Mediocre freshman year grades...okay SAT score...SCEA?

AdmissionsAddict
Wed, 03 Jun 2009 15:50:50 +0000

If Yale is your dream school, you’ll spend the rest of your life wondering you don’t apply EA, so do it.

Freshman year is far and away the best year to mess up with grades (not that B+s are messing up in any world other than hyper elite college admissions). If you’ve been strong since then, your freshman year grades will not kill your chances, especially if the rest of your profile is compelling. An issue you did not raise in your post is whether to disclose why you had “low” grades freshman year. Colleges get antsy about people with mental illness in their backgrounds. I’d run a search for threads about disclosing these issues. There have been at least 2-3 in the Parents Forum over the past few years. You need to understand this issue and weigh whether disclosure helps or hurts you.

As for your race, I believe Yale has a place where bi- and multi-racial applicants can fill in exactly what their heritage is. Be honest. Don’t try to play the system. You are who you are.

Good luck!