, published a research paper in his junior year, and decided to go to Yale. [End bragging] He is not a math major, but he tells me that his room mate, a math major, had more math prep than he did in high school and that one of his other math friends, is a star. That is a small sample and I doubt all Yale math majors are like these two, but you can be sure you will be in good company doing math at Yale!

I also get the idea that the courses the typical math majors take are taught much better than introductory ones for non-majors.

Be sure to put down anything that'd help you (e.g., AIME qualification/score). You can include an abstract of the paper in your application. Hopefully, one of your letter writers will comment on your math potential too. Best wishes!

YoHoYoHo

Op,
The only scientific paper that would be worth hard copy submission as supplemental info would be if it was 1.published in a scientific journal. Other possibilities MIgHT include: accepted for publication but not in print, presented or accepted at a scientific meeting (professional such as assoc Research and vision org), submitted to a scientific journal(this one is pushing it quite a bit since it has not been peer reviewed yet). Note that these are all at professional scientific levels, not HS science fair levels.