Lets make this the chance page!

Ishan123 · November 7, 2009, 12:54pm

Im hoping that we can make this the chance page. Even though its not your thread, feel free to make use of it to get yourselves chanced!

I want you guys to give me an opinion on my chances of getting into Yale.

Acads:
I have got A’s on almost all classes from Freshman to Senior Year. In the Public exams, I scored a 95.4%, in the top 2% of my class.

I scored a 2300 on my SAT ( 740-Math, 760-Reading, 800-Writing )

I will be taking my SAT 2’s in December.

I have good essays and great letters of recommendations.

Extra-Curriculars

Captain of the school debate and MUN teams.

Won about 15 best speaker awards all over the country at national level debates and 5 Best Delegate awards at MUN’s.

Chosen as among the 3 Indians to meet the UN Sec-Gen Ban Ki Moon at a conference in LA in May, 2008.

I conceptualized and was Sec-Gen of the 1st Model UN conference in Eastern India.

Community Service:

Founded a program to teach the children of sex-workers in the red light districts of the city. In 18 months the number of volunteers have tripled.

Please chance me as well, it will be really helpful.

percyshelley · November 7, 2009, 1:38pm

Ok, ok, I’ll bite. You look like you have a really good shot, Ishan. Past your obvious academic achievement, the national recognition for debate, etc., ought to set you apart. There’s certainly, as you know, no certainty, but you’ll be a really strong candidate, and I’d bet on your getting in.

I’ll go ahead and post my stuff, and I’ll chance anyone who weighs in on my situation.

Gender: Male
Race: Biracial (black/white)
GPA: 3.85 UW; 4.6 W
Class Rank: does not rank
SAT I superscore: 710 M, 790 CR, 770 W; 2270 composite
SAT II: Latin 700, Literature 780
**Economic bracket: **Will not be applying for FA

Notes on curriculum:
I’ve taken all AP classes during Junior year; all classes during senior year will be AP; I’ve taken 6 courses each semester all throughout high school, while the normal course load is 5 per semester (take two foreign languages, spanish and latin)

EC’s:
Editor-in-chief of newspaper (member for four years)
Submissions of literary magazine (member for four years)
Member of Varsity debate team
President of Political Action Club
Founding member of Spanish club 
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (2 years)
Muy Thai (2 years)

Awards/Notable Thangs:
National Achievement Semifinalist
Published creative nonfiction piece in a journal with a circulation of ~10,000
Published poetry in two nationally-circulated literary magazines (both with ~1% acceptance rates), in one regional lit mag, in three online lit mags.

**Summer: **
3-week credit-earning creative writing program at Rhodes College (Grade: A)
Accepted into and attending the University of Iowa Young Writer’s Studio
*Undergraduate credited course at Temple U in Philosophy
Internships at two different local newspapers; paying job at newspaper
Internship at WHYY (Philadelphia’s radio/TV branch of National Public Radio)
Job as a server at a local diner (3 years straight).

**Essays: **
Better be good, since I’ve touted myself as a writer.

Teacher Recs:
Will be strong. One from senior English teacher (who is also the advisor for the school paper), one from junior year math teacher, with whom i worked on Political Action Club.

I sent in a 4-piece poetry supplement for Yale’s consideration as well.

Thanks!

portugueseninja · November 7, 2009, 1:42pm

I don’t understand what people are expecting from these chance threads. If someone tells you that you have no chance, will you change your mind from applying? Are people just looking for praise?

This isn’t just to you, Ishnan123, but to anyone posting a chance thread - if you know you have good scores, you have extensive extracurricular activities, so called great recommendations, a near perfect high school transcript, and decent essays - then you KNOW you must have SOME chance of getting into Yale otherwise you wouldn’t be applying. So what difference does it make to get the opinion of a bunch of other kids who are in the same position as you and generally don’t know any better than you do?

To anyone who is thinking of applying:

There’s an estimated 25,000+ applicants to Yale this year. Your chances are the same as everybody else - very slim. But not impossible. The only way you will not get accepted is if you don’t apply.

aniram518 · November 7, 2009, 2:08pm

Just to let you know, there already is a whole forum dedicated to ‘chance me’ type posts. You might get more responses there

percyshelley · November 7, 2009, 2:41pm

portugueseninja:

I acknowledge that I have a tendency to get swept up in the college admissions craze, and have developed some of the neuroses that come along with that. I think it happens to an overwhelming majority of CC posters. And I agree with you with regards to the practical usefulness of chance threads; there is none.

What I do think they do is to allow for venting - some release of the tension that might build up for applicants with overactive minds. I didn’t do it for praise, and I doubt others who post their stats do, either. It’s more just a way to help oneself calm down about these things.

So what do I want out of it? I just want someone else who doesn’t know me personally (an admissions officer will be in the same position) to look at my credentials and to get feedback on what he or she sees.

pigs_at_sea · November 7, 2009, 2:55pm

pleaseee stopp these chance threadss guys cuz they’re driving everyone nutssss! how bout just wait until dec 15, THEN post your stats

percyshelley · November 7, 2009, 3:21pm

pigsatsea, you don’t give any credence to what I said? I do agree though, haha, and wish I hadn’t posted mine. Got suckered :)

cadillac · November 7, 2009, 3:41pm

pigs is drowning!

portugueseninja · November 7, 2009, 3:45pm

percyshelley - I totally understand that people are stressed and excited and all manner of emotions at this stage. But I can’t help but feel that feedback is only relevant if it means something or if it gives you something to improve on, you know?

For instance if we were giving comments on essays, then fair enough, because that’s something that can be productive. But with an overall profile, peoples opinions really mean nothing at all.

MOST people here who post their stats have the whole package, so others reply with things like “you have a good chance”. But then so does everyone who has stats like that, and not everybody can get in. Alternately, someone could have less than amazing stats, and they get responses like “you have pretty much no chance” which could not only make people feel worse about themselves, but is unfounded anyway as we here are not seeing the poster’s full application.

“So what do I want out of it? I just want someone else who doesn’t know me personally (an admissions officer will be in the same position) to look at my credentials and to get feedback on what he or she sees.”

The difference here though is that we’re NOT admissions officers. Admissions staff are qualified people who read through someone’s whole application and view them comparatively with the rest of the applicant pool. A group of teenagers reading list of a poster’s grades and extracurriculars that may be exaggerated and irrelevant will not have the same quality of input.

syrbball153 · November 7, 2009, 11:14pm

portugeseninja- thankyou you posted a comment that was completly correct and i hope people learn from it. thankyou

percyshelley · November 8, 2009, 12:07pm

agreed, portugeseninja. very thoughtful post - sometimes I’m lucky enough to have as much clarity of thought as you’ve demonstrated, but often it’s muddled haha

T26E4 · November 8, 2009, 2:17pm

One of the funniest/peculiar phenomenon is the “chance me, I’ll chance you back” posts. If you don’t have a clue about your own odds, why the heck should I listen to your worthless opinion about mine?

I think most chance me threads are really “please make me feel good” threads.

percyshelley · November 8, 2009, 2:29pm

T26E4, I like most of your posts, and I know that you’re really helpful around the forum, but I’m not quite grasping how an additional shot at those who choose to post chance threads was really necessary.

christiansoldier · November 8, 2009, 3:59pm

No, I completely agree with T2. I’m not particularly opposed to the idea of chance threads in general. They can have a legitimate purpose. I just don’t see the point of “Chance Me, I’ll Chance Back.” You shouldn’t want somebody’s opinion unless they have something meaningful to say, and offering to return their opinion with your (obviously unfounded) opinion is just asking for people who don’t know what they’re talking about.

percyshelley · November 8, 2009, 4:30pm

Oh no, I agree with that part too. I was referring to the second part of the post (which seemed to me like a blanket insult to those posting chance threads), and should have made myself clear. It’s no big deal though, homies.

WannaBYalie · November 8, 2009, 5:30pm

I personally find that chance threads can be useful to other members, even if there is little use to the original poster. I for one have been able to more accurately assess the applicant pool and have taken some of the better applications and learned from them. Everyone seems to be always complaining about chance threads, but these threads are generally labeled “chance me”, and there is certainly no secret about what will be “inside” when you open the thread. If you are tired of them, don’t read them. Not exactly a hard concept… (no offense to anyone, I just get more tired of reading ppl complaining about chance threads than I do about actually reading them.)

T26E4 · November 8, 2009, 8:36pm

percyshelley: I concur. That last line wasn’t necessary and probably mean spirited. My over-arching advice i’d like to impart is for students to not needlessly worry. In my experience, by the time of application, the die has been cast – you’ll be viable candidate or not, you’ll be noticed in the large pool of applicants or not, your transcript and GPA are pretty set.

Also in my experience: I’d say about 99.5% of kids who consider applying to Y have excellent future in whatever college they choose to attend – whether Yale or any number of excellent choices available these days.

I wish I’d said this rather than my earlier line.

percyshelley · November 9, 2009, 6:31pm

Cool, cool. No worries And I think your assessment is spot on.

Lets make this the chance page!

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