Stellar GPA, Modest SAT

Colleges & Universities Yale University
1

<p>Stellar GPA, Modest SAT! </p>

<hr>

<p>What are my chances of acceptance? What should I do to improve my application?</p>

<p>Background:</p>

<p>Hispanic (born in NYC)
Florida resident</p>

<p>Stats:</p>

<p>GPA: 7.2 Weighted and 3.96 unweighted (on a scale of 4.0)
Rank: 1/588</p>

<p>AP classes: (Separated by grade level 10th grade to 12th grade)</p>

<p>All A’s in…</p>

<p>10th
AP Biology (3)
AP World History (3) </p>

<p>11th
Projected scores from many practice tests
AP English Language (4)
AP U.S History (5)
AP Chemistry (3)
AP Art History (5)
AP Microeconomics (5) </p>

<p>Senior schedule
AP Physics
AP Calculus
AP English Literature
AP Spanish Language
AP Macroeconomnics
AP Computer Science A
AP American Government </p>

<p>SAT:</p>

<p>Critical Reading: 650
Math: 680
Writing: 650</p>

<p>SAT II:
(taken in 10th grade)
Biology E: 660
World History: 610</p>

<p>Organizations and clubs:</p>

<p>National Beta Club
Chess Club
Marching Band (only in 9th)
Concert Band (only in 9th)
Church Band
(10th to 12th to continue passion for music even though band in class did not fit schedule)
National Honor Society
Social Studies Honor Society (only 10th)
Mu Alpha Theta (math club)
Jr. Civitan
Key Club
Student Government executive council (10th and 11th)</p>

<p>Leadership:</p>

<p>first chair trumpet concert band section leader (9th)
National Beta Club community service laison (10th and 11th)
National Beta Club President (12th)
Student Government
Church Usher
Mu Alpha Theta Historian</p>

<p>Community Service:</p>

<p>500 Hours
including helping in schools (helping teachers setup and the office prepare for the new year), cystic fibrosis walk, care for children in hospital and child care after school. Also afterschool tutor for spanish.</p>

<p>No job
Not a famous school (will college consider the average SAT score for the school is 990?)</p>

<p>Goal: Pre-Med major</p>

<p>what are my chances?</p>

<p>How about for harvard or duke?</p>

2

<p>don’t take this the wrong way…but because you’re hispanic, you’re probably in. those are decent stats, but they look really good when put in the “underprivileged, self-starter” light. id bet on you getting into yale, and you probably have a very good shot at harvard as well. i’d be very surprised if you didn’t get into duke. most important this is to write a compelling essay. shouldnt be that hard for you though.</p>

3

<p>Wellumyeah, thanks for your comments. Would they consider middle middle class underprivieged? I mean, I know Yallies have parent incomes of over 200,000 dollars! Self starter, not exactly, my parents have already earned degrees in their colleges. What could I say to add the “drama” effect? I’m not going to lie though!</p>

4

<p>I’d try to boost those SAT I scores.</p>

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<p>apfreak, you will get in.apply ED and you’ll most likely be accepted. im applying to Yale RD and im mexican american, NOT hispanic… im not sure if it helps to have an M flag instead of an H flag.</p>

6

<p>Maybe you should post this in a few more forums…</p>

7

<p>Myopic, whoa! Isn’t a mexican american a hispanic? I’m Puerto Rican, so is there somewhere in the application where you can put what type of hispanic you are?</p>

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<p>What are the ideal SAT and SATII scores to get into an IVY like Harvard, princeton, and yale? What about DUKE?</p>

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<p>varies from person to person. id say generally three scores of all 750 or above is in the ballpark. obviously people have gotten in with less and denied with more. they’re going to give a LOT of leeway to minorities though, the idea being that the typical urm has not been able to do princeton review or whatever. you might wanna take some more sat iis that you think you could do better on. u.s. history, i thought, was a pretty easy one, as was english literature.</p>

<p>still, thought, you still stand a very good shot with your scores. i stand by my statement that the essay is going to be very important for you.</p>

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<p>Definitely apply. Definitely.</p>

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<p>Do they seriously give that much leeway to hispanics and other minorities?? I know I have great grades but my SAT is soso!</p>

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<p>If you take MORE SATIIs will they only look at the highest two and then the writing ??? If so Id take US history because my teacher was awesome --pretty sure 5 on AP exam and possibility of 730 on SATII</p>

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<p>they give significant leeway. its not a guarantee, minority kids do get rejected. but they definetely take a kinder view. your class rank will help especially. you might wanna consider retaking the sat 1s, as i think you could crack 2100 without much trouble. but youre record reflects an extremely hard-working, self-starting, motivated kid. these schools, yale especially, love that. harvard may be a tougher sell, but again, class rank and performance is more important than test scores, and you have that in spades.</p>

<p>i think you’re right about the sat 2s. although im not sure theyll look at writing now that its part of the sat 1. but yeah, i do believe they only look at the top 3.</p>

<p>one other thing id advise; these schools like a few solid extra-curriculars. dont have a list a mile long on your application; choose those youve been involved in the longest and are most passionate about.</p>

14

<p>read “A is for Admission” - you can get into any Ivy with low scores as long as you a Mexican American, Puerto Rican, Hispanic, or Native American.</p>

<p>There are three hispanic fields, apfreak. I am mexican american. you can get a P flag, it helps. i know my mexicxan maerican looks better than a H flag.</p>

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<p>I have a question - how in the world do you have a 7.2 GPA? AP classes are typically graded on a 5 point scale, so even if you took nothing but AP classes (no electives or regular classes), I think the highest GPA you could get would be 5.0. Can you explain this? While there is definitely an emphasis on great GPAs, you need a combination of great GPA and great SAT to get in (for the most part), and even that doesn’t always work.</p>

<p>Also, I second the statement that being a Hispanic applicant will provide a boost of sorts to your application, but I wouldn’t settle with what you have now (so, it’s good that you are showing initiative by getting chances on a site like this). And myopic - Yale does not offer ED. Apply SCEA if Yale is your number one choice (and don’t be discouraged if you get deferred - lindseylujh, a Native American/Caucasian applicant, applied SCEA, got deferred, and got in. She also got into Harvard - where she’s going - Princeton, Columbia, Brown, Dartmouth, Amherst, Williams, Swarthmore, etc. etc. etc.).</p>

<p>And PLEASE don’t worry about coming from a crappy, no-name school. I come from one myself, and it didn’t hurt me a bit. In fact, it may help you, since you are showing incredible ambition by (I’m assuming) being the first in your school to apply to Yale. [I feel like I’m making this post every time I log on.]</p>

<p><a href=“will%20college%20consider%20the%20average%20SAT%20score%20for%20the%20school%20is%20990?”>quote</a>

[/quote]

Yes, if it is included on a School Profile - ask your guidance counselor. The average at my school is a little over 1000, but that is because only nine people took the SAT the year I did. (I was also the only one to take SAT II’s.)</p>

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<p>Vivaldi87, my school does GPA on a scale of 4.0. 4 is an A, 3 is a B and so on. Then all the 4s from As or whatever grade I make is averaged. For a 9 weeks of an honors class i get .04 added to my GPA. For a 9 weeks in an AP class i get .08 added to my GPA. Also, I hate doing this but it WILL happen, 7.2 is my end of semester one SENIOR GPA–i’m assuming I will get about all As and maybe two Bs worst. As of now (3rd 9weeks of JR year I have a 5.83).</p>

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<p>That is…unusual…</p>

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<p>Yor SAT scores are pathetic</p>

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<p>I agree 'most everyone who has posted here. Your stats, such as GPA, AP classes, and EC’s are impressive. And contrary to what chanchito says, your SAT scores are NOT pathetic. They’re slightly on the low side for HYPMS, but there have been many acceptees who scored much lower. In addition, the fact that you’re Hispanic is a boost in your application. Have you been contacted by Yale’s Multicultural Recruitment Program?</p>

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<p>Your GPA is amazing… great job, I busted my *ss this year and still couldnt quite crack a 3.9. I also go to a Florida school, and I can see your schedule is really tough. You definetely have a shot since you’re a minority, and please do not let this comment by any means discourage you, but I cant understand how anyone here is saying that you look to be ‘definetely in’. I mean, that cant be said about anyone in the whole freakin country. Yale rejects 90% of its applicants so that gives you an idea how tough it is to get in.</p>

<p>If this is your dream school, go for it EA, you’re definetely in the ballpark. But it is not right for people to get your hopes up, when you might be dissappointed later on…</p>

<p>BTW, your SAT scores are not that bad and I would work on raising your SAT II’s which seem rather low for a student that good in school (and yes you’re THAT good) Dont sweat much over your chances though, just give a shot, after all thats the best you can do. Wherever you end up going is going to be a great school.</p>