Yale SCEA. Admission favored for quirky ppl?

Colleges & Universities Yale University
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<p>Hey, I was looking at the SCEA admissions of the past two years from this forum, and I’ve found that in general, quirky ppl were admitted over better rounded students.</p>

<p>Would you agree?</p>

<p>On that note… I have a question of my chances as a quasi-quirky student.</p>

<p>Objective stats:
-SAT I: 680CR 730M 670W
-SAT II: Spanish 800, Korean 800, Math II 770, US History 720, Literature 700
-APs: USH (4), Spanish (5), Calculus AB (5), Psychology (5).
-Senior Courseload: AP US Gov, AP Stats, AP Econ, AP English Literature, AP --Calc BC, Sociology
-Class Rank: N/A (school doesn’t rank, but I’m in top 5%)
-GPA: 94% (from 9-11th). 104% (12th grade so far). (Both weighted grades)</p>

<p>Subjective stats:
-Nationality: Korea
-Race: Asian
-Trilingual (Korean, Spanish, English) and basic skills in Japanese, Chinese, and Italian.
-Lived in 6 countries, an average of 2.5 yrs per country (Korea, Chile, Nicaragua, Spain, Guatemala, and currently in Venezuela)
-Moved to Venezuela 10th grade</p>

<p>ExtraCurriculars (no leadership positions; my weak point):
-Varsity Soccer (9,10,11,12)
-Varsity Table Tennis (only 9th grade)
-JV Tennis (11,12)
-Entrepreneurial Club (11,12)</p>

<p>**Self-assessment: I have solid SAT II scores w/ good variety but mediocre SAT I (yale standards). I have below par ECs but I have other strenghts (multi-lingual, lived in multiple countries). I am taking the hardest courseload at school, and currently have a decent class rank (top 5%)</p>

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<p>Quirkiness is nice. Princeton president Tilghman said herself that she wants to see more “pink hair” in applicants. But that will likely only be helpful when you have the traditional qualifications, and just need to stand out from the pack. </p>

<p>What about yourself do you find quirky? No offense, but I don’t see much. I at least think that quirkiness is forwarded in a college application through some kind of experience/extracurricular activity/particular passion, rather than an oddball amalgamation of traditional metrics.</p>

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<p>^Well… I just thought that having lived in 6 countries, speaking/writing/thinking in 3 languages (and basic skills in 3 others), and being an asian living in a latin american country might’ve been qualified as quirky. Maybe I was wrong…</p>

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<p>Too often, well-rounded is a euphemism for mediocre. </p>

<p>In that sense, the traditionally “well-rounded” students are not admitted SCEA because Yale, Stanford, Georgetown, etc. has no compelling reason to do so. Nothing about their application screams admission. </p>

<p>Now, because they still have to fill a class, they will take many of them RD. But in the meantime, it’s the “quirky,” “passionate,” or “unusual” applicants who get the nod.</p>

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<p>what would actually constitute a ‘quirky’ applicant though? like unusual ec’s, race, abilities? can someone give an example?</p>

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<p>I don’t think the word is “quirky”…it is more of ppl who stand out in one area, ie music, athletics, languages, and has national and/or even international recognition</p>

<p>obviously, many of these people are also well-rounded…so, it’s for ppl like that</p>

<p>but for the ppl who are extremely well-rounded, i.e. they have nothing that stands out but they excel in everything, i guess EA wouldn’t be that good for them</p>

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<p>Then, a hypothetical scenario for you guys/gals.</p>

<p>Yale is looking at two applications (remember, SCEA, not RD). One is that of an extremely well rounded student (2300 SATs, 3x750 SATII, 1 or 2 leadership positions, decent recs/essays, but nothing outstanding like USAMO, TASP, etc) and one of a quirky(i.e. student w/ varied background, athlete, USAMO, etc) w/ to par stats (2150 SAT, 3x700 SATII, generic ECs, decent recs/essays)</p>

<p>Which one would Yale picK?
Yes, I am trying to coax you into chancing me, whom I consider (sorry if I sound arrogant, but I would like some opinions) to be more of a quirky-quasi well-rounded student (chew on that)</p>

<p>IMO, I think the extremely well rounded, unless they’re URMs, are better off applying RD(like 21385 said). From what I saw from prev. SCEA admissions, I’ve seen mostly athletes, URMs, hooked(USAMO, TASP, some really outstanding EC), or super-well rounded students (super as in SAT 2350+, SATII 800x3, all 5 in APs). I’ve rarely seen un-quirky wellrounded students in at SCEA… (but many at RD)</p>

<p>PS: I am not sure if this is quirky (or even close) at all, but I’m an asian looking to study PoliSci/Psychology/Economics. (I do realize choice in major usually means little… but it still does matter after all)</p>

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<p>would a kid with a reasonable GPA (like 3.8 UW), a hard courseload, pretty good SATS (around 2200), with state and national level awards in history and a passion for fashion design thats visible in extracurriculars be considered quirky?</p>

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<p>that makes sense. it just depends on whether yale considers your languages and international background to be some sort of a hook. i would say that it makes you an interesting applicant, but next to the uber amazing crazy smart people of scea, who knows?</p>

<p>it seems to me that while the ‘interesting’ (for want of a better word) applicants have a good chance of being accepted scea they also have a great chance RD, next to the ‘well-rounded’ applicants who are used to fill the class after all those with incredible hooks etc. </p>

<p>so if you’re well rounded, go RD, if you have a hook, i guess it doesn’t really matter when you apply. other than the menial acceptance rate or RD.</p>

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<p>LOL alamode THAT’S ME!!! are you qualified?</p>

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<p>haha *** seriously? those are pretty much my stats lmao</p>

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<p>totally. I’ve done fashion internships and had a dressmaker’s business for about a year. and won state history awards and stuff.
and here i was thinking i was vaguely special. lmao.
what about you? ha we’ll dominate at Yale. up the fashion designers!</p>

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<p>I don’t think it’s just ECs that draw early admissions - I tend to think that they are overemphasized on CC. Outstanding essays, and recommendations which give the impression of a truly outstanding person, can be considered to be hooks in the same vein. Yale doesn’t just want an eclectic conglomeration of out-of-the-box talents. They do realize that the personable and the intelligent are important components of a class as well.</p>

<p>Also, where is this Yale SCEA data that is purportedly out there? I haven’t found too much on CC. While there are a few people who put down their data, I don’t think that it’s enough to conclude that Yale is waiting on the more traditional Ivy League applicants.</p>

<p>Nevertheless, I do think that there is wisdom in the idea that a successful SCEA applicant will be either hooked (athlete, world-class musician, important legacy, possibly URM) or a spectacular all-around applicant that Yale thinks will be admitted to HYP and wants to attract by admitting early (4.0/top 1-2% of class OR top 5% in prestigious private/2370+ SAT I/1600 SAT II/5-7 AP tests taken and all 5’s junior year/heavily involved in ECs/outstanding recs/well-written, reflective, unique essays).</p>

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<p>What is URM?</p>

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<p>^ under represented minority (black, latino, native american)</p>

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<p>haha flower18 thats so funny, I’ve been sketching for years and taking classes and stuff! and gotten a lot of recognition with history too.
yeah I guess we’re not so special after all =P
hahaha</p>

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<p>i like the idea of seeing more pink hair on campuses of top ivies, but how exactly does one convey their pink-hair quirkiness in an app?</p>

<p>Yale’s additional questions allow more room to show personality - so that’s good.</p>

<p>my essays are pretty unique, but many other colleges’ supp questions are pretty straightforward (ie no room to show quirkiness). how are you guys going about showing your passions for fashion (i cannot believe i just typed that ha) and history - aside from your awards?</p>

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<p>i guess maybe if you had pink hair, you could send it a photo? lol.</p>

<p>with the fashion thing, I’m writing about my dressmaking business for the short answer on extracurriculars, on the common app. I’m also submitting art materials from awards and stuff, which is kind of related, as some of them won design awards.</p>

<p>alamode, what about you?</p>

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<p>well thats my problem really, i’ve been self-teaching myself fashion design since 7th grade but can’t really convey that. =/
i’m in a fashion club that designs a line for a charity fashion show at the end of the year, and for the past two summers i’ve taken classes at FIT (fashion institute of technology). and this summer I was also named a top 5 finalist in the BKFK/Tommy Hilfiger fashion design competition.
but thats all i’ve got</p>

<p>as for history, I’ve been competing in NHD for the past 4 years and have won regional, state, and national awards+I volunteer at a historical society+i’ve taken every remotely history related course in my high school so I’m not as worried about conveying that.</p>

<p>i guess i’m going to try to in my essays =/</p>

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<p>congrats on the awards. you guys seem so talented!</p>

<p>i’m finding it hard to represent myself in the application…i guess that’s the challenge.</p>