We’ve not pursued Yale at all and actually SEAS doesn’t have the engineering area of focus my kid desires. I just find it a bit interesting the communication strategy employed, especially being that I also work in higher education (a VERY different level though). Trust me, there’s no expectation setting for my child and he will not be pursuing an interview.
I wasn’t considering Yale very seriously, and then I watched Gossip Girl. Lol partially kidding here, but it did get my attention, as I love to write. Did research on the Yale campus, offered majors, dorms, and anything else that might indicate whether or not it’s a good fit. At the moment I certainly think I’ll love it, and plan on applying as a top reach choice, for the class of 2023.
SAT 1540 and taking the ACT this year, where I hope to get a 35 or 36.
Would love to read posts from any other prospective applicants for the class of 2023.
I just checked the essay prompts page and it looks like they’re substantially unchanged since last year. They updated the year to 2018-2019 but I think the questions are the same. Do you see any differences?
Copy/pasting below:
Short Answer Questions
Applicants submitting the Coalition Application, Common Application, or QuestBridge Application are asked to respond to the following short answer questions:
•Students at Yale have plenty of time to explore their academic interests before committing to one or more major fields of study. Many students either modify their original academic direction or change their minds entirely. As of this moment, what academic areas seem to fit your interests or goals most comfortably? Please indicate up to three from the list provided.
•Why do these areas appeal to you? (100 words or fewer)
•What is it about Yale that has led you to apply? (125 words or fewer)
Applicants submitting the Coalition Application or Common Application are also asked to respond to the following short answer questions:
•What inspires you? (35 words or fewer)
•Yale’s residential colleges regularly host conversations with guests representing a wide range of experiences and accomplishments. What person, past or present, would you invite to speak? What question would you ask? (35 words or fewer)
•You are teaching a Yale course. What is it called? (35 words or fewer)
•Most first-year Yale students live in suites of four to six people. What do you hope to add to your suitemates’ experience? What do you hope they will add to yours? (35 words or fewer)
Essays
Applicants submitting the Coalition Application or Common Application will select from the following topics:
•Think about an idea or topic that has been intellectually exciting for you. Why are you drawn to it?
•Reflect on your engagement with a community to which you belong. How do you feel you have contributed to this community?
•Yale students, faculty, and alumni engage issues of local, national, and international importance. Discuss an issue that is significant to you and how your college experience might help you address it.
Applicants submitting the Common Application: Please choose two of the topics above and respond to each in 250 words or fewer.
Applicants submitting the Coalition Application: Please choose one of the topics above and respond in 300 words or fewer. In addition to writing on your chosen topic, upload an audio file, video, image, or document you have created that is meaningful to you and relates to your essay. Above your essay, include a one-sentence description of what you have submitted.
Optional Engineering Essay - For Applicants submitting the Coalition Application or Common Application
If you selected one of the engineering majors, please tell us more about what has led you to an interest in this field of study, what experiences (if any) you have had in engineering, and what it is about Yale’s engineering program that appeals to you. Please respond in 300 words or fewer.
So can you already start working on the Yale Supplements? I thought the system reset around August 1st?
the last essay about issues of importance is new i believe and it sounds really interesting!!
The common app resets around August 1st, but you can start writing and revising right now. Just don’t write them in the common app, because I think it will wipe the school-specific sections clean when it resets.
Hey prospective Yale '23-ers, I’m excited to be heading off to Yale this upcoming fall, but I wanted to leave you some advice (seeing your posts) that helped me with my Yale supplements during the application cycle! Let me know if you want me to look over anything or want to reach out about the admissions process/Yale.
- Don’t be afraid to write in phrases–Especially in the Yale short answer where space is extremely limited, don’t be afraid to condense lengthy sentences into shorter phrases (this isn’t the SAT/ACT)!
- You do NOT need to sound profound–While having some sort of greater meaning is often important when writing supplements, don’t feel like every sentence needs to contain some sort of deeper meaning or hidden message. Don’t hide behind a thesaurus!
- Have fun and take your time–You should genuinely feel excited about/engaged with what you are writing about, and if not, you aren’t doing something right! Don’t rush or be afraid to ditch an entire draft. Work until you are completely content and can see yourself in your writing.
Best of luck all! Enjoy your summer–don’t work too hard!
Surprised this thread isn’t more active. Anyways, wishing you all the best of luck as you begin the application process for Yale and all the other top schools you all will probably apply to. With acceptance rates decreasing more every year and application pools increasing, make sure you’re doing everything in your power to stand out while still being true to yourself. Don’t feed them admissions what you think they want to hear because its a surefire way for disappointment. If anyone here needs feedback on their supplements or anything, feel free to PM me (don’t expect to be on here much but we’ll see).
Hey! What other places is everybody applying to besides Yale?
Do you just list to answer this question below? Or do you have to write a paragraph (somehow w/o overlapping into the second short answer question?)
“Students at Yale have plenty of time to explore their academic interests before committing to one or more major fields of study. Many students either modify their original academic direction or change their minds entirely. As of this moment, what academic areas seem to fit your interests or goals most comfortably? Please indicate up to three from the list provided.”
Imo, and I’m an amateur, I think that you should answer it succinctly, without making it (necessarily) a paragraph. They want to know who you are, and they will have other indications of whether or not you can write.
There are drop down boxes that allows you to enter up to 3 areas of study, including “undecided”. Unless I am looking at a different version of the Common App, there is no room to do anything but to select from the choices offered. The follow on “why do these areas appeal to you?” short answer only allows for 100 words. S chose 3 areas and had about a 30 word answer for each choice.
Hi everybody! I’m applying SCEA this fall 
How did some people get interviews already? Do you know when new interview times will be posted?
Any interviews already given are through campus visits where the applicant schedules an interview (see admissions website). Usually interviews are given after applicants submit their apps and are conducted by alumni volunteers in your area. If you schedule an on-campus interview, you will not be granted an alumni interview. Not all applicants get interviews. It depends on the number of volunteers relative to the number of applicants. Interviews are not going to pull an otherwise “no” up into the “yes” pile or drag an otherwise “yes” down into a “no” unless the interviewee does or says something morally reprehensible. It might make a difference on truly on the fence cases, but I think the AO’s use the interviews just to confirm the opinion they may have already made on the candidate (and to keep alumni engaged).
We are arranging a trip up there in August to see the school. Hotel prices in the towns around there seem to be pretty reasonable. Are there any inexpensive hotels/towns nearby we should particularly avoid?
During “offpeak”, we usually stay at the Marriot by the campus. You may save a few bucks staying in the surrounding area, but the hassle of driving in and then finding (and paying for) parking is not worth it IMO.
Hey guys i’m looking to apply to yale scea this fall! I am really nervous because Yale is my dream school and I really hope I am accepted.
Does anyone have tips for the application??
OK, more visiting logistics. We’re planning on getting an early morning tour and then going more in depth in the afternoon. I’m looking forward to touring the art gallery.
How long do you think the art gallery should take us to see, and is there anything else on campus we should be sure not to miss that’s not on a regular tour?
^Peabody Museum. One of the pizza places (Pepe’s, etc…) and/or Louis’ Lunch, the place which claims to have invented the hamburger.
The Art Gallery deserves at least an hour or two, and also consider the British Art Center across the street, which has the largest collection of British art outside the UK, if you like that sort of thing. If it’s a hot day in August, consider walking a block down Chapel Street to the Arethusa Farm ice cream shop, which is generally acknowledged to be superb.
The Peabody (natural history museum) is on the other side of campus, so plan accordingly if you have limited time.