Insider Look at Yale University

Webinar Transcription

2021-09-07 Insider Look at Yale University

[00:00:00] Hi, everyone. Welcome to CollegeAdvisor’s webinar on an insight, or look into Yale university. To orient everyone with the webinar timing, we’ll start off with a presentation. Then answer your questions in a live Q and a on the sidebar. You can download our slides and you can start submitting your questions in the Q and a tab.

Now let’s meet our panelists.

Uh, hi everyone. I’m Marisa. I graduated from Yale in May. Um, I studied Yale’s like version of biology and science history. It was really nice. Blended stem and humanities. I really liked, um, it was pre-med all throughout Yale. Um, did a lot of journalism stuff. So, um, very true in the yellow sphere, it kind of dipped my toes into everything and, uh, it’s kind of neat.

Yeah. Um, so also congrats on her son graduating this year. Um, my name is Roger. Um, I graduated from Yale in 2018, um, with the major in political science and a concentration urban studies. So I dabbled a little bit, um, in political science, a little bit architecture, [00:01:00] American studies, um, in between the humanities and social sciences and, uh, on campus.

I was primarily involved with student government and, um, um, sustainable agriculture, but we’ll get into that later. Um, yeah.

Did y’all want to control the sides or, oh yeah, for sure. Alright, so I’m about Yale. Uh, so yell is in new Haven, which is a lovely, like small city, um, in Connecticut. Um, it is a private school as are all Ivy league schools, except Cornell, I guess. Um, it’s fairly large. Um, and, uh, the undergrads to be population is actually growing.

Yellow has made efforts to expand its undergrad class. Um, our graduate student population is also pretty large. Um, and like I said, new Haven, isn’t a city. Um, it’s not as urban as obviously like New York city, but, um, it is a pretty urban area. Campus size is pretty big. Um, and the student to faculty [00:02:00] ratio is pretty small, which is sort of a hallmark of Yale is the seminar is and having a lot of one-on-one time with your professors.

And so kind of some fun things about Yale I’m. So Yale of course, has had numerous notable alumni. Here are just a few, um, uh, interesting examples. Jodie foster I’m Angela Bassett Anderson Cooper. Um, so fun facts. I, so for over 130 years, yellow has had a live mascot known as handsome, Dan, his caretakers often walking around campus and super cute.

You can take photos with him. I’m super lovable. I have like this awesome photo of I’m the previous handsome Dan like jumping up on me and like trying to like me and it’s adorable. Um, so that’s kind of a fun thing about Yale. Um, and it’s the oldest I college newspaper. I in, I existence, I still running, um, even with COVID I, I spent a lot of my time, um, at the campus paper, the Yale daily news.

And, um, if there are any, you know, budding [00:03:00] journalists in the, um, on the call tonight, I’d be happy to take questions on that as well. Um, And yeah, so undergraduate academic divisions in Yale college, um, I ranges from everything from the humanities to engineering, biological sciences, the things you see here.

Um, I think the really great thing about Yale is just how much, um, academic support there is, and really anything you could want to pursue. Um, Yale also has sort of, uh, like a pre-professional advising office, I, that advises students who were interested in going into, um, to, to med school or other health professions, I law school, business school, even going into sort of like the tech world, like all of that support is there, um, at Yale.

And I think one of the hallmarks of it is, um, you can truly pursue what you want and like, whatever niche you can see yourself, I learning about, um, there’s a place for it at Yale I, so, oh yeah, [00:04:00] go for it. Okay. Sure. Um, so, uh, You know, uh, as Mackenzie mentioned in the chat, Yale university is a school as a whole and Yale college is, um, where you go for undergrad.

Um, but you know, if we’re talking about the university as a whole, there are several, uh, graduate programs. And so some of those include the graduate school of arts and sciences, architecture, art Dominis school drama. We have several famous actors who come out of the school of drama. Um, actually, well, several famous people coming out of all of these fields now that they think about it.

Um, and what’s really nice is that towards, especially towards your latter years at Yale junior and senior year, you can dabble a little bit in some of these graduate schools and take graduate level seminars or lectures. Um, for me, I definitely did that in the school of architecture, for example, and, um, you know, having worked in sustainable agriculture while at Yale, I have, uh, many friends who also did things at the, at the, at the ass, um, which is the school of the environment, um, relabeled now these days, um, [00:05:00] And then they’re there more.

So of course the law school, um, som the school of management, medicine, music, nursing, and public health. Um, and what’s really great is that all of these schools have, um, as I mentioned, you know, you can take classes in them, but this also, if you’re interested in medicine, for example, um, there are a lot of like campus jobs, uh, in connection with like, uh, Yale new Haven, um, which is a big hospital in new Haven.

Um, for example, I personally worked, um, part-time, uh, doing clinical research, um, data entry for, um, one of the offices in the school of medicine, uh, being the Yale Alzheimer’s disease research unit. So I would help suit, um, I would help researchers, uh, bring people into their MRI pet scans and, um, help out with the data entry on cognitive assessments.

Um, Popular majors at Yale include [00:06:00] economics history, political science, MCB, molecular, and cellular biology and architecture. Um, so these are all, some of the, some of these going to be kind of interesting. The architecture program, for example, um, has a, is you can really only start architecture as a sophomore.

Um, at least that’s last item of it. Um, and then it’s, it’s a small cohort. That’s very intensive, uh, political science, um, ranges in terms of the number of divisions that exist within the department, the same with history and economics. Um, and again, the nice thing is, is that a lot of these, um, majors and departments are, um, you know, interdisciplinary.

So for me, I was able to take a lot of classes in the history and economics department as well to supplement my political. And then speaking of athletics, uh, Yale is in the NCAA division one, um, with 27 national team championships. And with over 30 plus Farsi teams, [00:07:00] um, one of my friends from undergrad was actually handsome Dan, like the mascot, uh, at the football games.

So that was, I was really fun

with extracurriculars. Uh, Yale has over a thousand plus student organizations. Um, a lot, there are very prominent ones, including like, um, Gale international relations association year up, um, or the debate team, uh, um, YPQ Yale political union. And these are all the extracurriculars that, um, offer like have, have huge, uh, numbers of people in their organs.

And that also extends into the social life as well. So a lot of these, um, extracurriculars will allow you to develop some skills outside of the academics, but also provide a community outside of, um, outside of your classes as well. So the hallmark of a Yale education, I think it [00:08:00] comes down to the residential college system.

Uh, the admissions office says 10 suspicious a lot, but, um, basically there are there words, 12 residential colleges now, 14, uh, with the addition of two additional, uh, residential colleges. And, um, basically you are sort of selected into each of these colleges in the same sense that like Hogwarts sort of exists, like except there’s no sorting hat.

Um, for those who understand the Harry potters reference. Um, and basically you live with these people for four years. Um, I’m actually still very close with a lot of the. That, um, I, I, I used to live in, um, so for me, my college was Davenport and all of these colleges have their own dormitory, dining halls, libraries, social events.

So it’s, it’s basically like your own small little building community at Yale. So you never like really, truly feel alone if you [00:09:00] choose to opt into your residential college socially, um, school of mentions traditions, the game that’s coming up in November. Um, it’s the Monday before thinks, wait, no, it’s the weekend before Thanksgiving.

Um, and that is really just like the one time Yale and Harvard get to pretend that they’re a state schools and they, uh, have a, uh, massive football game. And so that’s a lot of fun. Uh, the formal holiday banquet for freshmen, that’s a tradition that’s been ongoing for however long. And basically everyone just goes into, well, actually, I don’t know how it’s structured these days.

So that may be a question for, uh, herself and the founder’s day, which is in October, I believe. Um, and basically they just have, like, I dunno, like a small party on, uh, across campus, which is in front of the library that you’ve seen here pictured. Um, and they have like [00:10:00] donuts and stuff. It’s, it’s cute. Very fall themed say, yeah.

Should I, okay. Sorry. Um, Marissa, did you have anything you wanted to add real quick about the traditions or anything?

You’re on. Thank you. Um, you think a year and a half from the pandemic, wouldn’t be a thing. Um, okay. Yeah. So about the holiday banquet. Um, so it is kind of morphed into, um, you know, several different conditions or beers that used to hold it in this like, very like Hogwarts as call, um, called commons, uh, that was closed for construction for like four years.

Um, but now it is back open as the Schwarzman center. That’s where I assume they would probably hold this, but it’s just like this extremely elaborate banquet where like they parade full foods and like, uh, and like this like extravagant [00:11:00] parade. Um, and you like genuinely feel like you are in Hogwarts. Um, and yeah.

Okay. So we’re going to do our first poll. So are you planning on applying to yell? Yes. No, maybe not sure. I would leave Cornell just to see handsome Dan that’s the only reason I would go to.

But the campus was pretty cool.

Yeah, no, again, all of that is, you know, Gothic architecture. It’s very pretty, um, handsome. Dan is also very cute and I think he’s also new. I think we’re on a new Hamsun Dan, now we are. Yeah. So he’s a, he’s a cute little puppy. You can follow him on Twitter or Instagram and saw the photo, like his whole photo shoot.

[00:12:00] Okay. So I think, um, we got our results, so it looks like 62 students are saying yes, uh, zero are saying, no, that’s pretty good. Or else you wouldn’t need to be here. 26 are saying maybe an 11 or not. Sure. So let’s see if we can convince them. Awesome. All right. So why I chose. Yeah, well, obviously it’s a very challenging school.

Um, personally, that was like very jarring for me going from high school to Yale. Um, the curriculum obviously is very rigorous. Uh, the students you are in class with are, you know, some of the best, um, and that does add a lot of rigor to the curriculum and, um, your classes. Um, but one thing I, I really got from, you know, by yellow education was, again, like I said earlier, this really great ma um, a mix of stem and humanities.

Um, and I didn’t know, I would be as interested in history or journalism when I first stepped foot on [00:13:00] campus. But I think Yale has a really particular way to show you why that sort of, um, education is important, especially if you were going into stem. Um, and I would say that, you know, I, you know, I’m hoping to go to med school and become a doctor.

And I don’t think I would be comfortable being a physician without this sort of grounding in humanities that y’all gave me. So it’s kind of why I chose yell.

Um, and for me, sort of in the same, um, you know, like as Marissa, I really chose Yale just because, well, actually I should say I just stepped back a little bit. Um, I actually was very unsure about my major. I think officially applied as a psychology major just because, um, Yale has a stunning lake psychology department.

It’s where emotional intelligence, which is like a recent theory, honestly, in the nineties came about. Um, our president is a president. Salivate [00:14:00] is, was a former psychology professor. And so I thought it’d be a great fit considering my interest. But, you know, as I mentioned before, I actually, uh, turned out to be a political science major.

Um, so it really gave me the opportunity to explore all of these interests. And that’s again, sort of worrying. Um, and then even, even there, I was still dabbling a little bit when political science history architecture to really fully develop my concentration in urban studies. Um, and so for that, I guess I’m grateful, um, honestly, the distributional requirements, um, you all essentially like forces you in order to graduate, to take classes in different divisions.

So it was the sciences, social sciences, humanities, um, and then you also need, uh, skills. Uh, so those include writing quantitative and, um, one more, sorry, I’m a few years out. Um, but basically Gail does and sort of [00:15:00] push you towards exploring different academic fields, but also it’s great because, um, like I mentioned, the residential colleges, um, forced you to sort of interact with people who you normally maybe wouldn’t get the chance to just because you’re only really.

With a hundred people. Um, you’re, you’re forced essentially to meet a hundred people in the, in the first few days of college because of the residential college system. Um, and some of these people will become your best friends. Um, and so that way you are also exposed to a diverse, uh, amount of people as well.

So,

okay. So we’re going to do another quick poll. So where are you in the college application process knowing this will really help with the next couple of questions? Cause I already saw some stuff about, um, whether the stats what’s the acceptance rate. How do you get in all the stressful questions?[00:16:00]

So what are y’all doing now since I’ve graduated? That’s a good question. Uh, so for me, I’m a few years out right now. I work in a law firm. Um, in New York and I, uh, work as a business development assistant in Latin America. So my main job is creating Dexstar points to, um, pitch to clients, uh, potential clients in hopes that they’ll come to the firm for whatever their legal needs may be.

Okay. We’re going to ask more about that later of Arista. Yeah, I, um, so I graduated in may. I’m still doing evening, actually. I, um, am doing research with a lab at the med school and, um, it’s a clinical research lab, which is really cool. So we have a lot of, um, like patient interaction and exposure, um, and, uh, preparing my med school application, which is also very, very stressful in ways other than, you know, being in like the daily grind of this semester.

I’m sending for the MCAT, which is also not a fun time, but [00:17:00] gotta do it. Yeah. Okay. Well, I’ll be all are very professional. Um, I’m terrified of those days I got, oh, okay. So it’s looking like 23 students haven’t started 63 or researching school. So this is a good place to be 35 are working on their essays.

So I guess find some things to add to those supplements. 20 are, um, getting their application materials together and three are surprisingly, almost done. Awesome. Okay. I can take this slide. Um, so yellow has a few ways to sort of, uh, apply. Um, so the first is the single choice early action. Um, this is the, the form of really action that restricts you from applying to other private schools.

I believe yells sort of caveats to this are you can still apply to. Um, public schools and schools that are rolling admission [00:18:00] during this early action period. Um, and then the regular decision deadline, which is, um, January 2nd, the difference between those two things is that, um, in the early action round, you just get, um, your, your client earlier, you get your decision earlier.

Um, and there typically is a little bit of a bump in the acceptance rate. So that’s why a lot of students apply early action, um, to a top school in particular. Um, and then the regular decision deadline is just, you know, the, when most, um, students apply. Um, and that’s a little bit later to give you more time to prep applications.

Um, and so if you get deferred, I in the early action round, what that means is that your application is reviewed in the regular decision. So you’re also your applications reviewed twice. Um, so Yale, the supplement has three essays and four shortcakes, uh, if you’re applying through the common app or the coalition app, um, and they range, I believe on things that are.

Um, I like academic pursuits. I like why Yale? Um, I, you [00:19:00] know, things like that, uh, very common eye problems. I yell, of course, it’s very selective four point, um, 60% acceptance rate. Um, and then regular just, you’ll see sort of the difference in acceptance rates between regular decision and early action, which is, you know, again, why people apply early.

I can take this one. So, um, average stats of admitted students. So with the GPA, um, you know, this is a very competitive pool of students who are facing. So unweighted, we’d say that the average GPAC that’s applying is 3.9. So very, very high. Um, most of your grades muscle are A’s probably, um, average sat act score is 33 to 35.

So somewhere in between. So these are the students in between the 25th and 75 percentile, uh, meaning that this is like around like the median range. Um, and then average as a team 1468 to [00:20:00] 1570 twenty-five percentile being four to sixties and presents out 1570. So, um, those should really there’s stops should help, like guide to see whether, um, you know, we’re where you really fit in into the applicant pool.

But again, it’s important to stress that grades and test scores. Aren’t the, you know, aren’t the, all the, there is your application there. So your essays are still yourself, mental assets, your teacher recommended. Uh, there’s so much more that goes into an application besides just your GPA and your test scores.

Um, so for need based financial aid that is available at Yale, um, in addition to your application, if you’re also applying for financial aid, you will need to, uh, fill out these few documents. Um, so the institution, documentation service, I doc, uh, that’s provided by the college board. And it’s basically just a way for you to, um, submit all of your documents and then the CSS profile from the [00:21:00] college board, um, is this supplementary form from specifically specific to Yale?

Well, each school has their own specific CSS profile, but basically, um, that’s a way for you to again, fill in the specific questions that you all may be asking about your financial background. Um, and then there’s the FAFSA so free application for federal student aid. If you’re, this is, uh, exclusive to us.

But this will, um, is an application to the federal government, um, asking them to provide you with so many.

Okay. Yeah. And the CSS profile is pretty much the longer version of FAFSA. That is way more in depth and way more tedious. Um, I’m pretty sure we’ll have a. A webinar more in depth on financial aid. But, um, yes. So that is the end of the presentation part of the webinar. I hope you found this information helpful and remember that you can download the slides from the link in the handouts tab, moving on to the live [00:22:00] Q and a I’ll read through your questions you submitted in the Q and a tab, and then read them aloud before our panelists gives you an answer as a heads up, if your Q and a tab, isn’t letting you submit questions, just double check that you joined the webinar through the custom link in your email and not from the webinar landing page.

If you joined from like the website, um, you won’t get all the features of big marker. Um, so yeah, so let’s get started and if y’all see any questions that you want it to like type in answer, you can do that. Or if you, um, we’ll type it in the public chat so everyone can see it. Um, or if you see any, when I’m struggling to find a question, uh, please just feel free to answer it.

Um, okay. So, um, Could you explain the difference between undergraduate and graduate please? Yeah. So undergrad, um, that’s like your four years in college. So that’s when you are working towards your bachelor in science or bachelor of arts, um, graduate is what, [00:23:00] four years that could be pursuing a master’s degree, a PhD, um, professional school degrees are like MD, MBA, um, uh, JD like law school.

Um, so that’s like kind of the difference. Yeah. Yeah. If, if you’re in this webinar, you’re probably applying to Yale college. Um, and then in order to apply to the graduate schools, you will have to have gone to an undergraduate institution first. Um, for the most part back piggy-backing you don’t try to say off of that question.

What is the divinity school? That’s a good question. Um, I can answer this because in one of the summers that I lived in new Haven, just working in an internship, I had to live in off-campus housing because the residential colleges shut down during the summer and the house where I ended up living in was full of students who live, worked at the dominion who studied at the DaVinci school.

So it’s basically [00:24:00] just, um, a graduate school program where graduate school, where you can pursue just faith-based studies. Um, a lot of people, um, go there to, you know, become a, whatever, just like a religious, uh, figure, uh, in their communities or pursue just like PhDs in faith-based studies. I actually, one of my favorite classes, I took one of my more challenging classes I took was intro to religious philosophy.

Um, my freshman year, um, I should have credit deep that, um, but, uh, you know, it just, uh, a way for you to. Um, study faith, I guess, and what religion means in human society. Okay. So a bit more in depth question, how would you describe campus unity and the campus culture, school, spirit at Yale? What have been your favorite memories from your undergrad experience?

Yeah, it’s a, it’s an, a big and very interesting question. Um, [00:25:00] and I think, like Roger said, a lot of the campus community is dominated by the residential college system. Um, it truly does feel like your family, um, for each college there’s a head of college and a Dean. Um, and they truly feel like your parents at Yale, uh, look, but like in the best way though, um, it’s just, it’s such a wonderful community to have.

Um, and the college itself, um, like Roger said, like there are libraries, there’s a common room where you just like, hang out, um, a buttery, which is like a late night snack, um, sort of place that student run game rooms. And it really just becomes sort of like, um, a focal spot for hanging out with friends and getting to know people like in your college community.

Um, so that is a big part of, uh, the campus culture itself. Um, but Roger, um, about, you know, your thoughts. Yeah. Yeah, no, I agree. Um, and there also, um, you know, like I mentioned, some of these extracurriculars have [00:26:00] like big communities as well, so those supplement the residential college life as well. Um, so, you know, going into, uh, the other half of the question about like, what is one of your favorite memories for me?

I hosted a radio show, uh, my junior year, no, sorry. My senior fall, um, called soft, not squishy. And we just played R and B. Um, and just had like a little like talk show me and my cohost, who was also in my residential college, um, at like 9:00 PM on Saturdays. And it was just a great way to just, um, de stress after like, uh, the intense, uh, week that we had before.

So that sounds really nice. Okay. So this person’s asking about financial aid. I just want to preface this by saying most, um, Tufts school is IVs. A lot of schools with big endowments. Um, most of the money you’ll get is based on your need and will be needs based financial aid. So it isn’t necessarily a scholarship or based on your merits [00:27:00] or scores or anything, your scores pretty much get you into these schools and, um, but your need or your family’s income and your income determine what financial aid you get.

But going off of that, the student’s asking, is there a way to get a full ride? Right? So Yale does not offer merit scholarships. I’m the way to cut down the cost of attending yell through yell itself is financial aid. Um, but with that said like Yale offers some of the most generous financial aid packages in the country.

Um, you know, it’s really hard to get in, but once you get in, um, like the financial aid is fantastic. Um, for me and my family, I, um, I come from, I’m a first-generation college student. I come from a low-income family and for me and my family, Like 5,000 a year to go to Yale. Um, and so it’s very, very generous, um, aid, um, yeah, same, you know, this is a, I’m sort of on the same page with, uh, Marissa here.

Um, I got a similar [00:28:00] size package, uh, just based on again, uh, like Mackenzie said, your application gets you in, and then it’s basically just a discussion that you have with the financial aid office to sort of negotiate what your package will end up looking like. And again, if you apply early, um, uh, it’s non-binding so you have some leeway in negotiating your financial aid package, uh, if that’s stress stressing you out as well.

Um, and yeah, there’s, there’s ways to negotiate and communicate with the financial. Okay. So I think we’ll go into some admissions questions. A lot of students are trying to figure out like kind of how to game the system. They’re not really they’re asking like, um, what did, what was y’all’s on student profiles?

Like when y’all were in high school that you think helped you got you and see you and then like, um, what you did to stand out. Um, what does the ideal yellow student look like? If there is one?

[00:29:00] Yeah, I think truly what Yelp looks for are just like, people were interesting. Um, I think so many people that I know, like in my class, or just like at Yale in general, um, they’re just like incredibly interesting people. Um, and sort of like, what that means is that they, you know, took it upon themselves to explore extracurriculars in high school and find out, you know, what, they were really passionate.

Um, and even like one hobbies too, like, I dunno, like beat boxing or something like that. I’m all those things kind of help, you know, not only your personal growth, but your application as well. Um, and in terms of what sort of the admissions committee again is looking for from your application is, um, they like cohesiveness and they like it when, like, if you are able to present yourself, like present sort of like the shtick of your application in like a sentence or two, um, that’s going to help make your application more high-impact because it allows you missions committee to [00:30:00] see, um, you know, this is who this person is, and this is the role this person will have on our campus.

Um, so I think those are sort of good things to keep in mind. When you think about your application to you. Yeah. Um, and to give you, I don’t know if you need like a baseline of the way my college application looked or what has was on my resume at that time is. I had intern at a think tank, my rising senior fall.

Um, just like really, it was, it was a really weird internship. Um, and then I reentered with them again, like my senior spring, actually that wasn’t going to go into my application. Um, I was the president of my affinity group for students of color at my school, um, and had a pretty solid GPA. I think I was actually more of an AC minus kid.

Um, but that’s also because my high school was, uh, pretty rigorous. Um, in terms of the number of APS that I was taking, [00:31:00] um, it was pretty high up there. And again, like I said, I studied, um, I went into school thinking I was gonna be like a psychology major. So I had taken like AP chem, AP bio, um, to sort of just, uh, thrust my, uh, you know, add some cohesiveness into my.

Uh, and into like what I expected to do at Yale and what I, um, when I was studying in college. So with that, I also like did an internship, um, not internship, but I took like a, a high school class, uh, thing at Weil Cornell medical school in New York. Um, so yeah, again, cohesiveness is a plus. If you can go for it, we love Cornell over here.

We’re going to do a quick ed one to work one-on-one with an advisor from our team of over 155 advisors and admissions officers sign up for a free consultation with us by going to CollegeAdvisor.com and clicking the green chat button in the bottom, right of the screen from there, just read in consultation and live team member.

We’ll get back to [00:32:00] you to help coordinate your free consultation with us now, back to the Q and a. Okay. So, um, if you see any questions, let me know. Uh, they’re different students asking about pre-med and pre-loss. So if y’all wanted to talk more about, um, Yasmeen and progress. Yeah. Um, so being pre-med at Yale, um, so being pre-med in general, um, it’s not a specific track or like program you apply to, um, being pre-med just means you are taking the requisite courses to, um, attend medical school.

So these are things like, um, a year of intro bio, a year of gen chem, a year of orgo, biochemistry, math, like things like that. Um, so you’re just taking the courses, um, AI, and like I mentioned earlier, y’all does have, um, specific advising targeted towards pre-meds, um, who will give you advice all throughout your four years of how to apply what courses to select, um, [00:33:00] and how to essentially prepare your application for med school.

Um, and I will say that being, um, at a place like Yale, especially with having the medical school so close to campus, um, it really does help you, um, Connected with research opportunities, a Yale new Haven hospital, which is our med school’s teaching hospital is right next door. And that also offers, um, like clinical experience in shadowing and volunteering, different things like that.

And in new Haven itself, there’s so many opportunities to volunteer, um, and to work with patients. So I am, it really is a great place to be pre-med. Um, and to also, again, like I’ve said, I get a really solid basis in the humanities, which is becoming more and more important, um, to be, um, a solid physician.

Yeah. I mean, even for me who wasn’t a stem major, I mean, I went in there thinking I was going to stem. Like I, I ended up working at the Yale new Haven hospital, [00:34:00] so it’s, it’s a great place to do that. Um, but again, speaking to the pre-launch track again, Yale doesn’t have a strict pre-launch track. Um, the way I, again, I guess, lost.

With law school in general, there isn’t necessarily like one major you need to follow. It’s not political science, not history, it’s not economics. It can be really whatever. Um, the, for example, one of the attorneys who works at my corporate law firm, um, she majored in biomedical something, and now she’s a huge like IP lawyer, um, internet intellectual property.

Um, so again, law schools aren’t necessarily looking for majors more, more so than anything they’re looking for. Again, the way that I cohesive application, like what are you looking to achieve with a law degree? Um, so if you’re thinking about, um, you know, how does Yale fit into, uh, pre-law or like. [00:35:00] Um, it’s really again what you make of it and how you end up doing, um, you know, what extra completes you end up choosing.

So, um, one of the resources that we have at Yale is it’s white hall center. And through there, uh, you know, there, they have a lot of volunteering extracurriculars. Um, and one of them for example, is I think like there, there are just several there’s several that definitely just, um, tight into a potential like law school applications.

Um, and, uh, yeah, I mean, they’re interesting classes as well, con con law constitutional law is a really popular class among undergraduates. You carry around like this big book around campus and everyone knows you take con law. Um, and. Okay. So a lot of students are, I’m curious about these supplements and just like getting into the school.

So can y’all talk about, a little bit more about your own, uh, application process, and then also like [00:36:00] how you picked your major and then if you transferred or switched or doubled, there were a lot of questions. Yeah. So about majors. Um, I think everyone kind of comes into college with like a sense for what they want to do, teach some classes and then they figure out like what their niche is and what they really want to do.

Um, I never thought that would be me in high school. Everyone’s told me, oh, you’ll change your mind. Change your mind. I was like, no, I will. And then I did. I came into Yelp, fully stemmed from the pre-med. Um, and you know, as like of saying, like I pulled in some humanities into that, um, I dropped the bed for a bit.

I didn’t think about it suppose for me. And then you’re on picked it, pick it right back up again. Um, and about the supplement essays, um, I think the best thing you can do is be as specific as possible for why you want to attend Yale or, you know, answering any of the prompts, which, you know, seems pretty [00:37:00] intuitive, but you, any chance you can to avoid generalizations, um, and make it as yell specific as possible is going to do, um, a good service.

Uh, and your goal is that you should never be able to copy and paste like a yell specific essay. Um, if you can, then it’s not specific enough, completely agree. And then with the one-liners they’re a little bit more personality. Um, so honestly, my advice for those is to really try not to look online for what other people have submitted, just because that’ll probably bias you and you don’t, you want to be unique with these answers, because again, every, you have a specific personality, you have your own personality, so you should really be trying to do some introspection.

Uh, you know, it’s a little challenging, but, um, you know, it should really be coming from you and only you, uh, because Yale, I guess really also like tries to bring in again, uh, not just diverse interests, but also like diverse personalities. So, [00:38:00] um, if that’s, that’s a one advice I can offer about, uh, the short, uh, language.

Um, when it comes to choosing changing majors and all that stuff. Oh my God. Um, so I went through like a crisis of identity crisis my sophomore year, I think, where I really just had no clue what I was going to do. Um, I had like already like taken orgo my freshman year. Um, and it was just like, oh, I could be a doctor.

I don’t know. Um, but then I started taking like political science classes, political philosophy, uh, really just like went all over the place. Um, and then really got changed. Uh, one of the classes that changed my life or yeah, actually my life, um, was this class called, uh, planning, Chicago. And it just talked about like the urban studies, urban planning theory of behind Chicago.

And then I just like went down a rabbit hole of these types of classes. The next one was history of housing in America. And then I became very interested in like housing policy and the United States. Um, so yeah, I guess [00:39:00] it’s very much just like a pick your own adventure sort of place, uh, which was really nice.

Oh, and when it comes to, um, doubling up your major, I honestly encourage people not to do it just because like, I think part of the fun thing about Yale is like, you know, you, you dedicate a certain amount of credits to your major and then like really there’s so many classes out there that you could just take for fun.

Like one of my favorite classes that I never forgot to take is like writing about food where you just basically learn how to become like a food critic. Um, if that’s something you ever wanted to do. Um, so double majoring is possible, but again, that just means that you have to like fit the requirements for two majors within the 36, like within the, uh, estimated 36 credits that you’ll 36 credits or 36 classes that you’ll take at Yale.

So it becomes a little tougher to have more fun with your academic experience. Okay. So, um, [00:40:00] Uh, so, uh, do y’all know anything about, um, what transfer students should do or what international students should do when applying for you

transfer? Um, students? I, um, I honestly have an, um, I didn’t know any students who transferred into NCL. I can’t speak to it. Um, for international applicants. Um, I, I don’t believe the process differs too much. I mean, you still apply through the common app. Um, you might have to take a TOEFL exam, which is, uh, like an English, like proficiency proficiency exam.

Um, there are some caveats where you wouldn’t have to take it. So I, I would just say sort of follow yells, um, specific policies you see on the website and if you’re unclear, email admissions. Yeah. Emailing admissions, I think is a great way. Yeah. Because you’d much rather, um, get an answer from admissions about what you’re actually supposed to do, then sort [00:41:00] of do the guessing, work yourself and then submit like maybe an incomplete application or an application that could have been better.

Had you received a direct answer from the admissions office. Okay. Okay. Um, so a lot of students are asking about like, um, what sort of extracurriculars do they offer were y’all involved? Is it hard to balance? And then also, is it hard to balance like, um, doing pre-med or pre-law and, um, being a student athlete?

Yeah. So there are truly so many activities to do at Yale. And if there isn’t, if there miraculously, like isn’t a club that like suits your interests, like the, the bar to starting your own club is very. Um, so if you like, can see yourself doing something like I can almost guarantee there, there is, there’s a group at, y’all probably already doing it, um, which is really great.

And it allows you to find more community. Um, and like Roger has said, like, there are extracurriculars where, um, there are significant communities built up [00:42:00] around it. I’m like the Yale daily news. For example, I spent so many hours there probably three hours, um, writing, editing, reporting, and it was just, it was such an incredible time.

Like I reported on the med school, in the hospital, it was basically just given like free reign to like do my thing and just like learn new things every day, which was a huge privilege. Um, so it’s a lot of fun. Um, that’s personally what I spent a lot of my time doing. I did like research, I scrubbed in a psychiatry clinic.

Um, and, um, yeah, so I can kind of run the gamut between like stem and humanities at Yale, like I’ve said. And, um, yeah. Yeah. And there’s also, you can come and go with extracurriculars, which is great too. Like I, my sophomore year I tried Yale club running and that was great. That’s, that’s something I needed to fill in the time that year.

Um, I also tried running the buttery at my, um, in my residential college. Um, so basically I was like [00:43:00] feeding people, like real cheeses at two in the morning while it was like playing my favorite songs, um, hosting like theme the pool party night or whatever, like a Tuesday night. Um, or like I mentioned, you’ll clip radio.

Um, I did, um, uh, what’s it called, uh, student government, which is great, uh, but really more on the event side, because the way student government at Yale works is there’s, uh, the Yale college council, which does student policy, student life policy. And then each class has its own. Um, delegation of students that do their own class council.

So freshmen class council, software, constant counsel on and on, and they just throw events for, um, for the class to, you know, just provide some more class unity. Um, so yeah, there’s really like a ton of things you can do. Um, and I will also, I guess, pitch, um, doing a pre-orientation program. Um, my favorite, the one I did was harvest and [00:44:00] that was basically, we take kids out on a farm a few days before campus starts and you just farm for a few days and like, you know, there’s some activities in there it’s not just like hard labor.

I swear. It’s fine. Um, and a lot of these, um, kids, um, who ended up becoming harvest leaders have like an interest in sustainable agriculture, which is great. Yeah, definitely a big plus for the pre-orientation programs. I did focus, which was like, I, um, you would just like volunteer around new Haven with like a certain group.

And I’m like some of my best friends at Yale all throughout my four years were students that I met, like the very first on campus for this program. So they’re really great. Um, and on the question about balancing, um, like being pre-med pre law with, you know, other obligations it’s completely possible, um, you have more time than you think at college.

Um, instead of spending like, you know, the early hours of the morning to like the late afternoon at school, like you are in your classes for, you know, a few hours each [00:45:00] day. Um, and then the rest of the time is spent studying, doing extracurriculars, things like that. So you have more time than you think. Um, and it’s certainly possible to, um, you know, balance different schedules with, um, you know, the right amount of.

Right. It’s it’s again, nothing is necessarily impossible. It essentially just comes down to the eventual individual and how they want to structure their time. Um, so if you want to do again, two majors and, uh, you’re a student athlete that again, the onus falls on you to sort of be able to structure your time around all of these, like things that you necessarily want to do.

Cause again, there’s no one telling you, you have to do these things, you know, it really just comes down to you. Um, and how many hours of sleep you want per night? So. Yes, but for student athletes, different schools have different policies, but don’t, don’t try and use this to get out of stuff. But a lot of the times student athletes get like certain passes, well, not passes, but like you can get exams [00:46:00] moved to different days to accommodate for sports, but you need your coach’s signature and different forms and stuff, and you need to get letters and stuff.

There’s different processes that your coaches will tell you when you actually get in and get on the team. Um, so there are different ways of balancing it. And then, so, yeah. Um, now students are asking, uh, what made yell stand out from all the other schools? Uh, it’s not better than Cornell, but like what made y’all great.

Uh, what are some things you dislike about? Y’all also on the opposite end.

Yeah. I don’t know why I applied to yell. Um, I don’t remember. I, my kind of, I don’t recommend this for your applications. My kind of strategy. I applied at one safety school. It was rolling admission. I like got in in September, had a great financial aid package. And then I was like, you know, let’s apply to all reach.

It is like regular decision. Um, and that’s, [00:47:00] um, I don’t recommend it, but it that’s how I did it. Um, yell was one of them and it turned out for the best things I don’t like about, you know, um, I think, um, like I have said earlier, um, the transition from high school to Yale, um, you know, at least from you, it’s pretty jarring.

Um, I don’t think there’s much, um, I wish I did more like mental preparation of just like how rigorous it was going to be. Um, it makes you so much better of a student on the other side, but getting to that point takes a lot of hard work and dedication, um, in a way that like, shouldn’t be scoffed at, um, like the intro courses at Yale, for example, like a lot of people think, oh, it’s an intro course.

Like it’s easy. Like you can kind of float it. Um, at Yale that’s like, that’s not what you can do. Like the intro courses are extremely challenging. Um, and [00:48:00] some people say they’re comparable to like what most like sophomores or juniors would be doing at other schools. Um, so I think sort of the thing I don’t like is just like, um, sometimes it doesn’t, you know, doesn’t really have a competitive atmosphere.

I think a lot of professors establish a very like, can meet your needs. Classroom, um, which is great. Um, but sometimes the pressure does get to you and the way you kind of manage that is finding good coping mechanisms, like going for a run or hanging out with your friends, you know, when you need social support and things like that.

Um, so what was the question again? I’m so sorry. Uh, what made y’all stand out to you? Oh yes. So what do you not like about you? Very right. Okay. So to the, to the first part, I actually, um, I think I answered this a little bit. I was just like drawn to the strength of the psychology department and thinking that that’s what I was going to major in, but also.

Had come to appreciate the fact that, like, [00:49:00] I kind of knew, like, you know, there’s a big chance that I’ll like switch majors. Um, and so a school would just like very strong academics, like all over the place was a plus, just because I was a little like on the concept of, um, being undecided and a psychology major.

Um, and then so things I don’t like about Yale, I think, you know, having worked in student policy a little bit, um, you do have to remember that these are very large institutions with very, you know, in just they’re there they’d been around for a while and so change can come a little slow. Um, and so having worked in actual student policy, I’ve sort of struggled a little bit with the administration and just like seeing how, like some policies that can be amenable to student life, um, uh, sort of take a while to just like go down the pipeline.

But again, I don’t necessarily think this is just like a problem that’s, um, intrinsic to just yell. I think there’s a problem with like a lot of mainstream. Especially IVs. Just because again, [00:50:00] there is a lot of money there. There’s a lot of power and a lot of people don’t necessarily want to see things change.

Um, so yeah, that’s, I guess a little bit of a warning about these institutions, Cornell Cornell is your empty.

Um, okay, so we have 10 minutes left. So if you see any questions, please go on ahead. Did either of y’all apply, um, early or just regular for you? I applied early, um, and was accepted early. So I don’t really, you know, I can’t really relate to the, during the decision process. I said, sorry for everyone and what that stress must feel like, but, um, You know, other schools I was considering on my list just to give you a sense of schools that, uh, I think were comparable in terms of student culture, student culture was another thing that really popped out to me about Yale.

Everyone was just super friendly when I went to go visit on campus. Um, so if you’re looking for [00:51:00] that sort of vibe, I think Williams is another good choice. They’re very small liberal arts school, um, in Massachusetts with a very similar vibe to yell. In my opinion, um, you, Chicago has like a, sort of like a weird quirky vibe, but I think Yale does to an extent too.

Um, and brown not too far away, I think is honestly, in some ways like the Ivy that’s most slimmer to Gayle, just because again, they, they tend to be like, I think some have some of the most like liberal like student, um, uh, population. It’s kinda hard to tell kids, not to apply to IVs. You go to that IRB.

It’s really about finding your best fit school. Um, it’s not really about the name of this school. Like Harvard,

I believe just means that that’s the division, um, for sports team there and, um, the D one Ivy league conference, um, though they just so happen to be great [00:52:00] schools also, but there are also other schools that aren’t considered IVs, um, that are also great schools. They just aren’t in the conference, but, um, that’s literally what it means, but if it’s a good school for you apply, don’t just go for the sake of prestige.

Yes. Completely agree. So going on prestige, because we know how the cutthroat is. Um, what’d you say that it does is the stress culture prominent on campus, and then is it like a cutthroat campus? I would say it’s not a cutthroat campus. Um, you know, people are like very intense, but like very relaxed at the same time.

Um,

I could never understand it, but yes, it’s true. Yeah. But like, as far as like the like cutthroat newness, um, it’s all about who your friends are. Um, like, like there are people at Yale and at any other school who will just do anything to [00:53:00] the best internship, you know, whatever, but then there’s other students who are just like, you know, obviously still very driven, but like care very much about their extracurriculars and the impact they have on campus and in their community.

Um, and, you know, look out for those people, look out for people who don’t make you stress just by like being around them. Um, they exist build your friend group from those people and you know, you’ll be fine at Yale or any other school. I completely agree. Uh, I just saw one. I have a question here too. Is it hard to switch colleges?

Um, this is for, in my DMS. Um, but basically I think she means residential colleges. Um, and it’s not common, but I don’t think that, I don’t think like they won’t like let you, you know, I, uh, I, I personally didn’t do it, uh, but I definitely know a few people who did do it their freshman year. Uh, one of them actually like left my suite to go to a different college.

Uh, not because again, it’s never, sometimes [00:54:00] it’s because you have issues or you just like, don’t find your people in your college and that’s okay. Like if you make friends at different colleges, just talk to your, um, had your Dean and they’ll facilitate that process for the most part. Uh, did either of y’all do that interview process on the, if you want to talk about it, cause they’re asking like how do you get it?

I just know that you click the box on the common app.

Yeah. Um, I can, I can take this one. Um, yeah, you just select the button on the common app, basically, just saying I’m available for an interview and someone in the admissions office will try to pair you with, uh, an alum or someone who’s involved in the Yale community, um, who lives around you? Um, most frequently it isn’t a recent alum also, cause a lot of alumni are excited to do this out of college.

Um, and mine was a, just this random [00:55:00] corporate man who like runs, ran a hedge fund, um, on like, I don’t know, somewhere in Midtown and New York. And it was very intimidating, but honestly again, like, uh, after you get past the title, you just have to remember that there’s just like some other person, like who went to Yale and like this isn’t a job interview.

This is just someone trying to ask you, like why you’re interested in Yale. It’s it’s just a, it’s just a conversation about like, why you’re interested in, I inhale. So, um, basically just like don’t rehash your application, but having, uh, having applied already, you should be able to answer it like an interviewer’s question.

Yeah. And I, I had a really weird interview experience. I did have one, um, it came like the weekend before decisions were released in the regular round. Um, I got an email on a Saturday morning being like, this is a new request from admissions. Um, can you meet this weekend? And I met this alum in a coffee [00:56:00] shop and we had a really good conversation.

It was great. Um, it turns out another girl from my school also had this like super last minute interview and it was very clear. The images committee was probably deciding between me or her I’m I ended up getting it in. Um, and it was fine. But truly like that, your interviewers just want to get to know you as a person.

There’s no reason to be nervous, um, as be, you know, yourself and, you know, personable and, um, convey that, you know, you’ve done your research on Yale and, you know, you would love to see yourself there.

Okay. So if there are any last minute question, not question, um, things you want to see about Yale or your admissions process or any last minute advice you want to give to students when applying to yell or applying it in general, please feel free. Okay. Yeah, I would say, you know, as far as applying goes, I’m starting your essence early, um, time is the one thing you can’t like get back once it goes away.

[00:57:00] Um, and although it seems like, oh, this is a 650, where does say this is 200 words, et cetera. Um, so fall into that trap. Um, the essays do need a lot of work, um, in time for you. Brainstorm to research to put things, um, to where things in an interesting way, rework it have other people read it like a teacher or something like that.

Um, so it takes time. And, um, I would say, just plan ahead. Yeah. Um, and with the essays again, the benefit of starting early is something that I encourage all to always is if you do finish an essay before the deadline, like there’s always the added benefit of putting it away for some time, putting it away for a week or two, maybe a month, if you’re like really that person.

Um, and then coming back to it and rereading it, um, you’ll always find something new. You always think of something new and, um, that essay will probably always be better. Um, so that’s, that’s one piece of advice I can offer there. Um, but when it comes to, you know, doing research about Yale since like the YL essay is pretty [00:58:00] prominent, um, do your research, uh, think about specific professors that you may want to be interested in meeting?

Uh, but again, never just name drop for the sake of name drop. Like again, um, we’ve mentioned cohesion. So please, like if you’re going to name, drop a class or, um, a professor or an extra curricular, tie it into the rest of your application, um, don’t make it something random tied into like, uh, your future goals or like what you’ve done before in the past or your previous experiences.

So be genuine. And I think we have time for one more question. This one’s about imposter syndrome. I know Yale is very selective, so you’ll most likely be surrounded by people who are bright, but is it normal to think, uh, is it a normal thing to feel like, wow, I have no clue I’m next to this person. Or does the environment usually make you feel like you.

Yeah, I think everyone feels this from time to time, [00:59:00] you know, especially at a place like Yale, um, and that’s completely normal. Um, you know, I felt it, um, and again, I’m sure most, if not all students have also felt at some point, um, at Yale, um, I think it almost helps you build your confidence and to say like, look, I am here.

Like, you know, this student right next to me, you know, I might think they’re brilliant and doing so much better than me, but like I am also here, um, and, uh, to take ownership and be proud of the fact that, you know, you are in this classroom, um, and have been given this opportunity to, um, study in a really great place.

Yeah. Um, and I think it also depends just because I think a lot of it’s internalized, I don’t think I ever was in a class where it was like a hostile environment. Um, But one of the weirdest classes I took was media and the violence. And it was just talking about, I dunno, it was, it was like a very niche, a niche course about journalism and war.

Um, and all of these other students had like, you know, done a lot of journalism [01:00:00] and I, I hadn’t. Um, and, but at the end of the day, you know, I still managed to make friends, uh, conversations were lively. I had to bring my own experience into the class and, you know, you’re studying your own separate, uh, unique path.

So. I like to have the admissions office doesn’t make mistakes or at least that’s what they want to believe. Um, when going to like, especially going into like the IVs or the top schools that you always hear about that people are always talking about, it’s gonna feel weird the first month or two, like, I’m really here.

I’m really here, but after a while it’ll just be college. Like you’ll literally just be in school. Like it’ll like, it’ll, you won’t really think about the fact like, oh, I’m at Yale, I’m at Cornell. I’m at Harvard. You’ll just think like, this is just school for me. Cause I mean, if you transferred from another school, there’s going to be a difference.

And depending on how your high school is, there could be a difference. But for the most part, it’ll just feel like I’m at [01:01:00] school. Okay. So that is the end of our webinar. Thank you everyone for coming out tonight and thank you to our panel. Um, we had a really great time telling you about yeah. And here’s the rest of our September series.

There will be a lot more webinars on, um, uh, or we needed, uh, uh, the webinar will be recorded if you can’t hear right now, so you can watch it later or you can download the slides in the handouts tab, but, um, there will be more webinars on specific, um, common app essays or supplements or types of essays and stuff.

I’m doing one on writing about passion projects, if y’all want to see that on the 22nd. Um, and there will, there are other webinars on like different aspects of the application. And I think there is another Yale webinar if y’all want it more information. Um, there are also other resources like YouTube students, um, professors just reach out to people, watch other videos, research online, um, take everything with a grain of salt, take it all into the [01:02:00] context and yeah.

Thank you everyone for coming out. It was nice meeting y’all uh,