This is the official thread for those applying REA to Yale University.
List your unweighted GPA, any SAT /ACT scores, and ECs. What majors are you going into?
Ask your questions, the CC community is here to help!
Hi! I’m a french international student with a US passport. I have a 43/45 predicted score on my IB and a 1550 SAT. I am a national-level fencer, have won multiple international debate conferences, and am president of the Student Council. I want to major in Gov. and math.
I was thinking about applying REA to Yale. Any thoughts/tips on strategy or things to highlight in my essays? Any help is appreciated!
Have you contacted the fencing coach to see if he can support you as an athletic recruit? That is the surest way in.
Your stats make you competitive. The key will be the strength of your LoR’s and how well you can sell yourself as being an asset to the Yale community in your essays.
Is there a place for a resume upload in the portal?
I do not think so
3.9 unweighted GPA. 35 ACT. Biology/pre-med. Clean record.
Seems REA applicants start alumni interviews in recent days (posts on Reddit). Curious how much correlation between alumni interview invitation and acceptance? Yale’s website said it optional, no advantage or disadvantage.
While the interviews are “optional”, getting an interview has become selective. While there are some applicants who do not get interviewed who are accepted, those are the exception. Please refer to the series of podcasts on Yale’s Inside the Yale Admissions Office Podcast | Yale College Undergraduate Admissions especially Episode 30 where there is now an initial cull of applications. In the last cycle there were only 9,000 completed interviews vs 50,000 applicants vs 2,300 acceptances.
I read somewhere that the date for the SCEA decisions was confirmed for 12/17. Anyone knows if that’s true and what’s the source?
Yes, the portal says December 17, 2025 at 5:00pm (Eastern)
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Thanks for the stats!
Hello: For students who have an interview, how much are they expected to know about their chosen field? For example a kid who goes to a public HS with very traditional courses–i.e. math is bio or chem, english is English 9,10,11,12 but thinks they want to study something that relates to their ECs in a very clear way despite having little experience of it. Just knowing kids at private schools who get to dig into so much more I wonder if curiosity about the topic and a little knowledge is enough. I feel like some kids will present as ready to hit the ground running toward their final destination whereas my kid is going to need the chance to wander around and smell a few daisies on the way. How does Yale feel about that?
First generally, Yale looks for kids who want to take advantage of a liberal arts education. Exhibiting curiosity about a variety of things is a positive. This in fact is emphasized in one of the podcasts.
For me as an interviewer, I don’t test their knowledge deeply. But if a kid chooses to talk about something, I look for familiarity with the subject, why they are drawn to it and some insights. The only time I have had my radar up is when a kid’s EC and courses scream “premed”, but they profess an interest in “cultural anthropology”. I am going to dig a bit deeper then. My best advice for interviewees is to choose to talk about things that truly interest them. They are more likely then to have an engaged conversation which more likely will result in a favorable assessment.
While not required, do you suggest a resume?
We are encouraged not to ask for one. We want the applicant to lead the conversation. Yale makes it a point for us to interview each kid with a blank slate, so we have no idea of grades, test scores or classes. The only piece of info we have is the applicant’s indication of major(s).
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Thanks so much! Feeling like an interview invite is an overall good sign. Not going to read into it too much.
Yes, you know the applicant passed the first cut. Best of luck!
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recently heard from a Yale parent who also works at the university that starting with the Class of 2029, only students who received an interview have a chance of being admitted, even though the Yale website still says interviews are optional and not required.
Does anyone know if this is true? Has the interview policy or practice actually changed in recent cycles?
Yes, the policy was changed several years ago when the AO decided that they were not going to try to interview every applicant. It had become a burden for them and the interviewers to go through this process with kids that they knew were likely to be rejected. The official statement is that they will seek interviews with applicants that they need more information from. There will be a very small set of “no-doubters” that get accepted without an interview, but getting an interview is a good thing these days. See my post #8 above.