**** Yale University Class of 2020 RD Results*****

Colleges & Universities Yale University
21

Decision: Waitlisted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2040 (750 CR, 670 M, 620 Writing)
ACT (breakdown): 34 (34E, 33M, 34R, 35 S, 8 writing)
SAT II: 690 Chem, 670 Math II
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.88-3.92
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 6/288
AP (place score in parenthesis): World History(5), USH(4), Eng Lang and Comp (5), Chem(4), Phys I (3).
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: Eng Lit and comp AP, Bio AP, Calc BC AP, Phys C AP, Micro-Macro Econ AP, Spanish AP.
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): An Ap scholar here, State scholar there.

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Theater Technicians 4 years
Scioly 2 years
Forensics 2 years
History Club 1 year
NHS - 1 year

Job/Work Experience: N/A
Volunteer/Community service: Volunteering through my old Church and school for hundreds of hours
Summer Activities: Volunteering.
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Cannot tell.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): Cannot tell.

Teacher Rec #1: See above
Teacher Rec #2: See aforementioned
Counselor Rec: See the prior line
Additional Rec: Catch the line on top of this
Interview: None

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yea
Intended Major: Biomedical Engineering
State (if domestic applicant): IL
Country (if international applicant): USA
School Type: Private Catholic
Ethnicity: Black as the night
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 200K when I applied, dropped by half since then.
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM

Reflection

Strengths: APs, test scores, URM status
Weaknesses: APs, test scores, C in one semester of Algebra II
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Most competitive year in history, qualified applicants (in my school, state, and country), and I was weak in more than one area. Not too cut up about it, because I can always apply for Med School if at all. Best of luck to those in the future, and congratulations to those accepted! Hopefully waitlist spot comes through. The two schools that required all my scores waitlisted me.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected:
Accepted: UIC, SLU, Howard, UMich, UIUC, Northwestern, Emory-Oxford, Columbia.
Waitlisted: UChicago, Yale, UPenn
Rejected: Harvard, Princeton

22

@rejectedlion2016 I know how you feel! I had a perfect SAT, perfect grades, 5s on 8 AP tests, was president of 3 clubs, had 2 jobs, etc. and got rejected from all five ivies I applied to and Stanford. It honestly just really sucks, but I know there are a lot of people in this position, so at least we’re not the only ones. I really hope you get into Yale though!

23

I would also throw this out there: if you are from a rural state that does not see a lot of applicants (Idaho/the Dakotas/Oregon/Montana/etc.) APPLY. You are at a huge advantage because Ivies like to admit students from all 50 states with diverse backgrounds. You still need the test scores (2000+ SAT / 30+ ACT) and grades to really be competitive, but it does make an impact on your application to come from a rural area. Both my admissions officer and interviewer made this point.

24

**Decision: Rejected **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 740 (Reading), 780 (Math), 790 (Writing) - 2310 overall
ACT (breakdown): N/A
SAT II: 780 (Math 2), 690 (Chemistry)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA:
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 10%
AP (place score in parenthesis): 5 (Computer Science A)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Calculus, Chemistry, Biology, Physics, English, Law
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Honor Roll with Distinction, English Award, First/second place on some math contests, some others

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Regional Director of Solar for Life charity, Solar for Life club (President), HOSA Team, School newspaper (editor), GSA (Exec), School science team, some others
Job/Work Experience: Intern at 2 hospitals in London, UK
Volunteer/Community service: Regular volunteer at museum and soup kitchen
Summer Activities: Intern at hospitals, English literature courses
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Common App: 6.5 (wrote it pretty fast, could have been a lot better. Talked about my activism in school), Supplementaries: 6 (again, wrote it really fast, was very generic)
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 9 (really loved me but was lazy, so might not have been a 10)
Teacher Rec #2: 8 (liked me but was very objective)
Counselor Rec: 4-5 I don’t even know, she hates me.
Additional Rec:
Interview: very good, talked for hours

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Biology
State (if domestic applicant):
Country (if international applicant): Canada
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: South Asian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket:
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):

Reflection

Strengths: some scores, extracurriculars
Weaknesses: essays, SAT subject tests
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: lol not good enough
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Accepted: McGill, McMaster, UofToronto, Queens, Western
Rejected: Harvard, Stanford, Northwestern, Yale, Brown, Dartmouth, UPenn, Duke, Johns Hopkins
Waitlisted: UChicago, Columbia

General Comments :

25

Decision: Accepted!

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2340 (800CR, 740M, 800W), took only once
ACT (breakdown): Didn’t take
SAT II (place score in parentheses): 800 Math, 780 Lit, 770 Spanish reading, 760 US Hist, 760 World Hist, 720 Physics, 710 Chem
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.98
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): officially N/A (school doesn’t rank), unofficially top 10%
AP (place score in parentheses): Calc AB (5), English Lit (5), APUSH (5), Spanish Lang (5), World History (5), Psych (self-studied, 5)
IB (place score in parentheses): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Econ (combined Micro/Macro), AP American Gov, AP Physics C, AP English Lang, AP Calc BC, Leadership
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Top-ranked in USA for debate, several debate tournament awards, national scholarship winner for debate, AP Scholar with Distinction

Subjective
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Debate captain, ASB position in Leadership, CyberPatriot founder/captain, varsity volleyball, math tutor
Job/Work Experience: Internship at national laboratory as software programmer and TA for cybersecurity classes
Volunteer/Community Service: On planning committee for large American Cancer Society fundraiser for the past 2 years
Summer Activities: Study abroad after sophomore year
Essays (rating 1-10, details):: Personal statement was decent, probably a 7.
Teacher Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):: Probably 8’s or 9’s. My AP Calc AB teacher and APUSH teacher, both like me and I did well in their classes, but I know my APUSH teacher wrote hers last minute so idk how strong it was
Counselor Rec (rating 1-10, details):: 8, my counselor likes me but I go to a large public school and she writes hundreds of recs, so probably not too original
Additional Rec (rating 1-10, details):: 9, internship mentor, very professional, talked about work I did for the lab
Interview: The alum was very nice, I felt like I was trying too hard, but it was a decent conversation.

Other
Applied for Financial Aid? No
State (if domestic applicant): California
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Large, public, competitive atmosphere
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: 200k+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Girl in STEM

Reflection
Strengths: Essays, grades, debate accomplishments
Weaknesses: Not many STEM accomplishments, no outstanding community service
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Definitely my essays, which I thought were pretty unique and creative, and very interesting to read.
Where else you are applying or have already applied: Princeton (accepted), Penn M&T (accepted), Harvard (rejected), Brown (accepted), NYU (accepted), UCLA (accepted), Carnegie Mellon (accepted), Columbia (likely —> accepted, C.P. Davis Scholar), UC Berkeley (accepted, Regent’s), Michigan (accepted), MIT (waitlisted), USC (Accepted, Trustee Scholar & Viterbi Fellow) Caltech (rejected), Stanford (rejected), UChicago (accepted, Dean’s Scholar), UVA (accepted, Honors), Maryland (accepted, ACES, Honors), Duke (rejected)
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: I can’t believe I got in…it was a total surprise. Just proves that anything can happen. My advice to future applicants is to just remember that the college admissions process is really, really random and the best thing you can do is just apply to a lot of universities and give yourself a shot. Also, work really hard on your essays! Just be genuinely yourself. I believe that my essays were successful because I wrote about what I WANTED to write about, and in doing so I let them see my adventurous and goofy side. Every effort to change who you are makes your essay weaker and more basic. Just capture a raw, original slice of yourself and be unique.

26

**Decision: Rejected **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown):
ACT: 35 Composite, 36 Math, 36 Science, 34 English, 34 Reading
(36 Superscore)
SAT II: 800 Math II , 740 Chem
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.6
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):
AP (place score in parenthesis): Human Geo 5, World History 5, Chemistry 4, Calc BC 5, Bio 4, Physics 1 4 (self “study”), English Lang & Comp 5, US History 4
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP CS, AP Lit, AP Econ, AP Physics C, AP Seminar, Honors Adv Math II, Academic Decathlon, WOOT
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National and state medals for academic decathlon, but really nothing, probs why I got rejected, National merit scholar, National ap scholar, city and state medals for math team, invite to nationals for science bowl

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Math Team 9-12
Physics Olympiad, 10-12, Captain
Science Bowl 11-12, Co-Captain
Table Tennis 9-12, Co-Captain
Academic Decathlon 11-12
Piano, 1-12

Job/Work Experience:

Volunteer/Community service: 100+ service hours

Summer Activities:
Math camp at UChicago after 7th, 8th, 9th
Particle Physics Research at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory after 10th
Summer Math Program at MIT after 11th
Astrophysics Research at UChicago after 11th

Essays (rating 1-10, details): Common App 7/10, I thought my roommate essay was funny and showed my personality. I tried to show how much I liked Stanford in my essays and thought they were good. 8/10 for short essays.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: idk
Teacher Rec #2: idk
Counselor Rec: idk
Additional Rec: none
Interview: none

Other
State (if domestic applicant):
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public Magnet
Race: Black
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 120k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):none

Reflection
Strengths: none
Weaknesses: GPA, lack of significant awards. Tried to do stuff like math and physics olympiads but never got to the point I should’ve for the amount of work I put in. I sacrificed my grades to try to become good at them in the same way an athlete or musician might, but ultimately it didn’t pay off. no regrets though, still learned a lot. Now that all of my decisions are out, I’m guessing it was also my essays.

Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: ^

Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Rejected Caltech, WashU, Northwestern, UChicago, Stanford, Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Brown, UPenn
Waitlisted MIT, University of Michigan
Accepted Carnegie Mellon, University of Illinois

27

[aB][asize=4][acolor=#FFA500]Decision: Waitlisted [/color][/size]**

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2090 (760 M, 680 W, 650 CR)
ACT (breakdown): 33 (33 M, 33 S, 35 R, 33 W)
SAT II: E Bio 700 M2 740
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.8 (or something like that)
Weighted GPA: 4.415
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/180
AP (place score in parenthesis): World Hist (4)
IB (place score in parenthesis): English Lit, Enviro Systs/Soc, Music Theory, Span., HOA, TOK
Senior Year Course Load: above IB + choir class, Calc 2, Leadership
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Outstanding Youth Award (community), Academic All State

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Speech and Debate (president), Theatre (Captain), ice hockey (asst. captain), NHS (vice pres) , Spanish HS, Interact, dance, girl’s rugby
Job/Work Experience: Educational Apprentice at local theatre company (basically a paid internship working with kids)
Volunteer/Community service: Run a food drive each month, coach girl’s rugby, direct youth theatre, trail clean up
Summer Activities: above internship, community theatre, local choral organization, travel
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 8 (wrote about my girl’s hockey team and resiliency- killed that one! But didn’t feel as strong on my Why Yale? one))
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 8 (very heartfelt, but not written very well)
Teacher Rec #2: haven’t read it
Counselor Rec: 10
Additional Rec: 6 (same as Teacher Rec #1)
Interview: didn’t get one

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: yes
Intended Major: Theatre Studies
State (if domestic applicant): CO
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public, not super competitive
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: 100,000-125,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):

Reflection

Strengths: Essay, Leadership/extracurriculars, grades
Weaknesses: SAT, additional rec, Why Yale? essay
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I felt really REALLY good about my supplemental hockey essay. I talked a lot about resiliency and I told this one story about my team and I. I’ve had solid grades throughout high school and hold several leadership positions on different community service/extracurricular activities.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Accepted:
University of Denver
University of Northern Colorado
St Olaf College
Pace University (but not for theatre)

Waitlisted:
Williams College
Yale

Rejected:
Columbia
NYU
Northwestern

General Comments : I’ve had a really tough college admissions process. Northwestern was my dream school and I applied ED and was rejected :frowning: After that, I auditioned for a bunch of schools but was pretty unsuccessful with that too. Being waitlisted at Yale was kind of huge for me, especially knowing how competitive it is. I will be attending St Olaf College if Yale doesn’t work out and I couldn’t be more excited! Either way, it’s going to be a great 4 years.

28

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2360 (800 CR 800 Math 760 Writing) - 1 Sitting
ACT (breakdown): didn’t take
SAT II: 800 Math 2, 800 Physics, 800 Chem
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): -
Weighted GPA: -
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Not ranked, but Top 10/500 (Highly competitive school)
AP (place score in parenthesis): -
IB (place score in parenthesis): 45/45 Points (7 HL Physics, 7 HL Chem, 7 HL Math, A Physics Extended Essay)
Senior Year Course Load: (Did the IB Diploma) HL Physics, HL Chem, HL Math, SL Economics, SL English A, SL Hindi B
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Odyssey of the Mind World Finals, Singapore Science and Engineering Fair

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Theater, Odyssey of the Mind, Scouts, Student Council, Materials Science Research, Developed Apps
Job/Work Experience: None
Volunteer/Community service: Minor stuff
Summer Activities: See extracurriculars.
Essays (rating 1-10, details): (I don’t want to reveal my identity so I’m not going to be very specific)

  • My commonapp essay was good but not awesome
  • I loved my short essays - they were concise and packed a punch
  • The Yale essay revolved around my efforts to embrace multiculturalism (via some pretty weird anecdotes)

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): I’ve absolutely no idea, but I’m guessing they were good.
Additional Rec: None
Interview: The rest of my interviews were really chill, but this one was pretty intense - and I loved it. I was grilled on a number of different global issues, and challenged on my perspectives and positions.

Other:

Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major: EECS, Global Affairs
State (if domestic applicant):
Country (if international applicant): In South East Asia
School Type: Private
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 200,000 (They didn’t ask)
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Intended STEM major at Yale?

Reflection:

Strengths: Great test scores (though I guess that’s the norm), interesting blend of science and theater activities, passionate essays
Weaknesses: Had no spectacular achievements that could make me stand out. Also, the acceptance rate for international Asian students is also apparently much lower.
Accepted: Caltech, UC Berkeley EECS, Columbia, Georgia Tech, CMU
Waitlisted: Cornell, U Chicago
Rejected: Stanford, Harvard, MIT

General Comments:

My expectations were really low after being rejected outright by Stanford, so this was a great surprise. And to future applicants: honestly, apart from the self-esteem boost of getting into a selective school, there are enough opportunities at most schools to never be able to exhast them in your lifetime.

29

shocked and speechless!
do you know sophomore SAT score and freshman ACT score do not count? you must take your sat and act in Junior year
may be this is the reason you were rejected? may i know did you get into Yale? good luck!

30

@nytwinskoi, I’m pretty sure your statement above is inaccurate. Can you provide a source to substantiate it?

31

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2260 (770 CR, 760 Math, 730 Writing)
ACT (breakdown): N/A
SAT II: 770 Math II, 780 USH
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: 4.61
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Among top 2% of 788 students
AP (place score in parenthesis): Didn’t send
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Gov (Competed in the We the People Competition), Calculus 3 H, AP English Literature, AP Statistics, Physics Academic, Concert Choir Honors (took it easier senior year, since I took 6 APs in my junior year)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Presidential Award for Volunteer Service, Scholastic Art & Writing Regional Silver Key, 1st in We the People States, Model Congress gavel

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Local Youth Council (President), School Newspaper (Editor-in-Chief), School Art & Literary Magazine (Senior Editor), National Honor Society (Treasurer), Model UN (Editor and Chair for School One-Day Conference), Member of Writers’ Group
Job/Work Experience: Interned at Township Office of Recreation
Volunteer/Community service: 300+ hours through local Youth Council
Summer Activities: Interned At Township, Joined a Writers’ Group at local library
Essays (rating 1-10, details): CommonApp - 10 - I think it was unique, beautiful and insightful (about a hobby of mine that is completely outside of my career/academic interests)
Short Essay Supplements - 9 - I did as much as I could with the tiny word count, wrote about my passion for writing and Yale
Long Supplement - 8 - It wasn’t mindblowing, but it was endearing and showed a lot of passion about my interest in writing and Yale-specific programs/professors that could help me achieve my goals
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 10 (AP Chem teacher: I was basically best friends with this teacher)
Teacher Rec #2: 10 (AP English Language teacher: I was not as close with this teacher but developed a very good relationship, I went from hating her to loving her and I think that made me stand out in her eyes, along with doing well in the class)
Counselor Rec: 10 (Good relationship)
Additional Rec: 10 (From my Youth Council advisor, under whom I also interned, we have a great relationship)
Interview: 10 (Lasted one and a half hours, since we did it over FaceTime, she asked me to pull up my poetry/other things to read to her and we talked about that along with Yale and my identity/goals)

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: English/Global Affairs
State (if domestic applicant): NJ
Country (if international applicant): N/A
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Indian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: <50,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): LGBTQ+

Reflection

Strengths: Leadership and essays. I think I really showed myself as different and having the “spark” to have an effect on campus. I also do a lot in my community and I think my credentials showed me as a leader.
Weaknesses:
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I realized that Yale fit me much better than the rest of the ivies, and I really showed that on my app in discussing my passions and viewpoints by connecting them to Yale and what it offers
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Accepted - Rutgers, Northeastern, George Washington, Emory, UVa, UMich, Tufts, UChicago, Duke, Northwestern, UPenn and Yale
Waitlisted - Columbia, Cornell, Georgetown SFS
Rejected - Princeton and Dartmouth

General Comments: My advice is to apply to as many colleges as you can, and really put effort into each college as if it’s your first choice. Try to show each college that you’re unique and have passions, not only for what you want to study, but for the school itself.

32

Choose One
**Decision: Accepted (Likely Letter) **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): N/A
ACT (breakdown): 33 Composite
SAT II: 710 Math 2, 700 Chemistry, 650 Spanish (didn’t submit any of them)
Weighted GPA: 4.01
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Chemistry (4), AP Macro (4), AP Span Lang (4), AP Eng Lang (5)
Senior Year Course Load: AP English Lit, AP Calc BC, AP Physics 1, AP Micro, Religion 4, AP Spanish Lit
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): State Scholar, AP Scholar w/ Honor

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Varsity Swimming (captain senior year), Diversity Club Executive Board (founder of alumni outreach project), NHS, Spanish NHS
Job/Work Experience: Lifeguarding
Volunteer/Community service: Started a reading tutoring program
Summer Activities: Swimming, Research, E2@MIT
Essays (rating 1-10, details): I was extremely proud of each one of my essays
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): They were terrific!

Interview: It was so cool because it was with an alumna from my school! We got along a lot!

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Applied Math
School Type: Catholic
Ethnicity: African-American
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: high
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM, Legacy, however, plenty of URM and Legacy candidates are rejected every year. Hooks might give you a better read, but they won’t get you in if you aren’t what the school is looking for

Reflection

Strengths: upward trend, EC’s, summers
Weaknesses: freshman year grades
Where else were you admitted?: Brown, MIT, UChicago, Johns Hopkins, Michigan, WUSTL, U of I, NYU, Hampton

General Comments : The college admissions process is a very interesting one. Through this time I’ve heard so many things from so many different people. Some were helpful, others weren’t. I made the mistake of using college confidential as a marker on whether or not I’d get into a school. The fact of the matter is, College Confidential can be useful and gives some good advice, but the vast majority of commenters are parents or students, not admissions professionals. Plain and simple, 95% of the people on CC have no idea what they are talking about because they do not have the expertise to bestow that knowledge on anyone. My biggest piece of advice is to shoot for the stars, because you never no what will happen! Apply to the school you’re teachers and friends told you not to apply to, because imagine what they’ll think when you’ll get in. Also to all my PoC’s out there and all of the people who think people get into college because of their race. That is completely untrue. You get in because you’re qualified and will add something to the school. Stop trying to invalidate other’s successes just because you weren’t able to get a certain opportunity.

Anyway, have fun with the college admissions process!

33

Wow!! #rejectedlion2016, I’m surprised that you didn’t get into those schools also and can’t explain why. You seem like the full package to me!! Where did you end up enrolling? I wanted to reply because I hate to hear you being so hard on yourself!! Hopefully, you are feeling better by now. You can and will be very successful regardless of what college you go to - - even U Ark. Go there with pride and work your hardest. Perhaps you can get some typical requirements out of the way like a freshman english writing course, foreign language requirement, etc… or even take some courses outside the sciences that just seem interesting to you! You may find out that you like the school more than you thought you would. If not, you can always apply to transfer for your sophomore year. The ivy league schools are reaches for everyone these days, regardless of credentials, so make sure to include some target and safety schools when you apply - - schools that you would be happy attending. Best of luck!!

34

Sorry this is so late! I’ve been meaning to post since April but just now got around to it. I so hope it may help the future generations as much as looking through all these from past years much much much helped me. :slight_smile:

Decision: Accepted!

Objective:
[] ACT: 34 (35 E, 34, R, 33 M, 32 S, 10 Writing)
[] SAT II: 700 USH (i also got a 660 on Math 2 but i only sent USH)
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.98
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 2%
[] AP (place score in parenthesis): 5 calc ab, 5 english lang, 4 stats, 4 apush, 4 apes, 3 physics (these are my scores from first 3 years of high school. i didn’t put my senior ap scores bc the college received after acceptance)
[] IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
[] Senior Year Course Load: ap french, ap english lit, ap calc bc, ap gov (BEST CLASS EVER!), ap bio
[] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): one national writing award but nothing too prestigious, all my other awards were school level and then one regional research award and one regional writing award that i received 3 times

Subjective:
[] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): founded and developed diversity and social justice initiatives at my school. also French Honor Society, biomed research, regional writing group
[] Job/Work Experience: research assistant in lab for 3 years
[] Volunteer/Community service: lots of tutoring & mentoring, volunteered at a hospital for 2 summers!

[] Summer Activities: research, university courses, camps, traveling with fam
[] Essays: Common App (10/10), Yale long essay (9/10)
[] Teacher Recommendations: history & english teachers – 11/10 (i didn’t read them but i honestly think these were strongest part of my whole application. both are superb writers, know me really well, and have worked with me extensively inside and out of the classroom)
[] Counselor Rec: 10/10 (my counselor showed me the rec after i was accepted, i was nearly in tears it was the kindest thing anyone’s ever said about me)
[] Additional Rec: research advisor – 9/10 (read this one too. it was great)
[li] Interview: 11/10 my interviewer was phenomenally kind and sincere and interested in my life (in a way beyond that of how other college interviewers seemed to be) def one of the main reasons why i felt i really connected with yale and why i chose it in the end[/li]
Other
[] Applied for Financial Aid?: nah
[] Intended Major: i know i wanna be premed but not sure about major! history?? poli sci?? women and gender studies?? who knows.
[] Country: U.S.
[] School Type: private
[] Race(s) (AI/AN, Asian, AA, NH/PI, White, not reported): asian
[] Gender: female
[] Income Bracket: upper-middle class
[] Hooks (URM, athlete, legacy, 1st gen, etc.): none

Reflection
[] Strengths: reccs, ecs, and essays
[] Weaknesses: only sent one subject test and not that good of a score
[] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: my specific essay for Yale and alumni interview
[] Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected:
accepted: washu, duke, penn, dartmouth, swarthmore, kenyon, william and mary, state flagship
waitlisted: grinnell, harvard, brown
rejected: stanford, princeton
General Comments:
i couldn’t believe it when i found out a few months ago. it was the best moment of my life and i haven’t stopped feeling so so so grateful…congrats to everyone who was accepted and sending much love to those who were rejected. i hope you all found your places and are genuinely content. this will always just be one of infinite doors closed and i think it’s important to remember there is still so much life ahead of us all. all the best to everyone :slight_smile: for future applicants, take a deep breath!!! everyone will tell you this but it’s incredibly beyond true: just. be. yourself. your weird self. your morbid self. your hilarious self. your introverted self. whoever you may be. just write what’s in your heart and be genuine. i truly think if you love something you do with all of your being no matter how good you are at it or how much you have done with it, then that’s what matters in the end. i can’t express enough how much of a gem this website and forum has been. really browse through it and take advantage!!! best of LUCK!!

35

This is really helpful!

36

What did you decide to do?