<p>Anyone have tips for the why Yale short answer question? The 500 character limit is killing me...What were you answers like? Should I focus on my interests, Yale, or...?!?</p>
<p>my advice is to relate a personal anecdote, relating you to Yale, and possibly referring to your interests in passing. i wrote mine about a specific experience i had while visiting Yale's campus for an extracurricular activity that i'm very involved in. always better to be specific and personal than trite.</p>
<p>i agree with cogito ergo sum. i wrote about my visit--how yale felt like a perfect match. make it personal to you, i.e. the amazing psych department your so excited about or something
good luck, i know its stressful, its like the last question you answer and your like why yale? why the heck do even bother asking?</p>
<p>i talked about the unique Economics, Politics, Ethics major and about the strong emphasis on the arts (eg. music and drama).</p>
<p>I also talked about how incredible the campus was when I visited and how it was the perfect match for me.</p>
<p>i really want to send in another answer (which I changed at the last minute ><) for this :| (was deferred SCEA) ...</p>
<p>a) Don't flip out about it. As long as you don't say, "because it's the next best thing to Harvard," it probably won't make or break your application.
b) Write about whatever reason you want to go to Yale. Mine didn't reference any specific program; I just said, "because Yalies are AWESOME," except a little more eloquently.</p>
<p>I managed to reference at least four different things I loved about it (Freshmen Seminars, great profs like Harold Bloom, Residential College System, and Gothic campus) while simultaneously working in a fun, quirky theme. It was almost like a monologue out of a script :)</p>
<p>I mentioned the liberal arts curriculum, the Daily News, Mory's, Master's Teas, and the Whiffenpoofs all while going along the theme of seeing myself at Yale.</p>
<p>Why Yale is only 500 chars so how did you manage to do that O_o
I'm doing mine in a quirky dot-point style.</p>
<p>^ I'm the master of being succinct/concise ;)</p>
<p>500 character limit was a killer. I wrote about how Yale made me want to DO STUFF and grow as a person (sounds cliche, doesn't it? I hope it's not...)</p>
<p>I should have joined this website before sending my application.</p>
<p>Lol.
I know someone who wrote a poem for theirs lol.</p>
<p>^That's legit. I haven't clicked "Submit" yet......I suppose I could be an idea-thief and write a poem.....or a few haikus.</p>
<p>Or not.</p>
<p>i used a somewhat cheeky approach... not sure if it will turn out ok. we'll see in april</p>
<p>lovely approach</p>
<p>I mentioned Directed Studies and the Yale Marching Band/why I wanted to do both.</p>
<p>Lol, my short answers were mostly jokes.
And my Why Yale was like a bunch of number points like 1)gfhgfhgfh2)ghfghgf3)gfhfgghf
And one of them was about getting into a secret society lol and uncovering their secrets.</p>
<p>i spoke in extremely vague generalities</p>
<p>I said 'Because I want to one day be the President of the United States and afterwards settle down as a Professor in YLS.' </p>
<p>not really, but I did talk about the second half</p>