You are in grade 9 and you are 14 years old. Please remember that.
Yale will be a reach for you regardless of your grades and ECs…and SAT scores. A ton of extremely well qualified candidates apply who are rejected every year because there simply aren’t enough seats at Yale to accept them all.
I would suggest you come back here after you have some grade 11 grades AND a SAT or ACT score. Do a chance me/match me thread (please don’t do it now…you are way too young).
And as you do your college search, I would suggest you FIRST find a couple of schools that you have a good chance of acceptance, and you like, and are affordable, where you can see yourself being happy for four years. Do this FIRST. Then build your list UP from there.
In the meantime, get your personal best grades, take a strong courseload, and also try to enjoy your last three years of high school. You will never get those years back.
You should be having a review of your 504 plan annually. There has to be a REASON for any accommodations provided on the 504. Your parents can also request a 504 review meeting at any time if additional accommodations are wanting to be considered.
Most of the unhooked kids I know about who ended up at the most selective colleges were not in fact “grinders”. They were quick learners and quick workers and so could get top grades in the most rigorous classes without spending unusually long hours doing it.
However, they were also VERY good at time management. They laid out schedules, they did school work early whenever they had the spare time, and so on.
Other very intelligent and creative kids did not have these habits, and typically they did not end up at the MOST selective colleges (unless perhaps they were hooked, and actually probably not if the hook was just being a legacy). Often still very selective colleges. Often colleges particularly good for something that interested them, or that were a particularly good match. But not the most selective colleges.
Which I personally don’t think is a bad thing. At some point these individuals may develop better time management skills, but I would not advise going to one of the most selective colleges these days unless that has already happened.
Collecting trophies and some money won’t get you into Yale or any Ivy. Time management is key. This is a great book on time management and uses techniques that overlap Adhd. It’s quick read and think you would enjoy it.
If you have prize money paying for a chess coach then talk to your parents and get a school coach ie:tutor to help you through. It just might be you need help keeping on track. You might never get into any Ivy. Don’t lower your goal. Lower your realistic expectation. Unless you play at Magnus level….. You are just a really good chess player which is very very awesome. You might have to pull back a bit to level your time management. You should be able to screw around and waste time. That’s healthy. You just have so much going on you seem to not have your priorities in the correct order. I am familiar with chess as my son played since like 8 year’s old tourneys. I get the fun, pressure, excitement. I have also seen many like you flame out and no longer play. You probably can’t imagine that now. You don’t want to end up being a NY park chess player (some of them are actually good). You can have it all but something has to give and it shouldn’t be your mental health.
Good luck. You got this.
Buy How to Become a Straight-A Student: The Unconventional Strategies Real College Students Use to Score High While Studying Less Paperback by Cal Newport Online https://share.google/DOx5lJ4PrTXZ7auue
I am the parent of a gifted kid with ADHD and some other stuff, and another kid with chronic health issues. It is not at all uncommon for kids to refuse accommodations, believe me. But that is the best route for you to achieve your goals. Both my kids (eventually) accepted accommodations and one of them could not have graduated from one of your target schools without them.
Consider the idea of a level playing field. Or alternatively consider the idea that you deserve to do the best work you are capable of, and that ADHD should not be in the way of that. Accommodations simply get rid of a barrier that others don’t have (though many do!).
All the hard work and discipline suggested can indeed help but you cannot change your brain. Giftedness in its own way also needs accommodation (hence your boredom). There are ADHD coaches that are trained, or maybe there is someone at your school. You can read books, and go on websites, yes. There are strategies and tricks but first I think you can work on accepting both your gifts and your challenges. They may be related! (And plenty of Harvard and Yale students have both…)
I sense self-blaming in your thread title (“slacker”). You are a card carrying member of the ADHD club, with your “hyperfocus” on certain things (chess) and inability to focus on things that don’t interest you (“boredom”). I totally get it. Don’t blame yourself! Work with your brain, not against it.
My ADHD kid is in their 30’s now and manages it with lists and other tricks of the trade. But they are still late and rushing out the door!!
I am going to answer the question asked about Yale simply.
If you get amazing grades in 10/11 and first semester 12, in the hardest (or near hardest) courses available to you at your HS and continue to be amazing at chess (and continue with music) and have near perfect SATs, etc. yes, you have a chance. Your 3.73 in 9th won’t rule you out. Not everyone has a pure 4.0…
If you got a 5 on AP Chem in middle school, you are clearly VERY bright. you need to work with your ADHD to sort out how to manage your grades, and you surely can.
Try this. CAL Newport Buy How to Become a Straight-A Student: The Unconventional Strategies Real College Students Use to Score High While Studying Less Paperback by Cal Newport Online https://share.google/DOx5lJ4PrTXZ7auue
Given your current path, “less than an Ivy” could be exactly what you are choosing for yourself.
I suspect you came to CC for a reality check. I’m happy to provide it. HYPSM, etc…will reject 90+% of well qualified applicants.
You make choices all through life. You are currently choosing chess and other activities over schoolwork. Those are great activities and you should do things you enjoy. However, there are consequences for choices, not all of which are bad. As others have stated, you need the whole package for those colleges.
If you think that that you will be able to get into those colleges simply because you want to, you are but another member of a class that starts in the summer after junior year. The class is called College Apps 101, and you will be one of hundreds of thousands of competitive hopefuls who have the same idea as you. Those colleges do not have hundreds of thousands of seats for incoming freshmen.
The most important college on your eventual list will need to be the one that you like, that your parents can afford, and that you are certain you will get into. Any other college is a bonus.
One key to becoming a competitive candidate for elite colleges & universities is to pursue your passions; this is one area in which you excel.
It is good to have goals as it should be reflected in the seriousness of your work.
Ivy League schools vary in several respects including academic strengths and weaknesses as well as with respect to campus culture.
Stay off social media and devote that time to your schoolwork.
Ivy League schools are known for strong academics, but, depending upon one’s area of interest, there are better schools and there are equal schools. Over the next couple of years, try to refine your list of preferred colleges & universities to match your interests, qualifications, and affordability.
You’re leaving a digital imprint and the admissions officers do check.
If there’s a choice between a couple of candidates, and if you look like you spend too much time on social media, you can guess what those admissions committees will do.
I will give you a lot of leeway because of your age, but do you think that students who attend Yale only participate in chess tournaments?
Going on site for a chess tournament is vastly different than living and studying there.
You’ll be
Doing your laundry-not running out of Tide/dryer sheets and not stealing your dorm mates’ supplies.
getting to your meals on time before the kitchen is closed.
Meeting with your study groups. If you don’t show or you’re late, they can ostracize you or may do worse.
Completing your assigned part in your study groups.
Going to office hours or tutors. (Yes, even Yalies go to tutoring because they want “A”s in their classes.)
submitting your assignments and papers on time and
scheduling meetings with your registrar about diploma requirements.
You have to have decent time management skills to get through college. This is true with EVERY student.
It’s hard enough for the average college student to maintain. You have it even harder with your diagnosis.
I’m not settling for anything less than an ivy league school
Please read the thread I’m going to link here. The student in that thread was a tippy top student all four years of high school, class val, national merit finalist, excellent ECs with strong commitment, excellent essays, excellent LOR. No one expected him to be rejected from all the colleges he applied to his senior year, but that is what happened. He didn’t have a sure thing for admission that he liked a lot, that was affordable on his application list.
He landed well on his feet after a well crafted gap year. But his senior year in high school was not a happy time. This was 20 years ago…but college admissions have only become more competitive since then…and the info in the thread still relevant.
I think getting your study habits on track is a great objective for the next school year. Focusing on one or three or five colleges at this point is a waste of time– so in the spirit of you improving your time management skills, why not put that aside for now?
Where are your parents on the subject of your organizational/time management/study habits? They likely have an opinion or two.
There are plenty of colleges that would love to have you even if you don’t figure out how to do the “performing at my absolute best” pivot so stop worrying about that. They are likely not among the group you claim you absolutely have to attend, but you’re young and you’ll learn and grow and change and that’s ok. The world is filled with smart and successful people who thought they’d die if they didn’t get into Yale and guess what- they didn’t get in, and they didn’t die, and they’re still plenty happy and doing great things with their lives.
I think you’ve gotten some solid suggestions on this thread. See if your parents would be willing to find you a coach/counselor who works with kids with issues like yours. And if you’re really bored during the school day, why not see if you can substitute an online class taught at a more intense level? If HS English bores you, take a college lit class which is both reading and writing intensive. See if your district has an agreement with a local college or will pay for you to take online college classes while still enrolled in HS.
Have a look at the schools that send the highest percentage of students to graduate school or those with the highest employability, e.g (for graduate school).
Does your school allow for dual enrollment at the local community college? Community college courses tend to have fewer (but harder) homework assignments and tend to be weighted more heavily on exams. (Compared to honors high school courses, that is. AP courses may or may not be more rigorous than a CC course)
I think the question should not be where can you get in, but where can you thrive. I happen to know some students with your profile who are at Harvard but might be happier elsewhere. The combo of giftedness and ADHD presents a challenge as to where to land for college. I do think the giftedness makes top schools a good possibility, but only with accommodations which you need to accept. You or your parents can write a letter for a doctor to sign, with the desired accommodations (research them). I did this and the doctor appreciated it. Or get a neurpsych. evaluation and that provider can write a letter. A psychiatrist who specializes in ADHD can be enormously helpful: some hospitals have clinics.
You may not be able to get your grades up to where you want them without accommodations at high school either. I get that you want to “try harder” and feel like you are a “slacker” but I doubt that effort is your problem.
The combination of clearly accelerated education, chess, and music may make you an outlier candidate that interests colleges, anyway. But try to accept accommodations (and perhaps coaching) to help get your grades up. And think carefully about the college where you can thrive, which may or may not be an Ivy.
Just to give an example, a few times now I have encountered very bright ADHD kids targeting Colorado College and Cornell College (Iowa) because of their block schedules (where you take one class at a time for a shorter period). Obviously that sort of thing may or may not make sense for a given individual, but I think these are the sorts of alternative options well worth investigating.
