<p>Yeah guys, whatever you do, don’t reread your essays! I just reread my Why Yale one and realized I misspelled one of the Residential College’s names. I’m a little nervous wreck right now, because that essay was honestly the one I liked best.</p>
<p>don’t worry guys! one or two simple mistakes won’t hurt you 
we’re only human.</p>
<p>Thanks awesomenerd. I hope so.</p>
<p>I just changed my wallpaper to the “May the odds be ever in your favor” hunger games quote. Desperate times call for desperate measures.</p>
<p>Am I the only person that has gotten to the point where the actual decision isn’t really as important as just knowing ?</p>
<p>I obviously still really want to get in, but I see what you mean</p>
<p>How did you guys write your Why Yale essays?</p>
<p>My daughter’s “Why Yale?” essay focused on her long-term personal and professional goals and then interjected Yale, its academic programs and other specific offerings, into her academic timeline and developmental expectations. Specifically… she briefly described her path from middle school through high school and the foundation that she had tried to establish, including ECs & work roles geared toward the creative and performing arts, and then turned her focus to how Yale could potentially help her fulfill her final academic and career developmental goals in the areas of theatre studies and computer science as it relates to the entertainment industry. I am not sure how this would relate to how others approached the assignment, but that may be the point. Hers was well-written I believe and genuinely represented her reasons for applying to Yale. So hopefully that is what the admissions committee was aiming for…</p>
<p>I guess we shall see in just 9 more days.</p>
<p>I wrote about why I wanted an interdisciplinary engineering education and how Yale’s engineering education would fulfill that. I also wrote about the recent financial support Yale’s engineering department got and the research I wanted to pursue if accepted.</p>
<p>Not sure if it would hurt or help me to be an engineering candidate (and a female one). If what I’ve heard is right and Yale is looking to attract STEM students with STEM experience, then I may have a better shot. It’s probably not that big of a deal though…</p>
<p>I don’t know how anyone can say anything very substantive in 100 words or less.</p>
<p>SpoolMan: In all honesty, when I first think of Yale, STEM is not the program areas that jump to mind… versus at schools like MIT, Stanford or Princeton. So what stood out for you in terms of Yale? was there something at Yale specifically? or did you factor in that this may be a good time to apply there as someone looking to focus in areas they are trying to prioritize…?</p>
<p>I quoted yale’s physics department chair "for people with broad interests, you cannot beat Yale…[here] you don’t have to give up everything to pursue a science.” and elaborated about my dual interest in history and biology (tho im only applying as bio major). I also talked about west campus (research facilitis), and to take part in the vibrant student led culture at yale. i made the mistake of mentioning “renaissance man”, tho…cuz most ppl say its a bad idea to talk about that.</p>
<p>I wrote my “Why Yale” essay about how I liked the residential colleges and also the music video that’s why I chose Yale. I used these things to talk about how I enjoyed how different Yale was not so much about myself. I wrote about my academic plans in the 500 word supplement.</p>
<p>@WWWard I went on a road trip this summer to all the ivy leagues (minus cornell) without much knowledge on each school’s strength. Based on academic philosophy, focus on undergraduates, and campus life alone, I liked Yale the most. When I found out that Yale is not known to be the best for STEM students, I was a little sad. However I found a lot of articles in recent years about how Yale was looking to become a better school for STEM students. The engineering school got a $50 million commitment from an alumni to make it better in 2011. They are getting better facilities, professors, etc. to attract STEM students. While MIT, Stanford, and Princeton is more reputable, Yale’s commitment to improving the engineering school is admirable. Also, as I said above, I am looking for an interdisciplinary engineering education. Specifically, I am looking to study biomedical engineering and with that field comes lots of controversy. I feel that being educated in philosophy, economics, history etc. will only make me more conscious of the ethical and cultural implications of the topics I’m studying. Also, Yale’s student body won’t be completely populated by STEM kids <em>cough</em> MIT <em>cough</em> so I think that it’s better in that aspect as well.</p>
<p>SpoolMan: Well explained. If you told Yale basically the same thing, I am sure that they will view it favorably </p>
<p>And I like the “coughs”… lol. I can relate… having gone to Hopkins and not studying anything related to Biology or Medicine, etc. It gets very frustrating when people constantly ask medical oriented questions to me once they know that I went to JHU. So you make very good points, especially as it relates to somewhere like MIT, CalTech, etc.</p>
<p>@WWWard Haha well that was basically my Why Yale response. Hopefully they like it :)</p>
<p>I made my “Why Yale?” essay VERY specific. It was on a specific undergraduate organization that can only be found at maybe 4 colleges other than Yale. Do you think that being specific was a good idea for a why Yale essay? I mean, I didn’t discuss the university’s mission as a whole nor did I address any of the departments. I thought those types of discussions would be too common…</p>
<p>mine was about a program at Yale that I did which made me love Yale specifically</p>
<p>I just wrote mine on res colleges. 100 words was not a lot to say anything particularly interesting.</p>
<p>I agree, you can’t say much in 100 words. Since I was an engineering applicant, I had room in the additional engineering essay to write more. I don’t think the Why Yale will be as significant as other parts of the application.</p>