@Hobbd post at #57 is right on point. With your stats, I would think you passed the initial screen. The possibilities thereafter, shortage of alumni interviewers in your region, the first reader really liked your app or it did not strike a chord. The essays and LoR’s are the big unknowns. With your accomplishments, whether or not it is Yale, you will land someplace great.
As an aside, we all thought my brother was a shoo-in to HYP. His stats were better than mine, student body president, 2 varsity sports, etc… He only applied to those 3 schools plus U of Mich. Michigan was his only acceptance (in the honors program). He ended up attending Cambridge for 1 year, went to Med School at UofM, and was in one the premier residency programs at Northwestern. More recently my D was rejected at all the ivies she applied to but ended going to a NESCAC. In hindsight, a LAC was a better fit for her and she was able to secure paid research jobs at her school over each summer. She ended up doing stem cell research for a well known research lab and is now almost finished her PhD at a well known and regarded flagship. At the end of the day, it is not the name at the top of your diploma but how you use your time and opportunity at where you land.
Hi! I’m applying SCEA and was wondering how much weight Yale gives to film compared to other arts. I attend a selective public arts high school, won YoungArts with distinction, have made about 26 shorts, earned local film grants, and submitted two award-winning pieces in my portfolio. I’m applying for both film and poli-sci, since I’ve also done extensive law, model government, and NGO work. My academics are strong but probably around average for Yale (top 5% of my class, 4.2 GPA with limited AP and honors, all 5s on available APs, no SAT). Some people say my arts background can offset mid stats; others say film isn’t valued as highly as music or theatre. With the deadline approaching, I’m trying to get a sense of how Yale views film applicants. Do you think they do like “recruited spots” for artists – I heard other schools like USC do? For context, I was one of the few students at my school who received an interview.
You can check Mollywood film (a YouTube channel) for some info imo, where she talks about what Yale film is like. I think she made a video on ‘The Truth About Yale Film.’ Hope this helps!!
That’s a great question. My DS applied REA in Film and Humanities. He, like you, was hoping it might be a bit of a selling point since not a ton or students major in film at Yale. He’s written, directed, edited, etc. several films, worked on others’ films, had a few accepted to festivals, etc. Has all the academic credentials–34 on ACT, 3rd in his class, IB Diploma, 4.0, and lots of ECs, two international level, and some state level, local level and school level, good essays, good recs, but film is a big emphasis in his app. However, unlike you, he did not receive an interview. We live in a more ruralish area, so don’t know if that means he was denied early in the process or whether they didn’t have a interviewer available. I guess we will see next Wednesday. My guess is that, like all the other factors, the major or majors you list on the app are taken into account as one more data point in the overall picture, so it might help slightly, but probably would not be determinative. I guess we will all find out in a week and a half. In terms of USC and also NYU and Florida State and some other schools with prominent film programs, you apply for general admission and then you also have to apply specifically to the film program, so in that sense, yes, they have a certain number of spots in each freshman class reserved for those who make it into those specific programs. All the best to you!
Thank you this is really helpful! Also your son sounds super impressive so best of luck! If it makes you feel better when I met with my interviewer she talked about how in all her years of interviewing they always need more alums and don’t have the chance to interview everyone they want to — so if your from a more rural community I bet it could just be lack of interviewers. All we can do is hope for the best next week!
Thank you. I hope you are right. There’s some guesswork around what getting an interview/not getting one means or doesn’t mean, but from what I have read, getting an interview is a positive sign, so you are definitely in the running. I know Yale has an initial screening process, and based on the factors they discussed in their podcast you need to have to make it through that, my DS has all of those. However, some have suggested that after the initial screening, if your first reader doesn’t view you favorably, you can essentially be eliminated then and not get an interview. But who knows?! Honestly, I just wish that as soon as an applicant hits the “denied” pile, Yale and these other schools would just let you know right then. Rip off the band aid so everyone can move on and it’s the kind thing to do so students don’t have to wait any longer than necessary with false hope. In any case, I really do believe that students like you and DS will do well wherever you land. I’ll try to come back and update with the decision he receives next Wednesday. I am hoping for at least a deferral to help boost his confidence some.
She also made a video on ‘read my Yale admission file’ and, as I remembered, she got a 1 in her film supplement. There’s one reader who commented something like ‘she got a 1 in film supplement, so is there more to say about her but admit?’ This might indicate that if you really excel in this area, imo, there’s definitely a strong boost to your application. btw, I’m kinda wondering if there’s any student from your school who applied as a theater studies major to Yale and got an interview? I knew students who were in the major did professional acting stuff and improv shows during their high school years, but rarely saw them on the dramaturgy track or so. I’m just wondering if I’m off track a bit. I applied as a theater studies, gender studies, and comparative literature major. Did some professional theater production on dramaturgy and playwriting (in some nationally esteemed theaters/institutions), participated in an off-off-Broadway show devised group. Got a national theater festival finalist as dramaturg within the troupe and a musical singing competition finalist as a solo performer. Co-launched an uplifting plan for artists, did lots of dramaturgical analysis, and promoted works in an international theater collective. Founded/Being the EIC+wrote for accounts that got cumulative 100k+ subscribers, did a lot of literary stuff, like poetry publication in some middle-to-prestigious journals (5% acc rate approx), but still didn’t get an alum interview. I got some decent stats, so I do feel like I can pass the initial screening, but… I don’t know. I’m an international student from a hyper-competitive area, so things might be different.
I have been hearing a lot of amazing international students with incredible stats+ecs not getting interviews on Reddit and stuff! I know Reddit is really not a reliable source, but I will say maybe it’s because of the trump administration pushing against international admissions? I don’t know of any theatre applicants who applied this year from my school, so sorry I’m not much help! Again, my interviewer warned about alum availability being difficult, so I would try to maintain hope for your mental health lol! Imo, your stats seem impressive to get into a lot of good places, so best of luck! Also, I just watched that video you’re referring to and it was really helpful! Thank you!
I believe there has been a conflating of the pre-screen they recently implemented with the evaluation done in order to decide whether an applicant merits an interview. The academic pre-screen is only to get rid of truly uncompetitive applicants, which they seemed to indicate did not make up a significant portion, or at least a majority, of the total pool. Thus most of the “weeding out” is probably done by the first reader to get from the 50+% of applicants who met the necessary but sufficient criteria to the ~18% (not including auto-admits I suppose) that are considered for an interview. In that sense most people pass the initial screen and are still “auto-rejects”. Also, regarding alumni availability, it seems to me like if they really wanted to interview an applicants but had a local shortage of alumni they would just do it virtually (I received a virtual interview even though I live in an area where I would be surprised if there were no alumni, not sure what that indicates). With all that being said I have seen multiple instances of applicants reporting on previous threads being admitted without an interview, so it is entirely possible they simply don’t need more information. In any case we will all find out soon enough. Best of luck to us all!
This is a great point. From listening to the podcast, it seems like they don’t go into detail about what happens between the 2nd read and committee. We know only students who seem to be in real contention make it to a committee discussion which makes sense. This is such a small group of kids but yield is important to these schools and the best of candidates are going to be in contention for schools like Harvard and full tuition to schools like Vandy. But in the end, who knows? You don’t know unless you try. Good luck to all!!! Love the school that loves you back!
Good point about a bit of opaqueness in the second step, as it were, in the process. Would really be helpful for them to clarify that. And it is good to remember that after a certain point, there is a good deal of chance involved in competitive admissions. Yes, you have to be a standout in one or more ways, but not all AOs are the same, and so whose hands your application falls into could make a difference. And of course, there are those things they aren’t telling anyone on the podcast—institutional priorities for this year, perhaps another change in how they are dealing with applications that they have not yet revealed, your application is very similar to this other kid from South Dakota and we don’t have anybody yet from South Dakota, etc. Two years ago, my oldest son was accepted to Vanderbilt and a two classmates of his, who were also very impressive, did not. What tipped the scales his way? Who knows?
My child did not get an interview until this weekend, which seems very late. I am just curious whether having an interview this late means anything. Just curious when did your child/children get their interview? We are in the New England area. Thanks!
I got mine 11/18 and I’d lost hope that week because I thought it was too late… I’d imagine this is a really good sign and means they are seriously considering you!
Two years ago my son got an interview request the Friday after Thanksgiving. He interviewed the following week and thought it went really well. He was then deferred REA and we pretty much wrote off Yale - which someone above said is the appropriate attitude to have. Couldn’t agree more and we were really pleasantly surprised when he got in regular decision. Getting an interview means you’re definitely in the ball game. Someone in a prior year’s thread I think calculated the number of interviews given to number of acceptances and still concluded that your chances of admission aren’t great - better than 4% but I wouldn’t go to Vegas with those odds. Good luck on the interview.
As far as how outstanding you have to be, most everyone at Yale is impressive. But the majority didn’t have ECs that were eye-poppingly impressive according to my son and his friend group. Two medaled in international olympiads. The other 8 or so were high stats kids who were impressive for their school and local area. All of them have viewed their admissions files and none scored a 1 on their evaluations. All scored a 2 or 2+. My son was a top 50 in the country in his national olympiad which we thought was a plus - it wasn’t even mentioned at all in his file review which focused more on some local groups he volunteered for. All had very strong LORs though. The point is, you don’t have to cure cancer to have a chance.
For sure. I think Yale, perhaps even more than most peer institutions, values LORs super heavily given they list an EC score and then a score for each of the 3 rec letters. I think the previous post referencing international olympiads/RSI/etc. was more saying that the only case where not receiving an interview wouldn’t be a bad sign is if you had one of these things, as your chances of being an auto-admit would be relatively higher.
