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Noodlebrain wrote:So I am a bit curious about my chances at HYS as I feel I am a somewhat strange applicant. Like I said, I have a 171/3.97 with pretty strong softs. I studied abroad in Japan for a year and am nearly fluent (non-Japanese, white male). Now I am a Peace Corps Volunteer in China teaching English and Japanese at a university so my Chinese is conversational and constantly improving. My letters of rec will be strong. I was pre-med for awhile and so have about a year or so worth of neuroscience lab research experience along with technical writing for a chemical engineering plant and teaching college level biology while still in college.

Anyway, what do y'all think?

Retake - but otherwise, your softs aren't above average so mylsn.info should be right

173 and you should be good for at least one of hys

Out at HYS. Softs not that strong.

ManOfTheMinute wrote:

Noodlebrain wrote:So I am a bit curious about my chances at HYS as I feel I am a somewhat strange applicant. Like I said, I have a 171/3.97 with pretty strong softs. I studied abroad in Japan for a year and am nearly fluent (non-Japanese, white male). Now I am a Peace Corps Volunteer in China teaching English and Japanese at a university so my Chinese is conversational and constantly improving. My letters of rec will be strong. I was pre-med for awhile and so have about a year or so worth of neuroscience lab research experience along with technical writing for a chemical engineering plant and teaching college level biology while still in college.

Anyway, what do y'all think?

Retake - but otherwise, your softs aren't above average so mylsn.info should be right

TopLawHopeful wrote:Out at HYS. Softs not that strong.

Neither of these posts is correct. Peace Corps is not a Rhodes/Marshall-level soft, but it is a strong soft.

Nevertheless, a retake would be a really good idea, OP. You have better than even odds at H as it stands, but you would essentially be a lock with a 173. You have a shot at S as things stand, but not a great one. LSN shows that Y is almost certainly out, but I do know someone here with your score and a lower 3.9 GPA, so I suppose it's not completely impossible. But you should still retake.

I think you should retake and aim for a 174+

Not sure why people are saying no chance at YHS. Better than 50/50 odds at Harvard and probably 30% at Stanford. Still out at Yale but you don't need to retake before you apply unless you are dead set on Yale.

http://myLSN.info/f3bphl

You may be able to get a full ride at a T14 school (Northwestern, Duke, Cornell, UVA). That's what I'd shoot for. I agree with above, that you definitely have a chance at HS and probably out at Y. If I were you I'd retake if you have a month or two to intensely practice, since if you get 173+ you might have every option (HYS or full rides within T14).

nebula666 wrote:Not sure why people are saying no chance at YHS. Better than 50/50 odds at Harvard and probably 30% at Stanford. Still out at Yale but you don't need to retake before you apply unless you are dead set on Yale.

http://myLSN.info/f3bphl

He absolutely should still retake. With a 173, he's almost a lock at H, his odds at S improve, and he actually has a legitimate shot at Y. With a 174, his chances at YS get much better still: http://myLSN.info/eklnd7.

I have similar numbers as the OP and would also encourage a retake provided OP feels there is room to grow. My 172/4.0+ has been far from a lock and I feel like a large part of this is likely the lack of substantial softs to set myself apart. I have a decade of work experience, a very successful internship with my state legislature, and several significant awards from my school. Unfortunately, at this level everyone else has at least these types of softs. People keep saying you have a better than 50/50 chance at H, but I think it should be pointed out that it is not actually a coin flip. The 50% who get in with your numbers are more likely those who had softs that made them stand out.

I still have some chance at H and S, I suppose, as I am still in the hold pile with Harvard and have heard nothing from Stanford; however, I am not holding out much hope for either. I was rejected at Yale. You will have some great options in the T14 if you are willing to look elsewhere, though. Be aware, however, that your numbers will put you into yield protection territory for much of the T14, so spend some time putting together meaningful "Why X?" essays.

TL:DR - Retake if you can't bolster your softs; otherwise, with your numbers, you will likely be on the wrongs side of that 50/50 coin flip for Harvard.