Anonymous
08/22/2025 12:18
Subject: What does one need to have a better than 5% chance at Yale?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Reading through the above posts; sounds like you need to be a unicorn - the child of a celebrity, an instagram influencer, whose application needs to be reviewed and polished (but not too polished); a URM, who plays a niche sport, but not a niche sport, and not a URM, child of a CEO, but not a nepo-baby…. All of the above, but ultimately, not being who you really are 🫤
Nope. What you need to be is who you really are — skills, passions, accomplishments, interests and all. But, if your interests and skills are pretty common and easily gained, there won’t really be anything that makes one application stand out from another— beyond personality characteristics. If that’s not who you “really” are — but who you’ve been coached to be, they’re not looking to just add another checked box to your list of accomplishments, for the most part. They’re also looking for at least some students whose lives will be changed by being there — who will then go on to impact other lives and communities. That’s my take and my experience, anyway.
This is the last type of person to go to school with - the insufferable overachiever who has been groomed since exclusive nursery school to "get into Yale." No thanks...
Anonymous
08/22/2025 12:09
Subject: What does one need to have a better than 5% chance at Yale?
Try harder!
Anonymous
08/22/2025 08:53
Subject: What does one need to have a better than 5% chance at Yale?
At our private, it’s the double/triple legacies and URM who get in. Wasted app for others.
Anonymous
08/22/2025 08:40
Subject: What does one need to have a better than 5% chance at Yale?
Anonymous wrote:Be a star athlete
+1 Better if in a Sport Yale is weak in
Anonymous
08/22/2025 06:27
Subject: What does one need to have a better than 5% chance at Yale?
Anonymous wrote:Have your last name on a very old building.
A brand new one will help too.
Anonymous
08/22/2025 06:17
Subject: What does one need to have a better than 5% chance at Yale?
Anonymous wrote:Have your last name on a very old building.
Better if it is a very new building.
Anonymous
08/22/2025 06:09
Subject: What does one need to have a better than 5% chance at Yale?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I’m a Yale alum and I spend too much time on Instagram. I think about your question a lot.
And I’ve noticed a strange phenomenon of a lot of girls who are very smart but average-ish but have moms with large social media followings matriculating at Yale in the last few years. These aren’t influencer types but more like designers, artists, etc and they send their kids to top but not tippy top privates. My assumption is that social class, a certain sophistication that might come out in essays, and going to privates with historically large groups that is accepted to Yale is a big help. You need signifiers that are shortcuts for the admissions staff.
So for example, going to a school like St. Ann’s in Brooklyn means you have already gotten through a few different gauntlets of selectivity and that helps justify accepting multiple students per year when an average suburban HS would struggle to get a similar student noticed.
This really rings true for all the recent admits we personally know. A public example might be Kat Dubrow, Heather Dubrow's daughter.
this is literally the only example I can think of.
at our feeder HS, yale admits are either legacy or just really smart - like national debate winner.
I listed them above but you must have missed it:
Ben Affleck's kid
Conan O'Brien's kid
Gwyneth's kid
this is not a very long list!
Conan's daughter has graduated. He does have a son at Harvard. It's a step-kid for Gwyneth - her kids are at Vandy and Brown. And yep, Affleck. But really, any college of 6k will have this many celebs!
Vanessa Kerry
Theo Spielberg
Katia Elizabeth Washington
Barbara Bush
Malia Obama
George Bezos
John Colbert
Grace Murdoch
No, not any college of 6k will have this number of celebs.
Not even one of those people is at Yale now.
If you’re going to ask about celeb children who have EVER attended a college - that’s not an /n of 6k.
Incorrect. Stephen Colbert’s son is a current student at Yale.
Anonymous
08/22/2025 04:37
Subject: What does one need to have a better than 5% chance at Yale?
If you grew up on a farm in Arkansas helping raise chickens or cows with early morning labor and your parents never went to college, but you excel in every subject and have a 1600 SAT then you're in.
Anonymous
08/21/2025 22:42
Subject: What does one need to have a better than 5% chance at Yale?
Have your last name on a very old building.
Anonymous
08/21/2025 22:39
Subject: What does one need to have a better than 5% chance at Yale?
Anonymous wrote:Attending parent events at Yale and among all the parents and students we met, we did not meet any celebrity families.
My kid is pretty interested in one topic, pursued it pretty extensively and to our horror that is all kid wrote about in the essays. In one essay in particular, kid took a particularly boring and utterly inscrutable topic and explained why it is so interesting. We are horrified enough to show it to one knowledgeable person who also was pretty negative about it. Ended up with admits to three of the HYPSM.
Your kid sounds authentic to me.
Anonymous
08/21/2025 22:11
Subject: What does one need to have a better than 5% chance at Yale?
Anonymous wrote:Attending parent events at Yale and among all the parents and students we met, we did not meet any celebrity families.
My kid is pretty interested in one topic, pursued it pretty extensively and to our horror that is all kid wrote about in the essays. In one essay in particular, kid took a particularly boring and utterly inscrutable topic and explained why it is so interesting. We are horrified enough to show it to one knowledgeable person who also was pretty negative about it. Ended up with admits to three of the HYPSM.
This one goes to Harvard: https://apple.news/AqBBrklcvQtOA4fusri1YNQ
So? My guess is tons of people would have no idea who she is or that she’s royalty.
Anonymous
08/21/2025 20:42
Subject: What does one need to have a better than 5% chance at Yale?
Attending parent events at Yale and among all the parents and students we met, we did not meet any celebrity families.
My kid is pretty interested in one topic, pursued it pretty extensively and to our horror that is all kid wrote about in the essays. In one essay in particular, kid took a particularly boring and utterly inscrutable topic and explained why it is so interesting. We are horrified enough to show it to one knowledgeable person who also was pretty negative about it. Ended up with admits to three of the HYPSM.
My kid is pretty interested in one topic, pursued it pretty extensively and to our horror that is all kid wrote about in the essays. In one essay in particular, kid took a particularly boring and utterly inscrutable topic and explained why it is so interesting. We are horrified enough to show it to one knowledgeable person who also was pretty negative about it. Ended up with admits to three of the HYPSM.
Anonymous
08/21/2025 20:41
Subject: What does one need to have a better than 5% chance at Yale?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Reading through the above posts; sounds like you need to be a unicorn - the child of a celebrity, an instagram influencer, whose application needs to be reviewed and polished (but not too polished); a URM, who plays a niche sport, but not a niche sport, and not a URM, child of a CEO, but not a nepo-baby…. All of the above, but ultimately, not being who you really are 🫤
Nope. What you need to be is who you really are — skills, passions, accomplishments, interests and all. But, if your interests and skills are pretty common and easily gained, there won’t really be anything that makes one application stand out from another— beyond personality characteristics. If that’s not who you “really” are — but who you’ve been coached to be, they’re not looking to just add another checked box to your list of accomplishments, for the most part. They’re also looking for at least some students whose lives will be changed by being there — who will then go on to impact other lives and communities. That’s my take and my experience, anyway.
That's why people hire college coaches starting in 9th grade. Develop the pointy narrative. I know 2 kids at Yale that benefitted from this btw. So as for the idea that AOs can suss out "authenticity" - nope.
Anonymous
08/21/2025 20:16
Subject: What does one need to have a better than 5% chance at Yale?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I’m a Yale alum and I spend too much time on Instagram. I think about your question a lot.
And I’ve noticed a strange phenomenon of a lot of girls who are very smart but average-ish but have moms with large social media followings matriculating at Yale in the last few years. These aren’t influencer types but more like designers, artists, etc and they send their kids to top but not tippy top privates. My assumption is that social class, a certain sophistication that might come out in essays, and going to privates with historically large groups that is accepted to Yale is a big help. You need signifiers that are shortcuts for the admissions staff.
So for example, going to a school like St. Ann’s in Brooklyn means you have already gotten through a few different gauntlets of selectivity and that helps justify accepting multiple students per year when an average suburban HS would struggle to get a similar student noticed.
This really rings true for all the recent admits we personally know. A public example might be Kat Dubrow, Heather Dubrow's daughter.
this is literally the only example I can think of.
at our feeder HS, yale admits are either legacy or just really smart - like national debate winner.
I listed them above but you must have missed it:
Ben Affleck's kid
Conan O'Brien's kid
Gwyneth's kid
this is not a very long list!
Conan's daughter has graduated. He does have a son at Harvard. It's a step-kid for Gwyneth - her kids are at Vandy and Brown. And yep, Affleck. But really, any college of 6k will have this many celebs!
Vanessa Kerry
Theo Spielberg
Katia Elizabeth Washington
Barbara Bush
Malia Obama
George Bezos
John Colbert
Grace Murdoch
No, not any college of 6k will have this number of celebs.
Not even one of those people is at Yale now.
If you’re going to ask about celeb children who have EVER attended a college - that’s not an /n of 6k.
Malia Obama went to Harvard.
seriously. the "celeb kids" are affeck and some real housewives dd. now do UVA
Anonymous
08/21/2025 20:06
Subject: What does one need to have a better than 5% chance at Yale?
Anonymous wrote:Reading through the above posts; sounds like you need to be a unicorn - the child of a celebrity, an instagram influencer, whose application needs to be reviewed and polished (but not too polished); a URM, who plays a niche sport, but not a niche sport, and not a URM, child of a CEO, but not a nepo-baby…. All of the above, but ultimately, not being who you really are 🫤
Nope. What you need to be is who you really are — skills, passions, accomplishments, interests and all. But, if your interests and skills are pretty common and easily gained, there won’t really be anything that makes one application stand out from another— beyond personality characteristics. If that’s not who you “really” are — but who you’ve been coached to be, they’re not looking to just add another checked box to your list of accomplishments, for the most part. They’re also looking for at least some students whose lives will be changed by being there — who will then go on to impact other lives and communities. That’s my take and my experience, anyway.