Please help a worried fellow

worriedfellow
Sun, 06 Dec 2009 20:37:15 +0000

Hi. I have been reading these forums awhile and comparing myself to the Yale applicants. I will be applying to Yale next year, and comparing myself to you guys on this site make me quite worried I am not going to get in. I have finally decided to do a chance-me thread. My concern is that my classes are not rigorous enough to be considered seriously for admission to Yale. I only will have “very demanding” courses checked off by my guidance counselor, apparently. I am really sad.

I am extremely worried! I am not able to concentrate because I feel that my chances are blown! Please tell me if I actually have a chance of being accepted to Yale. I am using a template I found on another thread.

Objective:[ul]
[] SAT I (breakdown): 1950, not using.
[] ACT: 32.
[] SAT II: Not using.
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 15/656. (I know it’s pretty good, but the people ahead of me are taking more AP’s than me!)
[] AP (place score in parenthesis): This year, AP Chem, AP Gov. Probably a 3 and 4, respectively. Sadly the classes people at my school excel at due to good teachers I am not taking until next year. (Senior year I will have Stats and Calc AB).
[] IB (place score in parenthesis): Not an IB school.
[] Senior Year Course Load: AP Calc AB, AP Stats (maxed out math), Spanish IV, English IV Honors (should I take AP Lit?), Physics I Honors.
[] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Rising Sunshine State Scholar, local writing award, Varsity letter, academic letter
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Academic team (captain), Math Honor Society/Mu Alpha Theta (president), FIRST Robotics (officer), NHS (president), Varsity swimmer (grade 9-10)
[] Job/Work Experience: Camp counselor
[] Volunteer/Community service: About 80 hours mentoring children, 50+ tutoring peers
[] Summer Activities: (total): Swimming conditioning, child mentoring, high school classes, executive internship
[] Essays: Hopefully great
[] Teacher Recommendation: Well, my teachers like me. Good, hopefully. One of them has taught me Chem I and AP Chem, and she is the sponsor of academic team. I know her well.
[] Counselor Rec: I hope she is on my side.
[] Additional Rec: Probably an assistant principal or engineer mentor.
[] Interview: It will be exciting for me.
[/ul]Other[ul]
[] Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes.
[] Intended Major: Chemistry.
[] State (if domestic applicant): FL
[] Country (if international applicant):
[] School Type: Large public.
[] Ethnicity: White
[] Gender: Male
[] Income Bracket: $80-120k, I think.
[] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None : (
[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[] Strengths: Passion (I do, it’s just hard to tell in this post), Essays, Extracurricular leadership
[li] Weaknesses: Test scores and academic rigor[/li][/ul]General Comments: The Yale site states explicitly that academic rigor on the transcript is the most important aspect of an application. I only have an average number of AP classes, I am not ranked number one, and I only have “very demanding”. I feel this is very detrimental to me. I think I was scared I’d have too much work and didn’t take AP Euro or some other options. I took electives instead. My parents influenced me. They think that I am “fine” and I don’t need to worry. They don’t realize it’s different than when they were kids. My dad went to Princeton.

Please tell me if I still have a chance, I am afraid that my unwise decisions in grades 9 and 10(not doing extra classes, just electives) are going to damage my chances substantially.

Thanks. Go Yale!

P.S.: Would taking online AP Classes be wise? I am unfamiliar with FLVS and the work involved.