Yale SCEA... app weakness?

Colleges & Universities Yale University
1

<p>Hi,
I’m a white male on the West Coast and would say that, in general, my numbers and activities are very Yale-friendly:
Medium-sized public high school
Pretty much maximum Honors and Ap’s for my school
2240 SATI; 760 SAT II Math 2C (other SATII’s will be out Monday but expect similar scores)
Chose teachers I know well for rec.'s who I have heard from many sources write excellent ones
Know college counselor well who will write school report… I think will be an unusually good write-up
Heavy into music, Piano and French Horn, relatively high levels, awards
Cross-country at school three years; Track and field two years as of now
National Merit Semifinalist (as of now), National Honor Society
Volunteer Program last summer
(my resume goes on quite a bit but that does it)</p>

<p>The one big thing I left off is, of course, GPA. It’s not horrible at a 3.75, but let’s face it, it’s low for Yale’s standards. Freshman and Sophomore years especially, I cared a lot about school as I do now, but I got stuck with an unfairly-high share of those teachers who openly admit they pick favorites… and guess what, I wasn’t one (mostly in the English & History Depts). Their comments on essays were entirely subjective and concerned with tone… basically they didn’t like my more organized and (honestly) advanced style, which has worked very well as I’ve had better and more advanced teachers (I could ***** all day about it). Anyway, I’ve had a sizeable number of A-'s, B+'s and even B’s, lowering my GPA. Ok, so now that I’ve said all that, how much will it hurt me? I’ve heard that a substandard SAT score can often be overlooked by the appcom if everything else is solid… is the same true of GPA? Again, I don’t consider a 3.75 disgraceful, but at such a competitive high school I’m most likely in the top quarter but not 10%.</p>

<p>Thanks for any comments. P.S. Please read my earlier post of music… it’s a real concern and respond if you think of anything.</p>

2

<p>OK, I hate admitting this, but there’s nothing we can do at this point. Nothing. What’s done is done; what are grades are will stay what they are from now until the adcoms read our applications. You can speculate whether you will get in, but there are areas more worthy of your attention. Of course it will hurt you. My lack of physical activities in the EC box will hurt me. Being Asian will hurt me. I can’t change it. I can, however, make a kick-a** tape to send in to the flute professor. I can write excellent essays and do all I can to impress the teachers who are writing me recommendations.</p>

<p>Nothing in the application is overlooked. But if you go to a respectable school, and the classes you took were reputedly challenging, don’t worry about it. Focus on your recording. Send the stuff in, breathe a sigh of relief, and enjoy your senior year until mid-December when you get the decision.</p>