Hi, I was just wondering because I recently came across this article
http://yaledailynews.com/blog/2013/01/18/science-recruitment-goal-attained/
Is it true that Yale in the past + next few years has been/will be looking to ‘recruit’ people who are STEM oriented since its STEM reputation isn’t as strong as its humanitarian’s?
yale isn’t traditionally a strong science/math school like MIT or Caltech; but for those who want to be more rounded and don’t want to be completely into research-science, will Yale be a good choice?
Thanks
Yale definitely recruits people for STEM, and they’re very open about it. Each year they invite 100 top STEM applicants to come visit Yale for a weekend–the invitees receive a personal phone call from someone in admissions letting them know that they have been admitted and that they are some of Yale’s top choices. The event is called “YES Weekend.” You can read more about it here: http://yaledailynews.com/blog/2013/02/18/stem-students-descend-on-campus-for-yes-w/
Yale is a top liberal arts school, so it is certainly a good choice for someone who wants to be well-rounded as opposed to being entirely focused on STEM.
Thanks! Yet those top STEM students mentioned in the article- are they entirely STEM oriented?
I was just wondering what a typical YES-W candidate is like; AP courses, SAT, did they take all science APs, prizes?
Not sure if there is a typical YES-W candidate - they look like any other admitted student, which means they have to excel in everything. The only thing that separates them is they have declared themselves a potential major in a STEM field
@Aliiiiiiceee The typical YES-W candidate will be extremely accomplished in STEM; these kids didn’t just declare a STEM major on the Common App. Almost all, if not all, of these kids will have won prestigious awards/honors in STEM (think RSI or SUMAC alumni, Siemens finalists, Intel finalists, etc.), often on the national level. They’ll have at least near-perfect grades and test scores. They will have taken the hardest classes available to them at school, and they’ll have fantastic, thoughtfully written essays. These students are not just the cream of the crop–they are the cream of the cream.
Ultimately, if you’ve been invited to Yale’s YES Weekend, you are one of the most accomplished and intelligent students in the nation.
As I recall, if you applied early action and were accepted, you will not be invited to the YES-W weekend. Thus, you could be quite accomplished in STEM and yet not be invited in your were accepted in the early round. Can anybody verify?
^I would assume that’s the case
I also read some threads on YES-W where some people that were invited said that they did take a lot of AP courses but weren’t necessarily that distinguished…(no big award)
I’m not sure about that either, can someone verify?
It is true that you will not be invited to YES-W weekend if you were already accepted SCEA.
You do not necessarily have to have won fancy awards to be invited, but there has to be something incredibly special about your app (in addition to excellent academic stats) for you to be invited. Also, Yale takes into account what school you attended when considering the number of APs/honors classes you take. This is because some schools offer only 5 AP classes whereas others may offer 20. The bottom line is that in order to make it to YES Weekend, you have to have taken the most difficult course load available to you.