Chance a nervous author?

Colleges & Universities Yale University
1

<p>Stats</p>

<p>Here are my grades for gr. 10,11,12</p>

<p>Grade 9
math: 92
english: 94
geo: 93
french: 93
science: 91
weighted gpa: 92.6%
unweighted: 92.6% (Rank 2 of around 100 plus student)</p>

<p>Grade 10
math: 93
english: 92
history: 99
french: 89 (yea…)
science: 93
computer science: 95
weighted gpa: 93.5%
unweighted: 94.2% (Rank 2 of around 120 plus student)</p>

<p>Grade 11
math: 96
AP stats: 97
english: 96
AP american history: 98
Economics: 99
biology: 96
chemistry: 96
philosophy: 98
weighted gpa: 97.0%
unweighted: 97.2% (Rank 1 of around 120 plus student)</p>

<p>APs include 10 courses: all 5s (about half are self studied)</p>

<p>SAT I: 2400
SAT II: Math 1 - 790 European History -800 Biology - 780</p>

<p>Extra Curricular</p>

<p>School ECs: President of Student, Volunteer Commitee, Editor of School paper, Model UN (in New York) best delegate for Environmental Program, Head of Student Council (organizing all school events), volunteered to build a school in Kenya.</p>

<p>Outside School: Currently in the process of publishing a novel on family experiences and how they relate to all Americans ability to make change in the world. I talked about my Father and mother coming from Kenya to U.S. and his experiences with only 20$ to their names in moving. I also explained why I value education because my father and mother had to decide who would study at the higher education level, since there was little money for both to attend university, after my mother’s father left her as a child.</p>

<p>I also explained my Experiences dealing with mother passing away from cancer and grandmothers death shorty after. In my essay, I wrote about her story and how she had to raise my mother and her sister alone, and how I am inspired by her example of strength.</p>

<p>To conclude the book, I explained the second part of the novel: why I wrote the book and how it applies to all the potential readers. I wanted to give back to the land where my parents were born in a way to thank my mother, grandfather, and father for their persistence on my behalf. I have already begun to raise funds for an annual project to build schools in Kenya, but I want to take it further with the book. In short, I wanted to share my experiences with other youth in the US and begin something far greater than my own experience.</p>

<p>Anyways, thanks for reading (if you got through all of it lol). I was wondering what my chances were at a Yale acceptance?</p>

2

<p>so your GPA is unparalleled, and as such you’re valedictorian. you have a perfect SAT score and near perfect SAT II’s in substantial subjects. you’re almost published. your ECs are strong otherwise. are you African American (parents emigrated from Kenya)? and have you written your essays for college already, or just the novel? either way, better chances than most. make sure your essays and recs match your credentials. gl! :smiley: :D</p>

3

<p>yes I am african american</p>

<p>and yes I have written my essays already</p>

4

<p>If you are not a ■■■■■ (I really hope you’re not) then you will most likely get into Yale…</p>

<p>African American + perfect SAT + near-perfect SAT II + val + published (?) author = wow.</p>

5

<p>yeah, pretty much pick your choice if you’re foreal…</p>

6

<p>…No one else sees it?</p>

<p>(aware)</p>

7

<p>see what?..</p>

8

<p>Nothing, good luck on your chances.</p>

9

<p>Do you know what a “novel” means? Because what you’re describing (“I talked about my Father and mother coming from Kenya to U.S. and his experiences with only 20$ to their names in moving. I also explained why I value education”) is not a novel, it’s nonfiction. FYI.</p>

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<p>I’ll say it again… YOU ARE BLACK. DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND THAT. You will get in anywhere. Being black with your stats is HUGE. If you were Asian, you’d have a 60-70% chance at Yale. White, 70-80%. Black? 95-100%. Enjoy going to whichever college you want.</p>

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<p>Lobster–What does “in the process of publishing” a novel mean? Do you have a publisher and the book is in production now? Does that mean that you’re getting ready to submit query letters to see if anyone has interest in publishing the book? Is the book self-published? The impressiveness of this particular aspect of your resume could mean a lot or no more than any other extracurricular depending on exactly what’s happening.</p>

<p>While I agree that your GPA and standardized test scores are fantastic, I don’t consider your admission the sure thing that everyone else does. I think URM status is highly overvalued by the high school posters on the Yale board. The top minority students in the world apply to Yale so the competition is fierce for everyone. I won’t disagree that you have a better than average chance of getting in, but I wouldn’t want you to get overconfident.</p>

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<p>The truth is your GPA is going to be blended in with every other 3.9-4.3 student. </p>

<p>Your EC’s are normal for ivy (student government, volunteer work, etc. etc.).</p>

<p>As for the book, I knew a few people that put down they were writing a book on their application (accepted or otherwise). Until your pages hit a major publishing house I wouldn’t expect the adcom to take that seriously.</p>

<p>Besides all of that, the most important complimentary aspect of a student is confidence not arrogance. Work on the arrogance and your application will have a chance.</p>

13

<p>i would agree that race is overvalued.</p>

<p>im working on it being published by random house, i have a friend who’s father works with the company’s head office.</p>

<p>i dont know where you got arrogance from observer, but thanks for the input anyways.</p>

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<p>Race is not being over-valued. It helps significantly. Anyone who doubts that is uninformed. </p>

<p>You have amazing chances. You have the best chances for Yale of anyone I’ve seen. (~95%, which is huge)</p>

15

<p>lobster–Again, what does “working on it being published” mean? I take it from what you wrote that you don’t have a contract with Random House. The publishing industry is brutal. Don’t get your hopes up just because you have a friend whose dad works at the head office. I would be very careful about how you word your book in your resume. “In the process of getting published” sounds dodgy and naive. Either you have a contract or you don’t. I wish you nothing but the best of luck both in getting your book published and with college admissions, but please be aware that there may be dozens of Yale applicants next year who have written an unpublished book. Until there is a contract for publication, the book does not become any sort of hook. </p>

<p>silverturtle–I don’t want to get in a match with you, but I do believe race is overvalued by high school students posting on the Yale forum of CC. I don’t go to other college forums, so I don’t know what is written there. I will not dispute that an African-American candidate with a 2400 is going to be very highly desired and has an excellent shot, but it seems to me that whenever a URM or legacy with strong stats posts, many posters feel that person is a lock. No one is a lock at Yale. I have been watching admissions at Yale for decades and believe many people would be shocked by who doesn’t get in, especially in the legacy and URM categories.</p>

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<p>I do not believe the applicant is a lock. I meant to convey that URM status helps a lot. It’s difficult to quantify how much, though.</p>

<p>The applicant is, however, about as close to a lock as one can get.</p>

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<p>I’m going to repeat how strange it seems to me that you are “in the process” of publishing a book with RandomHouse but you call your autobiography a novel. I just don’t believe you, to be honest.</p>

18

<p>thanks for the advice guys.</p>

<p>and south easttitan you can have fun with the novel semantics if you want. I honestly don’t care what people on the internet think of my precise choice of words.</p>

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<p>“people on the internet” is the important phrase here, IMO. As long as you discount being ‘close to a lock’ along with disregarding what posters have to say about your novel, you’ve gotten valuable feedback from this forum. </p>

<p>The problem for some of us oldsters is that it’s hard to see HS students taking the advice of other students as coming from a knowledgeable source.</p>

20

<p>Many high school students are knowledgable about college admissions.</p>