<p>I fell in love with Yale’s campus when I went to visit it last year; Yale is the place I would want to go to school. However, since the competitive selection of the new Yalies is so brutal, I was thinking of applying EA to schools like Georgetown, Rice, U Chicago that are not single choice instead of SCEA at Yale. If I were to get into the schools EA, then I would have a safety to fall back on if I were rejected from Yale RD. So the question is if I should risk/waste my EA on Yale.
GPA: 4.52 (upward trend- 4.2 (9), 4.5 (10), 4.98 (11))
Rank: 2 of 340 (but hardest classes)
SAT: 800V 800M 690W
SAT II: 800 USH, 780 IIC, will take Bio M this June
ACT: 34
PSAT: 78V 76M 78W (Most likely will be NMSF)
AP: USH-5; this year: Eng Lang, Calc AB, Bio, Psych
State: Ohio
Race: Chinese
Gender: Male</p>
<p>Sports
Water Polo- Varsity
Swimming- Varsity (Most Improved)
Tennis- JV</p>
<p>Policy Debate
Varsity all years
Won State Novice Tournament
1st alternate to Varsity States (9th)
Qualified to V States (10, 11)
Won/top 8 at numerous tournaments
Most valuable novice speech and debater</p>
<p>Newspaper
Business Editor (11)
Co-Editor in Chief (12)
1st in regional school newspapers in 2005
Other national newspaper awards</p>
<p>Science Research
Published abstract at conference at Oxford in 2005
5th in Ohio Junior Science and Humanities Symposium
Qualified to National Science and Humanities Symposium
Qualified to State Science Day
Student Advisor to the Ohio Junior Science and Humanities Symposium</p>
<p>Misc. EC
Piano- Level 9 in Royal Conservatory Exams
JETS- 2nd place in region in 2005
County Academic Award for English
Play piano for Harmony Road Show
Psych Club
Class Government VP (10, 11)</p>
<p>Summer Camps
2004- U of M Debate Camp (Classic) 4 weeks
2005- U of M Debate Camp (Classic) 4 weeks
2006- TASP at U of M</p>
<p>Volunteer- around 300 from local medical university/library or office aide</p>
<p>The problem with this is that I don’t know what to major in; I am decent at every subject but I am not extremely good in anything. My ECs are all over the place and I am not really that focused on any one thing.
Please give your input on what I should do regarding EA this year.
Thanks</p>
<p>I guess the question I’d ask is that if you applied to Yale RD and got rejected, would you beat yourself up over not having applied early? If so, why not just give it your best shot and fire off your Yale app SCEA. I mean, you’ve got a real solid app and so if Yale is your #1 choice, why not just give it all you’ve got?
Best,
DMW</p>
<p>P.S. The admit rate for SCEA this year was around 17%, while for the RD pool it was like 5.9%. Admittedly the early pool is probably much stronger overall, but those are pretty stunning statistics - I can’t help but believe applying early helps.</p>
<p>I was accepted to Yale RD with stats that were similar to yours, even with the 5.9% acceptance rate and all. Just to be safe, though, it wouldn’t hurt to apply to Yale SCEA.</p>
<p>good luck man. ill give you a round of applause if you can get in. insanity.</p>
<p>At the risk of being labelled “obssessive,” I would suggest you raise your writing score. That’s really the only thing Yale could ding you on.</p>
<p>I think u’ve gotten a good chance of getting into Rice, U Chicago, and Georgetown RD, so I think you should definitely use your EA on Yale.</p>
<p>Should I retake the SATs for the writing score? I’ve debated about it after I got the score; English is my favorite class and I don’t know whether I should try to get the 800 in writing. I’ll get a really good rec from my english teacher and my PSAT writing score (78) should show that I am able to write well. Therefore I came to the conclusion of not stressing over the 690 and get on with life and not seem obsessive by retaking a 2290.</p>
<p>Also, do you guys have any suggestions in what I should major in? My psych teacher thinks biopsych is a perfect fit for me; I’m not so sure. I’m pretty good in every subject (top 2 in every class) except maybe chemistry. Therefore I’m not sure what I am really good at. My EC seem to point me to a polisci/English/humanities route while also having the science/math elements. With this lack of focus, will it hinder my chances a lot? How can I make up for it?</p>
<p>Also my dad wants me to SCEA to Harvard because the numbers seem to be on my side more so than Yale’s… I would go to Yale over Harvard in a heartbeat, but I would take any of the HYPs if I can get in. My dad’s argument is that if I SCEA to Yale and don’t get in, then RD to HYP and don’t get in, I will regret not having SCEAed to Harvard instead of Yale.</p>
<p>…and if you apply to harvard EA, and then yale RD and get accepted at neither of them you’ll regret it even more because Yale is your first choice, so your dad’s argument makes no sense at all</p>
<p>besides, yale takes a lot more deferred EA people then harvard, so I do not think you have a smaller chance of getting accepted at Yale after applying EA than of getting accepted at harvard after applying EA. i hope this makes sense to you!</p>
<p>Good luck, Yale is the Best!!!</p>
<p>and if you need more reasons to choose yale over harvard i could pm you a huge post on the yale admits board written by a yale sophomore than has like a million reasons in it!</p>
<p>flowertje,</p>
<p>I’ve seen that post. It has more like two million reasons. :D</p>
<p>H20Poloer,</p>
<p>What is it you find about Yale that makes the school more attractive than Harvard? Maybe analyzing some of the reasons might give you an idea as to what you’d like to do career-wise.</p>
<p>oh man can someone send me that list?</p>
<p>tennisdude,</p>
<p>I’ll PM you a copy.</p>
<p>wow, thanks a lot. that list was amaaazing. i think i might know who that sara girl is too - i might have come across her website with a bunch of like AP notes and stuff on it, something parthenon @yale.edu ?</p>
<p>can i get the list too?</p>
<p>Can I get a copy too? Thankssssss.</p>
<p>H20Poloer - I’ve been going through the same exact question (Yale SCEA or Chicago and MIT EA) with Yale being my first choice for the past 3-4 years or so. I asked myself the same question that dmw123 suggested - would I hate myself if I didn’t apply SCEA and got rejected RD? My response is yes, because I would never know whether there was even a chance of getting into my favorite school of all time that I would absolutely positive LOVE to go to.</p>
<p>When the admission decisions came at my school and a bunch of people got into Harvard but only one person (out of at least 5-10 applicants) got into Yale, I was pretty shocked and began leaning towards Harvard for like two days. Then I looked in a mirror. Then I slapped myself.* Sure, I would go to Harvard if I didn’t get into Yale. But applying SCEA is the only way I can boost my chances at Yale. Why sacrifice that advantage for a school that (according to consistent statistics from my school in particular, as I’ve heard that Yale has blacklisted us… there was a rumor that Princeton blacklisted us, too, but then we got like 6 kids in ED last year so I guess the curse was finally broken) I <em>may</em> have a higher chance of getting into if it isn’t even my first choice? In other words, why settle for Harvard?</p>
<p>Ok that probably sounds incredibly pretentious and all, but let’s face it: if Yale is absolutely positive your first choice, nothing should come between your ambition and such a rare opportunity. If, however, you only want to go to Yale over Harvard because you like the way the buildings look, then apply to the school you have a better chance of getting in at.</p>
<p>I’m gone post it in a new thread, I hope the writer isn’t angered about this, but i believe it is worth it if it can convince more people to go to yale!</p>