What’s in Connecticut, over 300 years old, and home to a surprisingly amazing drama program? That’s right – it’s Yale. Yale is the third oldest university in the U.S. (founded in 1701, so like a full grandpa-lifetime older than the U.S.) and is getting more exclusive by the year. This last cycle, their acceptance rate dropped to 4.46% and they saw over 50,000 applications – a record number.
Yale waited… and waited… and waited to release their Common App essays. Like, way past the August 1st deadline most schools stick to, so we’re finally delivering. The essays have slightly changed from last year, mostly in order and wording, but we’re back with more tips on how to master their long supplement.
Tell us about a topic or idea that excites you and is related to one or more academic areas you selected above. Why are you drawn to it? (200 words or fewer)
When you answer this question, it will be under a set of boxes where you choose which academic areas you’re interested in majoring in. There’s a Why Yale question later on in the supplement, but you could think of this as the origin story part of that essay. If you picked Literature, tell a story about when you fell in love with books – like when you got lost in the used bookstore, and your mom found you an hour later reading a beat-up copy of Frankenstein. Stories are the best way to communicate what you’re excited about, so instead of saying “I really like Gothic horror literature,” show them you love Gothic horror literature.
Why Yale? What is it about Yale that has led you to apply? (125 words or fewer)*
Get specific. You should pick an upper-level course (or two) in your interest area, followed by a professor you want to research with. Explain how these fit into your goals, but be brief! You don’t have a ton of space. Then, find an extracurricular that you’d want to do at Yale, but make sure it makes sense in the grand scheme of your application – basically, does it mesh with what you did in high school?
Short Takes
Please respond in no more than 200 characters (approximately 35 words or fewer), to each of the following questions:
1. What inspires you?*
You either need to go a mile wide and an inch deep or a mile deep and an inch wide – essentially, it either needs to be so big and unknowable (like space or time) that it’s impossible to dive into further in 35 words or something so personal and niche like your aunt who beat cancer. Whatever it is, be genuine.
2. You are teaching a new Yale course. What's it called?*
Don’t pick a super common topic – rather, try to identify a goal or passion or side interest you have that you haven’t been able to explore in your application otherwise. Maybe you love urban farming, who knows?
3. Yale’s residential colleges regularly host conversations with guests representing a wide range of experiences and accomplishments. What person, past or present, would you invite to speak and what would you ask them to discuss?*
The person you pick should be an extension of you, and again, of a side of you not yet revealed in the application. Maybe it’s a historical figure that connects to your side passion for flying planes, or maybe it’s whatever guy figured out how to make coffee first.
4. What is something about you that is not included anywhere else in your application?*
Yale really wants to see you as a multidimensional person with these questions, but they don’t seem to want to give you the space to explore them. We say, go fun with this one. What’s your favorite guilty-pleasure TV show? Best road trip snacks and why? Do you have an unusual skill or talent? Do you do a great Jim Carrey impersonation? Go nuts.
Yale Essays: Please respond to one of the following prompts in 400 words or fewer. Please indicate the number of the prompt you choose.
1. Yale carries out its mission “through the free exchange of ideas in an ethical, interdependent, and diverse community.” Reflect on a time when you exchanged ideas about an important issue with someone holding an opposing view. How did the experience lead you either to change your opinion or to sharpen your reasons for holding onto it?
We like to approach this one as “when did you learn something new from someone different from you.” We’d avoid any hotly contested political issues and probably nothing from the Thanksgiving table. Try to think of a time when you corrected an ignorance or a misconception, or had your eyes opened to something for the very first time. Now, tell this as a story. Don’t use filler sentences like “This experience was important because,” that’s just bad writing. Make sure to show, not tell.
2. Reflect on a time when you have worked to enhance a community to which you feel connected. Why have these efforts been meaningful to you? You may define community however you like.*
We love that they say “you may define community however you like” because that’s exactly how we encourage everyone to approach all community essays. Community can be big and broad, but it can also be your family, your friend group, people who like the same things as you, people who live near you, everything. What you want to do here is tell a story of a meaningful interaction where you did something to help your community – so if you pick your neighbors for example, maybe it's how you all take turns helping an elderly neighbor with her house/lawn/etc. Try to avoid talking about things already in your application if you can help it. It should be detailed, creative, and have a distinct beginning, middle, and end. Bring us into the scene with you, bring details and dialogue and anything that makes it visually more interesting to read.
That’s the Yale supplement! A lot of overlap from last year’s, but some big changes too. This application is asking to see a lot of different parts of you and you should try to come up with something new for each prompt – Yale wants multidimensional students, so don’t just regurgitate what’s in your activities section.
If you need help with your Yale supplement, or any other Ivy League app, reach out today.