whiterussian55

Does winning the Yale book award at your school increase your chances at Yale?

cadillac

Winning any award will increase your chances. However, I do not believe winning the Yale Book Award gives you any special advantage into Yale. (That doesn't make any sense!) Well, Book awards are given to students by schools, Yale has no choice in picking who gets the awards.

wjb

It's a nice local award, one worth listing on your resume, but it will not specifically improve your chances of getting into Yale.

northcountry

Forgive me, but what is a book award? I've seen several people listing a Yale Book Award, Brown Book Award, etc. what are they?

wjb

It's an honor given by a high school. The Yale alumni organization (or Brown or Harvard, to name a few other schools whose alumni organizations award books) in your city gives your high school's administrators the book and asks them to select a worthy recipient. So while Yale Book Awards are being given to students in high schools across the country, each award is strictly local.

fresh101

^Do the school administrators have any rubric for deciding worthy recipients?
Like their GPA? SAT? EC? How much impact they've had on school? The whole bit?

Booklady

At D's school, the Harvard and Yale prizes were for "the two members of the class deemed to be the most worthy by reason of scholarship, character, school spirit, influence, and all-around ability." The Princeton prize was for the student "who combines to the highest degree exemplary community service with excellent scholarship."

In her year, the winner of the Harvard prize was rejected by Yale (not sure if she applied to H) and wound up at a top LAC. The winner of the Yale prize is at Princeton and the winner of the Princeton prize is at Yale.

wjb

^^That's very funny, Booklady!

fresh101

^HAHA that's pretty funny.



@wjb, we posted at the same time. You beat me to it!!!!