Inside the Yale Admissions Office

With Yale’s first application deadline approaching, Hannah, Mark, and special guest Alfie hosted a special live virtual event for students planning to apply in the current admissions cycle. The officers answered questions about standardized testing, essays, and how officers review applications, while busting a few myths and responding to some of the most persistent rumors about selective college admissions.

The opening episode in a mini-series about the first step in the admissions process: deciding where to apply. Samantha — the admissions office’s new senior assistant director for partnership programming —joins Hannah and Mark to share advice on asking questions of admissions representatives, current students, faculty and staff. The officers discuss how asking thoughtful personalized questions is an essential step in building a college list and share strategies for seeking insights about a college’s potential fit.

At the start of the new admissions cycle, Karen joins Hannah and Mark for the third annual preview of the questions that will appear on Yale’s first-year application. The admissions officers discuss the types of responses that are more and less effective and what admissions officers hope to learn about applicants when reading their responses. This episode is an update to Episode 6: Essays: The Little Stuff, originally released in summer 2020.

Recently admitted students in the Class of 2028 join Hannah and Mark for the second annual Bulldog Days Live episode, recorded during Yale’s three-day campus preview program. Admissions officers Becky and Julian discuss how admissions officers enjoy meeting admitted students in person and the conversations they have with Bulldog Days attendees. Three admitted students reflect on navigating the process of selecting a college after receiving admissions offers, and the hosts share dozens of pearls of wisdom submitted by audience members to help students navigate the process of making a final college decision.

To help listeners better understand what test scores can and can’t say about a student’s relative strengths, Mark outlines an analogy he devised that connects standardized tests to his favorite sport. Dean Quinlan joins to discuss how applicants often overemphasize testing, the many ways applicants can show academic preparedness, and famous New York Mets knuckleballer R.A. Dickey.

Part 3 in a 3-part series on Yale’s test-flexible policy. Over four years, Yale’s admissions office went from requiring the ACT or SAT, to being fully test-optional, to adopting a new test-flexible policy. Hannah and Mark give a quick history of the factors that led to those changes and an overview of what happened to Yale’s applicant pool in the wake of the pandemic. Dean of Undergraduate Admissions Jeremiah Quinlan joins to discuss the data and analyses that persuaded the admissions office to update its testing policy in early 2024.

Part 2 in a 3-part series on Yale’s test-flexible policy. Hannah and Mark reveal the details of Yale’s newly announced test-flexible policy, which goes into effect for first year and transfer applicants for fall 2025 admission. They explain how applicants will fulfill Yale’s requirement and describe the questions that will appear on Yale’s application. They address concerns and questions about the new policy and share advice for how applicants can put their best foot forward with their available scores.

Part 1 in a 3-part series on Yale’s test-flexible policy. Dean of Undergraduate Admissions Jeremiah Quinlan shares his thoughts on the role and value of tests generally, and how students should consider their scores during the college search process. Hannah and Mark discuss how admissions officers incorporate test scores in Yale’s whole-person review process, and they bust some persistent myths about testing.

With just days to go before Yale’s early action deadline, Hannah, Mark, and special guest Moira hosted a special live virtual event for students preparing their Yale applications. The officers answered questions about standardized testing, the activities list, essays, and short answer questions, while busting a few myths and dispelling rumors about the selection process.

In June 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in two cases about how admissions offices can consider an applicant’s race and ethnicity. Hannah and Mark explain the basics of the ruling and how it affects the work of the admissions office. Special guest Jeremiah Quinlan, Dean of Undergraduate Admissions and Financial Aid, joins to share his insights on why the ruling should not affect how applicants and educators approach the college application process, as well as the details of Yale’s strategy for responding to the ruling to ensure that Yale’s student body remains diverse along all dimensions. The ruling changed the court’s interpretation of the law, but it did not change Yale’s values.