I want to go to Yale because it seems to suit me. I got #1 gpa in 8th grade in my high school. I’m pretty sure I will have #1 gpa in the at least half of my high school 9-12 years and around 3-4 APs per year (more if you count self-studied exams). I have several talents, great proficiency in piano and will earn Certificate of Merit some time this year will learn guitar, drums, and violin and good at drawing, crafting, creating card games and board games, and coding. I have will be a leader in National Honor Society and do a ton of volunteer work in 12th. I don’t what else I could do? What are my chances of getting into an Ivy College like Yale?
Assuming you maintain great grades, get a very high SAT/ACT score and continue your strong extracurricular activities, you have a decent shot. Unfortunately, the chances, even for #1 students, with great test scores etc. are still maybe 15 to 25%, depending on other factors like race or family background. Unless you are a recruited athlete, or Malia Obama, there is just no guarantee.
If you want to improve your application, work toward state and national awards and recognition in your areas of talent. Put together the best application that you can, and hope!
In my opinion being a Valedictorian is better than not being valedictorian, however, remember there are some 20,000 high schools and many of those will have multiples of students who are excellent candidates for admission to top universities. Yale will eventually matriculate around 1300 freshman and probably accept double that. Check Yale’s common data set to determine how important class rank is and that will give you an idea of how they view it. Yale is a reach for you as it’s a reach for anyone. If you wish to have an opportunity to attend then by all means apply but don’t make attending Yale your end goal.
Selective colleges like Yale will be interested in your ability to influence others or your attainment of some vaunted talent. Your ability to influence others will be directly related to frankly, your charisma and genuine concern for others’ well-being. Stating that you plan on being valedictorian and plan on being a leader of NHS and plan on doing volunteer work as a 12th grader – seems pretty mercenary.
Are you really a leader? How likable are you? How to gauge this? Do people follow you? If not, then not.
The answer to your question: it’s EXTREMELY difficult for #1. The same level of difficulty for #2 or #3 or down the line. Your narrow focus on besting your peers seems to be a pretty nasty strategy, frankly.
There are thousands of people who are #1 in their schools (which you’re not, yet. You know what they say about counting your chickens…)
There are 35,700 high school in the US. All of them have a #1 student. Yale doesn’t accept only #1s. They take students who are ‘at the top’ of their class. Let’s say the top 5 students at any school are within range academically. That is 178,500 potentially qualified applicants. If even 20% of those have the test scores that bring them into range, and half of them apply to Yale, that is still 17,800 applicants. (Actually, they had 29,000 in 2013 - so I’m being too conservative here.) The class size is 1,300. They admit around 2,000. And that’s not taking into account the hooked candidates who get a leg up. Drop your chances another 25%. As you can see, your chances are very slim.
So…broaden your lens to take in all the outstanding colleges that those 178,500 top students will be applying to. Most of the top 100 school will give you an outstanding education if you take advantage of the opportunities they provide. The next 100 will do an admirable job - again, if you take advantage of what is on offer.
Strategy? Apart from good grades and test scores (which are the two most important factors by a long shot), is what your family can afford. Harsh reality, but true. Next, it’s about what you want to do with your education, what you love most, where you are trying to end up - there is not one, but a dozen schools that can meet that need for you. Find them. And lastly, it about developing yourself beyond what the class-room has to offer: You can do it through your ECs - try a few, find the two or three (not more) that excite you and compel you to invest yourself deeply. It can be anything - music, art, sports, volunteering, a job, a hobby, your religious organization, any intellectual passion that you pursue independently. And check out Cal Newport’s Study Hacks website for great advice for the ambitious student.
What is it about Yale that suits you? We might be able to suggest schools that would offer similar things but highe acceptance rates.
“I got #1 gpa in 8th grade in my high school.”
Excellent work. In our school system there were 27 students who had all 'A’s in 8th grade. Of course, after first quarter of their Freshman year that was down to seven and at the end of the year it was three. There were two Valedictorians.
On a broader scale, I have noticed that of the 25 high schools in our area, there are about 0-3 students each year who get in to top schools like Yale or “The Ivies”. That’s more like the top student at every 10 schools or so. So, make sure you have a chance to get out and test yourself against a larger group at the district or state level. Hope that helps with your planning.
- You're what, a freshman? PLEASE stop worrying about this and enjoy high school.
- "Easy" and "Ivy Admissions" should never be used in the same sentence, unless that sentence is something along the lines of, "Ivy admissions aren't easy."
- Having a high GPA in middle school is in no way a predictor of your high school success. It's definitely an accomplishment, but you're probably going to have to work much harder and against much more competition in high school. Don't let that get you down -- just see it as motivation to keep on learning and doing the best that you can.
Do volunteer work now and find somewhere to do something really valuable junior year (senior year is really mostly waiting to hear back from your dream schools and even match schools). It is possible to really make a big contribution, lots of needy people and causes, and if you are creative, a natural leader, and hardworking, it could happen that you do something that will wow even Yale.
Piano and music accomplishments and talents would need national level recognition to be more than a checkmark that would mean you are one of say 20,000 qualified applicants out of those 27,000 of which 2,000 will be chosen (GPAs weighted to 4.5, dozen AP tests, SATs or ACTs very high likewise will not get you out of the big pile).
Tour schools and find schools that you like almost as much as Yale, or maybe even better. Yale admission is frankly rare for even the most gifted students (the one in 10 high school number above is correct even in a top school district in the US). Is your high school nationally ranked? If not, it is less likely. Again, unless you reach some national level at something … again not likely.
Middle school 4.0 means you have the talent to get a 4.0 in high school, so go there and work hard and make sure you do. Push yourself academically, take hard courses, do research, whatever.
Frankly, getting into Yale is much, much harder than it was 10,20,30 years ago, so if there is family pressure or your own pressure to be the best, be aware that there are many other best (and I mean truly spectacular) students who are not getting into Yale but will likely be wild successes in life. Find your opportunity at Yale or elsewhere and be who you want to be at 35 or even 50.
Class rank is “very important” for Yale admissions:
http://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg02_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=244
However, that is far from the only criterion for admission. An applicant needs to be top-end in many other things as well (top-end test scores, extracurricular achievement at the national level, excellent recommendations, excellent essays, no “defects”) to have much of a chance of admission to a super-selective school.
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Way too early to be thinking about this if you are a freshman. Go out and experience and enjoy HS life.
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Even if you keep up your grades, do amazingly well on all standardized tests, get excellent recommendations, and have great ECs a school like Yale is a long-shot. It is an absolutely terrible idea to have going to an Ivy school is your goal as a freshman. There are tons of amazing colleges and universities out there.