“Bulldogs! Bulldogs! Bow wow wow! Eli Yale!” Yale students, sometimes known as Elis, cheer loud and proud, particularly when they’re playing football against their “crimson” rival. World famous for its academic prestige and influential alumni, Yale has more than earned its reputation, and if you get into this extremely competitive school, you’ll have good reason to cheer yourself!

Yale: The Basics

Public

Private

Liberal Arts

Research University

Affiliation: Secular (nonreligious)

The Location (New Haven, Connecticut):

Apizza, anyone? Though smaller and less famous than nearby Boston or New York, the town of New Haven is famous for its delicious “apizza,” the local take on pizza. Yale’s close-knit campus is located in the center of town, with an easy walk to shops and restaurants, and plenty of transportation links for a weekend getaway to the big city.

The Numbers

Admission Rate

 5.9%

Average High School GPA

 4.19

Preferred Standardized Test 

 Either

Average SAT Score 

1460-1560

Average ACT Score 

 33-35

Accepts ACT Superscore?

 Yes

Application Deadline

 November 3

Accepts Common App?

 Yes

Tuition (Annual)

 $55,500

Enrollment

 12,385 undergraduates

Average Class Size

 <20

You’d Make a Great Bulldog If:

  • You have presidential aspirations. Yale has produced five US presidents, including most recently Barack Obama and George W. Bush.
  • You want a mix of the liberal arts and research university experiences. Yale’s collegiate system, modeled on those of Oxford and Cambridge in England, provides students with a smaller “college” where they live, eat, and socialize, in addition to the coursework they do in the broader university itself.
  • You like to try things before making up your mind. Yale students have a “shopping week” at the start of term, where they can try out different classes and see what they think of them before they register.

Fun Fact(s):

Can you keep a secret? Yale is home to a variety of “secret societies,” including the infamous Skull and Bones, to which multiple US Presidents have belonged. While no one is entirely sure what goes on in a Yale secret society, or how they choose their recruits, many of their members have gone on to accomplish great things, so they must be doing something right!

Famous Alumni:

William Howard Taft: US President

Jodie Foster: Actress

Samuel F. B. Morse:
Inventor

Sonia Sotomayor:
US Supreme Court Justice

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