Yale University (2023-2024)

[river osprey]

if you get in i'll reward you with a tour

[bleak prism]

it''s a chronic problem for me

[river osprey]

[bleak prism]

yes i should! I'd love a tour 😭

but what are the odds that ill get in 💀

[river osprey]

about 4.35% based on last cycle

very doable

[bleak prism]

💀

wishing and hoping, discord is addicting though

[river osprey]

lmao yea

tbh just power through the essays

discord was less distracting at 3am when i wrote my essays lol

[bleak prism]

yeah, i'll try to they are so hard they be asking such easy questions but it's so hard to answer them

[bleak prism]

haha i feel that

what was your reason for why yale? @river osprey

[delicate jolt]

I wrote my MIT essays at 4 AM

[river osprey]

probably best, don't change them

[river osprey]

lowk i talked about a bunch of different stuff

but i think a good formula is 1 course, 1 prof, 1 research group, 1 club/ec involvement, and 1 general thing you'll contribute to campus

[bleak prism]

wow really all of that?

ok

[river osprey]

yeah you can squeeze into 125 words

doable

just be smart with how you allocate space

[bleak prism]

oh ok, do you just go about naming those clubs/courses/people or do you slightly elaborate

[river osprey]

elaborate ofc

goal is to paint a picture of yourself on campus

[bleak prism]

because for me it's hard because i'll do that but then i'll barely elaborate because i don't have a lot of words

[river osprey]

like course and prof you can state, but esp like general contribution it has to be somewhat unique and detailed

[river osprey]

then find ways to cut words and add content

em dashes help

since commonapp counts two words enjoined by an em dash as one word

[bleak prism]

ok thank you!

[bleak prism]

So should I mention less stuff from that list and only focus on what is most important?

[river osprey]

it's all important

just shove it into 125 words

you can do it

[bleak prism]

oh ok

ill try, thank you so much for the help!

[vale lake]

wtf

all that??

[wary star]

you’re gonna be spending four years of your life at this school if you get in

you’re also gonna be a part of the alumni network and will always be, in some way, a part of the school’s community

so I’d argue that doing the research necessary to facilitate a “why school” response as fleshed out as the one @river osprey recommended is good

also @river osprey what college

[river osprey]

silliman, wbu

[delicate jolt]

Siliman

[wary star]

je

I envy the acorn and your buttery

[river osprey]

je is pretty pog

acorn is nice yea i just wish they had stuff other than coffee as a non coffee drinker

😔

[vale lake]

[wary star]

honestly I really like JE

great community, good amenities, and good staff

my main qualm is that our dining hall food is on the lower end of Yale’s best

[river osprey]

i mean branford’s right there, their food is good

i also hear good things about dport food?

[warped merlin]

stony creek market 🤤

[north current]

Common Grounds and OhK-Dog New Haven

[teal tusk]

Hey

Hey guys

[vale lake]

in general its

• academics: gpa, test scores, course rigor
• ecs
• "personality": essays + recs

get more

then

wb outside of school

like what do you do besides working out, gaming, sleeping, and talking with friends

basically anything can be an ec

even gaming can

then what do you do

read?

💀 oh

do u self study

or only for school stuff

thats more of an essay topic than an EC

oh

thats an ec then

i guess you could write about that idk

you have time to change that

around this time i started smth

start ur own club

gl

clubs, nonprofits, a teeny amount of research, summer programs

and i have some aces

aces = stuff im hoping will distinguish me from the pack

i dont knaw man

it is yea

[vale lake]

^

🤏

founder is similar level to president tho

cause its harder to legitimize smth you founded than something existing

i managed to secure hella good positions in all sorts of things tho

cause im the only well known math kid in my grade

they almost always make the presidnet a senior

take that how you will

oh yeah founder is different

well then ur not getting pres there

vp ur good to go unless theres another person in ur grade that he knows better

clubs at school are all nepotism no merit

altho u can argue that merit feeds nepotism

cause people associate with others that are also good

oh its voted

prove to them that ur smarter

then

if the club is full of nerds they might vote for the kid that tells people about how they r smart and what they want to do for the club

than someone who is loud and hot

[wary star]

your ECs are enough.

I think I understand why so many Yale students are quick to disengage with admissions circles

it’s tiring dealing with people who see admissions as a contest that needs to be won by passing a certain stats/ECs threshold

and for Yale it doesn’t work like that

also, please stop asking people for their stats and extracurriculars

you cannot compare yourself to other people without having both your file and their file in front of you, which is impossible

AOs don’t compare individual applicants most of the time

iirc

also if you ask me about my ECs I will literally explode

if you ask anybody about their ECs here

please

I beg of you to not

[delicate jolt]

@wary star By the way, I have been meaning to ask, what are your ECs?

Though in all seriousness, I completely agree. Comparing yourself to other people is the worst thing you can do during your time applying to colleges.

It is does nothing but put more of a mental strain on you and honestly it doesn't even give you a realistic idea of whether or not you'll get in.

There are so many reasons why someone could've been accepted into a college. As much as it is difficult to process, sometimes the reason you do/don't get in is out of your control.

[vale lake]

my bad

usually i wouldn't tell but ppl online kinda r distant enoughthat i overshare

[wary star]

sorry for being a little mean

last night was not particularly fun

but regardless of what ECs you have you’ll probably be fine in the end

life has a way of happening regardless of what any institution has to stay about it

and you’ll be going to college anyways and will, in four years time, either be continuing school or working

[cosmic geyser]

context matters a lot ❤️

[wary star]

you will never feel like you’re good enough

it’s such a problem for admitted students that there are people hired by schools just to curb impostor syndrome

the reality is that a lot of the huge ECs you see other people have are heavily inflated (on average)

[chilly thunder]

do what you want and try your best to do them the best you can

the people who post their ecs are also the people who feel like they have stuff to brag about

the sports team i believe

president is iffy

how are you going to be the president of 5 clubs and have enough time to dedicate to each one

definitely believable

the fencing is pretty cool

don't worry dawg

this isn't solely merit based

if it was people would get in based off of a test

when i mean merit i mean accomplishment based

just show that you're a nice human being who is willing to work hard, help others/make change, and capable of working with others

basically everything that this server has lost sight of

the important part is showing it on your application

if you know what i mean

let me put it into perspective like this:

someone called an admissions officer reads your application

they're human

so think about it from a regular person's point of view

if they read your application like they were trying to learn about someone

would they like you? would they want to meet you? would they want to be friends with you?

if you're interested in research, sure, but i would be wary of online research programs

let me send you a handout that reflects my opinions

https://knzhou.github.io/writing/Activities.pdf

[chilly thunder]

read the science fair section of this and everything below that

[wary star]

the clubs likely aren’t very rigorous at all

maybe each meets once every month or every two weeks

the pay-to-play model

if you have the money it might be an okay investment

but if you’re anywhere close to struggling that money would be better spent on, well, food

clothes

rent

what are you thinking of majoring in?

and is that major catered for in the paid program?

also, does the program give you an ISBN?

for whatever paper you’re a part of

nice

I recommend checking this

This is important

[chilly thunder]

1. it's not my paper
2. do you mean RSI?
3. if you do, don't expect to be accepted. people with absolutely zero research experience have gotten in over people who have had a lot of research experience. only do research if you are really interested in academia. if you or your family have connections, you can try to leverage them. otherwise, take courses and cold/hot email professors that you may or may not know. there is no guarantee that you will get research opportunities but it's still worth a shot.

rsi is huge if you get in

but there's no expectation of getting in

i think the same applies with colleges tbh in terms of expecting to get in

100 people are selected every year from around the world

i think around 3000 people apply?

acceptance rates don't always tell the full story

everyone who applies to RSI is interested in research no doubt about it

you don't need research experience to "stand out" to rsi

to be honest i don't think anyone knows what they're looking for except the admissions committee

they're looking for people to give research opportunities at MIT to

nope

there is a minimum advised score that they prefer

but other than that they don't really care i think

no

it's who they want to attend

not necessarily the most cracked or most privileged people

think about it like this

if i've done a lot of research at another university already

and it's obvious i'm just applying rsi for the clout

why should they give you a spot

over someone who has no research opportunities in their area

but really wants to go into field X

especially when there are only (i think 80?) US spots

im just saying

be an interesting and nice and motivated person

or seem like that in your application

i don't know bro

[wary star]

email them

[river osprey]

apply to rsi but don’t think about it too much lol

legit nobody gets into rsi

it’s about the most impossible thing to get accepted into

[river osprey]

nah, you have no idea

hypsm is so easy to get into in comparison

because by taking the gaokao you put yourself in contention for tsinghua/peking…

there is no written application

[warped merlin]

yup

[river osprey]

because most of the people applying to harvard are not qualified to be at harvard

but everyone applying to rsi is qualified to be at rsi

and domestically rsi takes 51/1700+ idk where ur getting ur numbers from

yes, but rsi only takes 80 people

out of 1700 domestic and idk how many international

acceptance rates are always a lie, have to put them into proper context

well if their essay impressed the AOs then they were qualified

i dont see ur point

i bet at least a majority of harvard applicants low efforted their essays/dont have the gpa/dont have the scores/dont have the ECs

only god knows

[river osprey]

read from here

just do what you like

knowing my ECs arent gonna help you

every accepted student is a case study not a generalization

[teal tusk]

guys should i ed or rd to yale

im not a legacy, an athele, nor a first gen student but a low income one

[teal tusk]

u mean rea to yale?

arent all eds basiclly the same

so yeah early action

restricted early action

early decision

[teal tusk]

No

If you apply rea to yale you arent bound to yale

You can reject their offer

For ED you cannot reject their offer

And also for rea you cant apply early to private institutions

im not going to reject yale in any case so its the same for me

its my only ed/rea

[north current]

arent you a junior??

[regal plaza]

Hey could I have some hel

help

Trying to decide between Yale & Stanford REA

Acceptance rates for both are pretty similar

10%

Trying to apply to the one that is most likely gonna accept me

Cause they are looking for different traits

Could I PM someone my application? For advice on where to REA

[chilly thunder]

i beg to disagree

i think they're around the same in terms of selectivity

it's just that the admissions criteria for rsi are a lot less clear

because while you have marginally higher acceptance rates for those 5 colleges you also have to take into the fact that legacies and athletes make up a huge portion of those colleges

[river osprey]

have you seen the calibre of people who get into rsi vs hypsm

they are totallly different levels

[chilly thunder]

i know people who have gotten into rsi

[river osprey]

i do too

they are way smarter than any average student at some t5

[chilly thunder]

i feel like RSI just has different admissions criteria

[river osprey]

because it's a very self selecting pool applying to a very specific niche?

[chilly thunder]

i think it is pretty selective

but i don't think the pool is that self selecting anymore

everyone applies for clout now

[river osprey]

lol idts

[chilly thunder]

like what i'm saying is like

if you don't count the legacies or anything

like if you're not a legacy or a recruited athlete

it's very similar in selectivity

[river osprey]

the pool is extremely self selecting for rsi still, who has the time to write over 4000 words of essays and secure recs in one of the more difficult time stretches of hs

i remember applying and it was living hell

[chilly thunder]

like getting into RSI does not guarantee you can get into hypsm

[river osprey]

i doubt it

[chilly thunder]

i know two years ago

[river osprey]

of course it doesn't but it is a very big boost

[chilly thunder]

18 out of 27 RSI alumni who applied to MIT ultimateily got in

[chilly thunder]

it's correlation

imo

[river osprey]

agree

they were already smart to begin with

[chilly thunder]

not really causation except maybe for MIT becuase their admissions are related i think

[river osprey]

but at least speaking for yale, rsi students would smash most yale stem students

[chilly thunder]

if getting into HYPSM were easy by comparison then those 9 out of 27 would've been like

👀

[chilly thunder]

maybe the top of the top RSI students

[river osprey]

in terms of just pure quantitativeness

[chilly thunder]

you have to consider the fact that RSI

[river osprey]

disagree

[chilly thunder]

accepts not only cracked people

but also people without any research experience at all

[river osprey]

???

[chilly thunder]

you don't have to be super cracked to get into RSI

[river osprey]

find profiles of these people please

[chilly thunder]

you didn't know that?

uh

dj?

[river osprey]

who is that

[chilly thunder]

dawg

i'll just dm you

your dms aren't open

[river osprey]

tbh i'm not really looking to move this into dms

but we can agree to disagree

[chilly thunder]

yea i mean

im just going to be honest there's a decent amount of people without research experience in rsi

because it's ultimately a program meant to give people research experience

[river osprey]

i mean it isn't really but ok

¯_(ツ)_/¯

agree to disagree

[chilly thunder]

dude i have literally talked to their assistant director

i have them friended on discord

[river osprey]

basically the point is

people severely overestimate how hard it is to get into hypsm

rsi selectivity is almost certainly higher than hypsm which is what the original point was

[teal tusk]

yes but i need to figure out if i should apply early or regular

idk the pros and cons of each option

rea has higher acceptance rate but how do i know the only ppl applying rea are legacies & athletes or not

[chilly thunder]

and my point is that it's not lol

[vale lake]

that's crazy!

lemme say the people that are saying its hard to get into hypsm did not get into rsi

summer camps are different selectivity wise because only really good people apply in the first place

no one is gonna drop ~3500 words on essays and write 15 pages of math problems for ross unless they are cracked

and ross acceptance rate is i think 15%

[river osprey]

lmao yeah

pretty much my point

anywho

they're just different

keep grinding high schoolers

[broken talon]

Search it up (I already told you)

[wary star]

shambles fucking died

[final chasm]

How about RSI

[final chasm]

Ross as in the math summer camp right?

[final chasm]

Don’t they give some financial aid or sum

[regal plaza]

How's the startup scene at Yale?

[wary star]

@gritty radish

[gritty radish]

Very well supported. Enough people are interested that we are able to foster a community where people are able to find co-founders, but not too many to the point where we aren't able to give people a lot of resources.

[regal plaza]

@gritty radish Oh, nice! Sent you a PM

[wary star]

dont be jealous lol

[warped merlin]

Yeah I’m jealous too ngl

But I’m glad to hear that the startup scene is good

[river osprey]

oh wait really

as a frosh interested in startups that's good to hear

it just seems that there's not that many people willing/wanting to found but probably that comes slightly later in college

i should get more involved in YES, i do plan to do their internship match

[gritty radish]

Have you talked to many Tsai City people?

[river osprey]

i have not, i am planning to thougj

[teal tusk]

u arent even in uni bro senior year jsut started lpplsszz just grind

[teal tusk]

pray, dear interlocutor, do kindly take heed, for thou art not even ensconced within the hallowed halls of academia, my good fellow. Indeed, it hath come to pass that thou hast merely embarked upon thy senior year, and lo, it is but in its nascent infancy, scarcely begun. 'Tis my humble suggestion that thou ought to bestir thyself with diligence, for idleness doth befall thee, and grinding is the path to salvation, as they say.

[sweet inlet]

Is yale good for BME

[final chasm]

@wary star

[wary star]

@sweet inlet Yes

I don’t think there’s more than one or two majors we aren’t “good” for

I’d argue we’re “great” in at least half

[uneven widget]

how good should I be in music to submit a music supplementary portfolio to Yale?

[wary star]

Idk; I’ll ask around today

[uneven widget]

Huge thanks! I do not intend to major in music and my repertoire basically focuses on modern acoustic guitar solos and experimental music. On the other hand, music is indeed one of the major aspects of my profile, in terms of ECs and PS. So I'm really not sure if it will even hurt my application (as I presume the faculties to review these supps are more of like having a classical music background?)

[uneven widget]

I'd also like to hear your opinions on this year's last short takes. It is my THE MOST FAVORITE prompt ever, and I've come up with so many tiny but embedded elements in me. It's really hard to give up any of them. Do you think it's feasible for me to include the rest under the title “fun facts of me” in the additional info section?

[chilly thunder]

read this from the yales admissions podcast:

https://admissions.yale.edu/podcast-transcripts

ctrl+f supplement

[bleak prism]

i love the short takes too! I am working on mine too

[wary star]

sure!

the more personality you can add to your application, the better

[uneven widget]

Thanks! Question resolved!

[chilly thunder]

did you read it?

honestly i would just submit it either way

as long as you know how to play your instrument youh're perfectly fine

what instrument are you playing?

im doing viola

yale's music program is kind of weird ngl

i remember my teacher's brother got into yale and umich

but he chose umich because of some problems in the music department

[uneven widget]

I focus on modern fingerstyle acoustic guitar as an instrumentalist, and that's y I'm a bit worried about if it sounds too POP to the faculties, not to mention practices in electric and experimental music...

[chilly thunder]

you're going to have to elaborate for me...

do you have a youtube link of someone else doing modern fingerstyle acoustic guitar?

[uneven widget]

Interesting "problems"

[chilly thunder]

i think they would only let graduate students teach undergrads

and not professors

for music

which is kind of stupid

the only reason he wanted to go to yale was because of this famous cello professor

[uneven widget]

sad story 😦

[uneven widget]

sure. introducing my favorite guitarists: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPs-q9kGe-g ; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S33tWZqXhnk&pp=ygUOdG9tbXkgZW1tYW51ZWw%3D. If I'm to submit the music portfolio, the first piece would be one of my go-tos

[chilly thunder]

how are you going to do this

[uneven widget]

That's a part of my concern... It seems Yale defines "style" chronologically and more of emphasizes on the classicals. While my repertoire is more like to contrast in terms of funk, jazz, rock, etc.

[final rapids]

what does yale look for in students? how would you describe yale’s fit and values? ive read from their websites and all but i want to hear actual insights from a current student. what are ur fav things about yale that makes yale unique from other universities?

[river osprey]

i mean i’d submit but not exactly what theyre looking for i think

since a lot of the stuff around here is classical

like even dpops is classical i believe

doesnt hurt tho esp if guitar is a big time commitment

[chilly thunder]

don't tailor yourself to an idea of a perfect student that yale wants

because yale doesn't want people who do that

if you're the kind of person to center your life around a college acceptance that school is probably not cut out for you

[uneven widget]

My knack for easing the anxiety is that if it's not what it claims to be, whether in terms of admission decision or vibe in general, which we applicants find ourselves matched with, then it's the college's fault. At the end of the day, we are applying, nevertheless by large, because of that image. And it would not be an easy thing to get over when some central discrepancies were only realized after matriculation, even if we were "lucky" enough to sneak in.

[quasi crow]

lots of fancy words

[final chasm]

Bro is the Duke of Cambridge

[final chasm]

Bro is an undercover admissions officer 😭

[uneven widget]

Bro gets nervous and is stricken by anxiety again

[teal tusk]

hi

[north current]

yalies unite

wish harder

[uneven widget]

WORK, instead of wish

[uneven widget]

Like in your mind 😆

Awww. Not being pushing. I'm just saying if you "wish" then there is some reason to act. If it's the case that you're intrinsically not the kind, there's nothing wrong to be yourself.

No prob! In fact, I once got in a similar case. I tried the public forum tournament of my school in sophomore year to step out a bit from the overly contained manners despite inner desires to express myself. The fact that it was nevertheless interesting in the process & I was the best speaker of the tournament actually reassured my suspicion that it could eventually turn out to be not my taste when everything was done and I started to reflect on that experience.

A debate style~

[dusty lotus]

👍

[uneven widget]

Long story short, I didn't. Our team made it to the semifinal, though 🤤

[uneven widget]

It's a team of two. So basically there's not so much leadership element in that partnership

[final rapids]

does yale have unique offerings that only particular to yale? do yale clubs and programs considered as particular only to yale?

[river osprey]

well of course there are? there’s stuff unique to every college

if u do ur due diligent college research u’ll find plenty to write about

[final rapids]

no i mean for example theres a stars research program at yale. it is unique but there are also many different research programs at other institutions. so i dont know if it counts as specific only to yale

[dusty lotus]

Just find things you find interesting at Yale on their website and stuff

[final rapids]

also would it be cliche if i write about yales multidisciplinary approach? i feel like everyone writes about it. i want to write about other aspects of yale that i found intriguing but i feel like i would miss out on an opportunity. since everyone highlights yale’s emphasis on and

[uneven widget]

My belief is that there'll be really no such a completely unique thing in terms of the "features" people will mention about Yale, considering the vast number of applicants. What seemed feasible and intrinsically more reasonable to me when I was brainstorming my YY was combining my uniqueness with Yale's offerings. No assurance though, this is only my interpretation of "had led", emphasized AO Mark, in the INSIDE podcast.

BTW are we allowed to include the names of current Yalies in our essays? At least I was indeed inspired by the words of those particular people to coin my interest.

[final rapids]

i would not suggest it cuz its not really relevant nor necessary. you can just say i was inspired by the words of a current yalie thats it

[final rapids]

btw are the things inspired you were the people? cuz i heard great things about yale’s community

[uneven widget]

It's really an assembly of the community, some individuals, and precisely their words

[final rapids]

unrelated but your choices of words are immaculate. i wouldn’t be surprised if ur an english major

[uneven widget]

Aww, I'm so flattered by u ppl here. 🥹

[bleak prism]

questiion

for yale's short take "what inspires you"?

can i just talk about many things that inspire me, even if they are unrelated? or should i focus on one thing

and for these essays in general should i try and make them different from other's/distinguishable

if so how can i do that

[teal tusk]

lmao i just talked about a book i read

[uneven widget]

I've seen admitted supps from both approaches

[teal tusk]

i think you can though

[teal tusk]

just be truthful to yourself

what does inspire you

[bleak prism]

ok ^

[teal tusk]

you can talk about a lot but you only have like 35 words max

so itd probably be more beneficial to just talk about one thing and explain it more in depth

[bleak prism]

and how long do people typically spend on these supplements? when I write mine I typically just write one draft, tweak it, and am good

[uneven widget]

"Novelty alone– it’s not going to do much for your case," said AO Mark in INSIDE podcast

[teal tusk]

my stanford ones took me a month

but

usc i did in a weekend

so i think it depends

once you do your first few you can take a lot of the contents and put them on your other supps

[bleak prism]

alright

[bleak prism]

thank you!

[uneven widget]

No prob! Not spreading peer pressure though: If Yale is the first school you try, my experience is those short takes are going to be really conducive to the entire application season. The freedom and promptness in there provide a perfect framework for brainstorming about multiple personal topics that may not be adopted in Yale supps but eventually somewhere else. So far, I've done this to all the short takes and even the essay.

[teal tusk]

I agree, this is pretty much exactly what i did for stanford

[bleak prism]

did anyone write the short take "if you could teach any college course what would you teach?"

and how did you approach this?

working on it rn but it's hard to come up w/ideas

[teal tusk]

i just listed a course name and description

like it would be on a university catalog

[delicate jolt]

^

Though, I provided reasoning behind why i chose the course.

[bleak prism]

like a fake course description?

[teal tusk]

yes

[bleak prism]

oh ok hah

[bleak prism]

alr

and for the what inspires you prompt is it fine to give a boring answer like "knowing i have so many chances to improve myself"

[dusty lotus]

I mean it’s supposed to reflect you so

[teal tusk]

if thats what you feel like best represents you yes

[dusty lotus]

If u feel like that is honest to you then go abead

[bleak prism]

cool

[teal tusk]

u also dont need to ask us if every essay idea is okay also

my advice is to just finish them and see if you like where you ended up

[bleak prism]

yeah, i didn't find much information on the internet though in terms of tackling the supps

[north current]

collegevine blog and college essay guy have some tips

[delicate jolt]

I don't like CollegeVine they crush dreams

[north current]

the chance me nonsense is dumb but their blog is useful

[dusky tusk]

Their chance me is so inflated

I be having 30+ percent chances at ivies lmfao

[north current]

it told me i have a 75% chance at gtown and pomona 💀

[teal tusk]

its 5% regardless

[final rapids]

ik applying early to yale wont increase my chances but still a part of me believes that it does. do you guys believe that?? or am i just a delulu 😭

[teal tusk]

no it doesnt

in the podcast they said it decreases it

[final rapids]

it decreases? so should i better apply rd even tho im alsmot finished w my supps

and its my first choice

[teal tusk]

unless ur legacy or donor

if its ur first choice id still rea then tbh

[final rapids]

i feel like the competition in rd is crazy tho. its like 2% acceptance rate

[teal tusk]

deferral rate is

like

31%

[teal tusk]

theyre the same

well

rea is harder

but

the acceptance rate is pretty much the same

even they say that

[final rapids]

this alumni from my school who got into princeton rea always advises to apply early bcs it slightly increases the chances. they got rejected from every college in rd so idk

[teal tusk]

princeton rea is different than yale rea though

[final rapids]

really

[teal tusk]

yes

different schools different admissions officers

nah its mainly just legacy or donor

who inflate the rates

[teal tusk]

no thats why the rates are inflated

for rea

cuz thats when they all apply

[teal tusk]

for any t20

because they dont lmao

[final rapids]

is the donor thing actually happens tho

[teal tusk]

would u tell people thats the only reason u got into harvard

yes

it does

it says they consider it

CDS

they take it into account

meaning its considered

common data set

for which school

yes i finished qwpierx

stanford

not yale

im supposed to be doing them nr

ok i guess it isn't on the CDS (i thought it was listed) but when they got sued they disclosed that wealthy donors had an acceptance rate 9 times higher than the normal acceptance rate

for harvard at least

look it up if you don't believe me

it's a thing

i can tell u for stanford rea donating does help

the court cases LMAO

the court documents

literally governmentally confirmed yes

[final rapids]

im lowkey scared of applying rea now. should i just apply to any other school to see my potential? 😭

[teal tusk]

no apply rea

[final rapids]

why tho since it decreases my chances? and it doesnt help me at all

[teal tusk]

well if you're not qualified, you're getting rejected regardless

[willow fiber]

Apart from the why us essay, did u guys name drop/mention any of yale's specific programs/resources in ur other essays?

[teal tusk]

i didnt really feel the need to since i thought they were more or less asking about me as an individual

[bleak prism]

provide evidence for this

[uneven widget]

Episode 28, MARK: One final note here. I like to explain that in my mind, it’s actually harder to be admitted to Yale early than it is to be admitted to Yale through regular decision. And I want to dig in–That doesn’t mean that you’re worse off. It’s harder in my mind because it is in our interest to be conservative in that early action round. Right? When we’re in that admissions committee in early action, we have in the back of our minds the fact that we are going to receive tens of thousands of regular decision applicants. And the last thing that we want to do is to find ourselves in February reading these applications from amazing students in regular decision and thinking, doh, I wish we had 25, 50, 100, 200 more spots available. And so, if there’s any hesitation, as we said, that committee will say, hey, a defer is cheap. It’s pretty easy. So it’s in my mind actually a higher bar to clear early. Because we have to be certain that you would be admitted to Yale no matter what comes through our regular decision round.

[bleak prism]

oh yikes

hope im deferred

[uneven widget]

Hahaha deferred is a success 😆

[bleak prism]

yessir, who actually gets in anyways

[uneven widget]

The same wish to you!

[bleak prism]

thank you, you too! are you applying ea?

[uneven widget]

Yeah. Still narrowing down the final versions of my materials though.

[bleak prism]

Oh nice. I am also trying to work on the supplements and everything

[bleak prism]

i mean it's a choice people apply to harvard and stanford early its not different with yale

even if it is competitive

i mean if its your top choice i would. or if you dont want to ed and you don't care about applying to privates EA you should. yale EA though is getting more competitive

[uneven widget]

Consider it this way: If we're destined to be rejected, it doesn't matter which round we choose. EA, as AOs' words stated, is merely a chance to hear from the target school earlier and receive some feedback about the application season. Being crowded out by an "averagely better applicant pool" of the early round and deferred doesn't necessarily mean a bad thing - at least the school considers it seriously and wants to double-check our position in the regular pool.

[final rapids]

applicants applying to yale rea. what made yale your first choice?

for me mostly the residential college and the vibe of undergrads. everything comes with is just a bonus

[bleak prism]

I agree, residential colleges, there’s a super unique concentration at Yale that focuses on global conflict (I’m super passionate ab that), tons of interesting student organizations, etc

[dense holly]

Is referencing Gilmore Girls (VERY BRIEFLY) in my Yale essay a good idea of overdone?

[river osprey]

not good idea

idk how that would say anything about you lol

[wary star]

Honestly, I’m not sure how best to express this into words

But there is a general yale “vibe” that, if met, may be an advantage in admissions

but in general Yale is looking for interesting, passionate, and motivated people above all else

my impression of the student body thus far is that admissions somewhat achieved this goal for its non-legacy and non-athlete student body

almost everybody new that I meet is intelligent and willing to pursue their choice of major either because of pure desire and/or a moral obligation (think premed)

maybe I’m biased, but I feel like most of the exceptions to what I just laid out are within the ALDC (athlete, legacy, Dean’s list/donors, children of faculty and staff) category

they’re all generally smart or extremely skilled in their respective disciplines, but they can be mean or heavily two-faced

luckily enough I find that these people self segregate themselves into special cliques that nobody interesting can access

[bleak prism]

what's the vibe 😭 asking for a friend

[dense holly]

alkie who are some ppl here (that don't attend yale) that have the "yale vibe"

they can another school

or be a hs student, i just need a frame of reference

[wary star]

sadly I don’t know of any good examples

[dense holly]

we've got a lot of yale rejects here i fear

[wary star]

yeah

I can’t say I’m surprised

[dense holly]

yeah me neither

[wary star]

But I believe that the disconnect is moreso between Ivies at large and A2C than just specifically Yale

[dense holly]

that does make a lot of sense

[wary star]

since A2C sees an Ivy admission as an escalator to both security and as a way to satisfy their parents’ and communities’ desires and since Ivies see students as individual community builders and scholars

I might make the argument that A2Cers are generally rejected on personality grounds since, well, they on average care less about the world than “succeeding” in life, whatever that means

[dense holly]

I'd say it's a 2:1 of horrible people to good people tbh

[wary star]

no that’s fair

[dense holly]

alkie can i get your opinion on a short take draft rq?

[wary star]

sure

dm

[wary star]

If I had to put the vibe into words, I’d say that the “vibe” is an aura of passion, drive, and community

we are all Yalies first and members of our residential colleges second

and IMHO most inter-student competition occurs when applying to clubs or in spaces specifically made for student competition (like tournaments for clubs or intramurals)

and EVEN THEN competitions like intramurals are organized on a residential college basis so you don’t lose the “community” aspect

[dense holly]

I’d fit in so well if I wasn’t uf bound tbh

[wary star]

I can’t recall any instances of students sabotaging each other majorly

It’s definitely happened before but at lower levels and lower lower intensities than at schools like Princeton or Harvard

I might also say that Yalies are generally extroverted

[bleak prism]

i really love learning about the aspect of community at yale. it's one of the main reasons im applying 😊

[river osprey]

ysig yucg

[cosmic geyser]

💀

[cosmic geyser]

dang gracie

[wary star]

honestly I might be more pessimistic and say 3:1

[north current]

knowing that its an elite pwi i agree with alkie

[wary star]

Lol not at Yale

but a2c

[north current]

oh well i still agree in that case

[wary star]

But Yale might be 30/30/40 good/neutral/mean

[north current]

esp on the subreddit

[wary star]

I am not as confident about my Yale guess as my A2C one

[bleak prism]

could i dm you one of my short takes as well? I wrote it and i think its good but i'd like another opinion

[wary star]

sure

[bleak prism]

cool! tyyy

[cosmic geyser]

ouch

that kinda sucks, alkie

[wary star]

the bottom 70%* self-segregate themselves

like i have at most one recruited athlete as a friend

not because I wouldn't want to be friends with athletes at-large, but because athletes hang out with other athletes

same kinda goes with the rich NYC socialites; they kinda self-segregate into the frats and sororities IMHO

[bleak prism]

sent them

[uneven widget]

FR. My JV is one of the most difficult communities to fit in that I've ever encountered... We were like good enough while training and at formal events though. But there's always sth around their own circle that makes it harder for late-comers. Well it doesn't mean they are "bad" in any sense - merely different personalities I guess. And I suppose this could be more reasonable in a place of diversity?

[chilly thunder]

ong this is what i've been thinking for a year now but i've never been able to consciously verbalize it

[wary star]

yeah, you're right that not all athletes are mean

i generally feel that people are, overall, nice

[chilly thunder]

oh wait i didn't realize i ws replying to like a 7 hour old message

this was like in response to your

[chilly thunder]

this message

[wary star]

this one?

ok

yeah it took me a long time to realize that thought too and to put it into words

[chilly thunder]

liek i always had the thought

that most a2cers

have a pretty fucking low chance

at these ivies

yk what i mean

[wary star]

ye

[chilly thunder]

cuz if it's something you salivate about

dream about

yearn about

then it's probably not meant for you

[wary star]

and that their low chance is in no way related to their academic prowess

which is why a2cers believe they need to do olympiads and publish research papers before college just to get in

[chilly thunder]

if i had to be honest

i don't think a2cers are that cracked

[wary star]

because to surpass the personality requirement you have to be a genuine scholar

[chilly thunder]

like people who actually do this

[teal tusk]

i find their the ppl ik last year who went to ivies are genuinly cool / interesting people for the most part & the high-achievers who got rejected everywhere were more individualistic and not very.. collaborative
(sorry if this is intruding on the conversation)

[chilly thunder]

tend to be genuine scholars

i know this because i run in those circles

[wary star]

you are 100% not intruding

[chilly thunder]

because in order to genuinely achieve excellence

you must genuinely believe in what you do

if that makes sense?

it takes a lot of dedication and focus to be in the top 100 or top 50 at whatever you do for an olympiad

[uneven widget]

IDK if it's simply a2cers or ives? I felt that it's a more universal misbelief built by whatever the myth offers

[wary star]

no, that's a good point

[chilly thunder]

and it takes a lot of dedication for you to actually learn the material required and to develop the skills necessary

in order to publish a paper

i think a2cers feel like they are entitled to something that they cannto get

if that makes sense

[wary star]

yeah

[chilly thunder]

just because they care about it enough

[wary star]

also @uneven widget when I say a2cer i think i mean anybody with the mindset

for context

i got in with 3.8uw

[uneven widget]

I'd like to believe that most people still want to be their true selves. While they can't be convinced that they do not need to "ace"

[wary star]

are you anything except cs

good luck soldier

[teal tusk]

gl gl

[wary star]

literally i 100% agree

they don't hard admit by major

[teal tusk]

im in this weird position where idk my chances bc i have profiles like the high achieving (more toxic) people but i feel like i have tried to find myself sorta??

[wary star]

especially since everybody usually changes majors the second the get in; this isn't because people applied knowing they'd switch, but because after taking a few classes they don't want to pursue their major further

for a school like Yale where every undergraduate major is under the "Yale College" umbrella and not under any sub-schools, yes

[teal tusk]

you enter as undeclared iirc

[wary star]

ye

[uneven widget]

My case is more of like "oh I'm doomed for some reason" and started to re-scrutinize the whole system

[wary star]

different majors have different requirements for graduation

and some are more strict (think ABET Mechanical Engineering) than others (think Econ)

ok woah

hold up

[chilly thunder]

hold on i wrote a blog post about this when i was 14

lemme pull something up

[wary star]

send it please

[teal tusk]

no fr like im not much by a2c standards (highest ecs are school clubs) and im like . why am i trying

[uneven widget]

FR I admire every student I know who got in Ivies or other tops. They deserve it for sure and the schools deserve them

[wary star]

there's a difference between applying for something that isn't CS knowing you wanna switch in and finding yourself in college and then switching

i genuinely believe that, for genuinely kind and passionate people, being honest in your application will yield you better results than being dishonest

but like if you're actually really mean and sadistic IRL then you have no choice but to conceal yourself

whether that is good or bad requires a philosophical discussion i am not prepared for nor knowledgeable enough about to have

[uneven widget]

In fact I may even need my hs counselor to include extra explanations regarding my GPA that supposedly wipes my chance. But I'm convinced by whatever info and vibe I've found hitherto to apply though

[wary star]

i think you might have the wrong mindset and the wrong impression

ok real talk

i dont think applying CS hurts your chances at yale

[teal tusk]

i will admit i am doomthinking too much and i have a tendency to negatively think more than i should 💀 when im applying i actually just try to be myself

[wary star]

IMHO I feel the issue with CS being detrimental is moreso about the emotional demographics of the people interested in the major more than the content

[teal tusk]

its like i focus when im doing the work vs i scatterbrain think when im not

[wary star]

like the reason why the bay area cs male 250k+ efc is a stereotype is because of all of the societal forces producing high-achieving applicants applying to top schools for CS

[regal plaza]

preach

[wary star]

and I think the issue is that most of those people don't actually want to go to an ivy

they want the ivy degree

which are two completely different wants (even though, realistically, everybody applying wants the ivy degree)

[regal plaza]

They want the status

[uneven widget]

TBH I couldn't write a single word before Oct 1st as I was not convinced how the application system would work or at the end of the day who I was going to be in the process. But it just came to me after the somewhat epiphany

[wary star]

they want the security

[regal plaza]

Prestige whores

[wary star]

they want to make their parents proud or alleviate the pressure their parents put on them

[chilly thunder]

@wary star i lost access to my blog account but i still have it in a google doc

oh shit

hold on

let me redact some stuff

i just realized

i'm a dumbass

[wary star]

just delete the link lol

i already have it

[dusty lotus]

WAIT NOOOO

[chilly thunder]

yea i removed your access

[dusty lotus]

I WANTED TO SEE

[chilly thunder]

it has the name of my high school in it

let me redact some stuff

[teal tusk]

my problem was the person i know myself as VS the person my parents know me as VS the person my classmates know me as are all very different
i overthought a lot of that but then decided fuck it ill just write
it might help that im taking a creative nonfiction course rn that encourages you to tackle this writing

[regal plaza]

Also true

That's why I belive most student's fake passion

[chilly thunder]

my writing back then was actually kinda bad

im cringing

[wary star]

yeah

[chilly thunder]

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vcIy0Q_1szkVQ753ZU2Po6LnYJuE_UIFO0vyQEoARHg/edit?usp=sharing okay sharing it again

[wary star]

because it's easier to fake passion than to find it

[regal plaza]

And tailor their ECs + awards to appeal to the AOs

I assure you 99% of nonprofits are illegmate

[dusty lotus]

this is true

[uneven widget]

Sorry if that's peer presuring a bit... But fr I wrote about that persona detachment in different ppl's eyes in my PS...

[wary star]

yeah I think AOs found that out and now see foudning nonprofits as not legit

like

[dusty lotus]

thye finally realized

[wary star]

like, why would you need to found a new nonprofit when many already exist?

just join the red cross or whatever the equivalent is in your field

[chilly thunder]

a college application is always just a persona on paper

[wary star]

creating an institution is hard

[north current]

yh i feel like unless its a well established one with history/coverage then its most likely fake

[teal tusk]

yeah its definitely real but it is what it is at the end of the day, ive accepted that everyones gonna see me differently and im just gonna write smth that im proudest of

[chilly thunder]

ngl i put a competition i created in 9th grade on my app

i'm hoping it won't be seen as illegitimate

[dusty lotus]

why is billerts writing when he was 14 better than my current writing

[chilly thunder]

it isn't

[wary star]

i hope so too

[chilly thunder]

like we have actual numbers to back it up

2k participants

[wary star]

you can always submit evidence of its existence as additional info

[chilly thunder]

i already submitted my application

[wary star]

like photos from events

you can add onto your app

[chilly thunder]

but like if you ask anyone into math at MIT

[regal plaza]

Not necessarily. It's so much easier to try out different things and find what you're passionate about compared to faking something that you are uninterested in for 4 years of your life

[chilly thunder]

who was a high schooler 2 years ago

or 1 year ago

[wary star]

no, you're right

[regal plaza]

So mayn of the kdis at my schools are burnt out because of this

[chilly thunder]

there's a 50% chance they know about it

[wary star]

i suppose i should have clarified that, when I said "fake passion", I meant in essays and in write-ups for ECs

mostly as a last-minute thing

[regal plaza]

Yeah

That can also show through

The fact that it's fake

[chilly thunder]

also in fake ECs

not going to name names

but this kid got himself some position as the "director of logistics" on this fake nonprofit hackathon he made with his friends

[uneven widget]

What relieves me is that despite the still persona, I could simply do my job here. And in fact, being not "fully" represented does not mean not being "truly" represented in the process

[wary star]

billert

[chilly thunder]

like this summer

[wary star]

you wrote this when you were 14?

[chilly thunder]

yea

[wary star]

this is really good

[chilly thunder]

thank you

i wish i wrote my rsi apps like this

ngl

would've been better

i have higher standards for my writing now though

[uneven widget]

Getting curious about the blog now😆

[chilly thunder]

i ain't showing u the blog

it would probably dox me

[wary star]

"There aren't only winners and losers in life. At the end of the day, everybody's gonna be dead, so we might as well link arms and try to make the most out of what we have together."

i find it hard to believe a 14 year old wrote this but

you did

[north current]

billert finna be a college consultant

[uneven widget]

ik, just saying

[chilly thunder]

i probably could word that better today but i still believe in that

[wary star]

billert got ahead of the curve on the meaning of life

[teal tusk]

FR like when i was 14 i was crying over amc and minecraft youtubers 😭

[chilly thunder]

there was a lotta shit going on in my life at that point

[uneven widget]

FR when I was 14, I failed my ESL

[teal tusk]

oh true, shit in life correlates to more thinking; shit happened my junior year that caused me to think a lot abt people and community

[north current]

when i was 14 i used to play pokemon ultra sun on my 3ds like 24/7

[wary star]

billert are you sure you don't want to be a writer?

[teal tusk]

Werent yall in like 8th grade at 14 😭

[chilly thunder]

i would if it paid well

[dusty lotus]

be EM

[chilly thunder]

and i could write on demand

unfortunately i can't write on demand

[dusty lotus]

my god billert is so fuckign smart

[wary star]

where is mr. essay mechanic when we need him

[north current]

yeah

[dusty lotus]

no writer writes on demand

[dusty lotus]

IN ESSAYS RN

[wary star]

@hardy hull

[north current]

college essays do

[chilly thunder]

bruh what did you ping him for

[north current]

some rich douche bag would easily drop 10k for that

[uneven widget]

I was like dropping out of school from 4th to 8th...

[wary star]

because he likely has some words of wisdom on pursuing writing as a career

since, y'know, he does

[hardy hull]

YESSSSSS?

[wary star]

hello

[teal tusk]

em in yale channel

[chilly thunder]

they were looking at something i wrote when i was 14

[wary star]

good afternoon

[hardy hull]

Mmmm.... at least one does.

Y ALE?

Because there's no lager left. 😦

[dusty lotus]

most dont id say

[wary star]

may i use this in the future

[dusty lotus]

i dont get teh joke

[uneven widget]

i dont get teh joke

[wary star]

don't worry about it

[hardy hull]

You're a man of taste and fine d-portment. Yes. You may.

[chilly thunder]

i wrote it after like club elections ngl

cuz people kept on bitching

[north current]

its a booze joke

[chilly thunder]

and i didn't run for anything freshman year but i was like y'all crazy

[dusty lotus]

oh

[wary star]

Also, I pinged you to ask you if you had any words of wisdom concerning pursuing writing or anything writing-adjacent as a career

since billert said:

[wary star]

this

[north current]

just read this masterpiece: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vcIy0Q_1szkVQ753ZU2Po6LnYJuE_UIFO0vyQEoARHg/edit?usp=sharing

[dusty lotus]

billert has no reason being this good at 14

im not that good at 18

[north current]

NO FR

[uneven widget]

It reminds me of a time boycotting the student council election back in primary school...

[hardy hull]

It either pays very well or it pays very poorly. Most people are content to be paid very poorly.

I am not content to be paid very poorly. I am not even content when I am paid very well.

I am not content.

I am not contented.

😉

Obviously, I need more sleep: the bad puns are really just synapses spilling neurochemical agonies into my brain... and this screen.

[wary star]

haha

[hardy hull]

"A viscous cycle?" Slimy.

[chilly thunder]

dawg

i don't think i knew how to spell

i still don't

[hardy hull]

Overrated. There are tools for that.

[chilly thunder]

my sense of grammar and spelling is still pretty terrible

i had to up it a notch for the sat but i proceeded to forget everything after the test

[dusty lotus]

my grammar is the only thing keeping my writing coherent

thank god im good at it

[cloud forum]

bros voice is so good

[dusty lotus]

guys what if my life is perfect and i have no issues in my life

sugarcoated life fr fr

[hardy hull]

You're also 17 or 18 or whatever. That shit improves with time and practice and 14-page love letters to Renée, the summer before a German girl a year older than you breaks your heart.

[dusty lotus]

EM did u write a 14 page love letter to Renee

[north current]

i can help you with that 😉

[hardy hull]

I wrote many multi-page love letters to Renée.

[chilly thunder]

ngl i did write a love letter once

but i deleted it on my computer

[dusty lotus]

[chilly thunder]

it was more of a love email

which is really fucking sad

[north current]

i dont have a single strand of romantic dna in me to even write a love letter

[hardy hull]

I spent a summer pining for Renée, even though she was kind of dating that scumbag Josh. The following summer, I fell in love with Elke.

[uneven widget]

FR one of the longest and the most genuine pieces whoever writes may be a love letter

[hardy hull]

"A letter does not blush."

[chilly thunder]

or maybe it's a reddit comment

"a redditor does not pull."

[wary star]

also billert and co., I wanted to share this moment

https://www.reddit.com/r/ApplyingToCollege/comments/178ggof/comment/k4zbsmd/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

[chilly thunder]

sophomore moment

[wary star]

i have made it to the big leauges

[chilly thunder]

wait which one is you

[hardy hull]

File under: If You're So Rich, Why Aren't You Smart?

[chilly thunder]

are you the op

[wary star]

alktat

[north current]

"For it was in your eyes that I saw the reflection of the morning sun rising as my heart thawed out" -ChatGPT could never

[chilly thunder]

oh i thought chatgpt wrote this

and i was like oh shit

it's getting better

[wary star]

i was the one scholargrade replied to

teehee

[north current]

yh no i just wrote some semi romantic bs

[chilly thunder]

i remember going on typeracer and seeing this one quote that sounded like prose

[hardy hull]

ChatGPT does not know how to suffer.

[chilly thunder]

and i searched it up

[uneven widget]

U made the point. I felt most of the genius students in my HS were already genius before HS time

[chilly thunder]

and it was in poem format

and then i realized it was like a rap song

[dusty lotus]

with waht i be asking it?

it will

[chilly thunder]

"I can hear the soft breathing
Of the girl that I love
As she lies here beside me
Asleep with the night

And her hair, in a fine mist
Floats on my pillow
Reflecting the glow
Of the winter moonlight

She is soft, she is warm
But my heart remains heavy
And I watch as her breasts
Gently rise, gently fall

For I know with the first light of dawn
I'll be leaving
And tonight will be
All I have left to recall

Oh, what have I done?
Why have I done it?
I've committed a crime
I've broken the law

For twenty-five dollars
And pieces of silver
I held up and robbed
A hard liquor store

My life seems unreal
My crime an illusion
A scene badly written
In which I must play

Yet I know as I gaze
At my young love beside me
The morning is just a few hours away"

[wary star]

you or chatgpt

[chilly thunder]

not me

it was some random song i found on typeracer

i thought it was prose/a poem at first

[hardy hull]

Thanks, I hate it.

[dusty lotus]

whats wrong with it

i havnet read it

[wary star]

wait

[dusty lotus]

i aint reading all those words

[wary star]

this was on typeracer????

[chilly thunder]

yea

you've definitely come across this quote once or twice if you've done typeracer for a while

oftentimes i'll get a quote that talks about typing and the typewriter and qwerty and i type those so fast

because they just spam words that are easy to type

like the word "typewriter" is all on one row

[hardy hull]

Here's a poem I wrote to... well, a girl.

There are no poems that can be ordered on specification.
They are not screenplays or viral articles or essays.
You can't take a day and chew it until it has been poeticized: the bitter and the sweet,
The texture discerned,
The morning made into soft grays or summer's fingers or cold yawns,
And the night made into bleak skies or star-dotted Heavens with an ocean of port and a fire and a lover.

Only writers who lack ability write poems on spec.
Professional contest entries with all the inky depth of
"Why I Love Kellogg's Corn Flakes" or
"What Nature Means To Me"
and not
hesitation -- torn out -- line by line
Like -- a flowering Emily Dickinson
Or a searching Rimbaud.

You want a sonnet? Why?
What would such seductive artifice really mean if you were squinting your eyes at every line and pretending that it was not asked for?
Would you not then become another patroness? Another employer?
I won't allow it.

Look for my poems elsewhere; the places where I find them.
Butter petals in summer, cold frosts in the fall;
Rain anywhere, everywhere,
And the softness of your eyes and your fingertips tracing my skin
Better than any bleak sky or summer's fingers
An ocean of port and a fire and a lover.

[uneven widget]

"For it was in my eyes that you'll always see yourself; sad my reflections in your eyes never stand out"

[north current]

omg we should start an a2c poetry chain

[chilly thunder]

i've never written poetry before

[dusty lotus]

i hate all of you for subjecting me ot poetry

[chilly thunder]

i love reading it because it means i don't have to spend an hour reading a chapter for ap lit

[dusty lotus]

i fucking HATE poetry

[north current]

i had a poem published in like 5th grade and it still haunts me

i buried that shit deep in my past

[dusty lotus]

let me read it

[hardy hull]

Now I am melancholy and will smoke and stare wistfully at my books. Good night.

[north current]

i dont even have the book on me so i cant even find it

but it was about constellations

[dusty lotus]

gn.

[wary star]

goodnight

[uneven widget]

Gd night. While a fire ball is rising in my sight.

[north current]

gn badass writer

[uneven widget]

I may still try to publish my poems after this crammed application season, even if they're plain... Two days ago, "The Moon Over the Mountain" by Atsushi Nakajima hit me (I read the Chinese translation from Japanese. The English version I could find really doesn't convey the sense that much, but still: I took pride in my reputation as a prodigy back home, of course. But even that was the pride of a coward. I told everyone I wanted to be a poet, but I never sought out a teacher to learn from or found other scholars with whom to hone my craft. At the same time, I told myself I was better than the rabble and held myself apart from them. All this was to protect my cowardly ego, my narcissistic shame.

[bleak prism]

anyone having a lot of fun writing the short takes?

i find them so refreshing, not having to talk so much about one topic, but instead i could talk ab the most mundane things

[bright current]

Thats so me too lol they are a lot of fun

Although I did the QB ones and writing Stanford roommate rn lol close enough

[north current]

i had a really nice idea for the course one but qb kids dont get that one

[uneven widget]

Those are THE BEST. I even decided to include some of the really nice realizations evoked by those short takes in my add info

[cosmic geyser]

Is history of science medicine and public health popular at Yale

or nah

[uneven widget]

It just came to my mind: do you know how will Yale convert my IB score into GPA?

[cloud forum]

rephrase that

[dusty lotus]

convert ur IB into GPA?

[wary star]

Idts but HSHM is cool

[uneven widget]

Or maybe things work differently? I learned from an admission profile shared on YouTube that a 44/45 is approximated to be 4.36. Just wondering if it's related to the particular courses chosen? or HL/SL?

[uneven widget]

Yeah, cuz my HS does not calculate GPA

[river osprey]

yso tix go crazy

[slow mauve]

Eh I mean a 44/45 is a 44/45.. I think they know the IB well enough to not need to convert. And they do see ur courses, and transcript yea

[glacial belfry]

Hey guys! Any current Yale students down to sharing their college experience at the school? I'm looking for more insight into Yale and kinda some inspiration to answer the 'Why Yale?' question =)))

[cosmic geyser]

i think this is a generalized statement

[cosmic geyser]

accurate tho

[bleak prism]

not everyone thinks that. i myself have done absolutely nothing related to olympiads/research or even competitions. i think i have 1 award that i might not even include on my app remotely related to a competition

[cosmic geyser]

Same for me girl. it never even crosses my mind to do some kind of olympiad. this is a super generalized statement so it does NOT apply to all A2C'ers.

[bleak prism]

hm?

[wary star]

I will not give you answers to this question

[wary star]

I think you’re right in identifying that I overgeneralized

but I would like to say that both you and @cosmic geyser are exceptions to the rule thus far

since both you and her, well, care about things

[bleak prism]

No I think you’re right in a way lol. I used to have a similar mindset, thinking that I had to do research and win awards to get into college but I quickly realized I didn’t care about that 💀

But thank you though

[royal goblet]

how is yale's engineering program? I'm considering chemical engineering and ik yale is not known for it but i like the school, location, and the open curriculum-ish it gives so should its engineering program be a deciding factor to applying?

[chilly thunder]

I mean i do believe that in general

You do need to be excellent in some shape or form

[warped merlin]

It’s not the best, but it’s swiftly improving. They are also about to start building a new engineering building

[wary star]

^^

yale engineering is cracked compared to almost everywhere else but we lose out compared to princeton and cornell

this is primarily because of historical reasons: yale put the brunt of their money into the humanities and social sciences and only recently has made comparable investments in their engineering and cs departments

yale STEM is certainly catching up (with the exception of nursing & medicine; we were always cracked there)

[compact hazel]

i just realized the miligram shock experiment was done by yale 💀

i thought it was stanford

[north current]

thats the prison one

[compact hazel]

i love my experiments ethically and morally questionable

[dusty lotus]

love that shit

their screams give me life

[compact hazel]

ethics only gets in the way of progress and science

[teal tusk]

Um

Milligram shock experiment was certainly something

[dusty lotus]

ethics prevents us from truly finding the depths to which we can go

the only way up is by having things on the bottom and climbing up

[north current]

got an email from yale saying ill get my portal login in 1-2 days 🎉

[uneven widget]

Good luck!

[north current]

TY

the match should be fun

[uneven widget]

The process is fun enough though! It just seems to me that I have so many interesting options to include in the supps and still cannot make up my mind now

[royal goblet]

Tysm

U too @warped merlin

So would u say it’s worth applying there?

[wary star]

generally yes

realistically, all engineering curriculums at all mid tier and above schools are the same

(as long as you choose to pursue an ABET-accredited degree)

the primary difference between engineering departments IIRC is funding for individual projects, school-based research opportunities, and an established alumni network geared towards engineering itself

but Yale being the behemoth it is has the money to fund almost any genuine research project

[dense holly]

How do I condense what inspires me to 200 characters?

[bleak prism]

just think of the 1 thing that inspires you and provide 1 sentance of reasoning elaborating

start simple when writing the short takes, you don't need to write super long paragraphs when drafting bc then its harder to condense everything

[dusty lotus]

just be straight with it

dont fluff it

[final chasm]

Yale has nursing?

[cosmic geyser]

wait really??

[cosmic geyser]

wow thats really nice of you to say, alkie. how do u demonstrate fit for yale in ur essays?

[north current]

ik showing intellectual curiosity is one seeing the whole yale “and” philosophy

[dense holly]

is yandle a Yale candle or a reference to Yale’s “and” philosophy?

[cosmic geyser]

i think the and philosophy??

isnt it abt like being interdisciplinary???

or smth like that

[north current]

yeah like i connected my love for nature with my passion for political activism to talk about how i’ll combine the two at yale

[cosmic geyser]

thats so weird

i wanted to talk about something similar

for another school's essay 💀

[north current]

i mean i went with a similar approach for all my schools with a why us or why major essay

but i tied this one to the and philosophy

[wary star]

imho you don’t do it consciously

fit is more of an assessment of your personality than anything else

I’m unsure how to force “fit”

tl;dr you demonstrate fit in all essays regardless of whether you choose to or not

[wary star]

Yale candle

[dense holly]

I wonder which schools I’d actually fit well at

[dusty lotus]

Whatever ones accpet me

(None of them)