<p>Should I jump up and scream?</p>
<p>reetings from Yale University!</p>
<p>I hope this letter finds you hard at work on your application to Yale. No? Don't worry. You still have time. (I finished my application five minutes to midnight on the day of the deadline, but I don't recommend that.)</p>
<p>My name is Michael Noltemeyer, and I am writing you from the Office of Admissions to convince you that you should in fact spend some time and apply to Yale (and hopefully with more than a few minutes to spare). In particular I am writing to you because your high school record indicates that you would be a strong candidate for admission. Every year, Yale tries to admit the strongest and most diverse possible class, but in order to do that we must attract the strongest and most diverse possible applicant pool. That's where you come in.</p>
<p>A little about myself: I am a rising junior at Yale, originally from Louisville, Kentucky. I am a double major in Biology and Psychology; after graduation, I am applying to medical school. Outside of the classroom, I work at campus athletic events as an Emergency Medical Technician, do research in a psychology lab, and play blues guitar and intramural ice hockey.</p>
<p>Yale has proven to be a great place to accommodate all of these interests. However, even if you aren't interested in any of these things - if you hate Freud and everything he stands for, wouldn't care if you never saw another biology textbook again, and get the blues every time you think about hockey - Yale is still a great place to be. It is big enough to be almost anything you want it to be, and at the same time small enough that you're always at home.</p>
<p>If you're anything like I was in high school, I don't need to sell you on the merits of one of the best universities in the world. You probably worry more about the world-class price tag. The good news is that Yale also offers world-class financial aid. Admissions is completely need-blind - in fact, your financial information goes to a totally separate building, so your ability to pay the bill is not at all a factor in your admissions decision. If you are admitted, Yale guarantees to pay one hundred percent of your demonstrated financial need. Almost half of our students (including yours truly) are on financial aid, and the average award is over $22,000. If your parents make $45,000 or less per year, they are not expected to contribute anything toward your college education (which makes sense, given that the sticker price is almost that much). If they make up to $60,000, their expected contribution could be as low as $2,000. You can find more information about financial aid at these sites: <a href="http://www.yale.edu/admit/freshmen/financial_aid/index.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.yale.edu/admit/freshmen/financial_aid/index.html</a> and <a href="http://www.yale.edu/admit/freshmen/financial_aid/glance.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.yale.edu/admit/freshmen/financial_aid/glance.html</a>. Please don't be scared away by the sticker price - don't let concerns about financial aid keep you from applying. If you are admitted, we will do everything we can to make it affordable. And even if, in the end, you decide the price is still too high (which, again, we will do everything in our power to prevent), you've lost nothing in applying. You really do have nothing to lose, and everything to gain.</p>
<p>So what's next? Yale uses the Common Application, so if you are ready to apply, you can get the application at <a href="http://www.commonapp.org%5B/url%5D">www.commonapp.org</a> (though you should be sure to complete the required Yale supplement, also available on the web site). I encourage you to consider applying early - it takes all the pressure off during those four months while your procrastinating classmates are still sweating it out! If you are interested in visiting our beautiful campus, we are offering tours and information sessions each weekday all summer long. If you have any questions about visiting, or anything at all about Yale, you can try the web site (<a href="http://www.yale.edu/admit)%5B/url%5D">www.yale.edu/admit)</a>, which has almost all the information you could ever need. You can also contact me at any time. One thing you will find to be incontrovertibly true about Yale students is that they love to talk about their school - true to form, I could tell Yale stories all day long. If you are interested in hearing some of them, or in asking me the toughest questions you've got, just reply to this email. I look forward to hearing from you.</p>
<p>Applying to college can be a crazy time. I wish you the best of luck in realizing that Yale is the place for you, and then throughout the rest of the application process.</p>
<p>Take care,</p>
<p>Michael Noltemeyer '08</p>
<p>Undergraduate Recruitment Coordinator
Yale University Office of Undergraduate Admissions</p>
<p>Office of Undergraduate Admissions,
Yale University
P.O. Box 208234, New Haven CT 06520
<a href="http://www.yale.edu/admit%5B/url%5D">www.yale.edu/admit</a></p>