<p>Sorry just a question here, so there is no way we can expand it into a full essay if 150 words are really really insufficient?</p>
<p>^ Nope, don’t even think about it. Part of being a good student is expressing yourself concisely.</p>
<p>Don’t think of it as an essay, but as a short answer. I’d recommend answering it straight up, rather than constructing an anecdote, as I don’t believe 150 words is enough space to even properly tell one. As southeasttitan noted, they like brevity, or at least an indication you clearly know why you want to attend Yale (which would be manifest in a focused, succinct, paragraph.) The prompt itself hints at this, at least last year’s - it asks, in its key phrase “what in particular”, rather than a more general “Why Yale”. It seems clear the admissions committee only wants to hear about which aspects of Yale are truly important to the applicant, and consequently looks favorably upon responses that are focused and direct. There must be some reasons, beyond the prestige, that you especially like Yale, and those are the ones that should be mentioned in your response.</p>