2014-2015 Yale University Application Thread

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how does yale review multiple mcats?
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I'm trying to make some travel arrangements. What time did the interview day for those of you that have already interviewed?
 
Person0715 said:
I'm trying to make some travel arrangements. What time did the interview day for those of you that have already interviewed?
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Do you mean when it ends? If I recall, maybe around 4 PM for most of the people in my group. There was a survey that was sent out that asked about your travel plans, so I assume they would be accommodating. Might be worth giving them a call and asking when is the earliest flight they would recommend/telling them when you want to catch your flight and getting their input if it would be OK.
 
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breakintheroof said:
Interview invite today! I was complete 8/12. Gave me a fright seeing a message in my inbox, like a Happy Halloween from Yale...
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Congrats aaaaaannnnnnd +2

Both me and another awesome guy I met during my interview today just got the II at the same time. We are also going to meet in another interview next week. We both want to meet you the famous Mr.breakintheroof, let's make that happen!

Completed last day of July for me. For this other guy mid September.

Happy Halloween indeed!!!!
 
Have you guys seen this article in the NYT? Hopefully it's not indicative of larger issues at the institution, but I think it's definitely something I'm going to keep in mind.
 
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Complete end of july (28/29/30) MCAT 34; 3.76 or 3.78 (can't even remember my gpa anymore)....So pretty low stats for Yale. Oct 31 must be a big interview day because I walked out of my interview with three invites in my mailbox 😳
 
Any IIs for people who went to state schools for undergrad?
I would love a shot here!
LizzyM >75, Complete in mid August
 
threesparrows said:
Any IIs for people who went to state schools for undergrad?
I would love a shot here!
LizzyM >75, Complete in mid August
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Um yeah, i went to a state school. Though, i think i was the only person that interviewed that day that had. I was rather surprised with the lack of representation from any school other than the typical big name schools.
 
Overanxious said:
Um yeah, i went to a state school. Though, i think i was the only person that interviewed that day that had. I was rather surprised with the lack of representation from any school other than the typical big name schools.
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From what I can remember from my interview day, 2 of us were from state schools, 5 (!!) were from Harvard, 1 Yale, and the other 2 were from schools like WUSTL. Crazy
 
No state schools at my interview. Just top 5 or so with maybe one kid from UCLA.
 
Overanxious said:
Um yeah, i went to a state school. Though, i think i was the only person that interviewed that day that had. I was rather surprised with the lack of representation from any school other than the typical big name schools.
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Are you URM or exceptionally distinguished in some way (e.g. Rhodes or other scholar)?


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gettheleadout said:
Are you URM or exceptionally distinguished in some way (e.g. Rhodes or other scholar)?


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I'd like to think I'm exceptionally distinguished in a couple ways and if you look at my MDapps you could probably figure one out. Though just to help you out i've received multiple fellowships/grants and am very well published. You don't need to attend an exceptional undergraduate school to be exceptional... In fact your undergraduate school doesn't make you exceptional by any means but what you do with your life does. I'd say that many of the interviewees i've met so far are exceptional in some way or another and their school had nothing to do with it. Also, top schools don't offer sub par applicants spots simply bc they are URM...In other words URM is a bonus not a qualifier. And i take great offense to your implication. Heaven forbid someone be a URM bc people like you will automatically think they aren't up to snuff.
 
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Overanxious said:
I'd like to think I'm exceptionally distinguished in a couple ways and if you look at my MDapps you could probably figure one out. Though just to help you out i've received multiple fellowships/grants and am very well published. You don't need to attend an exceptional undergraduate school to be exceptional... In fact your undergraduate school doesn't make you exceptional by any means but what you do with your life does. I'd say that many of the interviewees i've met so far are exceptional in some way or another and their school had nothing to do with it. Also, top schools don't offer sub par applicants spots simply bc they are URM...In other words URM is a bonus not a qualifier. And i take great offense to your implication. Heaven forbid someone be a URM bc people like you will automatically think they aren't up to snuff.
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Wow, I'm very sorry but I think you've read way too much into my question.

1) I have no misconception that attending a top undergrad makes one exceptional.

2) I made no implication that "sub-par" applicants might get interviewed because they are URM. However, one can be a perfectly qualified applicant without having attended a top school, and URM status could absolutely mitigate that "weakness."

3) Further, I made no implication that URM applicants are any less-qualified that others.
 
gettheleadout said:
Wow, I'm very sorry but I think you've read way too much into my question.

1) I have no misconception that attending a top undergrad makes one exceptional.

2) I made no implication that "sub-par" applicants might get interviewed because they are URM. However, one can be a perfectly qualified applicant without having attended a top school, and URM status could absolutely mitigate that "weakness."

3) Further, I made no implication that URM applicants are any less-qualified that others.
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Well then, i have clearly misread or read too much into it... my apologies.
 
@Overanxious I go to a state school and interviewed at Yale back in mid-September; I was one of two people from state schools, but there were a few other non-ivy/private students there.
 
onceawolverine said:
@Overanxious I go to a state school and interviewed at Yale back in mid-September; I was one of two people from state schools, but there were a few other non-ivy/private students there.
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In my opinion the significance of "state school" is that it denotes a school outside the top ~20 or so. UMich/UCLA are clearly top schools, along with Williams and Swarthmore and the other top LAC's as well.
 
onceawolverine said:
@Overanxious I go to a state school and interviewed at Yale back in mid-September; I was one of two people from state schools, but there were a few other non-ivy/private students there.
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Well....your state school is a different sort of state school. 😛
 
gettheleadout said:
In my opinion the significance of "state school" is that it denotes a school outside the top ~20 or so. UMich/UCLA are clearly top schools, along with Williams and Swarthmore and the other top LAC's as well.
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Fair enough. I called it a state school because it is a public, state-funded, institution (albeit a good one)
 
When people say state schools, I think people are referring to state schools that don't have very competitive enhance requirements. Ucla/Berkeley/umich don't count
 
godawg300 said:
When people say state schools, I think people are referring to state schools that don't have very competitive enhance requirements. Ucla/Berkeley/umich don't count
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+1

I went to a low-tier state school (average ACT score of 19, <10% 4-year graduation rate, auto-acceptances for disadvantaged students/any student within certain mile radius). I can't even find its rank on US News. I have yet to meet anyone from a similar caliber school at any of my interviews. There's a significant degree of self-selection in there, but I also think a little bit of prejudice. At most of my in-state interviews (the only state familiar with my UG) I've had to explain at length why I went to that school. -___-

On that note, anyone from one of these types of schools get an invite?
 
I'd like to know why there isn't much representation from other less notable schools. Obviously you can't compare GPA's across all schools but isn't that where the MCAT comes in? But beyond that, exceptional is more about what you do with your life. I just find it hard to believe that they aren't finding exceptional students from no name schools. I can certainly understand that a schools name would be a bonus but to treat it as a qualifier would be absurd.

@hellanutella I went to a school that didn't even make the top 50 but it did appear to be ranked though i'm not privy to the stats. I also have had to explain why I chose that school. It has clearly given me a complex and i've been getting sassy about it lately. Though, i can honestly say when i give them my answer most have the decency to look embarrassed.
 
Overanxious said:
I'd like to know why there isn't much representation from other less notable schools. Obviously you can't compare GPA's across all schools but isn't that where the MCAT comes in? But beyond that, exceptional is more about what you do with your life. I just find it hard to believe that they aren't finding exceptional students from no name schools. I can certainly understand that a schools name would be a bonus but to treat it as a qualifier would be absurd.

@hellanutella I went to a school that didn't even make the top 50 but it did appear to be ranked though i'm not privy to the stats. I also have had to explain why I chose that school. It has clearly given me a complex and i've been getting sassy about it lately. Though, i can honestly say when i give them my answer most have the decency to look embarrassed.
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Thanks for your input and congratulations on all your success this cycle! I could talk about this low-undergrad effect for ages since it's also given me a bit of a complex, but I don't want to detract from the Yale thread haha.

FriendlyFH said:
Judging from the speed of the response, none of us have a life outside SDN. 😉
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This is my weapon of choice between proposal edits and long PCR experiments 😉 though I know this free time will disappear once med school starts. You've been so good to me, gap year!
 
[QUOTE="hellanutella, post: 15854167, member: You've been so good to me, gap year![/QUOTE]
This. Yes.
 
Overanxious said:
I'd like to know why there isn't much representation from other less notable schools. Obviously you can't compare GPA's across all schools but isn't that where the MCAT comes in? But beyond that, exceptional is more about what you do with your life. I just find it hard to believe that they aren't finding exceptional students from no name schools. I can certainly understand that a schools name would be a bonus but to treat it as a qualifier would be absurd.

@hellanutella I went to a school that didn't even make the top 50 but it did appear to be ranked though i'm not privy to the stats. I also have had to explain why I chose that school. It has clearly given me a complex and i've been getting sassy about it lately. Though, i can honestly say when i give them my answer most have the decency to look embarrassed.
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When you have a class size of 100, you can easily fill it with all brand name undergrads. Some schools care about prestige more than others. This has been my observation at a few top 10 schools. You can also get the high GPA/high mcat kids from these schools as well. That's not to say that exceptional students are not found at no name schools. They are probably just diamonds in the rough and just less represented.
 
hellanutella said:
+1

I went to a low-tier state school (average ACT score of 19, <10% 4-year graduation rate, auto-acceptances for disadvantaged students/any student within certain mile radius). I can't even find its rank on US News. I have yet to meet anyone from a similar caliber school at any of my interviews. There's a significant degree of self-selection in there, but I also think a little bit of prejudice. At most of my in-state interviews (the only state familiar with my UG) I've had to explain at length why I went to that school. -___-

On that note, anyone from one of these types of schools get an invite?
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Hey hellanutella! I'm from a similar type of school, we are out there although I'm mstp 🙂
 
hellanutella said:
+1

I went to a low-tier state school (average ACT score of 19, <10% 4-year graduation rate, auto-acceptances for disadvantaged students/any student within certain mile radius). I can't even find its rank on US News. I have yet to meet anyone from a similar caliber school at any of my interviews. There's a significant degree of self-selection in there, but I also think a little bit of prejudice. At most of my in-state interviews (the only state familiar with my UG) I've had to explain at length why I went to that school. -___-

On that note, anyone from one of these types of schools get an invite?
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I went to a similar school and have been patiently waiting for an interview...so far, to no avail.
 
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hellanutella said:
+1

I went to a low-tier state school (average ACT score of 19, <10% 4-year graduation rate, auto-acceptances for disadvantaged students/any student within certain mile radius). I can't even find its rank on US News. I have yet to meet anyone from a similar caliber school at any of my interviews. There's a significant degree of self-selection in there, but I also think a little bit of prejudice. At most of my in-state interviews (the only state familiar with my UG) I've had to explain at length why I went to that school. -___-

On that note, anyone from one of these types of schools get an invite?
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We also exist for MD :hello:. Sending good vibes your way Nutella
 
godawg300 said:
When you have a class size of 100, you can easily fill it with all brand name undergrads. Some schools care about prestige more than others. This has been my observation at a few top 10 schools. You can also get the high GPA/high mcat kids from these schools as well. That's not to say that exceptional students are not found at no name schools. They are probably just diamonds in the rough and just less represented.
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It might also have to do with protecting yield and believe it or not, even HYS have that problem. It is more than likely that HYSers tend to value the name more or be more proud for the name. They might be more likely to ignore some other considerations such as geological and familial ones in order to continue to attend one of the HYS. Michigan or Penn or WashU are just as selective and yet the composition of the undergraduate institutions are much more heterogenous.
 
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FriendlyFH said:
It might also have to do with protecting yield and believe it or not, even HYS have that problem. It is more than likely that HYSers tend to value the name more or be more proud for the name. They might be more likely to ignore some other considerations such as geological and familial ones in order to continue to attend one of the HYS. Michigan or Penn or WashU are just as selective and yet the composition of the undergraduate institutions are much more heterogenous.
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Yep, this is true too. I don't doubt it for a minute.
 
I'm from a mid-tier state school and I've gotten a great response in terms of IIs from the top 20 but no Yale, Harvard, Columbia. I have also had to explain why I chose my undergrad institution at interviews, which I don't mind talking about but the question feels snobbish.

I am glad we discussed this here (very politely!), hope I didn't derail things too much by bringing it up. I especially appreciated hearing about others' experiences and observations at their interviews.
 
threesparrows said:
I'm from a mid-tier state school and I've gotten a great response in terms of IIs from the top 20 but no Yale, Harvard, Columbia. I have also had to explain why I chose my undergrad institution at interviews, which I don't mind talking about but the question feels snobbish.

I am glad we discussed this here (very politely!), hope I didn't derail things too much by bringing it up. I especially appreciated hearing about others' experiences and observations at their interviews.
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I go to a top private school and i have been asked quite frequently why I chose my undergrad. The question just makes for conversation and has nothing to do with being snobbish...
 
threesparrows said:
I'm from a mid-tier state school and I've gotten a great response in terms of IIs from the top 20 but no Yale, Harvard, Columbia. I have also had to explain why I chose my undergrad institution at interviews, which I don't mind talking about but the question feels snobbish.

I am glad we discussed this here (very politely!), hope I didn't derail things too much by bringing it up. I especially appreciated hearing about others' experiences and observations at their interviews.
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Whenever such topic arise, I am always tempted to bring up the study that compares the life time earnings of people who attend different colleges. http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/20/do-elite-colleges-produce-the-best-paid-graduates/?_r=0
The study seemed to suggest that a person's lifetime earnings is rather determined by the level of schools to where he/she could have gone, not by that of the college he/she actually attended. That being said, this does not apply to those who are socially disadvantaged for whom the elite names provide some boosts.

Granted there is a huge difference between applying to med school and getting a well paid job, the conclusion from that study can only be used to make guess on the effect of the school's ranking/name on the outcome of our unique competition. I still would like to say that it is quite possible that you (and hella) are doing this well in your application cycle has a lot to do with your own potential and the fact that you would have done great even if you go to big names. Many other kids from state colleges may just lack the right amount/combination of exposure, the drive and the motivation, which may contributed to them lacking the choice of attending an elite college in the first place. Those who can master the task of making into one of those top schools might very well likely to utilize the same skill in their med school application and go far and beyond.
 
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godawg300 said:
When you have a class size of 100, you can easily fill it with all brand name undergrads. Some schools care about prestige more than others. This has been my observation at a few top 10 schools. You can also get the high GPA/high mcat kids from these schools as well. That's not to say that exceptional students are not found at no name schools. They are probably just diamonds in the rough and just less represented.
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No doubt, but it does lack diversity and starts bordering on bland. So then the logic would be that those of us who are not from these brand name schools must distinguish ourselves above and beyond our peers at more notable schools. Albeit difficult...it's still doable. Side note...high GPA/MCAT applicants are a dime a dozen, to be exceptional one needs to go beyond the qualifiers wouldn't you say?

@mjhhockey98 I would agree in some instances, particularly when the question is how did you choose your undergrad but that's not always the case. I remember one interview going a bit like this... "We can't evaluate grades from these small/community colleges. We typically take students from a,b,c. Tell me why you chose to go to z." That's snobbery. Furthermore, I had one interviewer at a notable school call me "such a midwesterner" in a tone that suggested that it was an insult. I laughed and said thank you (bc you know...midwesterner's are typically very nice).
 
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Overanxious said:
No doubt, but it does lack diversity and starts bordering on bland. So then the logic would be that those of us who are not from these brand name schools must distinguish ourselves above and beyond our peers at more notable schools. Albeit difficult...it's still doable. Side note...high GPA/MCAT applicants are a dime a dozen, to be exceptional one needs to go beyond the qualifiers wouldn't you say?

@mjhhockey98 I would agree in some instances, particularly when the question is how did you choose your undergrad but that's not always the case. I remember one interview going a bit like this... "We can't evaluate grades from these small/community colleges. We typically take students from a,b,c. Tell me why you chose to go to z." That's snobbery. Furthermore, I had one interviewer at a notable school call me "such a midwesterner" in a tone that suggested that it was an insult. I laughed and said thank you (bc you know...midwesterner's are typically very nice).
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I agree it lacks diversity to some extent, but then again with only 100 students per class you can get the high stat kids from brand schools that have done great things. I have personally met some really amazing applicants on several interviews. So I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that a school like yale can get all it wants from brand name schools. Now, is this fair!? Absolutely not. Was it fair that my undergrad had crazy amount of kids from the top prep schools in the country? Nope. But every year they send many kids to HYPSM and every year those undergrads feed into the medical schools. That's just the way it is. State school kids do get in, just like public school kids get into top undergrads
 
Overanxious said:
No doubt, but it does lack diversity and starts bordering on bland. So then the logic would be that those of us who are not from these brand name schools must distinguish ourselves above and beyond our peers at more notable schools. Albeit difficult...it's still doable. Side note...high GPA/MCAT applicants are a dime a dozen, to be exceptional one needs to go beyond the qualifiers wouldn't you say?

@mjhhockey98 I would agree in some instances, particularly when the question is how did you choose your undergrad but that's not always the case. I remember one interview going a bit like this... "We can't evaluate grades from these small/community colleges. We typically take students from a,b,c. Tell me why you chose to go to z." That's snobbery. Furthermore, I had one interviewer at a notable school call me "such a midwesterner" in a tone that suggested that it was an insult. I laughed and said thank you (bc you know...midwesterner's are typically very nice).
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Not to disagree with you, here is the thing. There are plenty amazing schools to go to that are not HYS. So if one do not think that the brand name makes a difference then there is no reason to feel bad about having less chance to go to a brand name. In that case, the HYS's preference for HYS students can be just thought of like the state preference of some schools, it's not really fair, but it works. However, if one thinks that the brand name makes a difference, than there is less reason to complain about the fact that HYS prefers other HYS.
I'm more like in the middle and I just kind of accept the fact as what it is.
 
@FriendlyFH and @godawg300, oh I don't look at it as a situation that is or is not fair, that veers down an odd path. But i do like to challenge/discuss preset ideals that have relatively little basis and or value. How else is change made... My comment above was really just complimenting all the public school kids that made it into these elite schools later on. And you are correct, brand name or not one can/will still obtain a great education! However, you should want to study with the most resilient, innovative/intelligent, and interesting/diverse group of peers (regardless of where they came from) that you can bc they will teach you and challenge you and vice versa and in the future you will look to one another for answers and support. And with that, i've derailed this thread too much already.
 
I've been wondering this forever.. What does HYS mean?
 
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Overanxious said:
@FriendlyFH and @godawg300, oh I don't look at it as a situation that is or is not fair, that veers down an odd path. But i do like to challenge/discuss preset ideals that have relatively little basis and or value. How else is change made... My comment above was really just complimenting all the public school kids that made it into these elite schools later on. And you are correct, brand name or not one can/will still obtain a great education! However, you should want to study with the most resilient, innovative/intelligent, and interesting/diverse group of peers (regardless of where they came from) that you can bc they will teach you and challenge you and vice versa and in the future you will look to one another for answers and support. And with that, i've derailed this thread too much already.
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I absolutely agree. I promise myself that I won't let the brand name blind my selection of the schools even though I can see that the society in large do tend to have a better recognition purely based on names. I can afford to drop that from my equation at this point.
 
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