Yale Rejection Letter from Class of '74

Applying to College
1

<p>This was lovingly sent to my mom in 1970, the first year Yale accepted women.</p>

<p>"Dear Miss --------:</p>

<p>"The Admissions Committee has concluded its meetings and it is with regret I must write to advise you that your application was not approved for admission to the Class of 1974. With over three thousand applications to consider for the two hundred and thirty places available for women in the Class, it was inevitable that many candidates with excellent credentials would have to be denied. Unquestionably, the Committee’s decisions reflect the extreme competition which existed this year among women for spaces in the Class.</p>

<p>"We realized the disappointment this will bring to you and I am sorry I must write you of this decision. We know you will be able to conclude other plan and the Committee and the Admissions Staff have asked me to extend our best wishes for your future success.</p>

<p>“Sincerely,
John Muyskens, Jr.
Director”</p>

<p>My mom ended up at Berkeley (boo-hoo) and graduated in three years. Funny how these things work out and how the letters never change.</p>

2

<p>wow, your mom is old</p>

3

<p>yep… plenty of time to get over the rejection. lol</p>

4

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<p>a) I don’t know what the size of Yale’s class of '74 was, but 230 places would be something like one fifth of the class of '11.
b) I’m sure that most selective schools try to gender-balance their classes; still, it’s really surprising that they would say flat-out in their rejection letters that they have gender quotas. Very different time . . .</p>

5

<p>Yeah, I’m sure if they said, “All 25 of the Asian spots have been filled,”, they’d have a class-action suit on their hands in this day and age!</p>

6

<p>This was the seventies. They hadn’t even admitted women before this. It was assumed that they would have quotas.</p>