Yale concentrating on science/math majors?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Yale University
1

<p>I read in an earlier post that some applicants, who may have performed well on the AP exam for math (may have been science too, not sure), received emails from current students encouraging them to apply to Yale. I know that some colleges want more applicants in a certain area. For some schools, it may be the humanities. I am just wondering if those emails are indicative of anything. I know if it were just excellence in AP tests, kids who received 5 scores of 5 in US History, English, Euro History, Bio and Environ. Science, should have received a similar email. </p>

<p>I am just a parent wondering. Thanks</p>

2

<p>I was wondering how Yale obtains the ap scores. They're not sent out like PSAT/national merit scores. Any thoughts? My daughter got this email too, and it came to the email address she registered with the college board.</p>

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<p>I received it too. I believe the scores were sent from the collegeboard, or else Yale couldn't have known about my AP science scores. the email I received was promoting(?) Physics major -- which is the AP exam I took along with Chemistry, Calc BC and a whole bunch of nonscience-related AP exams. Physics is probably what Yale was targeting in its emails.</p>

<p>I dont think this actually means that yale is concentrating on science/math. they are letting students know that they are showing interest in those areas as much as they are strong in the literature/history/etc areas.</p>

4

<p>Did anyone get one of those Yale science emails and reply to them, and maybe get a reply back?
The email I got ended with "If you have any questions about any aspect of science at Yale, please do not hesitate to reply to this e-mail. I look forward to hearing from you!"</p>

5

<p>I replied with a few ?'s and I got a pretty nice reply about a week later.</p>

6

<p>does anyone know how many people got these emails?
my sister got one, was happy one minute because she thought she was special, then extremely disappointed the next because i told her they probably sent it to everyone.</p>

7

<p>Again, I posted this thread asking about the emails since my son, who rec'ed a 5 on 5 AP's (subjects didn't include physics or calculus) did not get an email. So, not everyone is getting these emails.</p>

8

<p>For those who are interested, this was the text of the email:</p>

<p>Hello, </p>

<p>My name is ----- and I’m a sophomore in Trumbull College at Yale University. I can only imagine that this is a very exciting time for you. You have just started the school year, and colleges from all over the place are sending you emails and lots of snail mail. I hope that by telling you about my unbelievable science experience on campus, I can convince you to consider Yale as an option for your future education. </p>

<p>Yale is one of the great science research powerhouses in the world. It is the only university in America to rank in the top ten in terms of the number of members in the National Academy of Sciences and the amount of funding received from the National Institutes of Health. Yale is ranked in the top three in the country in terms of the impact of its published research. Furthermore, Yale is committed to building on its strength through its initiative to devote $1 billion to the sciences over the next decade. </p>

<p>One of the best things about studying science at Yale is that undergraduates have immediate access to all of Yale’s resources. There is a focus on undergraduate science education to a degree highly unusual for science departments among the best universities. Students are in contact with the leading minds in science like Nobel Laureate Sidney Altman and Ramamurti Shankar, a leading researcher in quantum mechanics whose textbook is used across the country. Like all faculty, both professors teach undergraduate courses. Students also have access to some of the best equipment in the country. For example, prospective physics majors perform experiments in their first laboratory course using a I MeV Van de Graaf proton accelerator (see picture on right) which is reserved exclusively for undergraduate work.</p>

<p>Even better, almost all science majors get the opportunity to do research. Nearly 95% of science majors opt to work in one of the 800 labs on campus. Students take advantage of numerous fellowships that fund their work during the year and over the summer. At Yale, professors are willing to give undergraduates responsibility in designing, carrying out and interpreting experiments. Every year more than 70 undergraduates co-author papers that are published in journals such as Nature and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Students in Chemistry, Biology and Physics who are particularly interested in research and more advanced coursework are given the option to receive a combined bachelor and master’s degree of science at the end of their four years.</p>

<p>When I came to Yale, I had absolutely no research experience. However, I was fortunate enough to be admitted to Perspectives on Science. This program involves weekly presentations from faculty doing cutting edge research at Yale. It gives science students an opportunity to interact with noted professors who are working on everything from quantum computing to stem cells. The program also provides funds for a summer research experience in any lab. I chose to work in the Lavik Lab in the new Malone Engineering Center. I have been working there continuously since the second semester of my freshman year. During that time, I’ve been involved in a variety of projects from helping to design and administer a biopolymer implant to treat spinal cord injury to finding a way to differentiate neural stem cells. From the beginning, I was entrusted with as much responsibility as my colleagues in the lab. </p>

<p>Success in the sciences extends beyond Yale's walls. </p>

<p>-Yale science graduates have gone on to receive 47 national science foundation graduate fellowships in the last 4 years.</p>

<p>-More than 90% of the past Yale-Howard Hughes Medical Institute Fellowship winners have enrolled in the top 3 nationally ranked biology or chemistry MD or MD-PhD programs.</p>

<p>-Yale boasts a greater than 90% admission rate for first-time medical school applicants.</p>

<p>-More than 100 of our alumni from the mid 80's to early 90's are now faculty members at top universities.</p>

<p>Outside of the classroom and the lab, Yale science majors benefit from all the resources of being undergraduates at one of the nation’s premier liberal arts universities. Yale’s famed residential college system provides a support system that enables each student to achieve his/her goals, with science and math tutors available in every college. I’m currently taking organic chemistry, and having a chemistry tutor on duty for ten hours every week is like having my professor on-call in the basement. </p>

<p>A new undergraduate physics lounge was recently constructed at the top of Sloane Laboratory, where undergraduates can study, relax, and talk with their peers before and after class. Chairman’s Teas offer an opportunity for freshman to hear Yale faculty discuss their research in a more private setting. In addition, Yale has a wide variety of extracurricular activities that involve the sciences, including the Yale Scientific Magazine, the Yale Engineering Design Team, as well as several mentoring and tutoring programs. All of these resources together make Yale the ideal place to explore as a young scientist.</p>

<p>I would love to talk to you personally about any of your concerns when it comes to science at Yale or just college in general. If you have any questions on any aspect of science at Yale, please do not hesitate to reply to this e-mail. I look forward to hearing from you!</p>

<p>Sincerely,</p>

<hr>

<p>It actually had a lot of links too.</p>

9

<p>I received this email, and I got a 5 on my AP Biology exam and 790 on SAT Biology-M last year. I also got a letter from Bryn Mawr saying I was put on their mailing list because I had a high AP science score. So, I'm guessing that if you received a 5 on an AP science exam, you got this email from Yale.</p>

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<p>nope he didn't get it. He rec'ed a 5 on Bio (in addition to the other 4 history/english/science subjects) and with regard to the SAT II, a 790 in Bio E.</p>

11

<p>they must send that to a lot a people because the message that epistatis got was exactly the same as what my sister got, except the person who "wrote" hers was from a different college at Yale, not trumbull.</p>

12

<p>Getting the initial email doesn't count for much. You need to apply and then hope to get a "likely letter" that Yale sends to science students. I have not heard of non-science students getting these sought after "likely letters." </p>

<p>Edited to say that athletes get these letters also.</p>

13

<p>Cailg,</p>

<p>Same boat as you. Son got a 5 in AP Calc BC and a 5 in AP Bio -- but no email. Maybe his 740 math score scared them away!</p>

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<p>Same story, my son had 5s on his Physics and Calculus AP tests last year, and is a NM Semifinalist. I wasn't sure which list they sold to Yale, but I assumed it was one of the two.</p>

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<p>Caltech and Yale are the best two places in the world to study science as an undergraduate.</p>

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<p>hehe, I think I know who that sophomore is, we're actually meeting about recruitment....guess some of you will be getting e-mails from me soon :p Yale is definitely making an effort to go after math/sci kids, that was apparent in last year's admissions process. As AnotherMom said, pretty much every likely letter I know of went to top math/sci kids last year. Yale has traditionally not been known for science as much as certain of its peers (Harvard, Princeton, MIT, Caltech, even Stanford) have and I'm very glad to see that we're making an effort to change that. Um, but if they really want to change it, they better try moving Science Hill closer to main campus...I'll take that up with the admissions office :P</p>

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<p>So is this the wrong time for a humanities person to be applying early to Yale?</p>

18

<p>Dear God, I hope not...lol. Just because Yale is working a bit harder to attract science/math students (which itself is just speculation) is no reason for more than a handful of humanities students to be affected.</p>