Central Authentication Service | Yale University (2024)

FAQs

What does Yale look for in essays? ›

What is most important is that you write in your own voice. If an essay doesn't sound like the person who writes it, it cannot serve very well as a personal statement. As with every document in the application, we read essays very carefully and try to get a full sense of the human being behind them.

The Profile must be completed on line on the College Board's website ; Yale's CSS code is 3987. If applicable, families should complete all required CSS supplements as well. For more information, see CSS Profile in the Forms section or visit the College Board's website .

Since its founding in 1701, Yale has been dedicated to expanding and sharing knowledge, inspiring innovation, and preserving cultural and scientific information for future generations. Yale's reach is both local and international.

But perhaps surprisingly, Yale College has no core curriculum. 80 possible majors are offered, each of which contain their own curricular requirements fulfilled by choosing from roughly 2,000 undergraduate courses.

For a Yale College student who has elected the Credit/D/Fail option, the registrar converts grades of A, A–, B+, B, B–, C+, C, and C– to CR and enters that mark on the student's record. Grades of D+, D, D–, and F are recorded as reported.” A+ cannot be given at Yale.

To have the best shot of getting in, you should aim for the 75th percentile, with a 1560 SAT or a 35 ACT. You should also have a 4.14 GPA or higher. If your GPA is lower than this, you need to compensate with a higher SAT/ACT score.

Not all colleges and scholarship programs require the CSS Profile.

How much does it cost to submit the CSS Profile? The CSS profile is free for undergraduate students whose family income is less than $100,000. For all others, it costs $25 to fill out and submit the form to one school. You'll pay $16 each to submit to additional schools.

Completing the CSS Profile can be a bit of a lengthy process that takes anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 hours. How long it takes depends on your computer skills, having your documents ready to go, and how many schools are listed on your application.

When comparing Ivy League schools, both Harvard and Yale are firm fixtures at the top of the QS World University Rankings. Harvard, ranked fourth in the world, is pretty much unbeatable on most of the indicators used to create the rankings.

Is Yale the hardest College to get into? ›

#7 Yale University

It should also come as no surprise that Yale is one of the hardest colleges to get into. With an acceptance rate of 4.6%, the admissions process is highly competitive. Last year, 50,015 students applied for the class of 2026, and only 2,234 were admitted.

All of Yale's undergraduate financial aid is awarded on the basis of financial need. Yale meets 100% of demonstrated financial need for all admitted students regardless of citizenship or immigration status. This includes undocumented students living in the US, with or without DACA status.

As an Ivy League institution, Yale is regarded as both academically rigorous and highly competitive, with acceptance rates dropping below 10 percent in recent years. While knowing the basics is a good start, students must learn a lot more about any college on their best-fit list, and Yale University is no exception.

Most people would agree that Harvard, Yale, and Princeton are considered the most elite and prestigious Ivy League schools.

This is a classic example of the “Why This College” essay. For this prompt, you'll want to cite specific reasons Yale is a good fit to support your academic goals. You may also want to include any compelling extracurricular reasons, as college is not only about what you do in the classroom.

Yale weighs grades and test scores but also values personal qualities such as character, creativity, intellectual curiosity, and growth potential. Grades and test scores might get you through the door, but they probably won't help you stand out from the rest of the applicants with equally high numbers.

If you dream of attending Yale, you will need to achieve great scores on your ACT or SAT, a nearly perfect high school GPA from a curriculum of difficult courses, and participate in the types of extracurricular activities that allow you to demonstrate your interests and leadership potential.

It could be related to academics, extracurricular activities, social issues, hobbies, or anything else that fuels your curiosity and drive. Remember, the essay should be personal and genuine, so pick something that truly resonates with you.