Do I have a chance at getting into Yale?

Hi,
I really want to apply for Ethics, Politics and Economics at Yale, I will be applying for PPE at Oxford also.

My problem is that I have no idea how good one must be to get into Yale for EPE and what credentials you need!

At GCSE I got 10A*s, for AS I got AAAA in Maths, Economics, Geography and German and I am predicted 3A*s for A2. I will also do AS Further Maths.

I have some decent extra-curriculars and have rowed for 4 years, I also have some extenuating circumstances that happened to me as well.

If I was good at the SAT and had strong references/transcript etc, would I have any chance for Yale?

Also are there any other courses Yale offer that I may have a better chance at? Thanks very much and apologies for the long post!

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1

Amazing Egghead

Lol

Why would you want to go to Yale

Reply 2

username1208193

I would like to think you have a chance!

Reply 3

Kholmes1

You would probably have a chance. Grade wise you can't do any better.

Reply 4

JP0458B

Original post by SubZero~

I would like to think you have a chance!

Thanks for the encouragement! I am worried that the calibre of Yale applicants is so high that I just wouldn't stand out though

Reply 5

JP0458B

Original post by Kholmes1

You would probably have a chance. Grade wise you can't do any better.

Do you know of any other bachelors that Yale offer that may suit me? Cheers for the reply!

Reply 6

University of Glasgow

Official Rep

Original post by Don Joiner

If I was good at the SAT and had strong references/transcript etc, would I have any chance for Yale?

Hey!

As with many US universities, particularly highly competitive and renowned universities, acceptance depends on an awful lot.
The majority of successful applicants will have high grades, perhaps equivalent to yours if not lower. What really sets people aside is their extra-curriculars; what they've done to prove they're interested in a certain field, show leadership skills, group or project work, self-initiative and so on.

Getting a good SAT score will of course help. Your grades certainly seem to give you a great shot for applying, think about your application seriously and focus on essays/personal statements, too.

This is more general advice, others will be more suitable to help, but I hope it helps! :smile:

Scott
Undergraduate Rep
School of Engineering

Reply 7

mathplustutornj

You don't apply to course at US schools, so that doesn't matter. For some cases, you apply to broad areas like engineering or business. If you are applying, you should probably apply to several US schools, like Harvard, Yale, and Princeton or whatever. There is no way to tell whether a school will accept you.

Your scores are good enough. You also need really high SAT I or ACT scores. You also need to sit the SAT IIs, but they aren't that important when you have A-levels.

Reply 8

Doones

You are aware Yale's acceptance rate is below 7%, and much lower for Internationals?

Reply 9

Student403

I don't think many people here have actually applied to the US, so I'll try to be as informative as possible.

11% of the incoming Class of 2019 was international. The incoming class was 1364 students small. That's just over a hundred international students. jneill brings up a very important point.

Now imagine the calibre of students applying from all over the world. Top grades are a baseline. They won't get you in. Neither will a perfect score on the SAT.

That's where you need to differentiate yourself. Your rowing is great - Yale especially loves sports, and crew is a great one to have.

But the most underrated factor is the essays. Honestly a good essay is what's going to admit you. Not 4 years of rowing or any smattering of A*s at GCSE/AL. You are still in the running assuming you pick up a respectable SAT score. But very few people are "competitive" applicants at Yale. The essays are your chance to shine and if you want to get admitted, you need to focus so much on them. The interview really isn't as important as Oxbridge interviews are. Don't worry about that. It's what you tell them in your writing, not CV, that will make them want to pick you.

tl;dr you are not out of the running yet - you need to focus on why you're special outside of academics, because no one at Yale admissions will go "WOW!" at a perfect SAT, 5A* predictions etc. This is done in the essays

EDIT: Consider applying as a recruited athlete, if you feel your rowing is good enough

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 10

username738914

Original post by student403

i don't think many people here have actually applied to the us, so i'll try to be as informative as possible.

11% of the incoming class of 2019 was international. The incoming class was 1364 students small. That's just over a hundred international students. Jneill brings up a very important point.

Now imagine the calibre of students applying from all over the world. Top grades are a baseline. They won't get you in. Neither will a perfect score on the sat.

That's where you need to differentiate yourself. Your rowing is great - yale especially loves sports, and crew is a great one to have.

But the most underrated factor is the essays. Honestly a good essay is what's going to admit you. Not 4 years of rowing or any smattering of a*s at gcse/al. You are still in the running assuming you pick up a respectable sat score. But very few people are "competitive" applicants at yale. The essays are your chance to shine and if you want to get admitted, you need to focus so much on them. The interview really isn't as important as oxbridge interviews are. Don't worry about that. It's what you tell them in your writing, not cv, that will make them want to pick you.

Tl;dr you are not out of the running yet - you need to focus on why you're special outside of academics, because no one at yale admissions will go "wow!" at a perfect sat, 5a* predictions etc. This is done in the essays

this ^ 10000000%

Reply 11

Doones

Original post by Student403

EDIT: Consider applying as a recruited athlete, if you feel your rowing is good enough

Rowing for 4 years won't be enough... Rowing to national standard (e.g. GB squad or near to it) may be.

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 12

Student403

Original post by jneill

Rowing for 4 years won't be enough... Rowing to national standard (e.g. GB squad or near to it) may be.

Posted from TSR Mobile

Ah fair enough. Wasn't sure about this

I do remember seeing someone from Eton recruited to HYP for crew, but yeah he was in the GB squad or something

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 13

Doones

Original post by Student403

Ah fair enough. Wasn't sure about this

I do remember seeing someone from Eton recruited to HYP for crew, but yeah he was in the GB squad or something

Just found this... general guidance based on erg times (I dunno if these are fast, I'm not a rower...)

http://www.athleticscholarships.net/rowingscholarships.htm

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 14

Student403

Original post by jneill

Just found this... general guidance based on erg times (I dunno if these are fast, I'm not a rower...)

http://www.athleticscholarships.net/rowingscholarships.htm

Posted from TSR Mobile

Hopefully OP will understand

Although Yale being in D1 will mean it'll be competitive..

Reply 15

username738914

Original post by jneill

Just found this... general guidance based on erg times (I dunno if these are fast, I'm not a rower...)

http://www.athleticscholarships.net/rowingscholarships.htm

Posted from TSR Mobile

Ivy League unis are prohibited from offering sports scholarships btw. Applicants have to get in on merit.

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 16

mathplustutornj

Original post by Princepieman

Ivy League unis are prohibited from offering sports scholarships btw. Applicants have to get in on merit.

Posted from TSR Mobile

Not having scholarships means athletes have to have money or other sources of funding. It is a huge advantage in admissions to be a recruited athlete, but you have to be like one of the top half on their team. Admissions to top US schools is not based on merit anyway. They take whom they want to.

Reply 17

username738914

Original post by mathplustutornj

True, very true.

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 18

Doones

Original post by Princepieman

Ivy League unis are prohibited from offering sports scholarships btw. Applicants have to get in on merit.

Posted from TSR Mobile

Yes indeed. And academic standards have to be maintained by recruited athletes. It's not an easy route.

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 19

Doones

Original post by Student403

Hopefully OP will understand

Although Yale being in D1 will mean it'll be competitive..

More googling says it needs to be better than 6:40 for Yale. Edit to add: and even more googling keeps lowering it...

I think I'll stop now!

Posted from TSR Mobile

(edited 8 years ago)