<p>I think your stats look good and impressive. However, if Yale wanted only statsmachines, they’d just pick people out randomly from the very self-selective applicant pool. I’m not really getting a vibe from your posts of what you are like, what your essays would focus on, why you want to get into Yale beyond the prestige. I have far less impressive stats than you do, but got in as an international transfer. I’m very into Yale precisely because they don’t go by dead numbers only - I want to enter into a classroom with quirky and intelligent people that didn’t necessarily always take the path they were told to.</p>
<p>That’s the best “answer” I can give you, I guess.</p>
<p>What I’m trying to say is, I think it all depends on if you can let the intelligence behind all those statistics show through and become embodied in the essay, if your teachers can put it into concrete terms, if you can show what you will actually do with the resources offered at the college – that’s what makes those numbers more than just dime-a-dozen in the pool.</p>
<p>I want to go to Yale because of their top notch biology program. The undergraduate focus would allow me to continue doing research in college. I like the idea of actually getting to know my teachers. I ant to be in a place where people actually enjoy the pursuit of higher education and are not just there for the name. </p>
<p>Other reasons include its proximity to home(2 hours away) and the fact that going to Yale would be free. </p>
<p>Do you think it would be advisable to write about a hard luck story? I won’t whine but rather write about how it has impacted me positively.</p>
<p>Just a suggestion: why don’t you write about how being in proximity to a current or past teacher has affected you and how you hope to carry that forward at your eventual college. Don’t mention that you want to go to yale b/c they’re generous… sounds bad.</p>