We ask that you respect the word limit we have set. Will we read the words beyond 500? Yes. But if your essay is much longer than 500 words, you will not have helped yourself by ignoring our request. Remember, concise and simple writing is often the best writing.

The honest answer is there is no answer to that question. So many factors come into play through the selection process that outcomes for most candidates in the applicant pool are impossible to predict. What we can do is tell you what we will look for in your application. See “What Yale Looks For” for an overview.

The best essays are thoughtful and reflective, conveying a specific idea related to your personal or intellectual life. We understand that in a mere 500 words you cannot possibly tell us everything about yourself. Please don’t try! The essay is not meant to be a comprehensive autobiography. It’s an opportunity for you to share with us something meaningful about yourself and your experiences. Take some time to think about what you want us to know about you. Consider the essay’s brevity to be a challenge: it’s often more difficult to say what you mean with economy.

The essay question is open-ended, and some students say the hardest part is knowing where to start. We suggest that you focus on specifics — don’t waste words on generalities. Choose a topic that expresses who you are and allows you to share with us something important to you. Don’t feel the need to come up with a “gimmick” or an original topic. Gimmicks usually fail, and many successful candidates write about fairly common topics, such as music, sports, community service projects, and family relationships.

Take the time to carefully review your essays before submitting them. We expect that your grammar and spelling will be correct.

Yale has a longstanding policy that a student may apply to the College no more than three times. This includes application to the freshman class and/or transfer admissions program.

No. The way you apply will not affect your chances of being admitted to Yale. We treat online and paper applications equally in the admissions process. If you have internet access, however, we strongly encourage you to apply online, using the Common Application and Yale Supplement. It generally takes far longer to process a paper application than an online application, especially close to the deadline dates. For the same reason, we encourage you to have your teachers and counselor submit their forms online if they can.

There is no need to submit supplementary material. The vast majority of our students are admitted on the basis of required documents alone. For a very small number of exceptionally talented artists, musicians, and researchers, supplementary material may be useful to communicate information that cannot be conveyed adequately in the rest of the application. See the guidelines about Supplementary Materials for more information.

Not at all. Unlike some schools, we do not track your communications with us or your visits to Yale. It is not necessary to be in regular contact with the admissions office. Admissions officers are happy to answer your questions, but excessive emails or phone calls can be very distracting.

Ask your guidance counselor to address any special circumstances in his or her letter. You may write about particular challenges in your personal statement, but it is always a good idea to have your counselor explain the situation.

The same application is used for all candidates, and it asks you to list your country or countries of citizenship. We are interested in your citizenship chiefly for reporting purposes, but it has no bearing on your chances of admission.

Absolutely not. An applicant’s ability to pay for a Yale education is not considered during the admissions process. This policy is called “need-blind admission.” Yale is strongly committed to equality of opportunity, and need-blind admission ensures that the College will be open to students of personal and academic promise from all segments of society and all parts of the world. An application for financial aid has no effect on the admissions committee’s decision. This policy applies to all candidates, regardless of their citizenship.

No. Students may only begin a course of study at Yale in the fall semester.

Yes, but as the question suggests, you should keep your answer short. You will have an opportunity to expand this question into a full essay as part of the Yale Supplement, if you choose to do so. We believe that you can successfully respond to the Short Answer in several well constructed sentences.

If you feel the need to submit extra information, you may ask one additional recommender to write on your behalf. Please do not solicit this additional letter unless you feel it will add substantially to your application. The writer should know you well personally or have mentored you closely in some capacity.  Please ask that person to include the following at the top of their letter: your full, legal name as it appears in your application, the name and location of your high school, and your date of birth. The letter should be labeled "Supplementary" to avoid confusion.

Your recommenders must be able to write about your recent work in rigorous academic subjects. We strongly encourage you to submit recommendations from 11th and 12th grade teachers. Yale has an extremely competitive applicant pool, so it’s probably unwise to submit a recommendation from a favorite 9th grade teacher or from a coach or chorus director unless he or she has also taught you recently in an academic course.

Yale doesn’t require that these recommendations come from teachers of particular subjects. It’s a good idea, however, to have the two letters come from teachers of two different subjects. Choose teachers who know you well and can give us a sense of your academic and personal strengths.

The Application Status page, which you should check frequently, will let you review the documents that we’ve received and determine which we still need. Admissions officers won’t be able to review your application fully unless we have all the required documents, so it’s absolutely crucial to send these items in by the deadline.

Very! Email is the main way we communicate with you throughout the admissions season. This includes, among other things, the initial acknowledgment that we received your application, information about our Application Status page, whether you need to supply us with missing documents to complete your application, and online admissions decisions. Please be sure that the email address you supply is functional and check it often.

No. Doing so could cause serious delays in processing your application. The electronic transmission of applications is very reliable.

The admissions application is due on April 1, and you should submit your financial aid application by May 1.

Please visit our Eli Whitney Students Program Application Instructions & Forms page for application instructions and to download the application forms.

Applicants who gain admission to the Eli Whitney Students Program will receive notice in mid- to late- June. Candidates who are not admitted will receive notice sometime between late May and late June. We will send notifications via email.

If you have followed a traditional educational path, wish to study on a full-time basis, and have not had your college experience delayed or interrupted by more than five years, then you should apply as a transfer student. Please visit our Transfer Program for more information about the transfer program, including transfer eligibility. If your college experience was delayed or interrupted at any point for five or more years, then you may apply to the Eli Whitney Students Program. Keep in mind that transfer students must attend full time, but Eli Whitney students have the flexibility to attend on a part- or full-time basis. Undergraduate on-campus housing is usually available to transfer students, but not to Eli Whitney students. Unlike all other undergraduates, including transfer students, tuition costs for Eli Whitney students vary depending on the number of credits taken in any given semester. The maximum amount of Yale Scholarship per semester for Eli Whitney students is capped at the cost of tuition.

You may still apply to the EWSP, but keep in mind that it is very unusual for Yale to admit students who do not present strong recent academic performance. If you have not taken college classes recently, it is strongly encouraged that you take rigorous liberal arts and sciences courses before submitting an application. You should consider taking courses in English, math, history, physical or natural sciences, and foreign languages.

You should pursue coursework at a full accredited post-secondary institution, such as a public or private college/university that grants bachelor’s degrees or a community college that grants associate’s degrees. Many Eli Whitney students have taken courses at community colleges at some point during their educational careers.

For the most part, no. Yale rarely allows Eli Whitney students to postpone matriculation, but we will consider a request if there are exceptional circumstances. 

Your high school transcript may include standardized test results. You might also ask the College Board (for SAT tests) or ACT, Inc. (for ACT tests) to send the results. For more information regarding SATs, please visit the College Board website or call 866-756-7346. If you are calling from outside the United States, call the College Board at 212.713.7789. You can visit the ACT website, and you may reach ACT by telephone at 319.337.1000.

You may be eligible to transfer some or all of your prior college credits, up to a maximum of eighteen course credits. Please note that most courses in Yale College are term courses that carry one course credit. If the college courses you successfully completed at your prior institution are similar to those available to Yale undergraduates, those course credits will likely be transferable. You must have taken the coursework at a fully accredited post-secondary institution, such as a public or private college/university that grants bachelor’s degrees or a community college that grants associate’s degrees. You must achieve a grade of A or B in at least three-quarters of your non-Yale courses, and no lower than a C grade in the remainder. Credit is not granted for online courses; Advanced Placement (AP) results; International Baccalaureate (IB) results; College Level Placement Exams (CLEP); or college credits earned while you were in high school. 

Most term courses at Yale - but not all - are worth one course credit. Generally speaking, a Yale course credit is the same as three or four credit hours or four and one-half quarter hours. 

Yes. Students at Yale must be able to understand rapid, idiomatic English and to express themselves easily in both spoken and written English. For information on how Yale assesses an international student applicant’s English language skills, see our page for International Students. 

International students generally must have F-1 student status to enter the Eli Whitney Students Program, and must register as full-time students during their entire tenure at Yale. To count as a full-time student you must take a minimum of three courses each semester. You will not be able to enroll with only tourist status (B1/B2 or visa waiver status).

All international students who gain admission to Yale must consult with the Office of International Students and Scholars (OISS). You can reach OISS by telephone at 203-432-2305 or by email at oiss@yale.edu. OISS issues the I-20 form that international students need to obtain an F-1 visa.

Yes. The Eli Whitney Students Program receives applications from a far greater number of students than it can accommodate. It is prudent to apply to more than one program. Fortunately, there are many colleges that have programs designed especially for non-traditional students. Some of the non-traditional student programs within a two hour drive of New Haven are:

• Columbia University School of General Studies
• Connecticut College, Return to College Program
• Smith College, Ada Comstock Scholars Program
• Mount Holyoke College, Frances Perkins Program
• Trinity College, Individualized Degree Program for Adults

Eli Whitney students who entered Yale in or after the fall 2007 semester may choose to take up to nine course credits each year, and must take at least three course credits each year to remain in good standing. International students who hold F-1 student status for this program must register as full-time students at all times. To do so, international students must take at least three courses per semester.

No. If you already have an undergraduate degree, Yale will not admit you for a second bachelor’s degree, even if you wish to pursue a different major. If you hold an associate's degree, you can be considered for either the Eli Whitney or Transfer Student programs.

Yes. But Eli Whitney students must make a separate application to the Yale Summer Session. Please visit the Yale Summer Session website.

Eli Whitney students are not eligible for on-campus undergraduate housing, but incoming Eli Whitney students may apply for graduate dormitory housing. Graduate dormitories are for single students only, not for families. Many Eli Whitney students live in rental apartments in New Haven.

Check the Yale College academic calendar, as is applicable to students in the Eli Whitney program.

Yes, provided the student otherwise qualifies for the course. Some courses have limited enrollment or require the instructor’s permission, but in these cases you will be treated the same as any other Yale undergraduate.

No, unless the graduate or professional school course is cross-registered in the Yale College Programs of Study. If you wish to take graduate courses on a part-time schedule and with non-degree status, please contact the Division of Special Registration at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, located at 320 York Street, New Haven, CT. You can reach them by telephone at 203-432-2771.

Yes, but you must submit a new application for admission in a subsequent year. A new application fee is also required. Please note that applications will not be considered from individuals who have submitted applications to Yale College more than three times. 

The normal procedure is to apply through the Yale College Dean's Office for re-admission. This path requires you to attend as a full-time student, and allows you to live in campus housing. If you have been out of Yale for over five years and still need at least eighteen course credits to graduate, you may instead apply as an Eli Whitney student. Coming back to Yale as an Eli Whitney student gives you the option of finishing your degree on either a part- or full-time basis. On the other hand, as an Eli Whitney student you will not be able to live in campus housing. Please note that Eli Whitney students must take a minimum of eighteen term course credits at Yale to qualify for a degree.

The total Cost of Attendance for attending Yale in 2011-2012 is $55,850, which includes tuition ($40,500), room ($6,700), board ($5,500), and books and personal expenses ($3,150). Total cost of attendance (not only tuition) is used to calculate a student's need-based financial aid award. Yale meets 100% of demonstrated need. In recent years, the average Yale Scholarship (a need-based grant) has been $35,500 for students on financial aid and roughly 57% of Yale students receive need-based financial aid.

Yale awards all undergraduate financial aid solely on the basis of financial need. Financial need is the difference between the estimated cost of attendance (which includes tuition, room and board, travel expenses, books and personal expenses) at Yale and your expected family contribution. We determine your expected family contribution from the financial aid applications and information that you submit.

Yale meets 100% of a student’s demonstrated financial need based on the calculated expected family contribution and estimated cost of attendance (which includes tuition, room and board, books and personal expenses). The first portion of a student’s award is student employment awarded as either term-time job or federal work study depending upon eligibility. We consider a student’s eligibility for other financial aid, including the Federal Pell Grant, the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG), state grants, gift aid from parents’ employers, etc. The University will then fund any remaining financial need with Yale Scholarship, area Yale Club awards, endowed scholarships, and other gift aid from Yale’s alumni and friends.

We carefully analyze each family’s financial information and calculate the family contribution based on federal and institutional methodologies. The formula that we use measures a family’s ability to contribute toward college costs and considers factors such as:

• Parents’ income
• Parents’ assets (cash, savings, home equity, other real estate and investments)
• Family size
• Number of children attending college
• Student’s income
• Student’s assets (cash, savings, trusts, and other investments)

On a case-by-case basis, we also evaluate a number of other circumstances, such as exceptional medical expenses.

Yes. You must file a new financial aid application each year and financial aid awards will adjust to increases or decreases in a family's demonstrated need.

We reevaluate your financial need each year with current income and asset information by carefully reviewing all of the updated application materials and recalculating the family contribution. Any changes in your family’s financial situation may alter the parent contribution.

Yale’s financial aid policy begins with the premise that parents, even if they are divorced or separated, have the primary responsibility to contribute towards their children’s college education costs. Thus, in order to calculate an expected family contribution and determine a student’s financial aid eligibility, we require financial information from both natural parents. Your financial aid award lists an expected parent contribution that we determined from your parents’ information. Since we could treat the exchange of money between your parents in a variety of ways, we list only a total expectation from your parents. Your family will work together to determine how you will meet the family contribution and we suggest you keep both parents informed about your financial matters throughout the year.

If you have questions about financial aid, please visit the Frequently Asked Questions page on Yale’s Student Financial and Administrative Services website. There you will find FAQs for prospective Yale College students, students interested in the Eli Whitney and Non-Degree programs, and more. If you have any additional questions, please contact the financial aid office at www.yale.edu/sfs/contactus.

In many cases, yes. Yale awards “acceleration credit” to students who wish to graduate in fewer than eight terms or challenge themselves with advanced courses if they earn scores of:

• 4 or 5 on most AP exams;
• 6 or 7 on the higher-level IB exams; or
• A or B results at A-level.

Most Yale students who are eligible for acceleration credit choose to enroll for a full eight terms and select higher-level courses based upon their AP or IB exam results. More...

In a word, very. Yale is one of the world’s foremost research universities. Its faculty of outstanding scholars in the sciences, mathematics, and engineering includes more than 60 members of the National Academy of Sciences. About one-third of Yale’s entering class each year plans to major in the natural sciences, mathematics, computer science, or engineering. And please keep in mind that Yale – unlike most major research universities – has a strong commitment to undergraduate teaching and undergraduate participation in research and design. More...

Yes. If you are admitted to the freshman class and successfully complete your secondary school work, you may postpone matriculation at Yale for one year.

Absolutely. Many students earn a full year or term of Yale College credit by participating in the year or term abroad. Yale sponsors the Yale-in-London program for interdisciplinary studies in British art, history, and literature to which students of any major may apply. Yale has exchange programs at the University of Tübingen and the Free University of Berlin, among others. Yale is also a member of the Kyoto Center for Japanese Studies consortium and the Peking University-Yale University Joint Undergraduate Program in Beijing. Yale students are also welcome to enroll in a program sponsored by another American university and may enroll directly in a foreign university. More...

Yale students have an outstanding record of admission to top professional schools. There is no “pre-med program” per se; in fact, Yale has no pre-professional degree programs at all. If you want to go to a professional school such as medicine, business, or law after you graduate, you may choose any undergraduate major and tailor your curriculum with the help of a Yale advisor who knows what professional schools will require. More...

The vast majority of courses are taught by professors. Courses with a graduate student serving as the primary classroom instructor — chiefly foreign language instruction and freshman English courses — accounted for only seven percent of all enrollment last year.

Yes. In fact, many undergraduate majors at Yale require that you do research. Independent scientific research as well as engineering research and design projects are an integral part of undergraduate education at Yale. Undergraduates enjoy a remarkable range of research opportunities. Some are available through individual academic departments. Others are available through interdepartmental programs such as STARS and Perspectives on Science. More...

“Average” can be a very misleading term. Classes at Yale range from one-on-one tutorials to small seminars to lecture courses of several hundred students. Seventy-five percent of Yale College courses enroll fewer than twenty students; twenty-nine percent enroll fewer than ten. Only about forty out of all 2,000 courses enroll more than 100 students.

Handsome Dan? Good question! A loveable bulldog, Handsome Dan is the first collegiate mascot. More...

Yes. All students apply to Yale College using the same application: the Common Application and the Yale Supplement. International students must also submit one additional form: the International Supplement to the Secondary School Report (available from the Common Application) or have the information requested by this form included in the Secondary School Report.

No. We seek to admit a diverse group of international students each year. The quantity and quality of applications from different countries will vary from year to year, and so will the admissions. We do not predetermine the number of candidates that we will admit from any particular country.

Yes. Our international team of officers is familiar with educational systems and credentials around the world. If you like, you are welcome to send additional information about the particularities of your country’s educational system.

We hope that you will view our video for international students, “Yale’s Community of Individuals,” which features current international students talking about Yale. You are also welcome to visit the website of our Office of International Students and Scholars, the center for support services to the Yale international community. For more information about the Yale experience in general, please explore the rest of our admissions site. Feel free to send any specific questions to our email address, student.questions@yale.edu.

Yes, you may defer your admission for up to two years (or for the length of your military obligation).

You may apply as a freshman if you have completed no more than one year at another university. If you have completed more than one year at another university (but no more than two years), you may apply as a transfer student.

Yes. Yale will consider transfer applications from international students who have not completed more than two years of a university degree program. International transfer students are eligible for financial aid on the same basis as any other student. Please see our Financial Aid website for more information.

No. Simply list your awards and honors in the Common Application’s additional information pages. We do not need to see the certificates.

If you have exceptional talent and a record of accomplishment in the areas of visual art, music, or science, you might consider submitting an appropriate sample of your work. If you are thinking about doing so, please read and closely follow the directions listed on our Supplementary Materials page. Please do NOT send certificates, 3D submissions, multiple extra recommendations, newspaper clippings, and other such additional documents.

You will receive email notification once Yale receives and processes your application.

After we receive and process your application, we will send you information about activating your online Eli Account. Through this account you will be able to check the status of your application. If any of your required application documents are missing, we will notify you. You will also learn Yale’s final decision about your admission on this site. Please read all notices on the Eli Account site carefully and check it periodically throughout the admissions season. 

A tutor, house master, principal, academic advisor, or another comparable school official can complete the form and recommendation.

Only submit the Midyear Report if you receive new grades or term reports in the middle of the school year. Most international students do not need to send us this form. All admitted students must submit the Final Report, which provides us with final schools grades/exam marks/diploma when you finish secondary school. There is no need to complete the Final Report until after you gain admission to Yale.

There are designated spaces on the Common Application Secondary School Report form for your class rank and GPA. If you do not have a GPA or a rank, leave those spaces blank.

Yes, unless your school has an AP or standard American curriculum. If you are in an IB curriculum at your international or American school abroad, you must submit the International Supplement with your IB predictions along with the Secondary School Report with your internal grades. If your school has an AP or standard American curriculum, there is no need to submit the International Supplement.

If you are admitted and decide to enroll at Yale College, the visa process is very straightforward. Once you receive the I-20 form from us, you can apply for a visa appointment at your local U.S. embassy. 

Yes. Any student can apply Early Action Single Choice.

Yes, international students are eligible. Yale’s financial aid policies for foreign citizens are similar to those for U.S. citizens: need-blind admissions and need-based aid. “Need-blind” means that Yale College admits students on the basis of academic and personal promise, without regard to their ability to pay. “Need-based” means that financial aid packages are based on individual needs assessments, not based on merit awards. International students are evaluated using a needs analysis that takes into account the relative differences between the US economy and the economy of students’ home countries.

You can find international financial aid forms on the Financial Aid website. If you have any questions or if your family has special circumstances or expenses, we encourage you to send Student Financial Services an email or letter with details to help them understand your financial situation more completely.

This is actually not a decision you can make. You will report your citizenship(s) on the Common Application. We will consider your citizenship(s) along with your experience abroad in our holistic, context-based application review. Rest assured that it isn’t “better” or “worse” one way or the other. At Yale, because we offer need-blind need-based aid regardless of citizenship, the admissions process for all applicants is the same.

Yes. All international applicants must submit official results of standardized tests. You have two testing options, and we have no preference which you choose. You may take either:

• Option 1: The SAT Reasoning Test and two SAT Subject Tests of  your choice   

    OR

• Option 2: The ACT Plus Writing. (Note that because the ACT is less available outside of the U.S., the majority of international students submit SAT results.)

There are two exceptions to this testing requirement:

• Students whose home countries do not allow their citizens access to standardized testing centers – Afghanistan and China, for examples – are exempt from these testing requirements. These students must take either the TOEFL, IELTS, or PTE instead.
• Students who have completed A-level programs may use their results as a substitute for the SAT Subject Tests on a one-for-one basis, provided that the official test results arrive at Yale no later than February 2011. Eligible students must still take either the SAT Reasoning Test or the ACT Plus Writing. You cannot use predicted A-level results as substitutions for the SAT Subject Tests.

Yale does not accept IB results, national exam results, or any other substitution for the required standardized tests.

For more information on how to take the tests and to find testing centers, you may find the following websites helpful:

• www.collegeboard.com: For information on the SAT Reasoning Test and the SAT Subject Tests.

• www.act.org: For information on the ACT Plus Writing.

It is important for all students — but particularly important for international students — to register for tests with the same name that you use on your application. Our system will not link your record to your test scores if the names do not match.

Please keep in mind that there are no cut-off scores for any of these exams. Yale’s admission process is highly selective, but it is not primarily based on standardized test results. Scores are merely one part of the application.

Possibly, but it is not required. Not all international applicants need to take an English proficiency test such as TOEFL, IELTS, and PTE. But like all Yale students, international students must be able to understand rapid, idiomatic English and to express themselves easily in both spoken and written English. If English is not your first language, please see our Standardized Testing page for information about language proficiency requirements at Yale.

Note: Students in countries where it is not possible to take the SAT or ACT exams (e.g. China and Afghanistan) must take an English proficiency test.

Please view our standardized testing deadlines page.

Yes. Students enrolled in A-level programs may use two completed A-level results as a substitute for the two SAT Subject Tests, provided official test results arrive at Yale by February. You must still take either the SAT Reasoning Test or the ACT Plus Writing. Predicted A-level results may not be used in place of the SAT Subject Tests.

Not necessarily. We are not able to offer an interview to every applicant. An interview offer is not a signal regarding the status of your application. For more information about interviews for international applicants, please see the section on interviewing in Applying to Yale as an International Student.

Yes. Official translations must accompany any documents that are not written in English.

Yale does award some advanced standing and/or acceleration credit for students who achieve high scores on Advanced Placement or SAT Subject Tests, as well as on International Baccalaureate, A-level, or other international exams. These decisions are made on a case-by-case basis, and we cannot predict the amount of credit or acceleration you might receive before you gain admission to Yale. More information can be found on the Yale College website. We strongly encourage students to take advantage of the full four-year undergraduate experience at Yale. Please note that Yale generally does not award credit to entering freshmen for university coursework completed before matriculation.

No. For a variety of reasons, we are not able to offer every applicant an interview. If you are contacted to schedule an interview, we strongly encourage you to take advantage of the opportunity. An interviewer can help you learn more about Yale and can share additional information about you with the admissions office.

Absolutely not. Please remember that interviews are not required, and many successful applicants are not interviewed. The admissions committee will base its decision on the rest of your application.

Applicants do not arrange their own interviews. In many parts of the United States and around the world, Yale Alumni Schools Committees (ASCs) serve as liaisons between prospective Yale students and the Undergraduate Admissions Office. The ASCs conduct all local alumni interviews. As admissions applications are processed, each ASC receives the names of local applicants and schedules individual interviews over the course of the application season.

After you submit your freshman application, Yale will send you an email to acknowledge that we have received it. That email will also indicate whether an ASC covers your area. If an ASC member can meet with you, he or she will contact you directly to schedule an interview.

You will not be offered an alumni interview until after you have submitted your application.

ASC interviews are available in most regions of the United States and in many other countries, but there are some areas where we are not able to offer them. If an ACS interview is not available to you, please do not worry. It will not hurt your chances for admission. Each year many candidates are admitted without the benefit of an interview.

An ASC interview lets you engage in a dialogue with a local Yale graduate. Alumni interviewers can be a valuable source of information for you, providing first-hand knowledge of what it is like to live and study at Yale. Interviews are also evaluative. Through the ASC member’s writeup of your interview, the admissions committee can learn more about you and how you might contribute to the Yale community.

Alumni interviews are conducted by committees linked to specific high schools. Either your school is not covered by an interviewing committee, or the home address you provided suggests that you are not currently living in the area of your high school of record.

You may not be contacted for an alumni interview until a few weeks after we process your application. Most Early Action interviews take place in November and the bulk of Regular Decision interviews occur in late January and during the month of February. It is also possible that given the large number of applications, the ASC is not able to interview every candidate in your area. Please remember that interviews are not required, and your application will not be jeopardized if you are not offered an interview.

Alumni interviews usually take place at the ASC member’s home or office or at a public location such as a quiet café. If a Yale ASC member calls you to set up an interview, please arrange to meet at a mutually convenient location.

A limited number of on-campus interviews are available. They are only open to seniors and rising seniors, and are only offered from mid- to late June through mid-November. On-campus interviews are conducted by Yale College seniors. If you would like to have an interview on campus, please visit check our online Interview Scheduler for availability. They are scheduled on a first-come, first-served basis.

If you already took part in an interview on campus and then an ASC member contacts you, you may decline the second interview or supplement it with an alumni interview. The choice is yours.

You may email questions about academic, residential, and extracurricular life at Yale to student.questions@yale.edu. A current Yale student will respond to your inquiry.

No. Each ASC is charged with interviewing candidates for a specific geographic area. Given the large volume of applications we receive, the resources of our ASCs are limited, and we cannot reassign you to the committee serving another region.

Yes.  The application deadlines for non-degree candidates are June 1 for the fall term, and October 1 for the spring term. 

The fee is $75, payable by check or money order drawn on a U.S. bank, made out to Yale University.

In most cases, Yale will need to see your scores for the SAT Reasoning or ACT test. In addition to those scores, you may also send your scores on other standardized tests if you wish.

Your high school transcript may include standardized test results. You might also ask the College Board (for SAT tests) or ACT, Inc. (for ACT tests) to send the results. For more information regarding SATs, please visit the College Board website or call (866) 756-7346. If you are calling from outside the United States, call the College Board at (212) 713-7789. You can visit the ACT website, and you may reach ACT by telephone at (319) 337-1000. 

Yes, absolutely. It will be up to you to arrange for housing and financial assistance and to obtain the approval of your present college for the credits you earn here.

It is best if at least two of your three recommendations come from teachers or professors who recently taught you in academic subjects. If you have not attended school for a number of years, you may ask employers, colleagues, or other individuals who know you well to write your recommendations. You should consider enrolling in some demanding college courses before you apply to Yale. Your success in those courses will help you demonstrate your academic ability and enable you to obtain the strong academic recommendations that Yale prefers.

No. Yale neither offers nor requires interviews for applicants to the Non-Degree Students Program. But if you have special circumstances or questions and need advice, feel free to send an email to nondegree.students@yale.edu.

For the most part, no. Yale rarely allows non-degree students to postpone matriculation, but we will consider a request if there are exceptional circumstances.

Yes, but you must submit a new application for admission in a subsequent year. You will also need to submit a new application fee. You do not need to resubmit your transcripts; we hold them on file. If you apply three times without success, we will not consider any further applications from you.

Yes. But if a course has limited enrollment, full-time undergraduates and other students in Yale degree programs have first priority. As a result, small seminars and art, film, music, photography, and theater studies courses are seldom available to non-degree students.

No, unless the graduate or professional school course is cross-registered in the Yale College Programs of Study. If you wish to take graduate courses on a part-time schedule and with non-degree status, please contact the Division of Special Registration at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, located at 320 York Street, New Haven, CT. You can reach them by telephone at (203) 432-2770.

Yes. Non-degree students must make a separate application to the Yale Summer Session. Please visit the Yale Summer Session website.

Yale alumni who wish to apply to the Non-Degree Students Program must follow the same application procedures as all other applicants.  Yale alumni or their spouses who wish to audit classes (not for credit) may apply to the Yale Alumni Auditing Program.

The normal procedure is to apply through the Yale College Dean's Office for re-admission. This path requires you to attend as a full-time student and allows you to live in campus housing. If you have been out of Yale for over five years and still need at least eighteen course credits to graduate, you may instead apply to the Eli Whitney Students Program. Coming back to Yale as an Eli Whitney student gives you the option of finishing your degree on either a part- or full-time basis. On the other hand, as an Eli Whitney student you will not be able to live in campus housing. Please note that Eli Whitney students must take a minimum of eighteen term course credits at Yale to qualify for a degree.

Only students enrolled full-time in Yale College or in one of the graduate or professional schools; members of the Yale faculty and their spouses; Yale employees and their spouses; and Yale graduates and their spouses may audit courses. For more information on how to audit and who is eligible to audit courses at Yale, visit the Yale College website.

If your first language is not English, you may need to demonstrate your English language proficiency. For more information on how to do that, please visit our International Non-Degree Students page.

Once you are admitted to the Non-Degree Students Program, you will need to hold and maintain F-1 student visa status. To do that, you must be a full-time student at all times, which means you will need to take at least three courses each semester. If your visa is tourist status (B1/B2 or visa waiver status), you cannot enroll at Yale.

Yes. The Office of International Students and Scholars (OISS) can assist you and will issue the I-20 form that you will use to apply for an F-1 visa. Like all international students at Yale, you must consult with OISS. You can reach them at: Office of International Students and Scholars, 421 Temple Street, New Haven, CT 06511, (203) 432-2305, oiss@yale.edu.

Yale has been a proud QuestBridge partner college since 2007. QuestBridge is a non-profit program that “matches” high-achieving low-income students with partner colleges. There are 31 partner colleges, including Yale. The National College Match scholarship is a full scholarship, including the full cost of tuition and the full cost of room and board.  Since 2007, over 75 students have matched with Yale through the National College Match and more than 240 QuestBridge Finalists have been admitted through our regular application process on need-based financial aid.

Unlike many other partner schools, a Yale match is nonbinding, which means that if you apply to Yale through QuestBridge, you may still apply to other schools as a Regular Decision applicant. Students have until May 1 to respond to an offer of admission from Yale.

QuestBridge will forward us your QuestBridge application.  We also require applicants to submit the Common Application and Yale Supplement as well as a few additional items. The deadline for submitting these materials is November 1, 2011. If you are submitting materials by mail, the postmark deadline is November 1. You must submit the following no later than November 1:

• Common Application
• Yale Supplement to the Common Application
• Teacher Recommendations (2)
• Secondary School Report (including your official high school transcript and counselor recommendation)
• Your official score reports for the SAT and two SAT Subject Tests OR the ACT with Writing (official score reports from your school counselor will also be accepted). Yale requires you to submit all score results from whichever type of standardized test you have chosen. For more information on Yale’s score reporting policy, please refer to Standardized Testing FAQs.
• The financial aid documents listed below. Please submit them to Yale by fax at 203.777.6100. Clearly type or write your full name, your Yale Applicant ID Number (if you rank Yale, you will receive this via email after Finalists are announced), and "QuestBridge" on all pages:

1. The QuestBridge Yale University Cover Sheet for Financial Documents.
2. Your parents’ 2010 federal income tax return (signed, with all schedules, attachments, W-2s, and other earnings statements). Include personal and corporate/partnership tax returns, if applicable.
3. The 2012-2013 CSS/PROFILE Application. You must submit this electronically.
4. If your parents are divorced or legally separated, your non-custodial parent should also submit his/her tax return, W-2s, and a copy of the Noncustodial PROFILE, available when you complete the CSS/PROFILE.
5. If your parents are self-employed, they should submit the CSS Business/Farm Supplement directly to Yale.

If your parents are not required to file a 2010 federal income tax return, please have them complete the 2011-2012 Parent Non-Tax Filer Statement.

QuestBridge will notify applicants of their status as Finalists or Non-Finalists on October 21.

Finalists who applied for a match, but did not match with a binding school and did not list Yale as a match institution may apply to Yale through Regular Decision. You must make sure that all your required application materials are submitted by December 31st.  Please refer to Yale's Regular Decision Requirements on the QuestBridge website for more information. Non-Finalists may apply to Yale through Single-Choice Early Action (deadline: November 1) or Regular Decision (deadline: December 31).

 Depending on your situation, this question has different answers.

• There is no fee to apply for the QuestBridge Match process.  
• If you’re a QuestBridge Finalist and you want apply as a Regular Decision or Single-Choice Early Action candidate, you can request that Yale waive the $75 application fee when you apply. When filling out the Common Application for Regular Decision or Single-Choice Early Action, go to the “Payments” tab, click on “Fee Waiver Request,” and select “Other.” On the Yale Supplement, enter “QuestBridge Finalist” as your explanation for requesting a fee waiver. You don’t need to submit any additional paperwork.
• If you’re a QuestBridge Non-Finalist, you may still qualify for a fee waiver. Please visit our Application Instructions page for more information on how to request a fee waiver.

Yes. We will consider all applicants regardless of citizenship.

You do not need to have an interview. If you’re planning to visit Yale during the summer or fall, you may schedule an on-campus interview by using the Online Interview Scheduler. During the QuestBridge College Match process, we also offer a limited number of off-campus interviews. We will contact you directly if we are able to offer you an interview near where you live. For Single-Choice Early Action and Regular Decision applications, our standard interview instructions apply.

QuestBridge will notify students of their match status on December 1. If you have any questions about your status as a College Match Finalist or Scholar, please contact QuestBridge directly.

If you ranked Yale but don’t match with Yale, you will automatically be considered for Regular Decision. If you match with a binding school, your Regular Decision application will not be considered.

If you’re not named a College Match Finalist, you’re welcome to apply to Yale via Single-Choice Early Action or Regular Decision using the Common Application and Yale Supplement. Standard Yale application requirements apply. We do not accept QuestBridge application materials for Non-Finalists. For more information on Regular Decision requirements, please visit our Freshman Application Process page.

QuestBridge College Match applicants are evaluated using the same standards as all Yale applicants, taking into account the context of a student’s high school program, family circumstances, and personal achievements. The timing and notification of the decision vary slightly because of the QuestBridge application timeline.

Yale will only offer admission through the National College Match to students whose parents qualify to make zero contribution to college costs. Typically, this includes families with a total income of less than $65,000 per year, though Yale does consider family assets, business ownership, and other special circumstances in addition to annual income. If you are not eligible for zero parental contribution, you may be considered for admission to Yale in the Regular Decision process and will still qualify for financial aid calculated to meet your full financial need, with no loans required.

Yale provides full need-based financial aid to all admitted students and will meet every student’s demonstrated need without regard to whether we accept the student through QuestBridge College Match, Single-Choice Early Action, or Regular Decision.

For more information about Yale’s financial aid policies, please visit the Financial Aid page. 

The number of Yale matches depends on the strength of individual applications, and therefore varies from year to year. Historically, Yale has matched with 17–22 students each year through the College Match Process. Yale has also admitted between 50–75 QuestBridge Finalists through the Regular Decision application process. All admitted applicants receive financial aid to meet their demonstrated financial need.

Yale does not fund travel for prospective applicants. We are happy to welcome students who are able to attend information sessions, tours, or other admissions events. In particular, we invite students to attend our fall Multicultural Outreach Program’s Open House. See our Admissions Events page in early fall for more information.

You can call QuestBridge at (888) 275-2054 or (650) 331-3280. For general questions, email questions@questbridge.org. For technical questions, email techsupport@questbridge.org. QuestBridge can also be reached through its website.

If you are a Single-Choice Early Action applicant to Yale, you may apply to another institution’s early admission program as follows:

• You may apply to any college's non-binding rolling admission program.
• You may apply to any public institution in your home state at any time provided that admission is non-binding. 
• You may apply to another college’s Early Decision II program, but only if the notification of admission occurs after January 1. If you are admitted through another college’s Early Decision II binding program, you must withdraw your application from Yale. 
• You may apply to any institution outside of the United States at any time.

 Applying Single-Choice Early Action does not increase the likelihood of being admitted to Yale. Historically, the rate of admission among early applicants has been higher than the overall admission rate because many of our strongest candidates, from a wide range of backgrounds and interests, apply early. We therefore offer this advice: Apply for Single-Choice Early Action if you want to receive a decision in mid-December and you are confident of the credentials you will be presenting to the admissions committee early in your senior year. An Early Action applicant must meet the same criteria for admission as an applicant in the regular pool. A thoughtful college search and a careful assessment of your readiness to present a strong application as early as November 1, are key. Candidates who need more time, for whatever reason, will be better served by our Regular Decision process.

If you’ve used Yale’s Single-Choice Early Action application, in mid-December you will receive one of three responses:

1. You are admitted to Yale

What this means: Congratulations! You have a place in Yale’s next freshman class. You may accept or decline the offer at any time before May 1. 

2. A final decision on your application is deferred

What this means: We consider you a competitive candidate, but the admissions committee wants to see more work from your senior year and evaluate your credentials in the context of our Regular Decision pool of applicants. Unless you withdraw your application, you’ll automatically be reconsidered in our Regular Decision process.

3. Your application is denied

What this means: If your Early Action application is denied, you may not reapply for admission to Yale during the Regular Decision process this year. 

If you submitted all required financial aid materials to Yale with your Early Action application, you’ll receive an estimated financial aid package at the same time as you receive your offer of admission. We will update this estimate and confirm your final aid package in early April.

The school you’re currently attending must submit the School Report Form, meaning, in this case, your new school. If you’re concerned that your new college counselor has not had enough time to get to know you, you may ask the counselor from your previous school to write a letter as well. We’ll also need a complete record of your grades from all years of high school. It’s helpful for us to see the exact grades you received. If your new school translates 80s and 90s from your old school into As and Bs on your transcript, please request that a transcript be sent to us directly from your old school as well. Because of the uncertainties of moving from one school to another, it’s probably not a good idea for senior-year transfers to file early applications. Our admissions committee, for example, may want to see grade reports for the first semester at the new school before making a decision. In most such cases, it’s better to apply Regular Decision.

You must report the scores of all of the SATs and SAT Subject Tests or all of the ACTs and ACT Writing Tests that you’ve taken. If you choose to fulfill the requirement with SAT scores, then it’s not necessary to send any scores from the ACT, even if you’ve taken the ACT. If you choose to fulfill the requirement using the ACT, then you don’t need to send us any SAT scores unless you wish to do so. Whichever type of test you choose, you must report all your scores from every time you’ve taken that type of test. And if you choose to use a combination of SAT and ACT test results, you must report all scores from both agencies.

To report SAT scores, please ask the College Board to send your official SAT and SAT Subject Test results directly to Yale.

To report ACT results, please ask ACT to send official results from at least one test directly to Yale, and self-report all your other available ACT results when you file your Yale Supplement to the Common Application. (See below for the reasons ACT reporting differs from SAT reporting.)

If you receive SAT or SAT Subject Test results after you submit your application, contact the College Board and request that they send an updated report of all your SAT test scores to Yale. If you receive ACT results after you submit your application, you may provide an update by having an official report sent to Yale from ACT, by asking your counselor to include the new test results on your midyear report, or by sending an unofficial score report to us by mail or fax. The fax number is (203) 777-6120.

An applicant’s testing history provides useful contextual information to the admissions committee. With a full testing history, the committee is able to look at a student's highest officially reported score on each section of the SAT, the highest individual SAT Subject Tests, and/or the highest ACT Plus Writing composite score.

We have taken this approach because there is a difference between the reporting cost of SAT and ACT results. The College Board will send a cumulative record of all SAT Reasoning and SAT Subject tests for one fee. For a similar fee, the ACT will send results for only one test date. Because we do not want students reporting ACTs to incur excessive costs, we require them to send one official ACT score report and permit them to self-report all other ACT results. We will confirm self-reported test results if we feel it to be necessary.

Yes. As long as you provide a complete set of score reports from one testing agency (either the College Board or  ACT, Inc.), you are not required to report scores from both. You can choose to report either all of your SAT results (both SAT and SAT Subject Tests) or all of your ACT results. If you want us to have any scores from both the College Board and ACT, Inc., you must report all scores from both testing agencies.

Follow the instructions in the testing section of the Common Application, which asks you to report some, but not all, of your scores. Then, list any additional test scores you have received on the Yale Supplement.

No. You may self-report AP scores in the spaces provided on the Common Application or on the Yale Supplement. Only students who ultimately enroll at Yale and choose to apply for acceleration credit will need to submit an official score report.

Yale awards ‘acceleration credit’ to students for scores of 4 or 5 on most — but not all — of the AP exams; for scores of 6 or 7 on the Higher-level IB exams; and for A-level results of A or B. Acceleration credit may offer some students the option to graduate in fewer than eight terms. For further details see Yale College acceleration policies or the table of acceleration credit.

It is up to you and your high school whether you take the AP test. At Yale, AP credit can sometimes be used for placement purposes and/or for acceleration credit. Also, some high schools require students to take the AP exam to receive class credit.

If you have a high school diploma or GED and you have less than one year of transferable post-secondary-school college credit, then you should apply as a freshman candidate. If you have at least one year and no more than two years of transferable post-secondary-school college credit, then you should apply as a transfer student.

If you have followed a traditional educational path, wish to study on a full-time basis, and have not had your college experience delayed or interrupted by more than five years, then you should apply as a transfer student. If your college experience was delayed or interrupted for more than five years, then you may apply to the Eli Whitney Students Program. Keep in mind that transfer students must attend full time, but Eli Whitney students may choose to attend on a part- or full-time basis. On-campus housing is available to transfer students, but not to Eli Whitney students. Please note that unlike all other undergraduates, including transfer students, tuition costs for Eli Whitney students vary depending on the number of credits taken in any given semester. The maximum amount of Yale Scholarship per semester for Eli Whitney students is capped at the cost of tuition.

No, we do not accept transfer applications on paper. We require transfer applicants to submit their applications online. Please submit the Common Application’s Transfer Application and the Yale Supplement to the Common Application electronically.

No. Transfer students must attend Yale on a full-time basis.

No. Transfer students must enter in the fall term.

No, but we will make every effort to find you housing in one of the twelve residential colleges.

No.

Most term courses at Yale – but not all – are worth one course credit.  Generally speaking, a Yale course credit is the same as three or four credit hours or four and one-half quarter hours. 

Speaking generally, college courses that are similar to those available to Yale undergraduates are transferable. In determining the number of transferable credits, Yale does not count courses taken during high school, college credits awarded for Advanced Placement Tests, correspondence courses or the College Level Examination Program (CLEP) tests.

Yale will evaluate your transferable credits when you gain admission. When we receive all your official transcripts from previous institutions, Yale will perform a final evaluation. Yale will not evaluate transferable credits before you gain admission to Yale.

For the most part, no. Yale rarely allows transfer students to postpone matriculation, but we will consider a request if there are exceptional circumstances.

No. Transfer applicants are not offered interviews.

Yes. Transfer applicants must take the ACT Plus Writing or the SAT Reasoning Test. Yale will not consider an application without scores from at least one of these tests. The only exception is for students from countries where these tests are not offered (such as the People’s Republic of China and Iran).

Yes.

March 1.

$75.

Yes. Financial aid is solely based on financial need. For more information, please visit our Financial Aid page.

Given the large number of applications we receive, the Admissions Office is unable to individually acknowledge receipt of your application.  Please login to the Common Application website to confirm that you have successfully submitted your Transfer Common Application, Transfer Yale Supplement and some form of Payment or Fee Waiver Request to Yale. After you login, click on the "My Colleges" tab and then click on "Yale University." If you have successfully submitted these three items, you should see the following information as shown in the screen shot below:

We will notify you in April via email, if any documents are missing from your application.

No. Transfer applicants do not receive PIN accounts. If documents are missing from your file, the admissions office will contact you via email.

No. Unlike freshman admissions, there is no online status page for the transfer application process. The Yale Admissions Office does not provide Eli Accounts to transfer candidates. We communicate with transfer candidates primarily via email, so please make sure we have a correct email address for you. Also, please check your junk mail inbox periodically since many email accounts routinely send our “group” emails to junk mail.

If the Admissions Office needs additional information to process your fee waiver request, we will contact you directly. The review of your application will not be delayed because you have requested a fee waiver.

Candidates will be notified of their admissions decisions in mid-May via email.

Yes, but you must submit a new application for admission in a subsequent year. A new application fee is also required. Please note that applications will not be considered from individuals who have submitted applications to Yale College more than three times.