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I am a white male from AZ and I was wondering what my chances where at Yale (EA) and Amherst. I am also looking at Columbia, UChicago, Swarthmore, Brown, Haverford, Rice, and Vassar.

My Stats:
SAT: 1600 (first try)
SAT II: Math IIc: 780, Writing: 780, US History: 770, and Physics: 750

GPA: 3.8 unweighted (only one person has ever graduated from my school with a 4.0)
Rank: top 7 of 66

Junior Year Courses (all courses at my school are honors):
AP US History
Spanish 4
Advanced Physics
AP Physics B
English III
Choir
Discrete Math/AP Calculus BC

Senior Year Courses:
Government
Russian History Through Literature
Spanish Lit
Astronomy
AP English LIterature
AP Calculus BC
AP Art History
AP Physics C
Choir
Playwriting and Directing (independent study)

EC's:
Mock Trial (2 years)
3 Plays
3 Musicals
Varsity Tennis (2 years)
Handbell Choir (founding member)
Founded student group to bring speakers to campus
Founded a capella singing group
Newspaper section editor (maybe)

Awards:
JETS TEAMS Competition 1st in State and 6th in Nationals (JV)
Math League 1st in school, school 8th nationally.
Cum Laude (award for being in top 10% of the class)

Legacies:
Vassar (Mom)
Cornell (Dad)
Cornell Law School (Mom and Dad)

Thank you for your input

By Thedad (Thedad) on Tuesday, June 03, 2003 - 12:49 am: Edit

You look pretty good. Which is to say that you probably have a better lottery ticket than many but it's not a slam dunk. In your favor is a) being from Arizona and b) you can stretch your founding of the two campus groups into the "leadership" category, I think...Yale is big on "leadership." Otherwise, your EC's look like a photocopy of a lot of other top applicants, i.e., they don't stand out. Your legacies for Vassar and Cornell won't count diddly with Yale. There's a chance you might get screwed on class rank and being from such a small school; otoh, it seems like the kind of school that will be well regarded by competitive schools.

By Zerostylus (Zerostylus) on Tuesday, June 03, 2003 - 12:54 am: Edit

yeah, but you can sue them if theyre mean to you.

By Chasgoose (Chasgoose) on Tuesday, June 03, 2003 - 02:32 am: Edit

I recognize that those legacies would have no effect at Yale I was just putting it down because I am considering Vassar and, to a much lesser extent, Cornell.

By Trojan1444 (Trojan1444) on Tuesday, June 03, 2003 - 03:42 am: Edit

Dude, even though Vassar is now co-ed, only guys who are a little "light in the loafers" go there.

By Dream5 (Dream5) on Tuesday, June 03, 2003 - 06:26 am: Edit

Yale - likely
Amherst - not likely

By Chasgoose (Chasgoose) on Monday, June 09, 2003 - 01:34 am: Edit

Why would Amherst be less likely than Yale? Can I basically say goodbye to Amherst if I don't do ED there?

By Howdydoody (Howdydoody) on Monday, June 09, 2003 - 03:59 am: Edit

Chasgoose-have you considered Williams?

By Chasgoose (Chasgoose) on Tuesday, June 10, 2003 - 09:21 pm: Edit

Yes, I have visited there but I have decided that it is way too rural for me. At least Amherst has the 5 College Consortium, it appeared that the best Williams could muster was the 5 Cow Consortium. Not to say that Williams is not a great school, it is just located in a very rural location and that is not what I want.