No need for your respect. Visit this post https://www.facebook.com/mentrapp/photos/a.1160039210690959....

It shows the actual email that another student sent me. As I said, photo is stock, testimonial is not.

How is that obviously fake? Are you saying every freshman at Yale, including international students, speaks and writes perfect English?

Maybe not perfect English, but I'd expect a significantly higher level of English than that quote demonstrates. Add in a stock photo and why would anyone think that that is real?

I volunteer with two organizations--one group serves mostly privileged high achievers (kids on track to be lawyers, architects, etc.) while the other is made up of kids who are probably only 50/50 to graduate high school. In both groups, most of the kids are TERRIBLE writers. Their vocabulary is usually fairly limited and their writing is stilted and repetitive.

Being a good writer generally doesn't matter in high school. Most classes don't require much writing and for those that do, they just require students to convey the right number of facts and avoid most grammar mistakes.

Kids also engage in far more code-switching than adults, I think. When asked for a recommendation, It's possible that this particular kid just dashed off a quick email rather than really sit down to write something engaging.

Thank you so much for your comments. Coudnt agree with you more specially the last part :-))

Wel thats entirely your opinion. Yale has loads of students who do not know perfect english. There are international students as well. Is your point really about "proper English"? Really?

You're kind of right - my point isn't so much about proper English (whatever that is) as it is about clarity of expression. Essentially, I wonder if you would have a better chance of getting into Y Combinator if you had a good editor proofread your Y Combinator application and your website.

I don't think so. YC values idea, team and traction as someone mentioned here. I guess we lack on all of these fronts and hence did not make it to YC

It's very interesting that you ask for help and yet are extremely combative.

It's way more likely that somebody lets you use their words, and that they get published unedited, than that they let you use their likeness on your website. So I don't find it dubious at all. I guess I'm naive or something.

I might be wrong, so thanks for engaging. You might be naive, but I might be an asshole. :)

But seriously, if I were doing a Y Combinator application, I would make sure that my testimonials were spot on. I would do so because one of Y Combinators' most enduring bits of advice is 'build something people want.'

I'd even equate that to grammatical errors in a website. You're competing for an interview against thousands of the best minds around. Proofread your copy!

Are you saying startups that are from countries who don't speak english are not eligible for YC because they cannot speak perfect english?

I'm definitely not saying that. Y Combinator accepts companies from a diverse number of backgrounds/countries of origin.

Rather, I'm saying that when you apply to Y Combinator, you are competing against the best entrepreneurs around for a very limited number of seats. Since Y Combinator is so competitive, your chances of getting in would be better if you started working with a good writer or editor.