Yale receives thousands of applications each year.
Yale University directs undergraduate applicants to apply to Yale College, while advanced degree students are advised to apply to the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences or one of the university's professional schools. Located in New Haven, Connecticut, Yale College seeks exceptional students and strives to develop their intellectual, moral, civic and creative capacities to the fullest, according to the university's website. In 2008, 22,817 students applied for 1,320 slots in Yale's freshman class.
High School Coursework and Test Scores
Admission requirements at Yale focus primarily on a student's academic motivation and performance over time. The single most important document used in the application process, according to Yale, is the high school transcript. Students are expected to demonstrate success in a diverse range of challenging and rigorous courses. While transcripts are important, test scores on the SAT and ACT are also considered. Most freshmen enrolling at Yale score between 700 and 800 on the verbal portion of the SAT, between 700 and 800 in math and between 700 and 790 in writing. Typical ACT scores range from 30 to 34.
Teacher and Counselor Recommendations
Yale requires two teacher recommendations for high school students applying for admission. Teachers should preferably be from a student's eleventh or twelfth grade years and from two different subject areas. Letters should detail a student's academic work in challenging academic subjects as well as personal strengths, motivation and intellectual curiosity. Although many students include more than two, Yale strongly discourages submitting more than two letters from teachers along with the letter from a guidance counselor that is included with a School Report Form. The counselor's recommendation letter should indicate the student's role on campus and in the community and also the level of rigor of the academic program.
Personal Essays
Applicants must submit two essays to Yale which serve as personal statements. These essays are the student's opportunity to reveal their personality through their written voice and to detail meaningful experiences, activities and interests. Yale's application committee hopes that the essays sound like the students who wrote them; Yale uses the essays to obtain a holistic perspective of each applicant. Essay topics are typically open-ended and responses are limited to 500 words. Essays that rely on gimmicks usually fall short and standard topics, such as sports and family relationships, are often used by successful applicants. Yale advises writing a thoughtful and reflective essay that reveal how something or someone has influenced a student's life.
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