YALE UNIVERSITY

Yale Application Requirements, Admissions Tips, and University Guide

Yale is a school whose rich history can be dated back to the 1640s in the colonial town of New Haven. It was officially founded in 1701 but wasn’t called “Yale College” until 1718. Since then, it has come to be recognized as one of the greatest universities in the world, and its campus houses world-class museums, research facilities, and libraries. Here are a few things to know about this Ivy League university.

Where is Yale located?

Yale is located in the eclectic city of New Haven, which has been described as “large enough to be interesting yet small enough to be friendly.” Located between Boston and New York, New Haven provides the community feeling of a smaller city with convenient access to all that its nearby metropolises have to offer. The history of the Elm City and the school has been inextricably tied for over three hundred years, and Yale students are often active members of the New Haven community. Many undergraduates participate in community service, especially in New Haven’s public schools.

New Haven is certainly known as a “foodie” town — the small town offers a dizzying array of cuisines, and is even where the first-ever hamburger was sold in 1895. According to Thrillist, “you’re not legally allowed to love pizza until you’ve eaten it in New Haven, Connecticut.” Food trucks are also a big part of food culture here — at Ingalls Rink, commonly referred to as “the Whale,” undergraduates and graduates flock to the food trucks stationed outside the rink for lunch, where they have their pick of Bengali to Ethiopian to Mediterranean cuisines.

For a virtual tour of Yale, click here!

Why Yale?

Yale consistently ranks in the top 5 for universities in the U.S. You’ve probably heard the name Yale mentioned frequently in movies, on the news, or on TV. But what makes Yale so special? Yale is known for its excellent arts programs, most notably its drama and music programs. The arts are heavily integrated into Yale’s culture, especially in its a cappella scene. The co-ed Whiffenpoofs are a world-famous group — they even embark on a global tour! Yale’s drama scene is also famous, with alumni such as Meryl Streep, Paul Giamatti, and Lupita Nyong’o. Besides the arts, Yale’s is known for their secret societies. The most well-known society, Skull and Bones, counts George W. Bush and John Kerry among its alumni.

Yale’s Residential College housing system randomly assigns incoming first-year students to one of the fourteen residential colleges. Each college is intended to be a microcosm of the Yale community, and provide students with a smaller community as a home base. While the colleges have different architectural styles, all of them have a dining hall, library, and buttery, a late night snack bar that sells inexpensive study fuel and serves as a hang out for students in search of a study break. Some residential colleges have other facilities, such as gyms, game rooms, music practice spaces, pottery studios, or basketball courts.

How diverse is the student body at Yale?

Students admitted to the Class of 2026 represent 49 states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, Guam, and 58 countries. They will arrive as graduates of more than 1,500 secondary schools, and their intended majors include 81 of Yale’s undergraduate academic programs.

Based on information published by Yale on its Class of 2025, 50% of students identify as white, 12% as African American, 25% as Asian American, 15% identify as Hispanic, 3% as Native American, and 12% as international. 63% of students attended public school, 21% attended an independent day school, 10% attended a boarding school, and 6% attended a religious school. Geographically within the U.S., 29% hailed from the Northeast, 9% from the Middle Atlantic, 12% from the South, 10% from the Midwest, 7% from the Southwest, 17% from the West, and 14% from “other” including international. 16% of freshmen were first-generation college students.

How do I get into Yale?

To apply to Yale, you will need to submit:

• Common Application, Coalition Application, or QuestBridge Application (All complete with additional Yale supplemental questions)
• $80 non-refundable application fee (or fee waiver)
• Two Letters of Recommendation from Teachers
• High School Transcripts
• Letter of Recommendation from a School Counselor
• Official SAT scores or official ACT scores (applicants for the 2022-2023 cycle should be aware that Yale is test-optional admission due to the COVID-19 pandemic)
• Mid-Year Report detailing first-semester grades

Single Choice Early Action

If you would like an admissions decision by mid-December, you may apply under Yale’s Single-Choice Early Action program (otherwise known as Restrictive Early Action). The program is like other non-binding plans in that candidates who are admitted early need not respond to the offer of admission until May 1, and may apply to other schools for Regular Decision. If you apply for Single-Choice Early Action at Yale, you may not simultaneously apply for Early Action or Early Decision to any other school with a few exceptions. If you apply early to Yale, you are indicating that the only Early Action/Early Decision application you intend to file is Yale’s, unless another early application is covered by one of the exceptions listed below.

If you are a Single-Choice Early Action applicant to Yale, you may apply to another institution’s early admission program as follows:
You may apply to any college’s non-binding rolling admission program.
You may apply to any public institution at any time, provided that admission is non-binding.
You may apply to another college’s Early Decision II program, but only if the notification of admission occurs after January 1. If you are admitted through another college’s Early Decision II binding program, you must withdraw your application from Yale.
You may apply to another college’s Early Action II program.
You may apply to any institution outside of the United States at any time.

What is Yale’s acceptance rate?

According to the Yale Daily News, the acceptance rate for the 2021-2022 admissions cycle is 4.46 percent, the lowest in recent history. It dropped from 4.62 percent for the class of 2025, 6.54 percent for the class of 2024 and 5.91 percent for the class of 2023. Yale admitted 2,234 students to the class of 2026 from an applicant pool of 50,015, its largest ever. Of the students Yale accepted, 800 were through early action and 81 matched with Yale through QuestBridge in December. Yale also said it extended waitlist status to 1,000 students and admitted 46 students who were admitted last year but deferred their enrollment to fall 2022.
While these high scores may be intimidating, Yale has a holistic application review process and no score cutoffs.

Can I afford Yale’s tuition?

Yale’s tuition and fees in 2022-2023 total $80,604. There is no difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition at Yale. Fortunately, Yale is committed to its generous financial aid policy. Families receiving a Yale financial aid award do not pay the full cost of attendance. Instead, Yale calculates an Expected Family Contribution based on the Estimated Cost of Attendance and a family’s specific Demonstrated Financial Need, which is determined through the financial aid application process. Yale is committed to covering 100% of every family’s Demonstrated Financial Need with a financial aid award that does not require loans. Yale does not expect students to finance their college education with debt, and loans are not included in the Yale financial aid award. The Yale Scholarship can vary from a few hundred dollars to over $70,000 per year; the average Yale need-based scholarship is over $50,000.

What are the academic requirements at Yale?

Yale does not have a core curriculum, but instead uses distributional requirements to encourage students to take a breadth of courses. Yale requires that students take at least two course credits in each of their three areas: humanities and arts, sciences, and social sciences. Students must also complete two course credits in quantitative reasoning and two course credits in writing. Finally, students must fulfill a foreign language requirement, which can range from one to three courses depending on the level of proficiency at time of matriculation. In some cases, the language requirement may also be fulfilled by study abroad courses.

By the end of their sophomore year, students are required to choose their major or double major. Yale does not offer minors, but does offer certificate programs for students interested in deepening their knowledge of a language, skill, or pursuing an interdisciplinary course of study.

Does Yale have a good athletic department?

Yale has a range of athletic programs including 30+ men’s and women’s varsity teams; over 50 club sports (most of which are co-ed); and intramural programs. Yale’s golf course has been rated the #1 campus golf course by Golfweek and in 2021, Golf Magazine rated it as one of the top 100 courses in the world. Yale also has facilities for tennis, polo, sailing, ice hockey, and more. Many students are also active participants in club sports. Although some clubs remain solely recreational, most are highly competitive.

National collegiate championships have been won by men’s basketball, women’s volleyball, croquet, fishing, polo, rugby, sailing, and skeet shooting. Additionally, numerous individual national collegiate championships have been won by a variety of club athletes. In 1976, Brad Simmons, captain of the Yale Skeet and Trap Club, was the first civilian shooter in twenty years to make the U.S. Olympic Skeet Team!

*Updated 2022