Yale seems absolutely incredible and perfect and I think it may be my dream school. The acceptance rate is evidently so low, however-- applying seems daunting. Do I have a shot?
SATs:
May: M 710 W 770 R 770 (2250)
June: M 800 W 770 R 730 (2300)
Superscore: 2340
Haven’t taken SAT2s yet
GPA: 4.0
(Have taken basically hardest course load since freshman year)
Am taking hardest course load senior year
Four years of Spanish, two years of Hebrew (I moved to a school that offered Hebrew my Junior year).
Recs will be fantastic from one teacher, very solid from the other. One supplemental rec from my music teacher, should be great as we have a very close/solid relationship and a mutual respect
Extracurriculars:
Editor in Chief of one of my school’s papers
Editor/writer for Literary Magazine
Writer for other school paper
Will possibly be “Writing Fellow” (Writing tutor, have yet to hear back from program at my school)
President of JSA
Founder and President of Speech and Debate Team
Model UN
Prestigious choir in NY (then I moved)
Lead in School Musical
Drama Club
Acapella group (leadership position)
Choir (leadership position)
Out of school choir
Will have recorded album as a supplement
Have played piano for years
Teacher’s assistant
Math tutor at school
Bunch of various community service hours.
Various music summer programs, including one at Berklee School of Music.
State: MA
Gender: Female
Race: White
School: Small, private
Moved states my junior year.
You sound like a wonderful candidate, as are the vast majority of students who will ultimately be rejected. With more academically qualified applicants than they have room for in their freshman class, Yale uses a student’s essays, teacher recommendations, guidance counselor reports and interview reports to help them select individual’s who will make a difference on their campus. As you haven’t posted those items – nor can you – no one here can say what your SCEA or RD chances are. Your GPA and test scores make you a competitive applicant, but beyond that you just have to send your applications out into the universe and hope for the best!
You seem like a great contender. Basically, I agree with the above. Ivys are so competitive that scores of highly qualified students get turned away every year. You just have to hope that you catch the eye of the admissions officer who reads your file. So all you can do is get your scores and ec’s in the ballpark and then trust God or karma or whatever to get you into the school that will be the right place for you. My son is looking forward to his freshman year at Yale with a lot of the same interests as you.
Something we used as a tool to use was the accepted student stats that are on this site. Go through them and read them- don’t focus on all the things that you also have. Focus on what makes them stand out and what is it that you are missing and then work on that part. Everyone is going to have a high gpa. Most will have scores over 2200 SAT and SAT subjects over 700. You will see many 4’s and 5’s on AP tests, many awards and many internships. Everyone has recommendations from people that love them. Most will have some kind of “hook” and a long list of offices held, instruments played and sports they were captain of. Scrape all of that away and figure out what made them so different. That is where their acceptance was found. Not in perfect scores and over achieving because most kids that believe they will get in and apply are all of those things. Read between the lines about what makes them a special part of a bigger picture and then put that best part of you in your application. Good luck!