will I be a bulldog? (this is a "chances" thread)

Colleges & Universities Yale University
1

<p>Hey guys! Being a curious kid, I’ve decided to try this out. This is my first (and last?) chance thread, and I just wanted to see what you guys thought! Your honest comments are greatly appreciated :)</p>

<p>Intended Major: Electrical Engineering
SAT I: 2210 (M 750 CR 690 W 770 Essay 10)
SAT II: MathIIC (800), Physics (720), Japanese (760)
GPA: UW: 3.9, W: 4.3
Rank: 7/533
AP: Euro(5), Calc BC(5), Japanese(5), US History (4), English Lang/Comp (4), French Lang (3)</p>

<p>Senior year course load: AP Physics C, AP Stats, AP Eng. Lit/Comp, Ceramics (best class of the day hehe,) AP Macroecon., AP French Lit.
Major Awards: Nat’l AP Scholar, Laureat National (ranked 5th Nat’l for Le Concours French Contest), two- time Int’l Bokusei-Kai (Japanese Society of calligraphy or something like that) annual competition winner, finalist for the position of Student Member of the CA State Board of Ed. (and wrote this proposal that was somehow passed as CA law…)</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
-Japanese tea ceremony: learning about my heritage and good stuff :slight_smile:
-Japanese calligraphy: “jyu-dan” ranking (highest ranking or soemthing like that); regional, nat’l, and int’l awards
-Math Club: President, Regional JPL Invention Challenge Winner, part of the Mathematics Engineering Science Achievement program (3-time math competition regional winner)
-Cello and Piano: lessons/recitals at the Colburn School of Performing Arts;
-Orchestra: Jr. Philharmonic Orchestra (Principal cellist emeritus, but I wrote “Principal cellist” anyways :stuck_out_tongue: )
-YMCA Youth & Government: Nat’l Issues Commission and Mass Media Committee Chair</p>

<p>Job/Work Experience: receptionist/office assistant at my dad’s company (BLAH, I know I don’t want to be a CPA), staff at Japanese American Cultural Community Center, Translation services (one was for Naoki Nomura’s Kyo-yuzen kimono exhibit)</p>

<p>Volunteer/Community Service:
-Orchestra (it’s a volunteer orchestra and we play free at free concerts for the community)
-started a volunteer tutoring program for English learners (K-12) with services in English, Japanese, and Spanish (I’m trilingual)
-teaching Japanese calligraphy basics to kids at temples
-demonstrator: Japanese tea and calligraphy
-volunteer performer for Musical Encounters program (which introduces classical music to inner-city public primary school students through concerts)</p>

<p>Summer Activities: Intern Recruiter for Asians for Miracle Marrow Matches (associated with the Nat’l Marrow Donor Program), CTY Distance Learning and Summer programs, THINK Davidson Institute summer program (it was intense and I DID NOT love it AT ALL…it was really not fun), volunteer cellist at local preschool</p>

<p>Essays: They reflect who I am!
Teacher Recs: no clue, but they said they enjoyed writing them. One from my Calc teacher (scared, b.c. he said he “sucks at writing”) and one from my English teacher.
Counselor Rec: he showed it to me, he told me that it’s the best he’s ever written. </p>

<p>State: CA
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: guess! (yes, Asian)
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: around 200k
Hooks: …none</p>

<p>I’m also applying to:
Columbia
Wellesley
Princeton
Georgetown
USC
the UC’s (UCSD, UCSC, UCD, UCI, UCSB)</p>

<p>Thanks!!</p>

2

<p>You’ve got as good a shot as the average CCer (meaning it’ll come down to the intangibles, like essays, recs, etc.).</p>

<p>However, I really, really like your ECs. All that Japanese stuff is super-cool. That’ll probably bump you up a bit.</p>

3

<p>I don’t usually respond to chance requests, but if your essays have the same self-effacing, kinda charming tone as this post, you look like a strong candidate to me. I like your list of schools, too. You won’t be disappointed because you’ve got the range of selectivity covered very well, as long as you’re happy with the UCs you picked. Sorry, I know this prognostication is about as solid as a horoscope. Best wishes!</p>

4

<p>I think with your range of schools, you will be good come april, but at Yale, I would put my money against you, no offense.</p>

5

<p>Your extracurriculars are really cool (not just the Japanese stuff, which I love because I’m a bit of a Japanophile, but also the proposal-passed-as-law). The impression I got from this was that you’d be a cool person to hang out with-- hopefully the Yale adcom sees things the same way. :)</p>

6

<p>Are you a native Japanese speaker? Just wondering</p>

7

<p>i definitely think you have a really good chance, but it’s so hard to predict with schools like yale these days.</p>

<p>and there were a lot of harsh decisions in the SCEA round. (i was rejected with a 2330, top 1% of class, 800/790 on SAT IIs, etc.) best of luck!</p>

8

<p>Luckily you don’t have to settle for Yale! </p>

<p>There’s…</p>

<p>Mississippi State!
Butler University!
Louisiana Tech University!
McPherson College!
Western Illinois!
University of Georgia!
Georgetown University!
Gardner-Webb University!
Gonzaga University!
Fresno State!
and more!!</p>

9

<p>Yup, I’m a native Japanese speaker, but I’m still learning chinese characters</p>

10

<p>looks like a good list of stuff… it all will come down to your recs and essays</p>

11

<p>Also: Keep in mind that schools like Yale are not always looking for top of the class students with 2400 SATs,ect… they want students who will add to the intellectual community with intelligence and activity. They want dedication. They want real people. You could have a perfect SAT I, perfect SAT II, perfect ACT, an unweighted GPA of 4.0 and be top in your class and still be rejected if you have a bad essay or don’t do any extracurriculars. </p>

<p>SO like others have said its extremely difficult to gauge your chances… become unique in the admissions process. If there’s someone just like you also applying, your chances go way down.</p>

12

<p>I’m honestly not sure. Your cultural stuff is neat but it’s also, unfortunately, going to pit you against the other Asians. Best of luck.</p>