2014-2015 Yale University Application Thread

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Hi there Yale applicants! Senior Yale med student here. I got to nostalgically reminiscing about the application days and thought I'd chime briefly to offer my two cents regarding the application process, schools, and maybe answer a few questions!

Yale is a fantastic medical school. I've had just about as wonderful a medical education experience as one can ask for. I've traveled to multiple different countries, learned from professors who've written the books, and had wonderful friendships with some of the brightest people I've come across. We have some of the most liberal examination policies of any medical school probably in the world, and that makes for a great learning environment (no rankings, no AOA, take home qualifiers during your first years, no shelf exams). That means a lot of emphasis is placed on being a responsible medical student (IE future doctor responsible for patient's health and safety!!).

I have the privilege, however, of looking back at the whole process having been through it all, and my main word of advice is: RELAX. No medical school will take you from a mediocre 'nobody' and turn you into the next DeBakey or Paul Farmer. I've had friends at top medical schools burn out and take leaves of absences for depression/fatigue/family/financial problems etc. etc. and friends at very "not-highly-ranked" schools land some of the best residencies in the country. That is not to say some schools may give you better opportunities than others, but that is just that: opportunities! And guess what? Opportunities exist everywhere!

What I am trying to say is no school will bring you happiness, and sometimes it's important to be reminded of that because it's easy to get so caught up in the process that one forgets the objective. My pet peeve is when I ask undergrads what their goal in life is and they enthusiastically reply, "To get into medical school!" Really?? NO. That is not the point! Medical school is only four years, during which your objective is to learn medicine, maybe start laying the foundation for an academic medical career, and work on building your life (i.e. keeping in touch with loved ones, maybe even falling in love, starting a family, etc.) Your goal also is to not become disillusioned by the care of patients. This can happen anywhere and may be completely unrelated to where you go to school. You may end up at this "HYS" nonsense and end up getting hit by a car! So what good is that? Ask whatever higher power you believe in for what is best for YOU and your future patients, not HYS (again, LOL).

Ok that is my two cents for now, again, happy to answer any specific questions!

-marblebeans
 
Interviewing here this week -- super psyched! Is there anything to do the night before the interview day (meet and greet with students, etc.)? I didn't see anything on the interview website or the emails I've received but wanted to double-check that there wasn't something informal that I might be missing.
 
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wibbleylever said:
Interviewing here this week -- super psyched! Is there anything to do the night before the interview day (meet and greet with students, etc.)? I didn't see anything on the interview website or the emails I've received but wanted to double-check that there wasn't something informal that I might be missing.
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There was not anything like that when I interviewed back in September. You'll get to have lunch with some students and there is a student-led tour, as well. Have fun!
 
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Juldarus said:
There was not anything like that when I interviewed back in September. You'll get to have lunch with some students and there is a student-led tour, as well. Have fun!
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do you mind sharing your stats?
Juldarus said:
There was not anything like that when I interviewed back in September. You'll get to have lunch with some students and there is a student-led tour, as well. Have fun!
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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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Ah, Dartmouth! You see a bit of a Napoleonic complex there, since all the other Ivies tend to look down on the Big Green! I agree--those condescending, churlish remarks about America's Heartland reveal appalling ignorance as well as an unforgivable absence of manners. Good response, @Overanxious. If I interview, I'm taking my pitchfork to use in retaliation for such nonsense. Or maybe I'll drive up in my monster truck and plow into the ivory towers. Hee haw.
 
BengaliBrat said:
Ah, Dartmouth! You see a bit of a Napoleonic complex there, since all the other Ivies tend to look down on the Big Green! I agree--those condescending, churlish remarks about America's Heartland reveal appalling ignorance as well as an unforgivable absence of manners. Good response, @Overanxious. If I interview, I'm taking my pitchfork to use in retaliation for such nonsense. Or maybe I'll drive up in my monster truck and plow into the ivory towers. Hee haw.
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:laugh: What BB! Don't give away all my secrets! 😉 Really, I actually didn't know that...what's with the animosity btwn Ivies? I thought i may have caught one sour grape, everyone else was really nice. Haha! I just can't see you driving a truck!
 
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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Some places care about pedigree more than others. It is what it is.

Luckily, not going to a top 10 school doesn't mean you won't become one of the best physicians in the country. You know where I work, and one of the fellows last year did his undergrad at the U of Arizona.

Some of the attendings I work with went to drexel and albany for med school. It's really not a big deal so don't stress about it.

Edit: To be fair, I think medicine cares way more about pedigree than surgery though. That might also be because some of the best surgical centers (for residency and fellowship) aren't really ranked all that high as med schools.
 
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ridethecliche said:
Some places care about pedigree more than others. It is what it is.

Luckily, not going to a top 10 school doesn't mean you won't become one of the best physicians in the country. You know where I work, and one of the fellows last year did his undergrad at the U of Arizona.

Some of the attendings I work with went to drexel and albany for med school. It's really not a big deal so don't stress about it.

Edit: To be fair, I think medicine cares way more about pedigree than surgery though. That might also be because some of the best surgical centers (for residency and fellowship) aren't really ranked all that high as med schools.
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For what it's worth, I was the only one at my interview day who had gone to either an Ivy or flagship state school. And all of my premedical coursework was taken at a non-flagship state school where only about 1/2 of students get a degree in four years! Love the place, but I doubt any Yale ADCOM members would consider it elite
 
Overanxious said:
:laugh: What BB! Don't give away all my secrets! 😉 Really, I actually didn't know that...what's with the animosity btwn Ivies? I thought i may have caught one sour grape, everyone else was really nice. Haha! I just can't see you driving a truck!
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Oops! Sorry about that slip, @Overanxious! It's really interesting, isn't it, the human compulsion to make the "us/them" slice of "us" increasingly tiny? Yeah, there is even some "in-group" snobbery, and a stereotype about the type of student characteristic of each of the Ivies. I agree with you, though--Hanover really IS well-stocked with very lovely folks, and much is done to make newcomers feel welcome and part of the community. I guess that, small as the population was in the AdamandEve family, there was one HUMAN "bad apple" even there!

And you're right about me not really driving a monster truck. I just didn't want to reveal my love for tooling around the gravel roads in my John Deere tractor!!
 
clowiebear said:
can anyone talk about their interview day?
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THIS WAS ONE OF MY FAVORITE INTERVIEW DAYS. Small number of people, 2 lengthy conversational interviews with faculty that are genuinely nice and just want to learn more about you. The dean just chilled with us while we were waiting for interviews. And all of the med students were incredibly nice and friendly and encouraging!
 
ProbablyAPenguin said:
THIS WAS ONE OF MY FAVORITE INTERVIEW DAYS. Small number of people, 2 lengthy conversational interviews with faculty that are genuinely nice and just want to learn more about you. The dean just chilled with us while we were waiting for interviews. And all of the med students were incredibly nice and friendly and encouraging!
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Sums up my day. I also got to see an MS-1 lecture on lungs in the morning. There is a brief tour. Some highlights include the library and the new anatomy lab, both of which are incredibly cool.

And the dean is definitely a great guy!
 
I don't think this has been discussed yet in the thread (sorry if I missed it), but what was the faculty presentation + meet and greet like, for those who have already interviewed? I've never seen another school that does this. Yale's website mentions "In the middle of the day, there will be a lunch-time "Faculty Meet and Greet" session with a member of the senior faculty, who will give a short presentation on his/her work, followed by a question and answer period"
 
betabarrel said:
I don't think this has been discussed yet in the thread (sorry if I missed it), but what was the faculty presentation + meet and greet like, for those who have already interviewed? I've never seen another school that does this. Yale's website mentions "In the middle of the day, there will be a lunch-time "Faculty Meet and Greet" session with a member of the senior faculty, who will give a short presentation on his/her work, followed by a question and answer period"
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Oh ummm. This didn't happen for me.
 
betabarrel said:
I don't think this has been discussed yet in the thread (sorry if I missed it), but what was the faculty presentation + meet and greet like, for those who have already interviewed? I've never seen another school that does this. Yale's website mentions "In the middle of the day, there will be a lunch-time "Faculty Meet and Greet" session with a member of the senior faculty, who will give a short presentation on his/her work, followed by a question and answer period"
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During my interview day, a really impressive faculty member ate lunch with us, told us about his journey to Yale/research interests/opinions about New Haven, and answered any questions we had about the school. It was extremely relaxed and spending time with such an established physician/scientist was quite humbling! 🙂
 
Krypton said:
During my interview day, a really impressive faculty member ate lunch with us, told us about his journey to Yale/research interests/opinions about New Haven, and answered any questions we had about the school. It was extremely relaxed and spending time with such an established physician/scientist was quite humbling! 🙂
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I also interviewed in their first week of interviews. They didn't quite have things together yet, and we had lunch solely with medical students. But it's totally probable that they just hadn't had time to find faculty to come! So maybe an experience like @Krypton mentioned would be more representative of a proper interview.
 
OMG OMG OMG I thought my cycle was OVER! But I got a Yale II 1 hour ago!! OMG OMG OMG

@FriendlyFH, @breakintheroof @NoLimits when are you guys interviewing?! I want to meet all of you, but even meeting at least one of you would be amazing!! OMG I still can't believe it!

And btw, I had to transfer to a less-prestigious state school in TX for undergrad due to various uncontrollable reasons, and I'm a Midwest gal through and through 🙂
 
researchismymiddlename said:
OMG OMG OMG I thought my cycle was OVER! But I got a Yale II 1 hour ago!! OMG OMG OMG

@FriendlyFH, @breakintheroof @NoLimits when are you guys interviewing?! I want to meet all of you, but even meeting at least one of you would be amazing!! OMG I still can't believe it!

And btw, I had to transfer to a less-prestigious state school in TX for undergrad due to various uncontrollable reasons, and I'm a Midwest gal through and through 🙂
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Congrats! University of Houston undergrad?
 
arcticNE said:
CONGRATS!!! And Happy Thanksgiving to all.

By the way, what dates are they scheduling for, and any idea when do they go through?
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I'm the idiot who forgot my username and password and I only have that saved in a file in my home laptop. Won't get home from work until 7 PM though so I'll login then and let you know! Happy Thanksgiving to all as well!
 
@researchismymiddlename, I received the same early Thanksgiving present too! I was utterly shocked and excited to find an II from Yale in my inbox this afternoon. I still can't believe this, especially since I was complete on July 18 and have absolutely no semblance of the HYS pedigree that everyone has been chattering about. 🙂

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!
 
Kelilah said:
@researchismymiddlename, I received the same early Thanksgiving present too! I was utterly shocked and excited to find an II from Yale in my inbox this afternoon. I still can't believe this, especially since I was complete on July 18 and have absolutely no semblance of the HYS pedigree that everyone has been chattering about. 🙂

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!
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OMG me too! I was complete July 9, yes, July freaking 9! 😀 I don't have that pedigree at all, so I'm very delighted and shocked and just so happy. I literally shrieked when I saw the e-mail in my inbox. Lost hope of getting to visit some of these really old, amazing schools about a month ago lol

Hope to see you at my interview! I'm scheduling when I get home tonight 🙂 Happy Thanksgiving!!
 
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arcticNE said:
CONGRATS!!! And Happy Thanksgiving to all.
By the way, what dates are they scheduling for, and any idea when do they go through?
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All the scheduled interview dates are here. The last interview date seems to be Feb 27th.

Screenshot 2014-11-26 12.39.11.png
[
 
researchismymiddlename said:
OMG OMG OMG I thought my cycle was OVER! But I got a Yale II 1 hour ago!! OMG OMG OMG

@FriendlyFH, @breakintheroof @NoLimits when are you guys interviewing?! I want to meet all of you, but even meeting at least one of you would be amazing!! OMG I still can't believe it!

And btw, I had to transfer to a less-prestigious state school in TX for undergrad due to various uncontrollable reasons, and I'm a Midwest gal through and through 🙂
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YOU SO TOTALLY ROCK!! Congratulations!!
 
Does anyone know how they handle ITA emails here?
 
godawg300 said:
The gave me an interview the day after I sent one. They never responded to my email though. So maybe coincidence.
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Did you upload your request through the portal or email someone?
 
Anybody have any idea what percentage of interviewees are accepted? My interview is in a little over a month, acceptances go out in March, and I am already a little freaked out. I'm worried I might be falling too hard for Yale. 😍
 
Kelilah said:
Anybody have any idea what percentage of interviewees are accepted? My interview is in a little over a month, acceptances go out in March, and I am already a little freaked out. I'm worried I might be falling too hard for Yale. 😍
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About 33 percent.
 
Kelilah said:
Anybody have any idea what percentage of interviewees are accepted? My interview is in a little over a month, acceptances go out in March, and I am already a little freaked out. I'm worried I might be falling too hard for Yale. 😍
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You'll like it even more after the interview. Definitely my favorite, too!
 
godawg300 said:
About 33 percent.
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Juldarus said:
You'll like it even more after the interview. Definitely my favorite, too!
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Ha! At least if I get rejected - which according to those odds is more than a possibility - I won't be tempted to go into debt for an degree that I could get at my state school for half the price.

This is what I what I tell myself to ease the burden of having to live with such odds. 😍
 
Hey guys, looking for some advice... Would Boston be too far away for an ITA email? I'm interviewing at Harvard in January and I'm wondering if it would be appropriate to send Yale an email. I really love this school so I'm hoping it may prompt an answer (one can always hope right?)
 
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mus1cx said:
Hey guys, looking for some advice... Would Boston be too far away for an ITA email? I'm interviewing at Harvard in January and I'm wondering if it would be appropriate to send Yale and email. I really love this school so I'm hoping it may prompt an answer (one can always hope right?)
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You're visiting from another country. I would (and did) do this with every school that I applied to, from Florida to Vermont. Good luck!
 
I really went into my interview yesterday with very low expectations, but Yale blew me away with the thoughtfulness and the sensibility in everything they do. New Haven wasn't half as bad as how I imagined it would be. Rooting myself for the small chance of getting in! It's hard even post interview. They plan to accept only about 200 out of 735 interviewed.
 
FriendlyFH said:
I really went into my interview yesterday with very low expectations, but Yale blew me away with the thoughtfulness and the sensibility in everything they do. New Haven wasn't half as bad as how I imagined it would be. Rooting myself for the small chance of getting in! It's hard even post interview. They plan to accept only about 200 out of 735 interviewed.
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I had the same impression! Yale went from being off the radar to my top choice!! (Or one of them) 🙂
 
FriendlyFH said:
I really went into my interview yesterday with very low expectations, but Yale blew me away with the thoughtfulness and the sensibility in everything they do. New Haven wasn't half as bad as how I imagined it would be. Rooting myself for the small chance of getting in! It's hard even post interview. They plan to accept only about 200 out of 735 interviewed.
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Interesting. When I interviewed, dean Silverman said closer to 250/700ish. Maybe they decided on less now.
 
godawg300 said:
Interesting. When I interviewed, dean Silverman said closer to 250/700ish. Maybe they decided on less now.
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During my time there, I was told 250/750. For the entering class of 2014, 284 out of 745 were accepted to fill a class of 104 (according to the stats sheet they gave me during the interview day)
 
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