<p>i am definitely really hookless…actually yeah, i’d think the majority of yale’s class is “hookless” compared to what you’d expect. not too many people have cured cancer or traveled to africa and freed child soldiers…</p>
<p>then again, there are many people who have done really incredible things too. though people don’t have obvious hooks, upon a closer look, you realize people did at least one to two really significant things that tipped the scales in their favor. of course there are tons of kids who did really cool things and didn’t make it in. that’s just because the acceptance rate is so low and there are soooo many applicants…as you’ve probably heard over and over. luck has a lot to do with it i’m sure. </p>
<p>but anyway, i’ve taken to google-ing all the prospective yalies i met during bulldog days…ALL of my searches turn up at least something, from generic stuff like “national merit” and local awards won to really serious things like nonprofit organizations created by these kids to research papers they wrote to poetry they’ve published. </p>
<p>what most apparently “hookless” kids (middle-class asian/whites mostly with generic ECs) i met who got into HYPSM have in common is the following: 1) high gpa/top of their class, 2) 2200+ sat at least, 3) at least one significant EC accomplishment to speak of (raising X amount of dollars for a cause, organizing a fundraiser event, etc.), 4) interests in multiple, diverse subjects, (like the “renaissance engineers” mentioned on harvard’s website, for example, an interest in both english literature and engineering), 5) at least one significant trip to a foreign country, often writing their personal statement or another essay on this trip and how it affected them </p>
<p>i know that all sounds really generic by CC standards, but I feel that CC distorts our perception of reality. actually not too many kids have all that going for them at once as we might think based on the ppl on this site. </p>
<p>i personally have no idea why yale wanted me, but i’m really incredibly grateful that they did=) yale is most certainly a magical place, and part of me still can’t really believe that somehow, quite miraculously, i get to be a yalie!</p>
<p>good luck to applicants for 2014!!!</p>