Chances of SCEA

BKSquared
Thu, 17 Aug 2017 21:40:29 +0000

Stats, particularly test scores, are in line that you should be seriously considered. How rigorous is your HS course load relative to what is offered? I don’t understand by what you mean “After high school I would have taken …” You are not listing a bunch of AP courses in core areas of science and social studies (e.g. AP Chem, Bio, Physics, APUSH, AP WH). Yale likes to see 4 years of foreign languages. If your schools does not offer 4 years of foreign language and has limited AP classes, that is one thing, but if your school offers those classes and you have chosen easier courses, that will hurt you significantly. It looks like you have taken some “soft” electives like photography, marketing, others? If this was done at the cost of taking top level core courses, that will hurt.

Assuming that your courses taken and too be taken are as rigorous as your HS offers, the stat’s just put you in the competition. Nothing really jumps out in your EC’s, but it will be about the quality of your participation and how you can get that across in your application. No one gets an LoR from a teacher who doesn’t like him/her. The question is how well do they know you? Can they put facts and real life examples to adjectives, or will it be a generic “Johnny is a great kid. He was one of my top students, got along with everyone and was a joy to teach.” Finally how you present yourself in the rest of your app (essays and short answers) will be critical.

As to being a legacy, I think it cuts both ways these days at Yale. You will be compared to other legacies. Legacies who apply these days tend to be pretty accomplished students. There is no official released data, but you can assume that legacies will come from families that value education greatly and likely could afford test prep and other advantages of the more affluent. I have classmates who have given generously with kids that have stat’s similar and maybe better than yours whose kid was rejected.

Good luck.