Frequently
asked questions
Below are some questions
about Yale undergraduate admissions that are often asked by high
school students in Hong Kong and their parents. This section doesn't
attempt to answer general questions about Yale that might be asked
anywhere in the world; for general information, please visit Yale
College's admissions
page.
This information
is provided by the Yale Club of Hong Kong, an alumni association.
This is not an official Yale University website; opinions expressed
here are those of the Yale Club of Hong Kong.
What
subjects is Yale strongest in?
Yale is genuinely
strong in all subjects. It is one of only a few universities in
the United States that provide real excellence at the undergraduate
level in all departments.
What
is New Haven like?
Yale's home is the
historic town of New Haven, Connecticut, founded in 1638. Although
New Haven had a reputation as a recently as the early 1990s as
a backwater town with a crime problem, those days are behind:
the city is experiencing a renaissance. In the past decade, the
crime rate has dropped by more than 60%, and Yale now has one
of the best safety records in the Ivy League. In particular, the
areas around the campus are safe, clean and attractive, with dozens
of restaurants, local retailers and nightlife spots thriving.
In the past few years,
nearly 30 new biotechnology companies have been attracted to New
Haven, generating over $1.5 billion in private investment. The
downtown area is growing again, as is tourism. Most students arriving
at Yale for the first time are pleasantly surprised at how convenient,
livable and welcoming the city is.
If you've visited
New Haven recently, you've seen all this for yourself . If you
haven't, enjoy a do-it-yourself "weekend excursion"
walking tour written by
the travel editor of the New York Times.
How
hard is it to get into Yale from Hong Kong?
More than 100 students
from Hong Kong apply to Yale each year. (This does not include
Hong Kong students who apply to Yale from boarding schools overseas.)
The number accepted seems to average about 8-10 each year, although
for the Class of 2007 only 7 were accepted.
Does
Yale have a quota on admitting Hong Kong students?
No. Yale admits students
solely on their own merits. The number admitted from Hong Kong
goes up and down from year to year, sometimes quite a bit.
What
is Yale looking for?
In selecting a class
of 1,300 from well over 17,000 applicants, the Yale College Admissions
Committee looks for strong academic ability and achievement combined
with such personal characteristics as motivation, curiosity, energy,
and leadership ability. Admission is extremely competitive. Most
students admitted are among the top few at their respective high
schools.
Are my
chances better if I apply for certain areas of study?
This question is commonly
asked by ESF students who are more familiar with the British university
system, whereby a student applies to "read" in one particular
subject. By contrast, American liberal arts universities like
Yale encourage students to be challenged from a wide range of
courses in their first year or two before choosing a major (an
area of concentration) in the later years.
Many students who
arrive at Yale with a particular major in mind find that - to their delight
- they change their minds after being exposed
to previously unknown areas study. This is not surprising, since
Yale offers about 70 majors, many of them in areas that high school
curricula simply cannot cover.
Do
students from "American" schools in Hong Kong have an advantage?
No. Students at local
schools that embrace an American curriculum, such as the Hong
Kong International School, may have a better initial understanding
of what an American college education entails, but Yale is well
aware that excellent students can be found throughout all of Hong
Kong's top schools.
Over the past six
years, 59 students from 21 different Hong Kong schools have been
admitted to Yale. No one school predominates.
Are my chances less if my native language is
not English?
No. As one of the
few truly international universities, Yale appreciates that many
of its finest scholars will not be native English-speakers. However,
students at Yale must be able to understand rapid, idiomatic English
and to express themselves easily in both spoken and written English.
If your native language
is not English and you have not been taught primarily in English
for the past four years, Yale requires that you take the Test
of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL)
or the SAT II Writing Test. A minimum score of 600 is required
on the paper-based TOEFL; a minimum score
of 250 is required on the computer-based TOEFL.
How good
must my SAT scores be?
As important as your
SAT scores are, they are just one of many factors in your application.
As a rough indicator,
though, the most recent Yale class admitted (the Class of 2007)
had median SAT scores of 750 verbal and 750 math. As evidence
that test scores aren't everything, it's worth noting that every
year there are more students applying to Yale with perfect SAT
scores - 800 in verbal and/or math - who are not admitted than
who are.
Isn't
Yale expensive?
Like all top-ranked
universities in the United States, Yale is not cheap, even though
the fees paid by students actually cover only a fraction of Yale's
costs on their behalf. But if you are accepted, Yale is committed
to providing sufficient need-based financial aid to cover the
cost of attending. So you should not hesitate to apply to Yale
on financial grounds.
Are
my chances of admission less if I need financial aid?
No. Yale is strongly
committed to enrolling the best students, regardless of their
ability to pay. Its need-blind admissions policy, which covers
all students no matter where they apply from, ensures that the
College will be accessible to candidates of great personal and
academic promise from every part of the world. An application
for financial aid will have no bearing on the admissions decision.
 All
financial aid is based solely on demonstrated need. There are
no merit scholarships, either athletic or scholastic. The amount
of a financial aid award varies according to need; the student's
family will be expected to contribute funds to the extent it can,
and Yale will then meet the full demonstrated need of admitted
students through some combination of gift scholarship, long-term
loan, and term-time employment. Students
entering Yale with financial aid renew their aid application each
year, and they will continue to receive aid as long as they demonstrate
sufficient financial need.
Funds for transportation
to and from the United States are not included in financial aid
awards. International students are expected to provide money for
their own travel expenses.
For further information
on financial aid, please visit the Undergraduate Admissions section
of Yale's website and consult the pages on financial
aid.
Is
it possible to start at another university and then transfer to
Yale?
It's possible, yes.
But Yale's student retention rate is so high - at nearly 99%,
it's the highest among major U.S. universities - that very few
transfer places are available. Last year, the acceptance rate
for transfer students was only 4.3%, with 35 taken from a pool
of 800 who applied. So your chances of getting in as a transfer
student are even smaller than as a regular first-year applicant.
For further information,
write to the Transfer Department, Office of Undergraduate Admissions,
P.O. Box 208234, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8234, USA, or visit
the section of Yale's website on transfer
students.
Is
it better to apply to Yale in Form 6 or Form 7?
Competition
to get into Yale is intense. An extra year of secondary education
gives students more time to mature and more time to prove themselves
- not only to Yale, but to themselves as well. For this reason,
while it's possible to be admitted to Yale from Form 6, Yale strongly
encourages most students to apply from Form 7.
If
I enter Yale from Form 7, can I start as a second-year student?
Matriculating students
may petition to receive credit for A-Level work. This is usually
done in the first semester of freshman year. Credit is awarded
on an individual basis, and may or may not bring a student one
year closer to graduation. For further details about "acceleration
credit" at Yale, visit the "Acceleration and Credit"
page at the website of Yale Undergraduate Admissions (click here)
and Chapter II of Yale College Programs of Study on line
(click here).
If
I've done exceptionally well in high school, can I earn credits
towards a Yale degree?
Yes. Yale awards "acceleration
credit" to students who wish to graduate in fewer than eight
terms for scores of 4 or 5 on most (though not all) of the Advanced
Placement exams; for scores of 6 or 7 on the higher-level International
Baccalaureate exams; and for A-Level results of A or B, as mentioned
above.
Does
Yale offer Early Decision?
 Yale
used to offer Early Decision, but came to realize that it wasn't
working well for students. Too many felt that if they didn't make
an Early Decision application somewhere - even to a school
that they weren't sure was right for them - they would be
decreasing their chance of acceptance. The result was that too
much pressure was being placed on high school students, too early.
Yale now offers Single-Choice
Early Action, which is designed for students who have decided
that Yale is clearly their first-choice institution. This program
is similar to non-binding plans at other schools in that candidates
who are admitted early need not respond to the offers of admission
until May 1, and may also apply by Regular Decision to other schools.
(This would, for example, allow students and their parents to
compare offers of financial aid in the spring.)
However, Yale's early
plan is unlike standard Early Action programs in that candidates
may not apply under Early Action or Early Decision programs to
any other school. (In
other words, students who are candidates for another college's
Early Action or Early Decision program may not apply for Single-Choice
Early Action at Yale.) If you want to apply early to Yale, you
and your parent or guardian will be asked to sign an agreement
stating that you intend to file only one early application, to
Yale.
The application deadline
for Early Action is November 1. Students will receive a response
of admit, defer, or deny in mid-December. Candidates who are deferred
under Early Action will be reviewed again in March in the context
of the entire Yale applicant pool and will receive a final decision
in early April. Applicants denied admission under Early
Action are not eligible for reconsideration during the March meetings
of the Admissions Committee.
Are
my chances better if I apply under Early Action?
Don't feel bad if
you're not sure which school you want to attend. It's understandable
that Hong Kong students who haven't studied in the United States
will probably be uncertain as to which American university might
be best for them.
The purpose of Early
Action at Yale is not to give you a way of making your application
look stronger, but to help you get an earlier "yes" or "no" if
you're totally confident that Yale is your first choice. If this
is the case, by all means apply under the Early Action program.
Otherwise, don't hesitate to apply under the Regular Decision
schedule. Either way, your application will be judged on its merits.
How
can I arrange an interview?
Once your application
has been received at Yale, the Undergraduate Admissions Office
will contact the Yale Club of Hong Kong and ask that an interview
be conducted. A local member of the Yale Club will then get in
touch with you and schedule an interview at a mutually convenient
time and place. So you need not do anything; the Yale Club will
contact you.
How
about visiting Yale?
If you will be traveling
to the eastern United States, we encourage you to visit Yale.
Even if you aren't ready to apply yet, Yale is blessed with what
one architectural critic has called "the most beautiful urban
campus in the United States," and it's well worth a visit for
your entire family. The University's museums, libraries, art galleries
and public walks make for a fascinating visit; allow at least
one full day, if you can.
 We
would also urge you to spend some time exploring the historic
town of New Haven, which was chosen as an "All-America City"
in 1998. New Haven was one of ten U.S. cities to win this coveted
designation in a competition sponsored by the National Civic League,
which seeks to honor communities that best exemplify grass-roots
problem-solving and municipal pride. As mentioned above, the city
is currently experiencing a renaissance of urban renewal and civic
pride, and is becoming one of the East Coast's primary biotechnology
hubs.
New Haven is easily
accessible by car, train, or other public transportation. The
Office of Undergraduate Admissions holds general group information
sessions Monday through Friday throughout the year and on Saturday
mornings from September through mid-November. You can get the
latest schedule of information sessions and campus tours from
Yale's website.
Campus tours are offered
every day of the week. Appointments are not necessary for a group
session or a campus tour.
If you visit Yale
when school is in session, you may wish to observe a class or
spend a weeknight on campus in a student dormitory. The Admissions
Office can help arrange an overnight stay, but you should write
or call well in advance of your arrival:
Yale University
Office of Undergraduate Admissions
P.O. Box 208234
New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8234  U.S.A.
+1 203 432-9300 (phone)
+1 203 432-9392 (fax)
undergraduate.admissions@yale.edu
Is
there anyone in Hong Kong I can talk to?
Yes. If you have questions
about Yale, or about applying to Yale, please call the chair of
the Yale Club's Alumni Schools Committee, Ann Chan (Yale
College '98), at 2354-3714 during office hours, or send her an
e-mail.
|
Introducing
Yale (click 
Yale
is located in historic New Haven, Connecticut, a port city of 130,000
people some 120 kilometers northeast of New York City and 240 kilometers
southwest of Boston. Founded in 1701, the University today consists
of 12 schools:
The
best place to start is the admissions page of the school you're
thinking of applying to. Some of them offer application forms that
can be downloaded and submitted via the Internet:
Yale's
own summer programs are designed primarily for current university
students, although high school students are permitted to apply
for some of them on an academically competitive basis. For additional
information, visit the