Help please! Applying to Yale and Harvard from UK

Hey there!
I'm in year 12 at a private college in London at the moment, having passed my GCSEs with very good grades at a grammar school. My grades were as follows;

Maths (taken a year early) A*
Philosophy- A*
English Literature -A
English Language- A*
Geography- A*
Double Science (triple not offered)- A*A*
I.C.T - A*
German- A
Graphic Products- B (i broke my arm during the lengthy coursework period, but was still only 2 marks off an A...will this count against me?)

and i am currently taking 6ASs in Economics (taken fully in Jan, got an A :smile:

, now takin the A2 this year and predicted an A :smile:

), Maths, Physics, Psychology, Critical Thinking and Chemistry (although i'm only taking unit 3 Chemistry this year, the other 2 in Jan next year), and am very confident I will get all strong As in these subjects.

i dont have a clue about applications to US though, although it has always been a dream to study at Yale or Harvard, although having done a lil bit of research on them, I'd love to go to Yale! :smile:

I am aware that extra-cirriculars play a major role in american applications. I work at a nursing home (voluntary every weekend) since over a year now, and am a fitness enthusiast, being a regular gym user, although i do not have much time to continue my sporting interests at the moment.

Do i have a good chance of getting in? What tests do i need to do? What do I do now?!!
ahhh,
Pleasee help!

Reply 1

brokenheroes

16

You need to take SATs and read this
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=440030

Reply 2

random18

OP

Thank you

although my grades in final examinations are very pleasing, I'm not exactly the type of student that studies all year round...and this may be reflected in my references,..
is that of grave importance to American institutions such as Yale?

Reply 3

brokenheroes

16

I don't know (I personally haven't applied to an American uni yet.. it'll be part of my insurance degree), to be honest teacher's seem to give the best references possible so it probably wouldn't be mentioned in your reference.

Reply 4

random18

OP

i hope so =p, ima lil bit of a slacker durin the year to be honest..but it works for me, so i dnt see why it shld matter.
Same, Im gonna be applyin to Oxford, LSE etc here, but the likes of Oxford are always subject to rejection on the basis of a poor interview, regardless of your grades...
do i have a realistic chance at Yale given my previous and expected level of performance?

Reply 5

brokenheroes

16

You're obviously an excellent student, why not? If they use SATs though then you'll have to do well in those as I *think* they see those as more important.

Reply 6

Slick168

10

ok from my expierence with a friend who applied to the states,
it is not all the academics that count, people can have a string of A* all A at A-level but what matters is a) your SAT, b) your interview with alumuni, c) largely your Extra Curriculars. with top schools like Harvard getting AAAA etc is nto enough, with a-levls ebing so easy everyone gets them... but those are just a few points...

Reply 7

random18

OP

thankyou

, ive had a look at a few of the practice SAT questions since you kindly directed me to that post, but how do i go about taking those? i've personally never known a student whose applied to US Universities from the UK, so it's all just a little bit of a mess atm...seems more like a daydream than an attainable reality...
im aware im asking 2 many questions lol =p, but such is my degree of confusion atm =p
thankyouu soo much for your replies though :smile:

Reply 8

random18

OP

how do they interview overseas students?

Reply 9

Towelie88

God you sound posh...

But good luck!

Reply 10

TheEconomist2008->

doesn't it cost a LOT of money for those two unis?

Reply 11

brokenheroes

16

You just register and take the SAT at a test centre nearest you
http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/sat/reg.html

And yes, those universities are incredibly expensive

Reply 12

Donald Duck

15

There should be an SAT centre somewhere near you, you can take them there.

For interviews, they probably have some alumni living near you, who you're gonna meet up with for a certain amount of time (a friend of mine just had lunch with his interviewer). This will not be an academical interview, just to learn about your motives and your social skills.

Reply 13

random18

OP

so what do they actually look for in terms of extra curricular activities?, and what kind of SAT scores put you in good stead for an acceptance?...do you have to take SAT II's too, or is it fairly obv. that if u can pass A levels, surely you understand the subject base well enough :s-smilie:

...similarly, is it possible to get in with just ACTs, or are they less preferable/frowned upon?

Reply 14

Callipygian

2

Make sure you understand the costs before applying, it's very very expenseive.

Reply 15

smalltownboy

14

Callipygian

Make sure you understand the costs before applying, it's very very expenseive.

Yeh, it sieves the money right out of your account :wink:

Reply 16

Donald Duck

15

rahulsood

so what do they actually look for in terms of extra curricular activities?, and what kind of SAT scores put you in good stead for an acceptance?...do you have to take SAT II's too, or is it fairly obv. that if u can pass A levels, surely you understand the subject base well enough :s-smilie:

...similarly, is it possible to get in with just ACTs, or are they less preferable/frowned upon?

I know Harvard requires 3 SAT IIs, and you can pick if you want SAT I or ACT (http://www.admissionsconsultants.com/college/harvard.asp)

The SAT scores they expect are usually above 2100, although a little under is no serious problem.

Another thing, they want rounded candidates. For example, if you're applying for maths, they won't take pure math geeks, unless they have shown themselves to be pure geniusses. Make this come out in your application too, although you should show a lot of love for your subject.