For a lot of students, senior year is about picking the right college for you that you want to spend the next four or more years of your life at. Applying and getting accepted is part of that process, one that can be quite difficult depending on the schools you’re interested in.
This is true for senior Steven Yang. Recently, Yang applied and got accepted to the prestigious Ivy League school, Yale University, for the class of 2030.
Going to Yale runs in the Yang family, which was a major major motivator for him to apply.
“I actually have an older sister who’s currently in her last year of Yale, and she really encouraged me to apply,” Yang said. “I decided to test my luck and I happened to get in.”
Having a good support system for the college application process is very important to the success of a future college student.
“My parents and my siblings definitely encouraged me to apply and also gave me some fresh ideas on how I could talk about it as well,” Yang said.
The application process for an Ivy League school can be extremely stressful, so taking it one step at a time helps to create a smoother process.
“The process was arduous,” Yang said. “There were a lot of short answers. I think there were like four prompts, 50 words or less. So you definitely had to play around with those. There was a 500-word essay and a few 250-word essays as well.”
While the whole application is time consuming, having an intriguing college essay can make or break a student’s future at the college by setting them apart from other applicants.
“Gathering my thoughts for the longer essays was the most difficult part,” Yang said. “I had to make it very personalized about me while also making it unique and putting my own spin on it.”
Alongside the essay, having a good collection of activities outside of school is what college administrators look for in their students. Steven is the Beta Club vice president, as well as being involved in Student Council and National Honor Society.
“I think it was a combination of everything, as well as the extracurriculars I did,” Yang said. “I got 35 on the ACT, which I think definitely helped.”
High academics is a large part of getting accepted into such a prestigious school. Including this year, Yang has taken 14 AP classes in his high school career. This year, he is taking five APs: Physics, Calculus BC, Literature, Government, and Statistics.
But college isn’t all about academics; getting to meet new people and get out of your comfort zone is one of the greatest benefits of attending a college like Yale.
“I’m excited to meet new people,” Yang said. “And also to live college life.”
Steven is waiting to hear back from a couple of other schools before he officially commits to his future college. In the meantime, we can all congratulate him on the large accomplishment that getting into Yale is.
“Attending Yale is a once in a lifetime experience that I’m so glad to be getting,” Yang said. “I get to explore a world that’s completely different from Kentucky.”
