I already submitted my application to Yale for RD and I just can’t help wondering if I even have a chance. Can someone please give me their opinion?
GPA: Uw: 4.0 w:5.2
AP: 8
Class rank: 2/125
ACT: 29 (I know definitely not the best, I’m not a great test taker)
ACT writing: 11/12
Race: White
Gender: Female
EX:
-Football: first female in school history to play on the varsity football team
-club soccer (4 years) traveled across country and international
-varsity socce (3years): school record holder and multiple MVP and all-region honors
-Cross country
-Track
-SGA Class president (4 years)
-NHS president
-Spanish club and beta club secretary
-Cofounder and writer for political blog
-internship chamber of commerce
-internship law firm
-Served as NC governors page
-big brothers big sisters volunteer
-referee soccer games
What do you guys think? If you need some more information to make a better assessment please let me know!
Yale is a Reach for all applicants and your ACT score will hinder your chances.
Apply if you want but make sure you have a few solid safety schools and Match schools on the list.
Thanks for the advice. My test scores are definitely the worst part of my application. My friend just got in with a 30 ACT to Yale, so that gives me a bit of hope.
@katebelle3 , you are right that the ACT is the worst part of your application. It represents a 3 hour slice of your life; a slice where any number of things could have adversely affected you. Your GPA represents years of your life. Yale AOs know this; it’s their bread and butter.
As is often said, Yale is a reach for everyone, but you already know that. You need to apply to a range of schools, but you already know that. Different sport to yours, but Wayne Gretzky said “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take,” and you apparently knew that already, because you took a shot.
Please let us know if you are accepted. I, for one, am rooting for you. Good luck, but remember there’s no shame in not being accepted.
^^^ Perhaps I am misreading the post, but no one has a 75% chance of getting into Yale (or any highly selective school) based purely only test scores, GPA/rank and rigor. If we look at some stat’s on Stanford and Brown’s websites where they provide admissions rates by score/GPA bands for the class of 2020 https://admission.stanford.edu/apply/selection/profile16.htmlhttps://www.brown.edu/admission/undergraduate/explore/admission-facts you can see how low the admissions rates are for kids with perfect/near perfect test scores and gpa’s. Of course not all applicants will have both, but it is likely that a high percentage will, plus good rigor. I think perhaps the best way to extrapolate chances for super highly qualified applicants is to look at EA admissions rates after backing out some assumptions for athletic recruits and development cases. We can assume that the EA pool is going to have a super high proportion of top stats kids, and even then the adjusted EA rates for HYP for 2021 I calculate to be between 12-14% (I assumed about 200 athletic recruits and development cases). We can make whatever assumptions we want about how many “lotto” applicants are in the EA pool to adjust the admissions rate for top stats kids. Another way to look at this is I know Yale had about 6000 applicants make it into final Committee last year. Of these, they accepted only 2272, or less than 40% of the top group of kids after a full holistic review.
Your extracurriculars seem very compelling to me, but your ACT score hurts you a lot. If you wrote good essays I would say you have a decent shot, but the odds definitely are not in your favor. Good luck, we are rooting for you!
This seems like a small school in NC. Not sure how competitive it is. You don’t mention AP exams, SAT IIs, or academic competitions. I am not sure if you are at the academic level of most applicants to Ivies. The ECs are good, but with those ACTs and what you present here, it may be borderline for a top 30 school.
Katebelle3. I believe you can do it. If your goal is to get into schools like Yale then don’t give up. If not this time try again as a transfer or take a year off from college and do something productive and interesting and work on your ACT and apply as a high school reapplicant. Taking a gap year and doing things that most seniors wish they had the time to do is very valuable.
My DS started with 19 in ACT practice test in his Sophomore year. And after practice taking the test on his own time he raised it to 35 on a real deal. So obviously Practice is helpful. But you must learn with every Practice what you are doing wrong so you become productive. So if you can raise 1/2 point on every test you take then you can reach your goal from where you are.
If you don’t get in now and apply as a transfer it is even more difficult to get admitted. If you want to go to school like Yale, and doesn’t have to be, I would take a gap year to think and learn more about yourself. This would be another good essay topic to write about. You will have more time to be prepared. Good luck to you!
