Would Yale take a flier on a kid?

gumbogal
Sat, 03 Nov 2018 20:33:19 +0000

The problem with casting a wide net is that the Yale net can only hold so many fish. The tippy top schools are looking for maturity, intellectual ability, focus and hard work. Sometimes that shows up through interest in one particular creative, intellectual or athletic pursuit. Or sometimes it shows up in pursuing a wide variety of things with energy and vigor. And it almost always needs to manifest itself in a GPA and set of test scores that shows the student can handle the rigor of the curriculum.

My DS19 for instance shows some of that intellectual ability and shows focus on his small set of consistent ECs but has always been a little less mature than his classmates and the hard work comes and goes. Is he top 20 material? No, he is not. Sure, the mom in me says that’s their loss because in a few years he will be growing into his potential and will have a lot to offer. But I can’t expect those schools to look at his application and say “well we think he may have potential” when they have ten other applicants for the same spot that have demonstrated that they, in fact, already do. He just has to be patient and know that he will reach his full potential in a different setting.