Yale Essay Guide

An Introduction to the Yale Admissions Process 

Yale University’s motto is “Lux Ex Veritas,” which is Latin for “Light and Truth.” With a 4.45% acceptance rate for the class of 2022, I can attest that while the Yale admissions process is gritty and competitive, the Yale experience lives up to the standard that it touts in its motto. In the heart of New Haven, Connecticut, Yale offers its students a high-quality multidisciplinary liberal arts education that fosters both academic excellence and vibrant social life. If you’re considering applying to Yale, here are some tips and tricks to help out with your application.

The Yale Application Process: Broken Down 

The Yale application process is lengthy but fulfilling. The Yale application process requires letters of recommendation from two teachers and one counselor, a school transcript, standardized test results, and a mid-year grade report. The primary component of the Yale application process is the submission of one of the following: the Coalition Application, the Common Application, or the Questbridge Application, each with its own Yale-specific questions. This essay guide will provide guidance on the Yale-specific supplemental components of the essay segment of the Yale application process.

For the Class of 2026, the acceptance rate was 4.46%, lower than any of the three prior years. The SAT test score range from the 25th to 75th percentiles for enrolled first-years for evidence-based reading and writing is 720 to 770 while for SAT Math, the 25th to 75th percentile score range is 740 to 760. The average GPA for a student admitted to Yale is 4.19 out of a 4.0 scale. 

At Yale, there is no application process to get into any particular major prior to your admission into Yale. As an Ethics, Politics, and Economics major, during the application process to Yale, I simply stated on my application that that was my intended major. While I ended up majoring in the major I specified in my application, the major that you apply to during the application process is not binding, meaning that you can change your major at any point during your Yale career. However, it is important to note that many majors at Yale do require the completion of a certain number of prerequisite courses before being able to formally declare yourself within the major. For instance, my major, Ethics, Politics, and Economics, has 8 prerequisite classes that had to be completed prior to me formally entering the major. A few majors have application processes beyond completion of prerequisite courses. The application process for those majors is outlined here. Beyond my major in Ethics, Politics, and Economics, I am also pursuing a certificate in Statistics and Data Science. At Yale, instead of offering minor degrees, Yale offers certificates in a select number of fields. A certificate offers students an opportunity to deepen a skill or study a field more indepthly. There are three types of certificates offered: Advanced Language Certificates, Skills-Based Certificates, and Interdisciplinary Certificates. In order to get a certificate, you simply have to complete a certain number of courses in the field of study you desire before you graduate. There is no application process for any certificate program before or after admission into Yale. 

Yale-Specific Essay Guide 

• Prompt 1: What is it about Yale that has led you to apply? (125 words or fewer) 

Response:   

Yale encourages intellectual diversity and curiosity while maintaining strong communal values. As someone who is passionate about interdisciplinary fields, such as law and neuroscience, my goal would be to join Professor BJ Casey in her quest to understand the adolescent brain and identify legal applications of our work for mental health policy. 

Outside of academics, I can envision myself praying in the pews of St. Thomas More Chapel, performing a slam poem as part of the Voke LGBT writing group, and pitching an idea to the Yale Entrepreneurial Society. Yale’s superb commitment to both inclusion and humanities-based reasoning inspires me. Also, changing environments from the suburbs of Los Angeles to the lively, yet quaint New Haven city would inevitably expand my worldview.

Highlights: 

I think what makes this supplement strong is that the essay is demonstrative of my interest in Yale. Namely, by being able to mention specific extracurricular activities I planned to be involved in, I was able to distinguish myself among applicants who may have just been applying to Yale for namesake. Further, in this essay, I was able to exhibit some of the personal identities and values I held at the time (LGBTQ identity, entrepreneurship, Catholicism). I also think being able to namedrop a professor and their specific line of expertise and the way that I hoped to be engaged with specific work happening at Yale already further exhibited my interest. Lastly, I think admissions officers enjoyed my specificity about how I would take advantage of Yale’s surrounding area and how Yale’s environment in relation to my home background. Overall, for sections that ask your interest in Yale, I would always opt for specificity and for using this section to show the ways that your application is diverse. Remember that diversity is not limited to ethnic /racial background or religion; this section can also be used to show the wide range of interests and skills that you plan to utilize at Yale. 

• Prompt 2: 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? What question would you ask? (Maximum word count: 200 characters /approximately 35 words)

Response:

Ronald Reagan: What would you have done differently to mitigate the devastating influence of the AIDS epidemic considering the sociopolitical climate towards LGBT individuals in the 1980s?

Highlights:

Writing about politics in a college application is tricky, especially since you never know the precise political background of your admissions reader and want to make sure not to alienate your admissions reader when discussing politics in your application. However, given that many extracurriculars in high schools are centered around politics, including an explanation of politically oriented extracurriculars can be important in painting the full picture of who you are as an applicant. In these cases, I think it’s important to demonstrate a critical analysis of even your own viewpoints. In the part of my extracurricular applications where you must list your extracurricular activities, I mentioned being involved in conservative organizations in high school. I thought that through this portion of the application, I could demonstrate that my political views were still in flux and that I was open to having my politics challenged. Also, as someone who is gay and who mentioned being gay in another part of my application, using this part of the application to illustrate that I thought about my own politics in relation to my personal identity showed my vulnerability with the admissions readers. While I kept a lot about my personal life private and tried not to include anything too heavy in my application, I think it is useful to share information about yourself that is personal and that paints a picture of what keeps you up at night and makes you tick. At this point in my life, I was coming to terms with multiple facets of my identity, and I think I was able to depict that well in my application. 

• Prompt 3: Most first-year Yale students live in suites of four to six people. What do you hope to add to your suitemates' experience? What do you hope they will add to yours? (Maximum word count: 200 characters /approximately 35 words)

Response:

Me to Them: Care packages; 2 AM convos on the opioid crisis; unasked for startup ideas; riveting Yale memes from the memelord.

Highlights:

Granted that I had very little space to write, I think a highlight of this short answer was that I showed that my enthusiasm for Yale was rooted in how community-oriented Yale is. For this section, I’d recommend maximizing the word count by being creative with how you format your answer. There’s no one way to answer the question and it’s no use wasting your character count on restating the question.

• Prompt 4: You are teaching a Yale course. What is it called? (Maximum word count: 200 characters /approximately 35 words)

Response:

Digital Entrepreneurship in the 21st Century: A Crash Course on Utilizing Dank Memes as Viable Marketing Strategies 

A Crash Course on the Minority Conservatism since the 19th Century

Highlights:

I feel as though in this question, it was useful that I used this space to demonstrate that my professional and academic interests were multidisciplinary and varied. I also think that it’s beneficial if your answers to these short supplemental questions align with the interests and academic aspirations you outline in the rest of your application. For example, since I stated in my application that I wanted to major in Ethics, Politics, and Economics and had spoken about how I desired to be a part of extracurriculars related to entrepreneurship, I thought it was important to utilize this section to provide continuity in relation to the rest of my application. However, do keep in mind that there are many approaches to answering this question. In attending Yale for three years thus far, while I have not seen everyone’s answer to this question, I know that the Yale student body is filled with individuals with incredibly niche interests that they are deeply passionate about. Use this section to demonstrate that you are someone who is intellectually curious beyond what is taught currently in your high school classroom.

• Prompt 5: What inspires you?

Response:

Indomitable bravery. Two years ago, my Tio, a Chief OBGYN, spent 3 months in drug cartel captivity after they saw that he was opening free clinics in rural areas. Instead of backing down, he fought harder to open more free clinics after his kidnapping.

Highlights:

While I was hesitant to write about a relative who I do not interact with daily, I wanted to be honest about who truly inspired me at the moment while being cognizant of not being repetitive of other parts of my application where I had spoken about my immediate family. I also think telling a little bit about one’s familial history and situating oneself within a broader context is helpful to the application readers when they are trying to understand your background. Visiting my family in Mexico and engaging with my Latinidad, even in ways that were more painful, is something that has informed my passion for my education and my work ethic, and I wanted to include that in my application. This space is a space in your application to be sentimental.. While there’s definitely not one way to answer this question properly, I would recommend being honest and genuine about who truly inspires you. Many people tend to write about their mother. While my mom does inspire me, I did not write about my mom because I was worried that I would describe her in a way that might sound too generic and not offer more information to the admissions readers on me as a person. Remember that the application is ultimately about you, so if the essay that you write about the person that genuinely inspires you the most does not provide insights into you as an applicant, then this might be a space to write about someone else.

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Applying to Yale is certainly a big endeavor, and you must ensure your essays are up to par. Consult with a PathIvy counselor today to receive guidance in putting your best writing forward.

Written by Vivian Vasquez, PathIvy Yale University Ambassador