Yale University is a private Ivy League research institution known for its academic excellence, history and its longstanding rivalry with its slightly older institution, Harvard. Founded in 1701, Yale has grown to become one of the world’s most prestigious universities, often in the top ten of world university ranking tables, with a diverse student body and a reputation for rigorous academic programs. In this blog we will help you to understand what it is like to attend Yale, how to get admitted and what you can study.
Overview
Yale was the third university to be founded in what was then the American Colonies, Harvard was the first in 1636, The College of William and Mary was founded in 1693 followed by Yale in 1701. Originally it focused on teaching theology and sacred languages but expanded into humanities and science and was the first US university to award a PhD.
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Location
Located in New Haven, a small city on the east coast of the United States. New Haven is located in the state of Connecticut, which is part of the New England region. The city is about 2 hours from New York City by train and is easily accessible from Boston and other major cities in the region. Yale’s campus lies just to the north of the centre of New Haven and its tree lined avenues have helped it to be called ‘ the most beautiful urban campus in America’
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Student Cohort
With an undergraduate population of around 6.500 and an overall student population of 14,500, Yale is the middle of the ‘big three’ Ivy Leagues in terms of size, bigger than Princeton but smaller than Harvard. Students are described as passionate overachievers who are politically aware, many choose to engage in volunteering and have aspirations to change the world. Most social life revolves around the student colleges, but extra-curricular groups, clubs and organisations are very important and another source of social activities. Having such a high profile, it is unsurprising that around 10% of Yale students originate from overseas with China, Canada and India having the largest numbers of students.
Admission
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Acceptance Rate
As one of the most prestigious universities in the US, Yale is considered to be a very difficult college to be accepted by. For the class of 2025, Yale received over 47,000 applications and accepted less than 2,400 undergraduate students, resulting in an acceptance rate of 5%.
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Acceptance GPA
Yale doesn’t publish the average high school GPA of accepted students; however, know that you will need to earn stellar grades, take rigorous coursework, and graduate at–or near–the top of your class to gain admission. Yale considers GPA, class rank, and course rigour as “very important” when it makes admissions decisions. Although test optional, around 70% of applicants submitted a standardized test score with their application, of these the middle 50% SAT score ranged from 1460 – 1580 and 33 – 35 for the ACT.
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Types of Admission
Yale has two rounds of admission: Single-Choice Early Action and Regular Decision. Single-Choice Early Action is non-binding, meaning that admitted students are not obligated to attend Yale, however, you are not able to apply Early Decision or Early Action to any other US private college. Students may apply to public colleges, but only under a non-binding admission plan such as Early Action. The deadline for submitting Single-Choice Early Action applications is November 1st. Regular Decision is non binding and the deadline for applications to be received is January 2nd.
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Additional Admissions Requirements
In addition to the Common Application or Coalition Application, applicants to Yale are required to submit two teacher recommendations from teachers that have taught a core subject, a counsellor recommendation and a school transcript, including a mid-year school report when it is available. They also have the option to submit supplementary materials, such as an art portfolio or research abstract. Yale considers the supplemental essays as being very important to their consideration of applications, for those applying to start in 2023, there were a number of short answer questions of between 35 and 200 words and two longer essays of up to 400 words.
Academics
· All undergraduate students pursue their studies through Yale College which is best described as a liberal arts college within the wider university. This structure enables the university to be very focused on the support provided to undergraduate students, despite the significant number of graduate students. One of the draws of Yale for many students is the residential college system, new students are randomly allocated to one of fourteen residential colleges, providing them with a built in community where they will live, eat, sleep and socialise during their time there. There is no core curriculum at Yale but all students have to cover courses across three areas, humanities, arts and sciences and social sciences. Additionally, students need to show competence in three skill areas, writing, quantitative reasoning and a foreign language.
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Standout Majors
Yale offers more than 80 majors across a wide range of fields, from the humanities and social sciences to the natural sciences and engineering. The most popular majors are in social science, biological sciences and maths while history, political science and computer science are also highly subscribed to. Some of Yale’s standout majors include majors in theatre and performance studies and music, both of which have a nationwide profile.
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Faculty/Student Ratio
Yale has a student-to-faculty ratio of 6:1, which means that students have ample opportunities to work closely with professors and receive personalized attention. It also means that with an average teaching group size of 12 classes are smaller than most other colleges.
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Four Year Completion Rate
The four-year graduation rate for Yale undergraduates is 88% while 97% completed their undergraduate degree in less than six-years. This means that the majority of students who attend Stanford graduate within four years, which is higher than the national average.
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Net Cost of Attending
The net cost of attending Yale came in at a little over $85,000 which includes tuition fees, room and board, books and sundry other costs. The university is one of only a few that is need-blind for both domestic and international students. Need-blind means that students are considered on their academic and personal promise, without considering their ability to pay. Admitted students can then be considered for need-based aid.
In conclusion, Yale University is considered to be an outstanding university both in terms of its academic qualities but also for the student experience of living in a community of highly accomplished students who are passionate about their studies while also being politically aware and committed to creating a better society.
Working with study abroad consultants, overseas education consultants, or, as more commonly known, college counsellors, can help you plan ahead and make those high school years count. Ivy Central offers exceptional focus to help you prepare for college admissions throughout the high-schooling years. Start today!
