<p>I am absolutely in love with Yale. Also, as a freshman, my Biology Honors teacher told me “Yale is a school you’ll never get into”. That really bothered me. Do you think he’ll be right? :(</p>
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<p>your teacher was wrong. even though your SATs aren’t that high, you really never know. Your ECs and other factors make up for it.</p>
<p>he’s probably right, in that yale has less than 20% admissions. Most people don’t get into yale. But that isn’t to say that you couldn’t get into yale. You are qualified so you have as good a chance as everyone else.</p>
<p>get your SAT score up, and get your counselor to explain your situation during sophomore year - you’re teacher is ABSOLUTELY wrong.</p>
<p>thanks for the replies!!</p>
<p>and again, that 2080 was a big surprise, i don’t know what happened. i am confident that I will score around 2200+ in the fall, and will definitely keep working to make sure it happens.</p>
<p>also, many have recommended using a counselor to explain strange circumstances… the problem is that I don’t know where i’ll attend next year, and probably won’t know my counselor very well. should I just try to explain my past situations to my new counselor?</p>
<p>“in that yale has less than 20% admissions”</p>
<p>7.5% acceptance rate.</p>
<p>And you have a unique background. Exploit it (in a constructive way) in your personal essay and you’re in.</p>
<p>You have about as good of chances as someone with your scores can have.</p>
<p>Double post.</p>
<p>but for SCEA its like 14%. I was way overshooting just to make a point that although what his teacher said was baseless, rude, and mean, there is a good chance he will be correct because Yale admissions is such a crapshoot.</p>
<p>You have a shot kid! </p>
<p>Telling a young person that it is not possible for them to get into a particular elite school is just plain mean. That being said , do not fixate on one particular school. Your goal should be to get into some good school. I confidently predict that will happen if you apply to a good mix of schools, take care with the essays, and maintain academic performance.</p>
<p>Your EC’s are super!</p>
<p>Are you for real?</p>
<p>The part of the story about your Father is terribly sad. Everyone has their difficulties.</p>
<p>You’re a minority which will help. Your stats are great. Don’t take this the wrong way but check out this story</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/harvard-university/733272-homeless-harvard-inspiring-moving-tale.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/harvard-university/733272-homeless-harvard-inspiring-moving-tale.html</a></p>
<p>What struck me was that this person got into every single college that she applied to, the best schools in the country and she was rejected nowhere. Tell them about your being homeless. It’s the truth and anything that is truthful is fair game. Harvard, Yale and Princeton are so hard to get into that I have never told someone that I thought they would get into them. I tell plenty of people they have a chance, but I have never told someone that I thought they would get in. I think you will. Applying early decision will help your chances.</p>
<p>Wait… I thought that 14% encompasses legacies, recruits, and donors, which, then, really is no different than a RD 7.5%?</p>
<p>wow thanks for all of the comments everyone!</p>
<p>Pea: that was a touching story. I have to say, though, that girl experienced much, much more than I have. But still, it was definitely inspiring.</p>
<p>And about SCEA/EA/ED… I will probably participate in the Questbridge CollegeMatch process, which nullifies my EA/ED etc options.</p>
<p>Besides, I thought ED only helps if you’re a URM, athlete, legacy, or your parents donate (similar to what powerbomb just said above). That’s what convinced me to forget about ED and go with Questbridge instead.</p>
<p>Uh, you’re not a URM (Corsican + Persian =/= URM). Anyway, what I said on your chances thread. Your teacher might be wrong. :)</p>
<p>But yeah, go Questbridge instead of ED with your situation.</p>
<p>“Wait… I thought that 14% encompasses legacies, recruits, and donors, which, then, really is no different than a RD 7.5%?”</p>
<p>The SCEA acceptance rate was about 13.4%. RD acceptance rate was about 5.5% (I believe). The overall acceptance rate was ~7.5%.</p>
<p>My counselor said something similar to me, that I’d never get into X University. That may or may not be true, but I guess we just need to work a bit harder and prove that they’re wrong.</p>
<p>When I first expressed interest in schools similar to Yale (well, I’m a hopeful future Yalie as well :P), he flat out you probably don’t have a shot. And that was before we actually started the conversation to see how I stack up! Talk about confidence boost!</p>
<p>@OP: Look, I really hope that you can get into your dream school, whether it be Yale or any other school. I’m rooting for you man, just hope that Yale adcoms see what you had to cope with. Best wishes! :)</p>
<p>haha, you guys are all awesome, thank you all so much!</p>
<p>It makes my blood boil when I hear of an authority figure that has said something like this. People that crush young peoples’ dreams should never be in a position to influence them.</p>
<p>That said, please consider in addition to Yale “Yale-like” schools that accept a higher percentage of applicants. Something tells me that you will do fine no matter where you go, but it would help you if you could stay in the same school for your senior year and apply to a variety of colleges.</p>
<p>You certainly can write app essays that reflect the difficulties and uniqueness of your life, but mind how you do this, flyingllama. You don’t want it to turn into an “Old Yeller”-style weepfest, but instead discuss how you took rose above these circumstances to make something of yourself, focus on your dreams, your work with the autistic boy, with the bank, and so on. No bs, though. Admissions officers have an instinct for when they’re being “played”.</p>
<p>I was telling my D about this post, and she says to tell you to check out “Mountains Beyond Mountains”, the Tracy Kidder book about Dr. Paul Farmer.</p>
<p>Best of luck.</p>