What caused my deferral?

Colleges & Universities Yale University
1

<p>Hey guys,</p>

<p>Like many of you guys who are reading this, I was deferred from Yale. So, now I am trying to improve my apps for HPS. However, I would like to hear why you guys think I was deferred. My stuff is below…any feedback is appreciated!!!</p>

<p>GPA: 4.0 (UW) and 4.2 (W) (highest GPA given at school…we dont have many APs)
Rank: 1/327
ACT: 35 (Probably wont submit though)
SAT: 2340-----800 CR, 780 W, 760 M (Only took test one time)
SAT 2: 790 in Bio and 770 in US (will take one more soon)
Race: White (Serbian)
State of Residency: Nebraska
Recs: Great!
Desired Major/Minor- Bio/Econ</p>

<p>Main School ECs:
FBLA (9-12) Historian and Treasurer (captain of econ challenge and stock market teams)
SADD(9-12) Class Rep for 3 years
Science Club (11-12) President and Founder
AcDec (10-12) Captain for 2 years
Olympus Club (9-12) Active Member and Sophomore recruiter
NHS (11-12) Student Mentor
Quiz Bowl (9-12)–Captain…mostly only did stuff during lunch though
Science Olympiad (11-12) Captain</p>

<p>Community Service:
Red Cross–350 hours
Sunday School Teacher for 2nd and 3rd Graders—300 hours
American Cancer Society-----100 hours
Volunteered at Local Congressman’s Office----200 hours (executive volunteer)</p>

<p>Sports-
Did Cross Country for 2 years but was only an average runner…no awards or anything</p>

<p>Awards:
1st Place in Cell Bio and 3rd in Health Science at State Science Olympiad
1st in Health Science and 3rd in Dynamic Planet at NE regional Science Olympiad
1st in Health Science and 3rd in Disease Detectives at NE Regional Science Olympiad
1st in State Econ Challenge…flew to Houston for free and got 5th Place in Midwest
1st in State Microeconomics at Econ Challenge
2nd in State Finance Challenge 2008
3rd in State Finance Challenge 2007
3rd in Regional Economics Challenge
4th in state at Cyber Security Competition
Friend of Alexander Hamilton Merit Award Winner
Represented my HS at NE State Leadership Seminar
Local Radio Station and News Station’s volunteer of the year award
At least commended for National Merit
Won Like 20 regional AcDec Awards (was a top scorer at all of the competitions we were at)
Won like 3rd and 4th and 1st in state at “Knowledge Master” last three years</p>

<p>Work Experience:</p>

<p>Working as a paid research intern with a doctor at my local med center
Worked a paper route for 6 years</p>

2

<p>Your stats are exceptional. I don’t think your deferral was “caused,” and I would think you have a good chance of being admitted RD.</p>

3

<p>As a fellow victim of deferral facing the same situation, I can only surmise that nothing in particular “caused” your deferral. Simply put, Yale just has way too many qualified people and does not have places to put them all. It may be that they needed a bassoonist, or a diver, so chose to accept them instead. Unfortunately, this cannot reflect how other schools will decide because in the end, it’s all about what the school needs that particular year to create a well-rounded class. </p>

<p>That being said, nothing in your resume is wrong or bad, I guess it’s just not what Yale absolutely needed this year. The worst thing is, there’s nothing we can REALLY do at this point. I mean, grades, tests, EC’s, are pretty much set. It’s not like we can win a couple national awards in the next few weeks. The only thing we can do is change our essays, but being deferred certainly doesn’t mean you have a bad essay. </p>

<p>That’s basically what I have concluded in the horrendous two days since my deferral.</p>

4

<p>I would say that you were deferred because there wwere one or two other kids in Nebraska who had similar credentials but had some particular characteristic that Yale was looking for. I don’t see anything that you should do differently–assuming that your list of RD schools includes matches and safeties, and not just HPS.</p>