Calling all Yale SOM 2009 Applicants!

I stayed at Courtyard at Marriott and it was very convenient. The hotel is right by Yale campus and there is a shuttle service from airport and other transportation hubs.

Courtyard by Marriott at Yale
30 Whalley Avenue
New Haven
(203) 777-6221

Courtyard isn't expensive compared to other hotels. This is probably your best bet.

Dinged without interview. This seems somehow weird for me, especially after Whartons' interview and waitlist.

My application package was stronger for Yale and I think that my background was better fit for Yale than any other school I've applied. But this is funny game, almost without any rules.

Okay, good luck to all of you guys at Yale SOM interview!
I think the most important thing is to know Yale SOM's appeal to you (personally) and communicating that to the adcom.

I will share the notes I made few days before my Yale SOM interview"

~ Small class size is a must because I want personalized attention. I went to a huge private university and for grad school, I promised myself a small classroom setting. Smaller class size will naturally lead to a more competitive student body.
~ Yale SOM's new curriculum in favor of a more multi-disciplinary approach. I was interested in the revised curriculum and wanted to experience this new method firsthand. The new curriculum is a revolutionary departure from current management education, replacing traditional disciplines with “Organizational Perspectives,” tailored to the needs of today’s managers.

-Very small class size (200 students), get to know everyone
-Great Faculty:Student Ratio (60 faculty for 200 students) - approximately
-CDO (career develop office), big full time staff for small class size provides a great personal resource to find my dream job
-VERY diverse. I visited other schools, and Yale had the least percentage of "traditional" MBA's (aka consulting/banking exp before bschool - although 53% of 2007 grads went to financial services upon graduation.....).
-faculty extremely accessible, attributed to small class size
-"Yale" brand
-Close to NY, only $14 by train (1.5 hrs)
-Annual Yale vs Harvard football game and a chance to paint my face BLUE (LET'S GO BULLDOGS!!!)
-Int'l Trip in Jan: China, Brazil, Africa, England?
-Every Friday no class, focus on recruiting/interviewing
-Pass/Fail makes classes truly team oriented <--------
-Easy to take any Yale class (ie: corporate tax class in Law school)
-Chance to eat lunch @ Yale Club in NYC????

But most important thing of all, here's a chance to re-educate yourself through a whole new learning approach - for the love of learning - and finding a new "you" in the next 2 years. By committing to Yale SOM's new curriculum, I am anxious to meet the future "me"..... I am anxious to see the end-result to this exciting 2 year transformation.

P.S. - My Yale Interview Debrief: post552893.html#p552893

From the Yale blog:

Now that our second application round is roughly two-thirds over, it seems like a good time to take stock with where we are and what will happen for the rest of the round.
We released our first batch of decisions right at the end of February. These decisions were mostly our Consortium applications, to whom we owed a decision by early March, with a few additional applications that we were ready to release added on. We feel very good about the people we admitted through the Consortium process. Although there were challenges in our first year of membership in terms of integrating into the Consortium process and deadlines, the applications we received and applicants we admitted were very strong.
Going forward, we are currently planning to release at least two more batches of Round 2 decisions — later this month, and then again closer to the April 10 notification deadline. As a general matter, we try to release decisions as soon as possible, but there is a rather involved process both leading up to and immediately following the release of decisions, which militates against releasing decisions too frequently. We try to achieve the best balance we can in terms of the timing and frequency of releasing decisions given the constraints we are under.
We are also still very much in the process of reviewing applications, conducting interviews, and making decisions. I would estimate that we have already extended roughly 75% of the interview invitations we plan to extend for the round, and will invite the remaining 25% between now and the end of the round as we continue to read applications. I am sure that there are many people who submitted applications and still have not heard from us with either an interview invitation or a decision. I know that waiting can be very difficult. Just know that we are doing our best to be in touch with people as soon as we have an update for them.

I just keep getting more unhappy with the essays that have come out so far! Granted these essays are not to bad and they are certainly easier than the M7 schools (especially Chicago, not looking forward to those essays) but I was counting on this app being really easy like it was the last few years. For comparison here was last years:

Why an MBA? (Required)
Please describe your short and long term goals and how your previous experience and an MBA will help you to achieve these goals. (500 words maximum.)

Leadership Example (Required)
Describe a situation in which your leadership and/or teamwork had a significant impact. (500 words maximum.)

Personal Statement (Required)
Please develop a question/topic of your choice and answer it in essay form. Please state the question/topic at the beginning of your essay. (500 words maximum.)


The thing that bothers me the most is that the leadership example now specifically asks for professional ONLY whereas in the past you could use an EC. I had planned to use an EC example as I have a significant leadership experience there. I was going to use it for Yale and Tuck that way I only had to write about it once. Now, Yale won't let me use that leadership example.... I need to change my screename to IHateAdmissionsEssays

EDIT: Oh and I love how they added a little twist to the goals essay this year. Impact the world?? These schools are making it really tough for me to just reuse my goals essay accross schools like applicants have done for years. Now both Chicago and Yale have unique twists on that question.

Can you please start the Yale post in https://www.gmatclub.com/forum/103-t66319?

Sam took care of it

I'm trying to get to the application, but it wont let me. I registered last year but never applied, and now everytime I try to login it says "the 2008 cycle has ended" or something to that affect. Any suggestions?

I may be in for Round 2, still trying to decide...

I really like the direction I feel Yale is going, as well as the social consciousness aspect of their program. Best of luck to all applying!

~Sam

P.S. Thanks for letting me change the topic title IHateTheGMAT.

I'm planning to apply for round 2. I really like the MBA/MEM dual degree option, or at the very least the option to take classes in the School of Forestry/Environment. My final decision will depend on what I see during my on-campus visit, which should hopefully happen in late October after R1 applications are in!

The app is not up yet. Just the questions

I am here for questions as well...i added the questions to the ambassador forum.

A few observations about the questions:

1. The questions went from 3 to 4. I am not sure why this happened. Maybe they only want applicants who are serious about attending Yale and adding a question will lead to this.

2. Question three was open-ended last year with the applicant writing the question versus having choices. I think this can work for you in that you have a focused list to pick from versus just picking something at random. This will allow you to answer a question you know the adcom wants you to answer.

lanter1,

I've seen you discuss the class size issue and a new building. When is the new building going to be complete? How big will the class size be at that point? What affect do you think this will have on admission criteria? What affect do you think this will have on the overall ranking?

If you apply to be in the class of 2011, you will experience the new building in the second year. Also, if you are applying this fall, the new class size may be 20 more people from what I have heard.

Please let me know if you will be visiting new haven. I can't wait to meet some fellow GMATclubbers.

Hey Lanter,

I'm glad they're considering increasing the class of 2011 to 200 students and that we would have access to the new building during our second year.

Couple questions on the essay questions. What do you think of the changes to essay 1 and 2 from last year? On essay 2 they narrowed the scope from last year and seem to only be interested in leaderhip experience at work, as opposed to an extracurricular organization. Do you read it the same way? Also, what do you think of this "What is the impact that you wish to have on the world" component to the goals essay?

Maybe I just don't remember correctly, but these essay questions seem quite a bit more specific and thought intensive than they were last year. The essays last year were essentially why an MBA and why Yale or something along those lines weren't they?