<p>Thank you so much, theoneo. I really, really needed that. I’m incredibly afraid that I’m at the bottom of the deferred pile because of my lower than 2300 SAT scores…</p>
<p>So now I’m wondering whether to retake my SATs or SAT IIs, both of which I did horribly on…any advice?</p>
<p>Also, am I allowed to edit/revise essays at this point?</p>
<p>I haven’t given up hope. Well, I don’t know. I don’t know what to think.</p>
<p>Hmm… is 2300 really the typical cut-off? I’ve got a 2270 after taking them once, and I never considered doing much to change that–my weak section was a 720 on the writing, and my guidance counselor said my 5 on the AP Language and Composition AP would make up for that. Is it good to make an attempt to get scores as high as possible, though? And is it too late to register for the January test?</p>
<p>I don’t actually know what the typical cutoff is. But my sat was below 2200 and above 2100. I almost had a 2200, though. I’m sure you’re fine with a 2270. I exaggerate sometimes. Besides, 2270 is practically 2300 anyway…</p>
<p>I’m just in a panic, I guess.</p>
<p>And SAT scores can’t tell you everything.</p>
<p>There are six ppl in my school applied to yale early this year and 3 got in finally. I got deferred…I personally think despite my pretty low SAT score…there is no reason to defer me…Those three kids who are admitted are legacy (father is yale faculty also), athlete and a black. The black’s SAT is 100 more lower than me!!! I cant understand why she is admitted and I am deferred…</p>
<p>Two words: Affirmative Action.</p>
<p>Honestly, I don’t have a huge problem with the idea behind AA, but how it’s structured bothers me–race shouldn’t be the defining factor in how disadvantaged a person is. If anything, socioeconomic status should be.</p>
<p>My school has about 3000 kids with about 50 applying to the big schools this year (although many only to Cornell). I thought my chances for Yale were ok seeing that last year three got accepted in the Regular decision round. Unfortunately for me, we have a recruited football quarterback who is a legacy and has a brother there…needless to say he was already accepted before the EA decisions came rolling around…and the worst thing, he DOESN"t even want to go to Yale, but will probably end up going anyway. Another girl at my school is a ridiculous singer, has recorded a CD in NYC, and has sung with the Boston Pops and the Lord of the Rings orchestra…Yeah so she already got accepted everywhere too. And come RD round, one of the kids I know is a double legacy.fun. This had made me feel the need to apply to a lot more schools now, because my Harvard app was basically the same as my Yale one and obviously that didnt work out too well. Acckk, but I cant get the papers in to the counceling office on time for more colleges :(</p>
<p>and by the way theoneo you are pretty much awesome</p>
<p><em>applauds theoneo</em></p>
<p>Quit blaming “legacy”, “athlete”, and “AA”, etc. Remember, many got in in spite of. You should be comparing yourself with those who got in rather than those who allegedly took your “'rightful” place. If your presentation didn’t cut it, find ways to improve. Victim psychology is your worst burden at this point. There was something about your presentation that kept you out. Talk to the area rep and see what you can do to fix it. Wishing you the best for an April admit.</p>
<p>Zuma, I think you misunderstood what I was getting at–I’m not saying that everyone who got into Yale early (took our place, etc etc) was hooked because of AA or something else, just that there are undoubtedly people less qualified who did get in because of such an advantage. Doesn’t mean those of us who were deferred totally and completely deserved to get in, just that the system can kinda work against you in general.</p>
<p>come on now with such a low admit rate everything is working against you in some way or another.</p>
<p>There are many more qualified “legacies”, “athletes”, “urms” than you are aware of. You might be in for some surprise were you to lay your particulars side by side with those of some of these guys. There are “legacies”, “athletes”, “urms” and just plain regular folk more qualified than you who got outright rejected. By the way, we should all be grateful for the small amount of legacy preference that exists at the elites.</p>
<p>Wow so I went to school today (duh) and apparently six were deffered from my school (all of us), and one was a four-generation legacy. She was in the top 5% too. Wow.</p>
<p>In the end, it does basically come down to a crapshoot. But your perspective on the situation definitely varies based upon your background–I’m bitter mainly because Yale hasn’t so much as waitlisted someone at my school in six years, yet Harvard takes one or two (this year three so far–all early) a year, some after their dismissal by Yale. It really makes you wonder who they DO take, and when you see someone with some hook–legacy, athlete, minority, whatever–with a similar background to yours yet “less qualified” (however objective that may be), you can’t help but be irritated and grumpy about it. Something like that doesn’t make you feel good, period, and as logical as looking at the good in the situation or dismissing the injustice is, it doesn’t really help. Besides, in my opinion, there’s no harm in being grumpy about such things on a random messageboard of a website when you need an outlet for your frustration–it’s better than complaining about it to the people you know that were “less deserving” than you and got in, or just people you know in general.</p>
<p>i really do feel for you guys, however, as zuma already said, blaming everyone else is a bit ridiculous. college admissions is stressful and a crapshoot, and it all sucks. however, getting angry with “the black” (btw, extremely offensive way of saying an african-american student), atheletes, or legaices for supposedly taking your spots is pointless. there’s always a possiblity that you just might not know everything about these people.</p>
<p>in response to whoareyew’s comment a while back - it just may be that you don’t know everything about the student who got admitted. maybe he had a really freaking good essay. maybe he had really good extracurriculars. maybe he kicked ass at his interview. people don’t get in because they are minorities, first generation students, or legacies. people get in because they deserve to get in, and really, no one has any idea what their application looked like except them and the admissions board.</p>
<p>also, stop freaking out about your test scores, everyone. test scores RARELY make or break any application. schools like yale turn down more than half of the people with perfect test scores and accept a hell of a lot of people with just decent test scores. there are much more important things. I think the only advantage to retaking your tests now is to show them that you’re putting effort into making your app better because you want to get in. you just need to show them that you’re still enthusiastic about yale.</p>
<p>Hey everyone, just wanted to reiterate the fact that admissions is a complete crapshoot. With being a Hispanic legacy, everyone around me was saying “oh you’ll get in, you’ll get in…” DEFERRED. My test scores are no where near as stellar as half the people on here, (2020), but I still believe that the people at Yale know what they are doing, and will simply do as they please. I always look on the bright side though, we are all truly amazing and will end up going to amazing schools: that’s it.</p>
<p>Let me put this in perspective for you. The reality is that you were all great. Yale saw something in you and although they did not take you, they saw you as a viable candidate. The reality is that in the early round a majority of the spots go to recuited athletes, legacies, development cases and under represented minorities. If there is a 20% acceptance rate for early applicants, it is not a true 20% acceptance rate for those who do not fit those categories. For the rest it could be closer to 10% or lower. Yale took many of these applicants in these categories in the early round who were not as qualified but being one of these categories worked in their favor. Look on the positive side. In the regular decision round most of the legacies, development cases and very competitive legacies would already have been taken early. In addiiton about half the regular pool is comprised of applicants who are not really candidates for Yale but for $50.00 and the common application decide to throw in the application. Yale does care about yield even if their yield is already high and they know those who were deferred are more apt to come if accepted because they gave up their chance to come early.
Yes, 60% deferred is a large number. I imagine Yale deferred many more than last year which was 48% because the number of applications dropped this yeaer and they might want to give themselves an opportunity to take deferrals later where Yale was their first choice.
If you show passion and stand out in a crowd of applicants I think the odds should be good.
Remain positive</p>
<p>just for clarification, what exactly is a development case? thanks</p>