<p>Can someone who is just in the top 5% of their class get into Yale? I seems like everyone on these boards are val or sal or really close to it. I just in the top 5%…will this kill my chances? I’ve mostly all A’s and a few B’s…</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>top 10% is the sweet spot for places like HYPS…after that, i don’t think rank really matters THAT much, just like with SATs, after 2300, it doesn’t matter.
so, to answer your question, i think that top 5% is fine. good luck!!!</p>
<p>It all depends on your high school. For a competitive high school that regularly sends students to uber-elite colleges, top 5% is probably fine. For schools that don’t have that track record or aren’t as high performing, being val or sal is more necessary. Of course, a fabulous extracurricular buys you some wiggle room.</p>
<p>check out your academic index…that ought to help you out…if your class size is big, you’re fine…
you can check your AI here…
[Academic</a> Index](<a href=“http://www.collegeconfidential.com/academic_index.htm]Academic”>http://www.collegeconfidential.com/academic_index.htm)</p>
<p>I barely make top 10% in a class of about 300 and I got in…</p>
<p>rank (beyond 1 or 2) doesn’t really make a compelling candidate. I wouldn’t worry about it. With that said, from my school the only students who were of yale caliber usually came from the top 2 or 3 percent. But it varies very much from school to school, and the admissions office is aware of this.</p>
<p>Do you know just how Yale uses the academic index? The way I figure it, most of the applicants now have an index of 9. Am I right? If so, then how does it work into the decision process?
Thank you for any insight.</p>
<p>if I remember correctly from A is for Admission, academic index is used as a way to rank candidates…that is an easy way to set a limit, below which applicants will be rejected, thus ensuring academic excellence (a relative term nevertheless)…the AI was established and is used amongst Ivy League schools. I would highly recommend A is for Admission, not only as a stellar book which sheds some much-needed light in the admission process, but also in the way an applicant is viewed by adcoms…it’s a must have…</p>
<p>If every applicant had an AI of 9…then how were all those sub-2300 people accepted? I’m a believer that 6+ gets you in the running and it’s the intangibles (EC’s, recs, essays, interview) that get you in.</p>
<p>OK, I’m only a high school sophomore, so I am accepting that my reasoning may be flawed.</p>
<p>actually, it’s not true that most AIs are 9…do the math…it’s not possible that all applicants are 9s…tetrisfan’s rationale is more appropriate…after a certain point you are “competitive” and that’s all there is to it</p>
<p>The online AI calculator requires 3 SAT II scores to function, but Yale only requires 2.</p>
<p>So would an AI of 7 be good for Yale? Because that’s what I have…</p>
<p>yes…compared to my AI, yes…I had an AI of 6 and got in EA this year…</p>
<p>also, to BandTenHut’s post, Yale requires only two because they view the Writing SAT I score as an SAT II score…so just put your writing score as your third SAT II score</p>