this might sound incredibly annoying, but can someone help me with a question? i applied SCEA and i didn’t file any financial aid forms (css, fafsa) because my family’s income bracket would not be eligible for financial aid (ugh i hate saying that bc it sounds so snobby and annoying im so sorry). does the admissions office see this and will it hurt my chances of admission if i literally filed zero financial aid forms?
@belleandthebeast Don’t worry about this at all. I highly doubt not filling out a FAFSA or CSS would count against an applicant in any way if they do not require financial aid. Plus I believe admissions are need-blind so they don’t see if you filled out financial aid forms until after you’ve been accepted anyway.
The admissions office has no idea if you filed for financial aid or not so it would have zero impact on your application.
@Tperry1982 She did not provide a number and my daughter still hasn’t heard anything. We will patiently wait. Thanks for the reassurance
Applied SCEA! 1 more month until decisions come out…
I am one of three students from my school who applied to Yale EA (all of us are strong candidates). The other two were contacted for interviews last week or earlier. I am still waiting to be contacted. Is this normal? Should I consider emailing the ACS and/or admissions office or is that a big no-no? I know that not having an interview won’t hurt you, but I feel like I’d do a really good job and it could boost my application.
I don’t know the specifics of your region, but according to the Yale website: “In some regions, the number of applicants exceeds the number of interviews available. Interviews will be offered on a space-available basis to as many applicants as possible, but applicants may not request an alumni interview.”
And when we went to a recent info session, the host reiterated that not every applicant will be granted an interview - and that the process was randomized selection, but I will defer to any alumni interviewers that are also in this thread to post a more informed reply.
@16elir I feel you. I’m one of 8 in my school, and seven have interviews, including a LL-bearing athlete. In my ASC region, outside of my school, I’m friends with 6 other Yale applicants (I guess I just choose my friends well 
), and all 6 have gotten the request but me. My mother happens to work with a Yale alumnus who interviews (not where I live, though), and he says that while it may be possible that we’ll be contacted in the next week, it’s likely at this point that we, sadly, just got stuck on the bottom of the pile, and the busy alumni may not reach us by the Dec. 1st deadline 
(for my further ramblings on this topic, see my last 5000000000 posts, as it seems to be all I can talk about )
I have a friend who’s a Yale alumni interviewer, and he told me in twenty years of doing it, not one of his interviewees has been admitted. So getting one might truly not be an omen of anything.
I was just asked to take on more interviews b/c others can’t do them. I imagine that not a single one of those students has been contacted. It’s logistics, folks. It happens.
Latichever that must be pretty depressing for your friend. I wonder if that is in any way unusual. It’s just that over a solid 20 years? no one?
Exactly one more month left until early notification on 12/15… i’m so nervousss
@letmethink we’ll survive! ^.^
Hey guys, I have my interview tomorrow and I have some questions- for those with experiences.
- How do I dress (female)- formal formal or formal casual or just casual.. (now of course why would someone wear a tee and jeans to an interview, but do I go to the point where I wear a full suit?)
- Other than "why yale" what else do the interviewers ask? Is it like Cambridge's, where they will ask you to graph sin(2x/4)?
- Should I take a resume? I thought I read that you should not take a portfolio or resume, but I cannot seem to find that site on yales website-- So I might be mistaken.
- How formal are the discussions?
- Any other tips?
wish me luck… #:-S
- If the interview is at a coffee shop or equivalent, I'd dress business casual. There's a write up in iirc the resources thread on how to dress. ETA: found it and put the link at the bottom of post.
- You will not be asked to graph anything. I'm not sure you'll be asked "why Yale," but it's probably something you want to address. 3.Unless you've been asked to bring a resume, I wouldn't.
- The discussions are generally informal and friendly.
- Relax. Be yourself. Be charming. Be nice. Be engaged. Remember that the interview, while evaluative, is also intended to inform you and serves an ambassadorship function.
There are a number of interviewers who frequent this site. They might drop by and leave their much more informed comments, but absent that, I don’t think I’ve completely mis-characterized the typical Yale alumni interview.
Good luck; enjoy it.
ETA: The following includes advice about, among other things, dressing for an interview: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/yale-university/804985-alumni-campus-interview-faq.html
@ Xboxgamergirl. - I agree with the points IxnayBob posted above. And just to give you an idea on my daughter’s experience with the interview, hers fell on Halloween, so she was worried she was not going to be able to change out of her costume (her school puts on a huge lunch period Halloween trick or treating event for elementary school children who live in near by high crime areas who don’t get to go out trick or treating because their neighborhoods aren’t “safe”), so, my kid & the rest of ASB Leadership dressed up as Disney characters, she dressed up as Princess Tiana (from Princess & the Frog), long story short, since her interview was right after school (at a coffee shop), she did not get a chance to change out of her princess costume and it was just fine! The alumna ABSOLUTELY loved it and it served as a great ice-breaker! LOL She told me it gave them something lighthearted to talk about while they transitioned to more important topics. My kid sent her electronic copies of her application essays ahead of time as she felt it would give the alumna an idea of who she is prior to the meeting (this was not required), but my kid thought it was helpful. My kid thought the interview was informal and did not feel like “a test”, if anything, my kid felt it was more like a “meet & greet” and the alumna gave her tons of advice and answered questions about her experience at Yale very candidly. My kid left the interview (which lasted about an hour) in great spirits and feeling like she had made a new friend!
Hope this helps to put you at ease. Just be yourself, smile and take this opportunity to ask lots of questions from someone who ‘has been there & done that’. You will be just fine!
@SoftballFan , ur “kid” sounds wonderful! I was more interested in your daughters story than the interview tips!! Thank you for the advise, it was very helpful. I dont really stress over interviews, as I am a public speaker. But my interview is held at an office building so I wanted to make sure I’m getting everything right (I would dress up in my Halloween costume but my interview is at a very formal location and my costume was the grudge, so its not very friendly ).
I hope your daughter gets admitted! She sounds fantastic! Best of luck!
@IxnayBob , thank you for the tips! You have answered my questions to the fullest! I feel much prepared now!
IxnayBob’s post describes my son’s interview experience exactly. I would also suggest asking your interviewer some questions not just about Yale, but about their own Yale experience. Anyone willing to do alumni interviews clearly likes to talk about his or her alma mater and likely has some good stories to share.