How to Get Accepted at Yale

Colleges & Universities Yale University
1

Hey guys! I am a freshman, and my dream school for college is Yale. I realize that it is extremely early, and that my current demographics are in no way indicative of what the outcome will be, but I was hoping for some insight on what extracurriculars and activities I should do, in order to make myself more competitive for the Yale Early Action pool, in a few years. I am seeking an outside perspective as to what I need to do additionally to set myself apart in this extremely competitive pool.

I am planning to apply to the NCSSM online program, because I think I will be more competitive at my base school than NCSSM, and I think I have a reasonable chance of getting in, as students with far lower grades and extracurricular activities have been accepted.

These are my current statistics, and my planned path for the next few years:

ACT: (not taken yet, but after prep, I will probably have either a 33 or 34)
SAT: (also not taken yet, but after prep, should be approximately a 2150-2250)
SAT II: Planning to take World History, Math Level 1, United States History, Biology, Math Level 2, Chemistry, & possibly French
Unweighted GPA: Currently, a 4.0, but will probably be around a 3.98~, after I take AP Calculus BC and AP Chemistry, which I think I will make As, instead of A+s in.
Rank: 2/583, but I will be 1/583, because current person who is 1 is not taking enough APs next year, and mathematically, I will be overtaking his rank.
*Note: My school does not give 4.0 for grades 93-100, you must score a 96-100 to get a 4.0 in classes, so my unweighted GPA will probably be lower.
Current Weighted GPA: 5.0
Planned Weighted GPA (if all goes well and I make 96s in all classes, except 93s in AP Calc BC/AP Chem): 5.6013

Course Schedule:

Freshman Year:
PE- 98
French 2- 100
Honors Math 2- 100
Honors English 1- 100
Honors Math 3- 100
Honors Civics & Economics- 100
Honors Biology- 100
Honors French 3- 96
AP World History- 99
AP Human Geography- 99

Sophomore Year:
Honors English 2
Honors Chemistry
Honors Pre-Calculus
AP Biology
AP United States History
AP Physics 1
AP Psychology
AP Statistics

Junior Year:
AP English 3
AP Calculus AB
AP Microeconomics
AP Macroeconomics
AP US Government & Politics
AP Physics 2
AP Chemistry
Honors French 4

Senior Year:
AP English 4
AP French 5
AP European History
AP Environmental Science
AP Physics C: Mechanics
AP Physics C: Electricity & Magnetism
AP Calculus BC

If I am accepted to NCSSM Online, I will take these classes (all of which are on a 6.0 scale), in addition to other classes:
Junior Year:
Climate Change Biology
Introduction to Applied Chemistry and Engineering

Senior Year:
Science, Catastrophe and Culture
Computational Chemistry

Extracurriculars:
Track and Field (4 years)
Varsity Tennis (maybe, 3 years, starting next year)
Public Forum Debate (5 years, competed on high school level as 8th grader)
Student 2 Student (4 years, President 10-12th grade)
Math Club (4 years, officer 10-12th grade)
Key Club (4 years, officer 11-12th grade)
Student Government (4 years)
National Honors Society (2 years, 11-12th grade)
UNICEF (3 years, 10-12th grade)
Starting own club in 10th grade (service-based club)
Superintendent’s Student Advisory Council (1 year, 8th grade)

Summer Programs:
National Debate Forum Debate Camp (3 years)
NC Governor’s School (planned, summer after junior year)

Awards:
Placed at multiple local debate tournaments (2nd place, 2nd place, 5th place) in Varsity Public Forum Debate
Octafinalist in Varisty Public Forum at TFL State Tournament
Triple-octafinalist at George Mason Patriot Games National Tournament in Varisty Public Forum

Demographics:
Male, Caucasian
North Carolina
Large, relatively competitive school
Upper-middle class income bracket

Recommendations:
Counselor recommendation should be stellar, and I plan to have two great teachers’ recommendations.

QUESTIONS:
What more do I need to do, in terms of extracurriculars? What should I do in my community as a service activity, that could serve as a hook? Do I need to pick up an arts activity, such as piano lessons? Do I need to do an internship after my junior year, pertaining to anything that I would like to go into (i.e. Law or Medicine)? Do I need to get a summer job? Ultimately, what do I need to do to help me get accepted at Yale? What am I lacking, and what do I need to help ensure that I have a chance of acceptance?

2

welcome to yale… hahahahaha.
If you do a good essay, you must be in.

3

Just tell me what to do and I will do it is more for the army than for Yale, lol

4

OP my best advice to you is to live your life and follow your passions. Being the best “YOU” you can be will give you the best chance to succeed.

5

And anyway, you cannot “ensure that you will have a chance of acceptance”. It’s just as much of a crapshoot for you as it is for anyone else, and piling on a bunch of useless clubs and activities will make it pretty transparent to the AOs that you’re just padding your resume. Instead, stop having other people tell you what you need to do and instead participate in extracurriculars because YOU enjoy them. Also think about what you want to major in and streamline your activities toward that major. A student is an investment to the institution, so make them believe you will be successful in your field.

6

As much as anyone would like to plan everything, it’s not that easy or else we’d all do it. Things change! So while it’s good to have a general idea of what to do, dont become so dead-set on this one plan. There is no formula to get into Yale. Colleges want to see individuality.

A couple things to note: that’s an awful lot of subject tests! Unless you do bad on one of them, or there is some credit/award to be received by a subject test, there is really no need to take more than 3. Anything beyond that will have such small marginal value, that the effort you put in to take them will outweigh the benefits. Just make sure you take them as you complete your coursework. And definitely dont take Math 1 if you do Math 2 because there will be absolutely no point. If a college sees you do well in Math 2, they know you’ll also be able to do well in lower-level math as well.

For your extracurriculars, no college wants a laundry list of membership in every club in the school. They want to see passion and leadership. And that will consume a lot of your time. Rather than sticking a toe in a myriad of clubs, fully immerse yourself in a handful, and accomplish great things with them. If you want to be a biologist, find a local professor to assist in research. If you want to be an educator, show interest in working with/tutoring children. If you want to go into business, show entrepreneurial talent.

Lastly, please consider that everything youve listed above is EXTREMELY time consuming as Im sure you already know. Know that college is not the end-all, be-all of life; that’s something I probably should tell myself, too. Make sure to live and enjoy the moment NOW, don’t just act like the next 3 years are meaningless in the grand scheme if you get into Yale, because thats not true! Work hard, and pursue your passions.

7

As @gireffeinatree said, more than 3 Subject tests is a waste. You listed 6 and a possible 7th – you can’t take more than 3 in a sitting; don’t you have better things to do with your life.

It’s nice that you’re enthused, but I find it somehow depressing that you have everything so planned out that you, a freshman, have your HS predicted weighted GPA planned to 4 decimal places.

Is this a joke, OP?

8

Enjoy your passions and focus on what you enjoy! Yale admission officers will tell you they look to create a diverse community of students. A ranking of #1 in your class does not mean admission, being well rounded, well adjusted, and confident in your passions in addition to grades, is a step in the right direction.

9

Strive to become an interesting person. Interesting people don’t sit around all day getting stoned or playing Xbox. They also don’t grind the day away working out math problems or preparing for College Board tests.

I’m reading applications this week for a tenure-track position at the college where I teach. The applicants all have excellent qualifications, but for the most part they come off as BORING.

So my attention was really in high gear when I read about the applicant with excellent applications who is also an EMT who also likes unicycle over slickrock trails in southern Utah. This applicant is getting a second look.

10

sigh — I’m with Ixnaybob. your 1 or 2 ranking? completely irrelevant to Yale. Your 4th decimal GPA prediction – really? SMH

Six Subject tests = 4 too many.

Do what wasatchwriter said: become interesting. You come off looking like an academic robot – perfect for some schools. Completely forgettable in the Yale applicant pool.

11

@apsiringyalie One other issue I don’t think others have mentioned. Yale is rejecting roughly 95 percent of the students who apply. It’s a serious mistake to only focus on a single college choice, particularly one as selective as Yale. Lots of students are applying there with extremely strong backgrounds and stats; you simply can’t assume that any combination of attributes will lead to a successful outcome.

You need to find your passions, not build a resume you think Yale would like. Think about an academic subject that you want to pursue in depth – not because it might get you into Yale, but because it’s something you really enjoy. Participate in activities that give you joy.

And get some sleep! You seem to be talking about taking eight classes at school and 2-3 more courses on line. I don’t see how that’s feasible with the various activities you’ve outlined. You’re also being quite presumptuous about what your leadership roles will be one to three years into the future.

Life’s too short to spend it focused on the next step. Enjoy where you are, and you’ll create lots of great options for yourself along the way.

But in the end, I have to admit that I hope this isn’t a real post. If it’s real, you should be aware that you’re mostly coming across as a parody of the top applicants to extremely competitive schools.

12

Read “How to become a high school superstar” by Cal Newport.

13

tip- break your arm during the PE final to get a 100 and bring up you PE grade. I think piano would be a cool idea, but it is not a hook considering you would only be playing 3 years (compared with people who have been playing their whole life…) Also, on ivy applications, they don’t ask for specific rank. They only ask ¨yes¨ or ¨no¨ for if you are in top 10, 15, or 20%

14

I am on board with most of the parents on this forum, a number of whom have children at Yale. You need to take a huge step back, maybe two or three. Nothing that you have listed will get you or anyone else for the Class of 2018 into Yale which by then will probably be topping 35,000 applications. I am being harsh on purpose. Yes, a little. Where are your parents? Are they buying into this? You are going to be burnt out before the beginning of your junior year. If this schedule and ECs are true, I am actually very worried about you and your mental health. If you were my child, you would never, ever, ever, be taking this kind of load.

15

I would recommend cutting down on the number of extracurriculars and focusing on a few of them instead. When it comes to the HYPS schools, quality is better than quantity.

16

I got into Yale SCEA for the class of 2019. You should find something that you’re passionate about - for me, it was feminism - and do something creative with it. Start a nonprofit/event/etc - while it’s great that you’re doing a lot of activities, quality is definitely better than quantity. Your activities should be something that YOU like to do, and something that YOU are passionate about.

For academics, take as many AP’s as you think you can handle. I did not take the number of classes you’re planning to take. During my junior year, which was of course my hardest year, I took 5 AP’s, a weighted honors course, and swim. And definitely don’t take more than 3 SAT subject tests. Perfect scores and perfect GPA’s are not as important as many people think, either - although you definitely do need to be in the top percentiles.

But the bottom line is, your application has to show who you are as a person, and what you’re passionate about. I’m definitely not an admissions officer, but through my experiences at college fairs/events/my application experience, I learned that Yale doesn’t want a well-rounded person who can do everything. They want someone interesting and who would be a valuable contribution to their campus. I think it’d be fairly obvious to AO’s if an applicant is just trying to list as many EC’s and classes as possible in hopes of getting in.

I wish you the best of luck, and I’ll hopefully see you in the future at Yale! Boola boola :grin:

17

My advice, which is similar to what I gave my own d a few years back is similar to the other posts: focus less on breadth and more on depth. But I’ll add a few observations. Most of the kids at my daughters school with the best class rank lack EC. It is very hard too be in the top 3 and do much else at her magnet school. It is better to get great SATs and a couple of subject tests than to take everything. So consider what is easiest for you and what you enjoy. They are often the same.

What two subject tests would be easiest for you to score an 800? Say you love history. Take several APs in history and the subject test. You have just completed a subject test and some APs. Hopefully you have done well. Either way you have done something that is meaningful to you. It is a win win.

The same advise applies to EC. It is good to start a school year by considering a bunch of ECs, like going to a couple of meetings at clubs you are curious about. But focus on the ones you like. And be honest. Like my daughter was proud to be elected to student council VP in an early year. At the end of the year, she realized they did next to nothing. It was a popularity contest and running was time consuming (though fun), but ultimately she was interested in other things more. When you start school next year, take the time to both cut and grow your EC. Discuss the clubs with friends and parents. So like with academics, focusing on activities you enjoy is a win win. It allows you to participate in activities you enjoy and is good for admissions.

18

Let me put it this way: if you set a goal to do the best you can in school, to pursue extracurriculars that interest you and in which you can make a real contribution, and then get into an excellent college that fits your interests and achievements, you will almost certainly achieve your goal.

If, however, your goal is to go to Yale, the chances are that you will not achieve your goal.

So why not pick a really great goal that you will almost certainly achieve?

19

@aspiringyalie The one thing I’ve learned during high school is that while it’s certainly important to do well in school and try your best, you’ll get fulfillment through the relationships you create and the experiences that you have, and it’s on you to engage yourself in your high school community. You should be worrying more about enjoying high school - going to sporting events, hanging out with friends, talking to girls, etc. If you consume yourself with school, I don’t think you’ll get as much out of high school, and frankly I don’t think it’s a great method for success. By all means have a goal, but don’t let it become your entire life. Good luck!