According to Mark Dunn, senior associate director for outreach and recruitment at the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, Yale College’s yield rate typically hovers around 70 percent from year to year and is not prone to significant fluctuations. Over the past 10 years, the yield rate has not dipped below 67.1 percent or risen above 72.2 percent.

“The yield looks very encouraging and very similar to previous years, with the caveat that we don’t really pay too much attention until we’re on the other side of the May 1 deadline,” said Dunn.

Colleges routinely admit more students than they expect to enroll, predicting that many applicants are weighing offers from multiple institutions.

The Office of Undergraduate Admissions was unable to provide specific counts for this year’s yield rate, as the “numbers are moving targets,” according to Dunn.

Dunn emphasized that April is the most important time frame for Yale to make an effort to connect with admitted students.

The team at Office of Undergraduate Admissions continues to prioritize in-person visits, with the three-day Bulldog Days program remaining the most popular option, alongside Bulldog Friday, Yalie for a Day, and local receptions hosted by the admissions team. At the same time, virtual programming — such as the 30 Bulldog Days of April — has remained popular since its launch in 2020, offering a month-long series of online panels and events for admitted students.

This year, the admissions team made 2,346 total offers of admission, aiming to hit their target class size of 1,650 for next year’s first-year class — a change from their previous target of 1,550 after increasing their class size by 100 students starting with the class of 2029.

Dunn explained that higher yield rates decrease the likelihood of students being admitted off the waitlist, and in many years, the office is interested in making some additional offers to students in May.

“The attitude in the admissions office is that we are absolutely thrilled when we have a chance to admit students on the waitlist because we know that there are so many exceptionally strong students,” Dunn said.

According to a News survey of the class of 2028, of the 541 respondents, 8 percent were also admitted to Harvard.

The News spoke with students who faced, or are currently facing, the decision between peer institutions, Harvard and Yale. While some students found the decision to be simple, others struggled to choose.

After being admitted to both Harvard and Yale, Powell Munro Holzner ’27 wrote that choosing Yale was “the easiest decision in the world.”

After attending Vistas, Harvard’s two-day admitted students program on campus, and Bulldog Days, Munro Holzner quickly came to a decision.

“Yale as a place and people was so much more heartfelt, optimistic, and open than Harvard,” Munro Holzner wrote to the News. “I have friends at both places, and I hear over and over how much this tracks with student experience. All agree Harvard is more formulaic, instrumental, and internally separated.”

“Yale keeps vibrant your love for what you do; at Harvard, you may find yourself wringing it out, lifeless by the end, in service of some distant future,” Munro Holzner added.

For Dana Ko ’27, the decision between Harvard and Yale was initially less clear-cut. However, like Munro Holzner, Bulldog Days made the difference.

Ko applied for admission to Yale during the restrictive early action round and was accepted.

“I had spent months imagining myself at Yale and getting really excited to come here,” Ko wrote to the News.

In March, Ko was also accepted to Harvard, leaving her with the difficult decision of which school to choose.

She made lists of pros and cons, comparing departments and clubs and weighed the advantages of living in New Haven versus Cambridge. However, none of these lists provided the deciding factor. Instead, Bulldog Days proved to be the reason Ko chose Yale.

“It wasn’t until I got to Bulldog Days and felt an inexplicable sense of feeling at home that I was reminded of the reasons I loved Yale,” Ko wrote. “I loved the residential colleges, the debate and political spaces, and focus on the arts at Yale and knew it was the right place for me.”

Miro Raj, a newly admitted student from Lower Merion High School in Pennsylvania, is also torn between Yale and Harvard. An accomplished violinist, Raj said that the arts culture has played a significant role in his consideration of Yale.

In contrast, he cited the name of Harvard and “better opportunities in the Boston area” as persuasive reasons for possibly choosing Harvard.

Dunn emphasized the importance of ensuring that all students, regardless of their background, have opportunities to engage with the full range of communities that make up Yale. Student groups — such as the Rural Students Alliance and many organizations affiliated with Yale’s cultural centers — play a large role in outreach by organizing events that represent their unique communities. 

“The best thing we can do is make sure all of our students have a chance to see the full diversity of communities that make up the larger Yale community,” Dunn said.

The yield rate for Yale’s class of 2028 was 69.8 percent.

The post Yale anticipates steady yield rate as national recruitment efforts expand appeared first on Yale Daily News.

The regular decision admits join 728 students who were accepted through Yale’s single-choice early action program, along with 66 students admitted via the Yale QuestBridge National College Match. In total, Yale received 50,227 applications to the College’s class of 2029 — the third-largest applicant pool in the University’s history. Of those, 2,308 students — or 4.59 percent — were offered admission and 943 were offered a spot on the waitlist. 

The admitted students represent all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, four U.S. territories and 65 countries, and they come from more than 1,575 secondary schools worldwide.

The class of 2029 will also be joined by 38 students admitted during the 2023-24 cycle who decided to postpone their matriculation for one year. 

The class of 2029 were admitted to Yale amidst new shifts in the University’s admissions process. 

In early February, the University announced that it would be increasing its undergraduate class size by 100 students, to a total of 1,650 students per class. However, the proposed total college size of 6,600 students is still lower than the current size of the Yale student body at around 6,700 due to COVID-19 deferrals of enrollment. 

“I am thrilled that the change allows Yale to provide more life-changing opportunities to more students,” wrote Jeremiah Quinlan, dean of undergraduate admissions and financial aid. “By expanding enrollment, we increase Yale’s excellence, broaden our graduates’ reach, and magnify their impact in communities around the world.”

After four years of a test-optional policy that allowed applicants to decide whether to submit test scores, the class of 2029 applicants had to submit standardized test scores. Applicants could select one or more types of tests from a list of four options — SAT, ACT, Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate. Those who choose to send AP or IB scores are required to include results from all subject exams that they have taken.

During the first test-flexible admissions cycle, both early applications and international applicant numbers declined compared to previous years.

The class of 2029 is also the second to be admitted since the Supreme Court struck down race-conscious college admissions. In the class of 2028, the first admitted with race-blind admissions, Black and Latine enrollment remained stable while the share of Asian American students slightly decreased.

In April, the admissions office will invite all newly admitted students to visit campus for Bulldog Days, a three-day experience where admitted students can experience life at Yale through campus tours, panels and student performances.

Admitted students will have until May 1 to respond to their offer of admission.

The post Yale admits 4.59 percent of applicants, marking slight uptick in acceptance rate appeared first on Yale Daily News.

One thing you must know about me: I probably love ducks more than anything else. See exhibit A for evidence. So when the ducks appeared on campus, I was initially ecstatic. 

Exhibit A: way back in the day, at the exact point my personal style peaked.

Filled with the usual journalistic drive — it’s called nosiness for those who have never encountered someone from the YDN — I needed to know who was behind the appearance of the ducks. I hoped to meet the other duck enthusiasts on campus. All I wanted was to write a short article for the University desk explaining where the ducks had come from, filled with a shortage of useful information and to the brim with duck puns: simple, snappy, and with a little bit of dad humor. I pitched the article to my editors, and they gave me the green light. 

I did not know what I was in for. 

The first step was to pond-er over it. Why did these ducks appear? First, I exhausted the obvious options. The Odd Ducks, a sketch and stand-up comedy group, was a logical choice. Or perhaps the Yale Birding Student Association was the culprit. After all, they hosted a duck talk recently.  Could it be a rogue faction of students from CS50, a large computer science class that uses an AI duck for problem set advice? 

I came up empty but knew who to go to. 

I asked my roommate about the ducks, and she quickly found an Instagram account. Usually, sourcing for an article is relatively uncomplicated. I meet up with a source, ask them questions and get the answers necessary for an article. Most sourcing does not include the receipt of mysterious coordinates. Most sources do not find out where I live. 

The account was called Ducks of Yale and had hundreds of photos of the tiny ducks around campus on their profile. Their Instagram bio read, “Bringing a waddling of ducks to @yale! 1800 ducks around campus need loving homes! See one, take one! Not affiliated with Yale.” Each duck on the account had a name. Elizabeth was attached to a DANGER CONSTRUCTION sign. Ethan and Adam chilled on separate fire alarms. The account confirmed the observations I’d made in the wild: the ducks were everywhere. 

I’d found our guy.

Naturally, I messaged them, introducing myself as a beat reporter, asking for the egg-splanation about the ducks, and telling them about the timeline for the article. Hours later, I received a message back.

Coffee chat.

Tomorrow.

Okay, not a bad start. I asked them for a time and place. 

8:30 PM. 

My roommate quacked up when I told her they requested a coffee chat at night. In all honesty, I would scoff at a coffee chat scheduled for 8:30 p.m. at any place but Yale. Here, any time seems to be game for caffeine and conversation.

My roommate also reminded me that I should probably find out who I was messaging for safety reasons, especially if we were to meet up at night. I asked who I was talking to.

The ducks organization.

Of course. Well, I figured that anyone with a passion for ducks couldn’t be too menacing. I brushed past the mystery and asked where they wanted to meet up. 

It is imperative that we meet at 41.317767, -72.922554. 

Against my better judgment, I plugged the coordinates into Google Maps. The location was between Kline Tower and Sterling Chemistry Lab, two places that I hardly ever waddle over to, much less for coffee at night. 

I thought about the possible outcomes of this meet-up. In the best-case scenario, one person would show up at the scheduled time and place, giving me a concise, friendly explanation for the ducks. In the worst case scenario, I would be ab-duck-ted. The most likely case was that no one would show up, and I would stand out in the cold for ten minutes before making my way back to cross-campus. 

I ruminated on the possibilities. Meanwhile, the duck flock moved in on its target. 

When I returned to my dorm in the evening, a tiny rubber duck was perched on the sign outside of my dorm. I laughed uneasily. I assumed my roommate decided to prank me, with her being the only person with knowledge of my conversation with the duck organization. I asked her if she was the culprit. She did not know what I was talking about. 

Next, I asked my suitemates. Neither of them put the duck there. One of my suitemates told me she was sitting in the hallway when two guys came by the dorm, waiting for her to leave the hall. When she didn’t, they hurried to place the duck there before flying away.

Unless my suitemate was lying and placed the duck there, the little rubber duck in front of my dorm signaled that their flock had found me. 

When I told my suitemates I intended to meet up with the mysterious duck flock at night behind Kline Tower, they informed me that might be a stupid idea. Perhaps I’d left the nest too soon for my survival instincts to catch up with my newly minted college freedoms, mainly the ability to contact strangers online about my interests and call it journalism. 

Exhibit B: the open invitation for an explanation.

The next day, I moved around campus in slight terror. I contracted anatidaephobia, the fear that a duck may be watching you, which is a real thing. Look it up if you are skeptical. I walked to JE to get lunch. A duck watched me from its station atop a scroll on the gate. I attended a review session in Davies Auditorium. A duck stared from a metal art installation on the wall. When I arrived back at my dorm, there was no relief. The duck surveyed me from the doorway. 

Exhibit C: symptoms of anatidaephobia

No more ducking around. I had to take charge. Up until that point, I was just winging it. That night, I messaged the duck organization that I decided not to meet up but would still appreciate a response for the article if it was possible. 

the duck flock would love to meet you though!

if the location or time is a problem we could arrange that.

Initially, I said no, but upon further consideration, I decided that I had to pursue this lead in the noble pursuit of serious journalism. I asked them if we could chat in a central location, preferably in broad daylight. 

Regarding this request for a meeting under more favorable conditions, the duck organization never got back to me. Ouch. I had to live with the fact that I would never know who was behind the tiny rubber ducks. 

A day after ending this investigative duck-bacle, I lay down in bed and sighed. Although the case was not closed, I could live with the knowledge that there would be no more strange coordinates, coffee chats at night, or ducks perched outside my door going forward. 

I turned over my pillow and nestled in between my blankets. That’s when I felt it. A tiny lump beneath my head. I sat up and screamed. A beady, painted eye stared up at me, unblinking. One tiny rubber duck invaded the last place of sanity I had left on this campus. 

Someone placed a bill under my pillow. And I had not left a tooth there.

I am ashamed to admit that I fell asleep five minutes later, after tossing the duck in the cavity between my bed and the wall, the place where things go and never return. In all honesty, the three midterms scheduled back-to-back the next day terrified me much more than any potential stalker.

In the morning, the culprit came clean. My roommate had found a rubber duck on campus and put it under my pillow. Honestly, I really respect the prank. At least I knew how one of the ducks made its way into my nest. 

If the duck flock is reading this, know that I appreciate your love of ducks and for putting them across campus. Also, know that I live in slight fear of moving into an apartment someday and coming back home to a rubber duck ominously placed on my doorstep. 

And if my roommate is reading this, just remember that April Fool’s Day is coming up.

The post Becoming a Ducktective: The Case of Yale’s Rubber Ducks appeared first on Yale Daily News.

Some YCC senators have decided to protest these changes by not housing high school students for Bulldog Days, an annual event that brings admitted students to Yale’s campus for three days of programming.

“Boycotting hosting students for BDD is something students may choose to do in order to express their frustrations with Yale hospitality’s year-long cuts, most recently of standard lunch and continental breakfast service in select residential colleges,” Anna Krans ’27, YCC dining director, wrote to the News.

Krans has also proposed that the YCC send a letter to University President Maurie McInnis, Yale College Dean Pericles Lewis and Yale Hospitality protesting the dining changes.

The open letter reads that “if Yale Hospitality and the administration choose to cut standard lunch service from these five dining halls post-Spring Break, we, the students, may choose not to host prospective first-years in all of our residential colleges for Bulldog Days.”

​​As of Feb. 24, the letter has been signed by 21 YCC senators and over 70 other students.

Bulldog Days relies on the Yale student body to host prospective students. Prospective first years live for three days with students on campus as they get a sample of what life at Yale is like. 

This year, Yale College also announced that it will increase the size of the class of 2029 by 100 students, meaning a higher demand for student hosts.

However, some students feel ambivalent about the boycott.

Ella Brenes ’27 expressed that she was unsure of whether she would host an admitted student Bulldog Days and needed to coordinate with the rest of her suite before deciding. She wrote to the News about the positive impact her Bulldog Days host had on her.

Brenes wrote that she did not anticipate that the boycott would affect her decision to host, as she “truly” does not feel like dining hall changes are “a huge deal.”

“The admissions office deeply appreciates the hundreds of Yale students who host prefrosh in suites and create special student group events during Bulldog Days,” Jeremiah Quinlan, dean of undergraduate admissions and financial aid, wrote to the News. “I’m confident that Yale College students will continue to showcase Yale’s most valuable resource during Bulldog Days: its vibrant and diverse student body.”

The Office of Undergraduate Admissions is located at 38 Hillhouse Ave.

The post YCC senators propose Bulldog Days hosting boycott to protest dining changes appeared first on Yale Daily News.

The 3.9 percent bump, consisting of a $2,650 tuition bump and a $750 increase in housing and meal costs, continues the decade-long trend of consistent annual increases of just under 4 percent.

“[The increase was] our normal increase in finance, tuition, room and board to reflect the fact that the cost of everything goes up,” Yale College Dean Pericles Lewis told the News. “It’s important to remember that students on financial aid … won’t be paying the extra [portion] if their family income isn’t going up, so the effect is mostly on those who are paying the full price.”

Recent threats to Yale’s endowment and federal funding did not cause the rise, Lewis said. The mandatory Student Activities Fee, which is not included in the term bill but accounted for by Yale’s financial aid, will also increase from $125 to $175 due to shortcomings in funding for student organizations.

Yale has consistently raised the term bill by just under 4 percent each year since 2015, a rate that has mostly surpassed the rate of inflation rate of the year before the term bill was determined. It first surpassed $80,000 for the 2022-23 term and $70,000 for the 2019-20 term.

Adjusted for inflation, the 2021-22 term bill was the highest ever. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, annual tuition increases have fallen below high inflation rates until this latest bump.

Griffin Hengelsberg, a high school student touring the campus, told the News that the term bill increase would have a minimal impact on whether he would choose to attend Yale, especially due to the financial aid package.

“I think that the financial aid will benefit me as much as it needs to,” Hengelsberg said.

Linda Hengelsberg, Griffin Hengelsberg’s mother, told the News that whether financial aid would completely cover the increase in the term bill is an important decision-making consideration. 

Henry Shang ’28 said that he was glad that the increase would not immediately impact students receiving financial aid.

“I think that’s fine, so long as [the bill after] financial aid remains the same. I just know that college gets more expensive every year,” Shang said. “I doubt that is going to happen, and I think that people who are on partial financial aid are going to see their tuition rise, maybe in the future.”

Yale awarded almost $68,800 in need-based scholarships on average for the 2024-25 academic year. 

In the Yale News press release about the increased term bill, Kari DiFonzo, director of undergraduate financial aid, said that “if a family’s financial circumstances stay the same, their net cost will stay the same.”

“Our decades-long commitment to admitting all students regardless of their financial need, and meeting 100 percent of that need, has made Yale College more diverse and more excellent. Maintaining that commitment as we increase the class size will ensure that costs will not be a barrier for the world’s most promising students,” Jeremiah Quinlan, dean of undergraduate admissions and financial aid, said in the Yale News press release.

All financial aid offers made for Yale undergraduates are completely based on a family’s demonstrated financial need.

Still, with the comparatively lower 2.9 percent inflation rate, the planned expansion of enrollment and recent changes to dining halls, Shang questioned if the change would actually enhance student life.

Since 1810, the Yale College term bill has decreased once, for the 1943-1944 term.

Karla Cortes contributed reporting.

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According to Wendell Wallace-Juedes, director of the interviewing program, the admissions office may request an interview for any student for whom additional information might be helpful in the review process. These applicants meet with an alumni interviewer or a current Yale senior hired by the admissions office for an informal conversation to share more about themselves in a new context. 

According to a News survey of the class of 2028, of the 537 respondents, 91 percent had an interview as part of their application process to Yale. Wallace-Juedes explained that not all admitted students are invited to interview, and many students who are interviewed are not admitted.

“The interviewer leads a relatively unstructured conversation designed to allow the applicant to share insights about their interests, activities, aspirations, and priorities in their college search process,” wrote Wallace-Juedes.

Wallace-Juedes explained that the main difference between interviews with alumni and interviews with Yale seniors is that local alumni interviews may be conducted either in person in a public space or virtually. Interviews with seniors are all strictly virtual and are primarily offered to applicants living in regions without a large local alumni presence.

According to Wallace-Juedes, admissions officers do not prefer one type of interview over another. After an interview, the interviewers complete a short evaluation report that is shared with members of the Admissions Committee.

The members of the Admissions Committee consider the qualitative remarks from the interviewer’s report alongside the other pieces of the application, according to Hannah Mendlowitz, director of the First-Year Process.

During an episode of the Into the Yale Admissions Office podcast, Dara Norwood, a senior assistant director of Admissions for Yale College, said that an interview can help show how essay content, numbers and other aspects of an application come to life when an applicant is holding a conversation with someone. 

“We see a lot of numbers that are connected to the student, mainly on your transcript, but the interview itself is a spontaneous interaction with a member of our community,” Norwood said on the podcast episode.

Mendlowitz wrote to the News that the most successful interview reports reinforce qualities about an applicant that were apparent in other parts of the application such as the personal statement and teacher recommendations.

In this way, the interview primarily serves to establish consistency through the whole-person review process.

However, Julie Turaj ’93, an interim director of the Alumni Schools Committee, or ASC, for part of New York, believes that in some cases, interviews might not make a noticeable difference. 

In her role, Turaj matches applicants with alumni interviewers. She said that almost any Yale College alumni interested in becoming an interviewer will have the opportunity to serve in the area where they live or work.

Interviewers have to undergo training, which includes online video material, extensive checklists and written guides. According to Turaj, new interviewers tend to be well-prepared for their interviews even if they are new to the process.

During each admissions cycle, the ASC receives a list of applicants to be interviewed divided by region. In the state of New York, where Turaj works, multiple interviewing groups are responsible for different areas. Turaj is in charge of schools on the West Side of Manhattan.

Turaj stated that she tries to be intentional about how she chooses pairings. She shared that she often uses information available on the internet about both the interviewee and alumni to ensure that they have some form of shared interest. The only information presented to the ASC is basic logistics and the students’ prospective major.

“If I see a kid who’s done extensive extracurricular work in an area, I might try to find an interviewer who matches that or who’s interested in a more niche area,” Turaj said.

Turaj added that the interview process can flow much smoother if the student feels they have something in common with the alumnus and vice versa.

Jeremiah Quinlan, dean of Undergraduate Admissions and Financial Aid, explained that the interview reports the alumni interviewers write often provide “invaluable insights to the Admissions Committee.”

The Office of Undergraduate Admissions is located at 38 Hillhouse Ave.

The post How do Yale’s alumni interviews impact admissions? Administrators, alumni weigh in appeared first on Yale Daily News.

QuestBridge connects low-income high school seniors with full scholarships to partner institutions. Through the program, scholars can rank up to 15 schools in order of preference. They are then matched with the school ranked highest on the list that decides to offer them admission. Last year, Cornell joined QuestBridge, leaving Harvard as the only Ivy League school not partnered with the program. With Harvard’s announcement, it joins Yale and the other 54 institutions that partner with the organization. 

Mariam Iqbal, who matched with Yale in December, shared her excitement about QuestBridge’s ever-increasing outreach and commitment to serving first-generation, low-income — or FGLI — students. 

“It’s not surprising that increasing numbers of FGLI students are gravitating towards QuestBridge as it is an application platform that is specifically tailored to highlight the unique experiences of FGLI students in an authentic way,” she said. 

Since 2007, Yale has collaborated with QuestBridge to support high-achieving, low-income high school students. As one of QuestBridge’s partner institutions, Yale offers a binding admission process to matched students. Those who match with Yale are also guaranteed a $0 parent share award. 

Sofia Colorado ’28 said that she first decided to apply through QuestBridge because it provided a way to apply to prestigious universities without having to pay the application fee. 

However, as she completed the application and became a finalist, she discovered more about the program and its practicality. 

“I actually learned how Questbridge not only helped with the financial aspect of applications but also helped me distinguish myself amongst my peers,” she wrote. 

Moira Poe, director of strategic priorities at the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, also highlighted the unique components within the QuestBridge application process that assist FGLI students in the application process. 

“The QuestBridge application is specifically designed for students from lower-income backgrounds and includes questions that encourage students to share parts of their story that might not be included on the Common Application,” she wrote. 

Despite the differences in the application process, Mark Dunn, director of outreach and recruitment at the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, clarified that Yale’s admissions and financial aid policies are the same for all students regardless of when or how they apply. 

This year, out of over 25,500 applicants, QuestBridge selected 7,288 finalists to be considered for the QuestBridge National College Match Scholarship. QuestBridge, which had 52 college partners at the time, matched with 2,627 finalists, the highest number of Match Scholarship Recipients to date.

According to Poe, Yale has proactively spread the word about the matching scholarship. She detailed Yale’s involvement with QuestBridge programming, sharing that the partnership is mentioned in every admissions officer-led information session. 

Additionally, Yale is an active member in an outreach consortium called “Quest for College” that features five QuestBridge partner colleges and QuestBridge organization representatives in virtual and in-person events. Yale has previously hosted the one-day QuestBridge Conference and plans to welcome the conference back to campus in the future.

Yale QuestBridge’s student chapter has also worked with the Yale First-Gen and/or Low-income Advocacy Movement and the Office of Undergraduate Admissions to foster awareness and community. According to co-president Hang Chen ’26, the goal of the Yale QuestBridge chapter is to organize events for the over 300 scholars on campus and other FGLI students. 

“The most rewarding part of our work is to see all of the incoming first years and their excitement on Bulldog Days or during the first few events on campus,” Chen said. 

66 QuestBridge Scholars joined Yale’s class of 2029. 

The post All eight Ivies now partner with QuestBridge appeared first on Yale Daily News.

This group of applicants will be the first to be evaluated under Yale’s test-flexible policy. After four years of a test-optional policy that allowed applicants to decide whether to submit test scores, the class of 2029 applicants must submit one or more types of tests from a list of four options — SAT, ACT, Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate. Those who choose to send AP or IB scores are required to include results from all subject exams that they have taken.

This cycle saw a much greater decrease in applications from international students than from domestic students. International applications are down 26 percent compared with the last cycle, and domestic applications are down 8 percent. Many international students previously expressed concern about test-flexible admissions because of the difficulty accessing standardized test centers in many countries.

“Yale’s new test-flexible policy appears to have affected our applicant pool in ways that line up with our expectations,” wrote Hannah Mendlowitz ’12, director of first-year process in the admissions office. “Our applicant pool remains very large and strong across numerous dimensions, and our new policy is providing the Admissions Committee with more data to inform our whole-person review process.”

Compared with the last cycle, the number of applications has decreased by 13 percent. However, the total number of applications is larger than two of the four test-optional admissions cycles.

Mendlowitz said that the data gathered so far indicates that applicants are taking advantage of the flexibility the new testing policy affords and are choosing to apply with a range of different test types.

“When we create our class profile in August, we will include new information about our matriculating students’ test reporting choices,” Mendlowitz wrote.

In December, Yale admitted 728 early action applicants to the class of 2029 and 66 students to the class of 2029 through the QuestBridge National College Match, a program that connects high-achieving high school students from lower-income backgrounds with selective universities nationwide. 

These students, along with those who will be admitted in the regular decision, are invited to attend Bulldog Days, a three-day event where the admitted students explore Yale’s campus and get to know their potential classmates.

“As always, the strength and diversity of the applicant pool is much more important than the number of applications we receive in any given year or application round,” Jeremiah Quinlan, dean of undergraduate admissions and financial aid, previously wrote to the News. “And it will take our staff the many weeks and months ahead to understand those qualities of the pool, as we review applications one at a time.”

The Office of Undergraduate Admissions is located at 38 Hillhouse Ave.

Correction, Jan. 24: This article has been corrected to reflect that 50,262 applications were received for both early and regular decisions, not just regular decision. 

The post International applications drop in first test-flexible admissions cycle appeared first on Yale Daily News.

This year, Yale received 6,729 early action applicants to the class of 2029, and of those, 10.82 percent were admitted, marking one of the lowest early acceptance rates in Yale’s history. Last year, Yale admitted 9.02 percent of early applicants, the lowest early admit rate in more than two decades. 

Of the remaining applications to the class of 2029, 17 percent were deferred for reconsideration in the spring, 71 percent were denied admission, and 1 percent were withdrawn or incomplete. Deferred students will receive their final admissions decision on March 27, alongside students applying for admission on the regular timeline.

“Members of the admissions committee were impressed by the breadth and depth of achievements, experiences, interests, and ambitions among our early action applicants,” wrote Jeremiah Quinlan, dean of undergraduate admissions and financial aid, in a press release. “We look forward to considering and offering admission to many more outstanding applicants through the upcoming regular decision round.”

The class of 2029, which saw a 14 percent decrease in early applications, is the first to apply under Yale’s new test-flexible policy.

After four years of a test-optional policy that allowed applicants to decide whether to submit test scores, the class of 2029 applicants must submit standardized test scores. Applicants may select one or more types of tests from a list of four options — SAT, ACT, Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate. Those who choose to send AP or IB scores are required to include results from all subject exams that they have taken.

“The small decrease in this year’s early action applicant pool is exactly in line with what we anticipated following the change in our standardized testing policy,” wrote Quinlan.

However, compared with the 2019-20 admissions cycle, the most recent cycle in which Yale required standardized testing of all applicants, this year’s early action pool has approximately 1,000 more applications, an increase of 17 percent.

The class of 2029 is also the second to be admitted since the Supreme Court struck down race-conscious college admissions. In the class of 2028, the first admitted with race-blind admissions, Black and Latine enrollment remained stable while the share of Asian American students slightly decreased.

This admissions cycle also continues a recent trend of Yale rejecting more early applicants than it defers. The News previously reported that data suggest that the admissions office previously preferred to delay final calls on applications until the spring regular decision date. But starting with the class of 2025, the office began moving toward rejecting a larger share of applicants in the early action round itself. 

Quinlan previously said that this change was driven by two primary factors.

“First, the increase in applications,” Quinlan previously told the News. “Deferring an application means the committee has to reconsider the application going forward … [so] we are pushing ourselves to make more final decisions in the early application round. The second thing was that we heard from our colleagues in high schools across the country that it is useful to offer final decisions earlier.”

Earlier in the month, Yale College also admitted 66 students to the class of 2029 through the QuestBridge College Match, a program that connects high-achieving high school students from lower-income backgrounds with selective universities nationwide. 

Students accepted through QuestBridge receive a financial aid award that covers the full cost of tuition, housing and meals. The University also provides hospitalization insurance coverage and a $2,000 start-up grant in each student’s first year.  

QuestBridge finalists who did not match with any of the partner institutions but ranked Yale on their list of preferred schools will be automatically entered into the University’s regular decision pool. If accepted, these students will not be required to matriculate.

In April, the admissions office will invite all newly admitted students to visit campus for Bulldog Days, a three-day experience where admitted students can experience life at Yale through campus tours, panels and student performances.

Beginning in January, the admissions office will begin to review its regular decision applicants. Those students will receive their admissions decisions in March. 

The Office of Undergraduate Admissions is located at 38 Hillhouse Ave.

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When she opened her decision letter, she froze, staring at her screen in disbelief. As confetti burst across her screen, it finally hit her: she was one of just 66 QuestBridge scholars who were admitted into Yale’s class of 2029.

“Because I only ranked Yale, I knew that if I saw confetti on my page, it meant that I got into Yale,” she said. “I screamed while looking at my computer, and I immediately jumped up and ran out to tell my family.”

The QuestBridge National College Match Scholarship connects low-income high school seniors with full scholarships to partner institutions. Yale, as one of QuestBridge’s partner institutions, offers a binding admission process to matched students. Those who match with Yale are also guaranteed a $0 parent share award. 

QuestBridge Scholars can rank up to 15 schools in order of preference. Scholars match with the school ranked highest on their list that decides to offer them admission. Last year, 67 percent of QuestBridge finalists who matched received an offer of admission from one of their top five college partners.

This year, out of over 25,500 applicants, QuestBridge selected 7,288 finalists to be considered for the QuestBridge National College Match Scholarship. QuestBridge’s 52 college partners matched with 2,627 finalists, the highest number of Match Scholarship Recipients to date for QuestBridge.

“We are delighted to welcome this record-breaking number of QuestBridge Scholars. These Scholars will contribute a rich diversity of perspectives and experiences to our college partners, enhancing the vibrancy of their campus communities,” wrote Ana Rowena Mallari, co-founder and CEO of QuestBridge, in a press release.

According to Moira Poe, director of Yale’s QuestBridge partnership and senior associate director of strategic priorities at the admissions office, Yale continues to be a popular choice for students to rank. She said that the admissions office reviewed a fair number of finalists before moving into the early action review cycle.

Any student who did not receive a match but who ranked Yale is automatically entered into the regular decision pool. However, Poe explained that since Yale partnered with QuestBridge in 2007, the admissions office consistently admitted more QuestBridge finalists through regular decision rounds than the QuestBridge Match. She said that she expects to admit “many more finalists” during Regular Decision.

“We are proud to be a long-time QuestBridge partner institution,” Poe wrote.

QuestBridge at Yale

In the QuestBridge Match round, Yale can only try to match with those QuestBridge finalists who qualify for a financial aid award with a $0 parent share. In other rounds, Yale’s admissions and financial aid processes operate entirely independently. 

“I think [applying through QuestBridge] highlights the circumstances of where we’re coming from,” said Mary Ayala, a high school senior from Atlanta, Georgia, who was admitted to the class of 2029 through QuestBridge. “It shows to universities that we’re coming from unfavorable circumstances, yet we’re still able to succeed.”

Zoma Marino ’26, a QuestBridge finalist who was previously admitted to Yale during regular decision, explained that QuestBridge scholars often represent “firsts.” Whether they are the first in their family to attend college, the first from their high school to enroll in a prestigious university, or the first in their community to “reach impossible dreams,” Marino described QuestBridge scholars as some of the most hard-working and extraordinary people she knows.

Eugenie Kim, a high school senior from Kansas who was recently admitted to Yale’s class of 2029 through QuestBridge, shared how meaningful her decision was for her family. She explained that her grandmother, who did not have the opportunity to attend college, was one of the most thrilled in her entire family to learn that she was accepted to Yale on a full scholarship.

Upon arriving on campus, all QuestBridge finalists admitted to Yale — known as Questies — are welcomed by the Yale QuestBridge Chapter, a student organization dedicated to building community among QuestBridge scholars, whether or not they matched with Yale through the program.

“It means a lot to have a community where we can understand each other’s adversities, celebrate our achievements, and dream big together,” wrote Hang Chen ’26, co-president of the Yale QuestBridge Chapter. “I am so excited for this new class of QuestBridge Match scholars to join the vibrant community we have here at Yale.”

The Office of Undergraduate Admissions is located at 38 Hillhouse Ave.

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