Chances for EA?

Colleges & Universities Yale University
1

<p>Background: Canadian student. Asian male.</p>

<p>Scores:
SAT (taken once): 2330 (740 CR 800 M 790 W 12 Essay)
SAT IIs (taken once each): Math II: 800; Chem: 800; Physics: 800</p>

<p>School:
Small suburban school. Graduating class of about 300.
GPA: 4.0 UW (different GPA system in Canada)
Ranking: Probably top few. School doesn’t tell us the ranks.
Taking hardest courses (including Eng AP Lit, Chem AP, and Calc AP)</p>

<p>Academic Awards
School:
20 subject awards (given to top student in each subject) since grade 8
Outside:
Cayley Math Contest (Canadian version of AMC10): Gold Medallist (Top 5 in Canada)
Fermat Math Contest (like Cayley; for grade 11s): Top 1% in Canada - really screwed this up
Euclid Math Contest (like AIME I suppose): Top 50 in Canada
Greater <em>City</em> Science Fair: Pacific Institute of Mathematical Sciences Award 3rd place
Some speech and essay contest: 4th place</p>

<p>ECs
Varsity Swim Team (Grade 10 - Present)
-Four 1st place finishes at <em>City</em> Secondary School Swimming Championships
-11th place finish at Provincial Aquatics Championships
-Most dedicated member award, grade 10 & grade 11
Aquatics Professional
-Water Safety Instructor
-National Pool & Waterpark Lifeguard
School First Responders Team (Grade 12)
School Reach for the Top Team (like Quizbowl; Grade 9 - Present)
-Captain
-Top 10 in province
Volunteering at local pool as assistant lifeguard / instructor (Grade 10 - Present)
Work as a stockroom personnel (labour). August 2007 - Present. Around 14 hours a week.
Summer Programs:
-Canadian Mathematical Society Math Camp (Grade 10). Think it was 1 - 2 weeks.
-Summer Institute of Mathematics at the University of Washington (Grade 11). 6 weeks.</p>

<p>Recs:
Teachers: No idea. Hopefully they’ll be quite nice.
Counselor: Ah, the one thing that worries me most. Our counselor thinks that if you don’t join Student Council (and I HIGHLY dislike the student council at our school), then you don’t do much in school. Plus, he doesn’t really know me well. Just hoping for a not-bad rec.</p>

<p>Essays:
First one is about my swimming experience:how I taught myself how to swim when I first came to Canada (6 years ago) and trained myself for 5 years to be a competitive swimmer.
Second essay is on some personal outlook & attitude with an anecdote.</p>

<p>Alright. Throw your comments on the table. Much appreciated!</p>

2

<p>I’d like to know which school you are applying for?</p>

<p>Is it a REA?</p>

3

<p>Your stats are very good, ECs good, helps that you are an athlete. Your chances at EA are probably pretty good, or as good as anybody who is not a legacy, URM, athlete, etc. It’s still a longshot, like it is for everybody, but it seems to me that it’s not unreasonable for you to use your early admission for Yale. </p>

<p>One note: You wrote, “Fermat Math Contest (like Cayley; for grade 11s): Top 1% in Canada - really screwed this up” It’s this kind of statement that bugs me about people on CC–don’t say that you really screwed up something that the vast majority of people can’t begin to do. Don’t let that attitude come through in your essays and interviews. (It’s like people who get 790 on an SAT II and write, “I was really hoping for an 800.” Ugh.)</p>

4

<p>@keyhawk. It’s to Yale EA.</p>

<p>Thanks Hunt - that IS kind of annoying. I would edit it, only the edit button’s gone. But thanks for the input and the advice on the essay!</p>

5

<p>Excellent chance!</p>

6

<p>ditto!!!</p>

7

<p>Thanks everybody for your input and advice!</p>

<p>I’m nearly done my application. Let us hope that Yale thinks I’m qualified as much as you and I do. </p>

<p>Again, thanks to all of you, and best of luck in your applications.</p>