<p>I want to be the very best, like no one ever was. To catch them is my real test, to train them in my cause.</p>
<p>Well, I don’t particularly agree with the post. I wasn’t number 1, nor were my EC’s nearly as developed as some of the others seen on CC. I’m not a genius or anything, but I still got accepted. </p>
<p>But, that aside, what if you can’t be number 1? What if your SAT scores aren’t high enough? What if you can’t write essays?</p>
<p>Boohoo. What if you don’t have what Yale wants in an applicant? Then you simply won’t get in. There’s nothing more to it. It’s not an assessment of your personal worth or anything – you simply don’t have what Yale wants.</p>
<p>I mean, can you force someone to marry you when you have none of the qualities he/she seeks? Can you force someone to buy a product that the he/she doesn’t want? </p>
<p>You can complain about it all you want, but it won’t change the fact of the matter.</p>
<p>@Jersey13, I would advise you to travel across the land and search far and wide.</p>
<p>I know its your destiny.</p>
<p>I do have one comment on this thread–when somebody posts a rant complaining about how nobody with good but not fantastic grades and scores can get in, it really is not helpful for somebody who is strongly hooked (URM and/or recruited athlete) to respond that one can get in with lower scores.</p>
<p>Hunt, thanks for clarifying that, I thought that I’d made it obvious enough before but I guess all of these valedictorians didn’t catch on.</p>
<p>OP, please do not despair. I am a white female and I had an SAT score below 2300. I’m pretty much a normal top student who’s passionate about a few ECs and wrote thoughtful essays. I didn’t think I had a real shot at any ultra-selective schools, but, to my great surprise, I got into 4 ivy leagues, including Harvard and Yale. I couldn’t tell you how many times during the application process that I got overwhelmed with all the essays I had to write and considered just not applying to Harvard or Yale because what was the point? I hadn’t a shot anyway. I knew they rejected plenty of valedictorians. But now I am SO grateful that I worked hard on those applications instead of throwing in the towel. You never know what could happen – apply to your dream schools, and you may be pleasantly surprised. If not, you’ll get into plenty of other somewhat less selective albeit excellent institutions!</p>
<p>Now that’s helpful!</p>
<p>:) the only “hook” I can think of is that my prospective major is pretty unusual. Other than that, I really do think that I was average as far as Harvard and Yale applicants go. My SAT was in the 2200-2300 range, which I think is about average for H & Y. They reject plenty of applicants with scores better than mine, so what I think got me in was genuine intellectual passion and curiosity. You can have a perfect 2400 and a slew of ECs, but if your teacher recs/essays/interview make you come off as somewhat fake, it will hurt you significantly – certainly more than a <2300 SAT would. Just be yourself and know that even if you don’t get into your dream school, you will be very happy at the ones that do accept you :).</p>
<p>I agree with Hunt. You must have had some notion you would get into some Ivys if you applied to at least four.</p>
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<p>You can thank Hunt all you want, but being valedictorian isn’t really a hook because there are so many of them and not all of them are of the same quality. And I am not a valedictorian (probably not even in the top 10 or 15), so stop stereotyping. You’re doing yourself no good by complaining. And for future reference, I have no hooks as far as I’m concerned.</p>
<p>And also, while a lack of resources may stop you from being an outstanding athlete / musician / etc., it shouldn’t stop you from being this prestigious valedictorian position you speak of because the people at your school are given the same set of resources.</p>
<p>My original post was intended to be helpful, but all you do is complain and challenge other people, so what’s the point? Even if you have amazing credentials you’ll have a hard time getting into top colleges if that attitude comes across to your teachers / in your essays.</p>
<p>Honestly, that isn’t what colleges of Yale’s caliber are looking for. I visited Harvard, MIT, and Princeton (which all have similar admissions to those at Yale) over spring break and was actually surprised about what they said regarding admissions. They want to make sure that you are qualified academically. They want to see you have tried and done well in school taking the harest courses available. They want to see that your SAT is above a certain point to make sure that you are qualified (it is actually about 700 in each section). They also, however, want to see that you are active. That you show initiative. They want to craft a class that would take advantages of all Yale has to offer. You must remember that though Yale rejects 4.0s and 2400s every year, it is because they are lacking. Write your essays well and show who you are. Many brilliant students make that fatal mistake and mess up the essays thereby all but eliminating themself from the application pool. Do something, have an impact (positive of course) on others. Let that be shown through your letters of recomendation. I hope this helps you, and I wish you the best of luck regarding your application this coming year.</p>
<p>Yelopen,</p>
<p>Your valedictorian comment holds no weight because I was simply using an example, I could have used so many other names. I don’t want to be valedictorian by the way. The valedictorian is an Asian boy with no friends that spends all of his time studying. He is on my Tennis team. He is never at any tournaments, and anytime that we are not obligated to play Tennis, he does homework. Anyway, I think valedictorian is auto-in at some schools, but at others it can be a condemnation. I would rather graduate magna cum laude. </p>
<p>As far as your attitude comment goes, you all see only this aspect of me, you only see what I say on the internet, thus you have not enough information to conclude that I am a negative person all of the time. I am very optimistic and friendly in real life, and I am not trying to purposely dispute everything everyone says just for the sake of proving that I am right, I am trying to expose the truth. </p>
<p>Note to people who post in here saying it’s not as bad as I say it is: it is not that hard for me to look at your statistics. YeloPen, I already talked about your statistics before. Here is a quote:</p>
<p>"Numbers
SAT I - 2380 (800 M, 800 W, 780 CR, one sitting)
SAT II - 740 Math II (freshman year), 800 Math II, 800 Chemistry, 800 Chinese, 720 USH
GPA - Total: 3.96 UW / 4.45 W; 10th - 12th: 3.93 UW / 4.70 W
Rank - school doesn’t rank, but top 2.5%-ish at least in a class of 600-700
APs - 14 AP classes including senior year, pretty much the most rigorous schedule you can take. I’ve taken 9 AP exams for the 9 AP classes I’ve completed, all 5s (Calc BC, Chemistry, Chinese, World History, Biology, Eng Lang, Physics B, Statistics, US History)</p>
<p>ECs
Clarinet (9-12): several regional comp. awards, advancing to state level comp. in april, performed solo at Copley Symphony Hall (where San Diego Symphony performs)
San Diego Youth Symphony (9-12): principal clarinet for one year
Hospital Volunteer (10-12): 200-250 hours, Surgical Ortho, Info Desk, Lobby Musician
Volleyball (9-12): JV co-captain (11)
Summer Internship (12): ~100 hours at DNA sequencing company
Piano (9, 10): completed Certificate of Merit
Electric Guitar (11, 12): for fun</p>
<p>Various other activities for one year: Academic Team, Speech & Debate, Science Olympiad (mediocre awards), club volleyball
Work Experience: I had a short summer job as a TA for a local summer school for kids</p>
<p>Academic Awards
National Merit Semi-Finalist (and Finalist)
National AP Scholar
Qualified for National Chemistry Olympiad (explained citizenship ineligibility in add. info)
National Honor Society (11-12)"</p>
<p>I mean no offense in saying this, but with your statistics in mind, there is not much room for you to come in this thread and say that I am wrong. Also, everyone is emphasizing SAT scores, making it seem like I think that one HAS TO HAVE a 2400. I know the almost nonexistent difference between a 2400 and a 2380, for example. </p>
<p>By the way, the only other person I know that cares as much as the college process as I do is my best friend, nobody else. Most people I ask want to go to the nearest state university, while there are some completely misinformed people who will say Yale or Harvard without knowing a single thing about how hard it is. I am not concerned with competition from my peers. They are fine with the resources because they don’t know that they are insufficient at the moment. </p>
<p>Conclusively, I would like to say that I am not trying to just “complain and challenge other people” as you seem to think I am. The more you know the more miserable you are. I am not trying to boast my knowledge of universities, that would simply be immature and idiotic. Look up Grigori Perelman and I rest my case.</p>
<p>SheenR - I am in much the same position, except I’d like to add that I’ve actually been asked what Princeton is (they thought I was discussing the Princeton Review test prep books). =P And then there was that time when someone had never heard of MIT…</p>
<p>Anyways, the central idea of your thread is no longer clear to me. If you’re emphasizing that Yale accepts only the best of the best, that’s an awfully redundant statement in the context of CC; the majority of us are well-aware that <em>something</em> must distinguish accepted students from rejected ones at a school of Yale’s caliber. However, you ought to keep in mind “best” and “something” can be broadly interpreted, focusing mostly on students who would fit well and enthusiastically utilize Yale’s resources–not necessarily a Siemens/Intel/USAMO/USABO/etc. student. </p>
<p>On the other hand, if you’re <em>complaining</em> that Yale accepts only the best of the best…that’s a very odd concern. You’ve spoken of your grades as low 90’s and the occasional 89, and perhaps these are, as you seem to believe (a belief other CCers have argued against and, IMHO, refuted), sub-par for Yale. But realistically speaking, would you care so much if Yale weren’t so selective? </p>
<p>I believe you have three options:
- Justify and act upon your belief that you do not qualify for Yale or a comparable school. Instead, learn to appreciate the options that <em>are</em> open to you, and enjoy your life without regrets.
- Improve yourself. Do everything you believe will improve your college application.
- Listen to some of the posters on this board, and forget college for now. You’re a freshman, and you should be enjoying your life while you can–take the time to experiment and explore. Find a true passion, and come to realize that undergraduate does not an individual make. If you’re truly dedicated, you’ll be successful regardless of where you go.</p>
<p>To end this, I want to stress what many others have already written: you do <em>not</em> have to be perfect to enter Yale. Yalie CCers are only a small slice of the school’s total undergrad population; it is far from a representative sample, and do not be fooled by it. As I may have mentioned before, I know many Ivy undergrads who are less impressive than the ones on this website. Don’t be intimidated.</p>
<p>Even if it is nearly impossible to enter Yale…well, so what? What if you are rejected? Will you let one school, one decision, one singularly, subjective evaluation of your person by fallible human beings–will you really allow this to determine your self-perception? Life hinges on much, much more than college, and it’s more than possible to succeed without a star-studded GPA, record-setting ECs, etc. I refer you to an article posted elsewhere on CC: [When</a> Success Follows the College Rejection Letter - WSJ.com](<a href=“When Success Follows the College Rejection Letter - WSJ”>When Success Follows the College Rejection Letter - WSJ)</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
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<p>Not by necessity.</p>
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<p>No offense taken. But I still think there is room for me to come in here and say what I’ve said because the title of your thread is about being #1, which is certainly something I am not. And, I agree with you, a 2380 is pretty much a 2400. But what does that mean? Abso-lutely nothing (okay, not nothing, but not as much as you make it seem). Go on the Yale decisions thread and look. There are handfuls of people with similar or even perfect scores who get rejected. There are also many people who have lower scores than me and get admitted. And CC’ers tend to be on the high end of the scale, so keep that in mind.</p>
<p>What this means is that the admissions process is not as number or activities-based as you might think it is. It’ll come down to essays and recommendations (or else, I admit, I wouldn’t have been admitted to some schools over my more “qualified” peers). No need to put my profile up on a pedestal because I’ve been flat-out rejected by Harvard, Princeton, MIT, waitlisted by Columbia, etc.</p>
<p>The truth is, people get admitted without a perfect SAT score, GPA, amazing extracurriculars, etc. So, if Yale is your dream school, do your best on exposing your personality in essays and such and go for it. And also, if it’s true that you’re a freshman, I don’t even know why you’re here! Have you even taken the SAT yet? If you have, you still have YEARS to improve upon that score, and if your GPA isn’t perfect, work at it and make it better for the rest of high school.</p>
<p>If you have passion, there is always a chance. Just keep that in mind. I got in with a 2180 on my SAT by the way.</p>
<p>Actually, I wasn’t being sarcastic–I think eliana’s post was helpful, because it points out that Yale and other top schools do take a range of students. In my prior post, I was reacting to somebody who got in with lower scores, but who was URM. That is no consolation for somebody who is not URM.</p>
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<p>Don’t be so dismissive. Come back to your high school reunion 20 years from now and I guarantee there will be kids who were decent-but-not-outstanding students, who may go “only” to your state flagship, who will be incredibly accomplished in their fields and in the community. Stop your assumption that Harvard, Yale, etc are the only paths to accomplishment and that the only people who care about or will find ultimate success are the ones who are gunning for those schools.</p>
<p>OP:</p>
<p>Yale or not, one thing you can count on is the old saying “The harder you try, the luckier you will get.” </p>
<p>Even if you do get accepted to Yale, you will face a number of equivalent “rejections” whatever you do in life. Get used to it. Rejection, failure, and disappointment are key tools for you to become stronger and more successful. </p>
<p>And to borrow from Pizzagirls’s comment, success in life isn’t gated by which college one attends. Your 20th high school reunion will definitely convince you of that.</p>
<p>Great discussion.</p>
<p>I don’t understand what you’re trying to accomplish.</p>
<p>Yes, most of the students at Yale are accepted based on fantastic grades, SAT scores, or exceptional talent in a specific field. The others are legacy, athletes, and highly achieving (but perhaps not exceptionally achieving) under represented minorities. This is just how it works. You can whine, but you seem to understand that it is a fact. I’m not sure why you are so hung up on it. I can tell you that, while I have good grades and did very well on the SAT, I’m not even sure I am in the top 10% of my class. Does that mean I shouldn’t apply to Yale? Of course not.</p>
<p>To me it’s irrelevant because I have no interest in Yale in the slightest. But if I loved the university as much as you clearly do, I would let nothing stop me from applying.</p>