2016-2017 Yale University Application Thread

Started by WedgeDawg
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II yesterday night at 8:30 PM! So surprised because I thought all the interview spots would be filled up at this point, but I'll take it. If anyone's wondering, there were slots up until 2/17, with many days still available (interviews are every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I believe)
 
watermelon16 said:
II yesterday night at 8:30 PM! So surprised because I thought all the interview spots would be filled up at this point, but I'll take it. If anyone's wondering, there were slots up until 2/17, with many days still available (interviews are every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I believe)
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Congrats! 🙂
When were you complete?
 
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watermelon16 said:
II yesterday night at 8:30 PM! So surprised because I thought all the interview spots would be filled up at this point, but I'll take it. If anyone's wondering, there were slots up until 2/17, with many days still available (interviews are every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I believe)
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stats?
 
Is anyone aware of when, roughly, in February the committee gets together to finalize decisions?
 
Iz_FtB said:
Is anyone aware of when, roughly, in February the committee gets together to finalize decisions?
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Nope...and neither does it matter! Decisions come out 3/9, that's the important part. Sit tight and await your fate 😏
 
avgn said:
Nope...and neither does it matter! Decisions come out 3/9, that's the important part. Sit tight and await your fate 😏
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I ask because I'd like to submit an update before then. The difference would be "I am invited to give a talk" vs "I gave a talk", depending on the timing. Wanted to make sure I don't delay too long is all.
 
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Iz_FtB said:
I ask because I'd like to submit an update before then. The difference would be "I am invited to give a talk" vs "I gave a talk", depending on the timing. Wanted to make sure I don't delay too long is all.
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Earlier rather than later. Send it now, whether you gave the talk or are going to in the near future of a couple weeks makes literally no difference. Note that this is my common sense speaking.
 
avgn said:
Earlier rather than later. Send it now, whether you gave the talk or are going to in the near future of a couple weeks makes literally no difference. Note that this is my common sense speaking.
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Yeah, in the absence of the committee date this is certainly right.

#1 school by a mile. Hoping to see all you fine people in August.
 
Not sure if you guys are being sarcastic but okay guess it's not fine to show any sign of weakness on SDN

No i didn't talk about the Yale system or indirectly any aspect of it because my interviewers were only interested in my past experiences. Some examples I raised out of honesty that showed more negative aspects of me and now I regret doing that.
 
jskyejet said:
Not sure if you guys are being sarcastic but okay guess it's not fine to show any sign of weakness on SDN

No i didn't talk about the Yale system or indirectly any aspect of it because my interviewers were only interested in my past experiences. Some examples I raised out of honesty that showed more negative aspects of me and now I regret doing that.
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How did they react? Did they say anything that indicated you did poorly?
 
jskyejet said:
Not sure if you guys are being sarcastic but okay guess it's not fine to show any sign of weakness on SDN

No i didn't talk about the Yale system or indirectly any aspect of it because my interviewers were only interested in my past experiences. Some examples I raised out of honesty that showed more negative aspects of me and now I regret doing that.
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I did that at my WashU interview and was sure that I "exposed" all the issues in my app...but I got in a few weeks later. Even though being so forward about weaknesses and not doing a great job at showing how you work on them/how you improve/etc is generally a bad idea in an interview, I think interviewers appreciate honesty above anything else. And if you got an interview at Yale, you're clearly already a strong applicant, so any self-deprecating info you gave may have only added depth to your app and made you more relatable as a person (vs. a shiny perfect pre-med-bot).

Hope this gives you a little reassurance..


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
jskyejet said:
Not sure if you guys are being sarcastic but okay guess it's not fine to show any sign of weakness on SDN

No i didn't talk about the Yale system or indirectly any aspect of it because my interviewers were only interested in my past experiences. Some examples I raised out of honesty that showed more negative aspects of me and now I regret doing that.
Click to expand...

From my experience in this interview/application process, people (including myself) really don't seem to have an accurate perception of how the interview went. People (again, including myself) tend to focus on what they think went wrong instead of what they said that was really good/positive. But talking about your weaknesses isn't necessarily a bad thing. It shows that you are introspective which is important when you are trying to improve study habits/how you interact with other people/lab skills/whatever. In short, I don't think anyone knows that they really screwed up in the interview unless you started bashing on the school or you couldn't think of anything when asked "why do you want to come here?".
 
Master_of_Savage said:
From my experience in this interview/application process, people (including myself) really don't seem to have an accurate perception of how the interview went. People (again, including myself) tend to focus on what they think went wrong instead of what they said that was really good/positive. But talking about your weaknesses isn't necessarily a bad thing. It shows that you are introspective which is important when you are trying to improve study habits/how you interact with other people/lab skills/whatever. In short, I don't think anyone knows that they really screwed up in the interview unless you started bashing on the school or you couldn't think of anything when asked "why do you want to come here?".
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...and I think this was what people way joking about in first few response posts (where you were wondering about sarcasm @jskyejet ). Keep your hope up! Chances are, you didn't do as terribly as you think!
 
O.T.I. said:
How did they react? Did they say anything that indicated you did poorly?
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Not really except slight disinterest 😛. Mostly me being neurotic about exposing bad qualities in terms of communication and teamwork I guess.

billbillbillbill said:
I did that at my WashU interview and was sure that I "exposed" all the issues in my app...but I got in a few weeks later. Even though being so forward about weaknesses and not doing a great job at showing how you work on them/how you improve/etc is generally a bad idea in an interview, I think interviewers appreciate honesty above anything else. And if you got an interview at Yale, you're clearly already a strong applicant, so any self-deprecating info you gave may have only added depth to your app and made you more relatable as a person (vs. a shiny perfect pre-med-bot).

Hope this gives you a little reassurance..
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Thanks 🙂 I suppose I'm just a bit strung. I really do love Yale

Master_of_Savage said:
From my experience in this interview/application process, people (including myself) really don't seem to have an accurate perception of how the interview went. People (again, including myself) tend to focus on what they think went wrong instead of what they said that was really good/positive. But talking about your weaknesses isn't necessarily a bad thing. It shows that you are introspective which is important when you are trying to improve study habits/how you interact with other people/lab skills/whatever. In short, I don't think anyone knows that they really screwed up in the interview unless you started bashing on the school or you couldn't think of anything when asked "why do you want to come here?".
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Ahh sorry about the immediate accusatory stance. Did not catch the message. Anyway, I did prepare a whole bunch about why I would have loved to go to Yale - scoured through their 100 reasons booklet first thing after I got the email lol - but unfortunately did not get an opportunity to express any of it; differentr interviewers interested in different things I suppose. thanks again 🙂

O.T.I. said:
...and I think this was what people way joking about in first few response posts (where you were wondering about sarcasm @jskyejet ). Keep your hope up! Chances are, you didn't do as terribly as you think!
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Yea did not catch the joke 😛. month left, good luck all!
 
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alex.jl1994 said:
I think some people withdraw preemptively because hitting that withdraw button feels a little better than getting a rejection email... though the outcome is the same lol
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Damn if anyone's frighteningly fragile ego cannot even withstand the horribly irreversibly dense psychological trauma of receiving and subsequently reading a rejection email from an admissions office...then medicine is the wrong field for them.

/lol
 
Master_of_Savage said:
From my experience in this interview/application process, people (including myself) really don't seem to have an accurate perception of how the interview went. People (again, including myself) tend to focus on what they think went wrong instead of what they said that was really good/positive. But talking about your weaknesses isn't necessarily a bad thing. It shows that you are introspective which is important when you are trying to improve study habits/how you interact with other people/lab skills/whatever. In short, I don't think anyone knows that they really screwed up in the interview unless you started bashing on the school or you couldn't think of anything when asked "why do you want to come here?".
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A faculty member who served on many an admissions committee once told me when I was interviewing that, "If you thought it went well, it went well. If you thought it went poorly, it still might have gone well." I think that particularly applies to this case because of what everyone else has been quick to point out, so I wouldn't worry. There's also the intrinsic difficultly of gauging admissions interviews because a rejection/waitlist doesn't equate to the admissions committee disliking you. Interviewers like many more interviewers than they could ever possibly admit, unfortunately. (Yale, in fact, has a second round of review where everyone who was "accepted" from the interview is re-evaluated again in context of the whole cycle. In that vein, both of your interviewers could have approved of your interview and passed you onward in the process but could still result in a waitlist. Just further support that re: a waitlist doesn't mean that your interviews went poorly.)
 
WesternBlot said:
A faculty member who served on many an admissions committee once told me when I was interviewing that, "If you thought it went well, it went well. If you thought it went poorly, it still might have gone well." I think that particularly applies to this case because of what everyone else has been quick to point out, so I wouldn't worry. There's also the intrinsic difficultly of gauging admissions interviews because a rejection/waitlist doesn't equate to the admissions committee disliking you. Interviewers like many more interviewers than they could ever possibly admit, unfortunately. (Yale, in fact, has a second round of review where everyone who was "accepted" from the interview is re-evaluated again in context of the whole cycle. In that vein, both of your interviewers could have approved of your interview and passed you onward in the process but could still result in a waitlist. Just further support that re: a waitlist doesn't mean that your interviews went poorly.)
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thank you! i was just strung because 1) Yale is without a doubt my #1 out of all the other interviews I have, and 2) I don't think my stats/ECs are enough to be competitive without a good interview performance. I realize not all interviewees are at the same level, so I was hoping to kind of level it out with the interview. But what's done is done!

Is Yale receptive to a letter of intent? I have no substantial updates beyond new grades, and from lurking around it seems a lot of the faculty on SDN think LOIs are meaningless, but anything that helps I will try.
 
jskyejet said:
thank you! i was just strung because 1) Yale is without a doubt my #1 out of all the other interviews I have, and 2) I don't think my stats/ECs are enough to be competitive without a good interview performance. I realize not all interviewees are at the same level, so I was hoping to kind of level it out with the interview. But what's done is done!

Is Yale receptive to a letter of intent? I have no substantial updates beyond new grades, and from lurking around it seems a lot of the faculty on SDN think LOIs are meaningless, but anything that helps I will try.
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I was waitlisted and sent an LOI which seemed to help. At least Silverman mentioned it when he called.
 
Hello, quick Q about financial aid. I remember them mentioning filling financial aid early (before acceptance) if you want to be considered. Is this necessary? I would rather not pay the CSS fee if I don't have to. Trying to get a general feel for what everyone is doing.

*bonus Q*- same question for BU, Mayo, and Baylor, if anyone else is applying there too.
 
Noodle456 said:
Hello, quick Q about financial aid. I remember them mentioning filling financial aid early (before acceptance) if you want to be considered. Is this necessary? I would rather not pay the CSS fee if I don't have to. Trying to get a general feel for what everyone is doing.

*bonus Q*- same question for BU, Mayo, and Baylor, if anyone else is applying there too.
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I don't think Mayo does CSS, do they?
 
CaliforniaDreamer said:
I was waitlisted and sent an LOI which seemed to help. At least Silverman mentioned it when he called.
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Ditto. However, sending an LOI too early is meaningless. Time it properly, don't waste a potentially useful tool. Note the "potentially." This is all guesswork.
 
Noodle456 said:
Hello, quick Q about financial aid. I remember them mentioning filling financial aid early (before acceptance) if you want to be considered. Is this necessary? I would rather not pay the CSS fee if I don't have to. Trying to get a general feel for what everyone is doing.

*bonus Q*- same question for BU, Mayo, and Baylor, if anyone else is applying there too.
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I would never pay CollegeBoard before I knew for sure that I had to. You'll still be considered for financial aid if you submit it later, it just won't come along with the acceptance letter so you can have it all ready. Not necessary IMO...response deadline is May 1, lots of time.
 
Noodle456 said:
Hello, quick Q about financial aid. I remember them mentioning filling financial aid early (before acceptance) if you want to be considered. Is this necessary? I would rather not pay the CSS fee if I don't have to. Trying to get a general feel for what everyone is doing.

*bonus Q*- same question for BU, Mayo, and Baylor, if anyone else is applying there too.
Click to expand...
deadline in March 16th, you have to file all documents by then.
 
jskyejet said:
thank you! i was just strung because 1) Yale is without a doubt my #1 out of all the other interviews I have, and 2) I don't think my stats/ECs are enough to be competitive without a good interview performance. I realize not all interviewees are at the same level, so I was hoping to kind of level it out with the interview. But what's done is done!

Is Yale receptive to a letter of intent? I have no substantial updates beyond new grades, and from lurking around it seems a lot of the faculty on SDN think LOIs are meaningless, but anything that helps I will try.
Click to expand...

I agree with the tenor of what everyone else has been saying. Anecdotally, LOI seem to be mentioned by Director Silverman when he speaks to WL students. Also, from working with Director Silverman, I don't doubt that he reads them all. That being said, LOIs are always important to craft well since it is your one chance to convince them. In my opinion, if you can do it very well, I would say that it is likely to help and unlikely to hurt (with potential to be neutral). (Read: Go for it if you're confident it'll be a strongly crafted message.)
 
WesternBlot said:
I agree with the tenor of what everyone else has been saying. Anecdotally, LOI seem to be mentioned by Director Silverman when he speaks to WL students. Also, from working with Director Silverman, I don't doubt that he reads them all. That being said, LOIs are always important to craft well since it is your one chance to convince them. In my opinion, if you can do it very well, I would say that it is likely to help and unlikely to hurt (with potential to be neutral). (Read: Go for it if you're confident it'll be a strongly crafted message.)
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Thank you! Actually, as I write this, I have two questions:

1) Would it be unwise to send it before decisions are out? i.e. might an LOI now change a rejection to a waitlist, or is it really only good for waitlist to acceptance so send it after Mar 9?
2) Specific to @WesternBlot since I creeped your MDApps profile (but other opinions welcome too!): did you ever mention the $ amount of grants etc. you received in your apps? I received some $60k across 4 grants for 2 projects, but never mentioned it in my AMCAS or Yale secondary as I thought it would make me seem focused on money, but now I feel like maybe that would have helped adcoms gauge the prestige of the awards since they are from my school and likely unknown to outsiders. Just wondering in case I have to apply again 🙂
 
jskyejet said:
Thank you! Actually, as I write this, I have two questions:

1) Would it be unwise to send it before decisions are out? i.e. might an LOI now change a rejection to a waitlist, or is it really only good for waitlist to acceptance so send it after Mar 9?
2) Specific to @WesternBlot since I creeped your MDApps profile (but other opinions welcome too!): did you ever mention the $ amount of grants etc. you received in your apps? I received some $60k across 4 grants for 2 projects, but never mentioned it in my AMCAS or Yale secondary as I thought it would make me seem focused on money, but now I feel like maybe that would have helped adcoms gauge the prestige of the awards since they are from my school and likely unknown to outsiders. Just wondering in case I have to apply again 🙂
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1) I'm not sure since I haven't served on the Admissions Committee. I could see pros/cons to both, but I'm not sure what would be best. If you have substantive updates that you think might sway them, it could be beneficial to send it sooner rather than later. Otherwise, you can use your LOI to update but also to truly demonstrate your intent to matriculate if you receive an acceptance, which will be more of a description of why Yale is a good fit (in my opinion). I don't know if that helps, but it's how I would think about it. Again, simply my opinion because I don't know how the Admissions Committee views them timing-wise.

2) 60K is a lot of money. I would have included it, but I included my numbers, as you can tell. I think that it gives them a gauge since who knows what 4 grants means. It could be 4x $500 or 4x $3,000 or 4x $15,000, which are drastically different. If you present it as informational and don't linger on it, I think it's okay to report numbers. Again, that's just my opinion. I doubt that you'll have to reapply, so the point is likely moot!
 
Got word that the final admissions committee meetings to make decisions are underway. For those who've interviewed, time to ramp up your prayers! One month left!
Also, next Friday is the last day of interviews, so it's safe to say at this point that all IIs are done.
 
avgn said:
Got word that the final admissions committee meetings to make decisions are underway. For those who've interviewed, time to ramp up your prayers! One month left!
Also, next Friday is the last day of interviews, so it's safe to say at this point that all IIs are done.
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NOOOOOOOOO
 
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avgn said:
Got word that the final admissions committee meetings to make decisions are underway. For those who've interviewed, time to ramp up your prayers! One month left!
Also, next Friday is the last day of interviews, so it's safe to say at this point that all IIs are done.
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@avgn pray for me plz
 
avgn said:
Got word that the final admissions committee meetings to make decisions are underway. For those who've interviewed, time to ramp up your prayers! One month left!
Also, next Friday is the last day of interviews, so it's safe to say at this point that all IIs are done.
Click to expand...
Reading this gives me retroactive anxiety.
 
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