Good Enough?

Colleges & Universities Yale University
1

Hello CC,

I’ve gotten a lot of mixed responses regarding the competitiveness of my application at Yale university. Some say I am great, others say I have no chance. I am genuinely confused about what to think. Below I have a run down of my app as concise as possible. Can you guys deduce anything from it?

GPA: 3.88 (I had a 2.7 entering High School because I did mediocre in Spanish II in middle school. However, I retook Spanish 2 in 11th grade and decided to pursue studying the language in Spanish 3 senior year which I now find quite interesting. Since 9th grade, I only had one semester with a B+ (AP Chemistry), A’s the rest. I think I’ve taken 10 AP classes. Not sure but I did around the max at my school.)

CLASSES:
AP Computer Science A (5), AP Environmental Science (4), AP World History (3), AP Psychology (5), AP Human Geography (4), AP Calculus AB (4), AP Stats (4), AP Chemistry (4), AP English (4), AP Micro (3)

SENIOR SCHED: AP Physics C Mech&Electro, AP Calc BC, AP Lit, AP Gov, AP Bio, AICE Genpaper, Spanish 3, AP Online (not at school): AP Macro, AP Art History

ACT: 33 (36E;32M;33R;30S)
SAT II: Math 2 & Lit (…expecting to do good in Math II, around a 750, and so-so in Lit)

EX-CIR: (people like to say its thin, the reason why I have these few concentrations is because I try to dedicate myself to the max for these few, rather than a little for others)
-Founder and President of 4-H Chapter that ran Hope for Haiti food drive at school and negotiated construction of a Greenhouse.
-Started development team in 9th grade that participates in SECME and Florida Science Olympiad… finalists in a UF innovation contest.
-Java tutor at school Coding Club
*The reason why I am not in NHS is because I protested their forgery of service hours at my school. Got denied quicker than Drake’s 0>100.
*I am not in Key Club because I have my own community service club (4-H) that I run.

SERVHOURS: 144 (In my opinion, they don’t hold much weight since most everyone’s are forges probably. Those are really a small survey of how much service work I do. Collecting hours is a task I really don’t do often.)

JOB: Tutor at Gideon M&R (8 hours a week)

AWARDS: (wasn’t in the national spotlight or anything, just won in things I’m interested in.)
-University of Florida Gator Pit Innovation Finalist
-National AP Scholar
-Harvard Book Award (I don’t even know why I got this, I did some research and it doesn’t seem all that. Only one I really didn’t put much effort into getting)
-District Literary Fair Qualifier twice
-District CodeFest winner
*Yes, I’m Asian. Don’t roast me for not having Math awards and stuff. It really isn’t my greatest strength.

SUPPLEMENTS: Portfolio… once again you can’t see it, but its there…

YOUR VERDICT PLEASE: Accept, Defer, Reject.

I’m applying with an interest firstly in CS. Unfortunately, the only test that highlighted my interest was APCS, which I earned a 5 on. I hope my pursuit for Yale does not end here. Obviously, without reading my essay, you really don’t know who I am. I just need to know if anything is killer above so I know whether or not to think twice about SCEA at Yale.

Thanks,
M

2

Are you in the top 1% to 2% of your high school class? The reason I’m asking is that your GPA and class rank demonstrate how you performed over time relative to your peers – and Yale considers ranking when looking at a student’s application.

If your GPA places you in the top 1% to 2% of your high school’s graduating class, then apply early. If not, then I would recommend applying to a broad range of non-binding colleges in the early round and applying to Yale RD. This from another post of mine.

With regards to whether you would be accepted deferred or rejected . . . that’s only a fool’s game. This from an MIT Admissions Officer regarding chancing on College Confidential. Everything said also applies to Yale: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/massachusetts-institute-technology/939227-reminder-no-one-not-even-me-can-give-you-an-accurate-chance-at-mit-p1.html

3

Yale for CS? Let’s just say they’re not known for that.

4

^^ Yale is ranked 9th on this list, but yes other universities offer a wider and more in-depth selection of CS courses: http://www.collegechoice.net/rankings/best-computer-science-degree/

5

Your stats don’t scream yes or no. I would guess that you’ll be deferred. But that’s just a guess.

6

DS is a CS and Math major at Yale. He has had a lucrative internship after sophomore year and interesting research opportunities as a sophomore and junior.

To be clear, he is interested in theory and math-intensive CS; he is not interested in being a “code monkey.” That’s sometimes a disconnect with industry. If you’re Interested in a course sequence of Java 101, Java 102, Advanced Java, … Yale might not be the place for you.

There was a time when he was unhappy with Yale for CS, largely because of its reputation and bad press. Since then, he has realized that it’s a good fit and has chosen to ignore the noise.

7

@mdchang99,

I don’t mean for this to be snarky. Honestly.

Your post sounds defensive in a number of places. Don’t let that tone into your app.

I know it’s only an anonymous post on CC, but be careful about grammar mistakes.

I don’t do Chances, but you do have a chance. Roughly 7% :slight_smile:

8

Alright cool guys. Wasn’t meaning to be defensive but i just wanted to clarify so I didn’t get a bunch of unconstructive backlash. Now that I think about it, it really made no sense Thanks for the feedback. I am currently at the top of my class and i took my subjects today. I’ll take my chances.

Sincerely,
M

9

May the ‘Application Gods’ shine bright upon you. Best of luck!

10

@gibby thanks a million!

11

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-03-06/want-a-job-in-silicon-valley-after-yale-good-luck-with-that

Take this for what it’s worth.

12

FWIW, My daughter was told by her teachers that she would be reaching to apply to Boston College never mind Georgetown when she went to tour. She didn’t tell them that she applied to Yale, Harvard and Brown. They didn’t know who she was outside of class and they didn’t know who she was as a big picture. Ultimately she was accepted to all but Harvard where she was wait listed (she let go her spot there the same day she was accepted to Yale for obvious reasons). My point is that if you feel you can put together a great application and use the important parts that make you who you are then take the chance. My favorite quote of all time is,“You can’t lose what you don’t have”. I would apply to non restrictive schools for early application and then try for Yale on a regular decision. I can’t say your application screams for acceptance in early round but you seem just as capable as the rest for regular decision. Oh and I agree that you don’t want it to come across as negative- but I love your conviction on the subject of forged serice hours. I would somehow show that somehow. Spin it into something positive, bettering the program for future students. Good luck!

13

@Memmsmom :slight_smile: thank you! Time to get to work