Not confident at all. Chances?

Colleges & Universities Yale University
1

<p>I would be applying EA but due to Yale’s rules about scholarship deadlines at other schools, I can’t. </p>

<p>White male from Ohio
GPA: 4.49 weighted, 3.8 (I think) unweighted
SAT: 650 CR, 680 M, 700 W (1330/2030) and 630 CR, 800 M, 690 W (1430/2120)
I took my Subject Tests today; Math 1 and French with Listening. I might take Literature and something else next month.
ACT: 30 composite. I retook it last month and feel much more confident about it. Probably a 32 at least.</p>

<p>AP Scores: Psychology- 4, Euro- 2 (long story, but I could have done better); I’ll be taking French, US Government, and Statistics in May</p>

<p>Courses/Grades
I took Algebra 1, Geometry, and French 1 in junior high for high school credit. I got As in all of them.
9th Grade
Jazz Band: A,A
Honors English: A,A
French 2: A,A
Honors Physical Science: A,A
Band: A,A
Honors Algebra 2: B,B
Honors American Studies (US History): A,A
10th Grade
Honors Chemistry: A,A
Jazz Ensemble: A,A
French 3: A,A
AP Euro History: A,A
Band: A,A
Honors English: A,B
11th Grade
IB English HL 1: B,B
Jazz Ensemble: A,A
Honors Pre-Calc: A,A
French 4: A,A
Band: A,A
IB Biology HL 1: B,B
AP Psychology: A,A
**12th Grade<a href=“First%20Quarter%20Grades”>/B</a>
IB English HL 2: B
Jazz Ensemble: A
AP Statistics: A
AP U.S. Government: B (borderline A; my teacher doesn’t teach!)
Band: A
IB Biology HL 2: A</p>

<p>Awards/Honors
Most Outstanding French 2, 3, and 4 Student
National Merit Commended Student
NHS
Scholar Athlete Award
Viking Merit Award (Teacher-nominated award for, well, merit)</p>

<p>Extra-Curricular
-Student Council Representative (all four years)
-Jazz Ensemble (selected to play at OMEA State Conference this January; toured Southeastern U.S. with performances and recorded a CD at Karian Studios in Nashville, trip to NYC this spring; lead Alto Saxophone the past two years)
-Symphonic Band (Trip to Hawaii freshman year including a performance at Pearl Harbor, trip to Disney World last year including a performance in EPCOT, Superior Rating at OMEA district contest)
-Marching Band (Trombone Section Leader this year)
-NHS
-sophomore mentoring program
-Pennies for Patients Committee (Ranked first in the nation in total fundraising last year)
-Vikings (Student Ambassador program for selected seniors)
-School newspaper’s Copy Editor
-JV Soccer (9,10)
-Basketball (9.10)
-Trip to Italy and France the summer after 9th grade with my French teacher</p>

<p>Volunteering<a href=“I’m%20really%20lacking%20here”>/U</a>
-local food pantry (30-40 hours)
-elementary tutoring this year
-Vikings program is a volunteer program</p>

<p>Work Experience
-Outback Steakhouse; Busser; 20 hrs/week summer, 15 hrs/week school; 6/08-Present
-undisclosed local restaurant; Greeter/Server; 12 hrs/week; 10/07-6/08
-Youth Soccer referee; 3-4 hrs/week seasonal; 9/04-Present</p>

<p>Recommendations from my AP Psych teacher (I think i want to major in psychology) and IB English teacher (hers is really good)</p>

<p>Essays about working at the restaurant (people who have read it say it’s extremely funny) and my grandfather’s quadriplegia in the middle of my childhood and how it has impacted my outlook on life.</p>

<p>All in all, I’m not confident about my application. My volunteer hours are minuscule because of working the past two years and sports my first two years of high school. I haven’t started any programs or been to any national leadership conferences (I personally think they’re a waste of money). Give me your opinions…</p>

2

<p>I don’t think that your chances are all that fabulous :(</p>

<p>maybe if you raise your ACT to like a 33?</p>

3

<p>They’re not super, but never say never.</p>

4

<p>As Yale is above all an academic institution, academic strength is our first consideration in evaluating any candidate. The single most important document in the application is the high school transcript. We look for students who have consistently taken a broad range of challenging courses throughout their high school careers. There are no score cut-offs for standardized tests: the median scores of admitted students on the verbal and mathematical portions of the SAT generally fall in the mid 700s, and ACT composites in the low 30s, but successful applicants present a wide range of test results. While there is no hard and fast rule, it is:::::: safe to say that performance is relatively more important than testing. A very strong performance in a demanding college preparatory program may compensate for modest standardized test scores:::::::::, but it is unlikely that high standardized test scores will persuade the Admissions Committee to disregard an undistinguished secondary school record.</p>

<p>::::::emphasis added:::::::</p>

<p>I think your highschool record may have more weight to the admissions committee if it was the most difficult that you could pursue. The French awards show depth of an extra; you really liked/pursued French. Your EC’s look a little eclectic to me, but my measure of what is normal is probably the exception. Most kids, (myself included), who are in a position to have a job never even get one, so I think your work experience may also let the admissions officers where you stood in terms of time available for things like the mindless and rote preparation that is tested by the SAT’s/ACT.</p>

<p>Make sure those SAT 2s are high though, they directly test your knowledge of a subject, and not something vague and subjective like “scholastic aptitude” as defined by the CEEB.</p>

5

<p>I forgot to mention that the 30 on my ACT won’t even be recognized by Yale since I didn’t do the writing portion. I retook it with writing last week and, like I said, I feel much more confident about it.</p>

<p>I also forgot to mention my rank which is 9/427 (I don’t know the exact class size but it’s in the 420s). The top 5% is always extremely competitive at my school.</p>

6

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</p>

<p>Not everyone studies for these things…</p>

<p>Also you do have a lot of B’s on your transcript, so that might make it slightly difficult to disregard test scores in lieu of extraordinary grades.</p>

7

<p>“my teacher doesn’t teach” that is not the impression that you want Yale to receive… you earn your grades, the teacher doesn’t “give them” to you.</p>

8

<p>You should not be confident. You are applying to Yale.</p>

9

<p>To eating food:</p>

<p>I read an interview with an admissions officer from Yale (either on Digg or technorati, I can’t remember) where the question of difficulty versus performance came up, and his initial answer implied they didn’t think much of the difference between an A and a B in a challenging course, but that it was important to take as many and as challenging courses as possible.</p>