Yale Class of 2016 Calling all applicants!

**Edited due to changed decision**

In the end the decision came down to Yale and Tuck.

Just got invited to interview!! super excited..

If its any consolation to anyone, I got an interview request tonight - so it seems they are still comming.

The majority of students are not in favor of grade disclosure, many students are against the new grade between proficient and distinction, and the vast majority of students are upset by the way in which these changes took place. Needless to say there are a lot of conversations happening both formally and informally with various stakeholders (alumni, current students, student government, etc.). Obviously some students are in favor of the changes, but what we all agree on is that we don't want these changes to have a negative effect on our culture. I think our priority , regardless of any individual's opinion on the changes themselves, should be to ensure that the SOM spirit of collegiality, collaboration, creativity, and care remains intact. There may be nothing to worry about, but I believe culture can and should be nurtured, especially in times of "crisis" and change.

The thing worth taking to heart is that the change in policy will have no effect on students currently at SOM, so we are advocating on behalf of prospective students like yourselves. Hopefully you all take that to be a good sign.

Also in from R1 waitlist. I am shocked.

Jackpot!!

Waitlist without Interview!!!!!!

Super excited hahahaha. I had assumed no interview was an automatic ding.

An online "application tips" chat led by Bruce DelMonico took place at noon today. They'll be posting the presentation on the website soon (if you're on the prospective student newsletter, you'll get a head's up), but I'll summarize some of the points I found most interesting from the presentation and the Q&A chat (which won't be archived).

Quant Skills
There was a lot of focus on this. Admissions will be looking through your undergraduate transcript and your work experience for quant-skills indicators, so if you don't have any, they recommend building an alternative transcript. It doesn't matter where you take the classes, as long as you're performing well. Your GMAT quant scores could also be used.

The five core quant competencies they're looking for are calculus, statistics, macroeconomics, accounting, and another one that I didn't catch. Stats and macroeconomics are especially key. They recommend that every student have a foundational understanding of each of those before they begin at SOM.

Although there are no formal cut-offs, for the GMAT, you should aim to be above the 60th percentile for quant. Bruce said that scores in the 70th percentile and higher would "put you in a stronger position." SOM admits/students skew higher on verbal.


GMAT/GRE Advice
Bruce says that it's not worth retaking the GMAT if you can't reasonably expect to score 40+ points higher.

A significant portion of current SOM students took the GMATs more than once. However, admissions thinks there are diminishing returns after 2-3 tests.

They are not going to look at IR scores very closely, or possibly at all. Since this portion of the test is so new, they're not sure how to evaluate it. (Woohoo!)

They do not weigh the GREs differently from the GMATs. There is no difference in rates of admissions for candidates submitting one or the other. However, Rebekah from admissions says that, "The only time we may suggest a GMAT over a GRE is if you have no quantitative familiarity at all (work experience, study, etc), as it may help us feel more comfortable with your quantitative skills."


General Application Advice
For the video answers, they're looking to see how well you communicate verbally and how articulate you are. However, they're not expecting perfection; they understand that with no opportunities to prepare for the questions (you'll get three, drawn from a randomized pool), your thoughts will not be fully formed. Two of the questions will be straightforward behaviorial questions, similar to what you would be asked at a job interview; the third will be a thought question, similar to the AWA section of the GMATs or the GRE writing sample. You should wear business casual.

Unless you have a huge amount of work experience and accomplishments, your resume should be one page. However, don't worry if the uploader splits it into two pages when you submit. Your resume should focus on full-time work experience. Use the activities portion of the application to discuss extracurricular involvements.

Bruce strongly recommends that you do not share your essays with your recommenders because if there is similar language in your essays and your recommendations, admissions will assume the worst (i.e., that you wrote your own recommendations).

They reduced the number of essays this year for two reasons: 1) to make room for the video answers; and 2) to encourage applicants to weigh essays equally with other application elements. Still, they recommend paying attention to your essays.

Don't hide your weaknesses; they will see them regardless. It's important to incorporate or contextualize them in your application, though; just be sure that you aren't leading with them.

I just completed my video questions. While I will not go into detail about what questions were asked, I will say it was a nerve wracking experience. I consider myself to be very poised in interview situations, and this threw me a little bit. I think the fact that my responses were recorded, and could be reviewed, re-reviewed, and scrutinized, was a scary thought. Also, the fact that you only have 90 seconds to respond, and you can see the seconds ticking down as you answer, made it challenging. I found it difficult to find the right pace, and make sure I said everything I needed to within the timeframe without rushing.

All in all...BEST OF LUCK TO YOU ALL!!

-JPD

ah. got fooled again by the Yale newsletter. They know how to play with my feelings.

Had my interview today, which went so-so imo. It was about 40 mins long with an adcom member. I didn't get to talk about everything I wanted but hopefully what I said was good enough!

My interviewer said they have 6 questions they ask to all candidates so they can be compared (eek!). The questions I got were behavioural, focusing on leadership & teamwork. At the end I got the "Why MBA?" question though curiously no "Why SOM?". But that's probably because I've sort of mentioned that when answering the previous questions.

My interviewer also said she still has lots of readings to do. I assume that means applications, so those who haven't received any interview invite, don't lose hope!

For those of you interested in talking about your decision, please don't hesitate to PM me (or ohdenny/aerien for that matter!). We are happy to talk through the decision-making process. Between the 3 of us we've chosen from pretty much every school you can think of - which is not to say we'll talk you into Yale (we know it's not right for everyone!), but rather that we have insight into the choice process and in particular the relative strengths of many schools.

I can't say enough how helpful it was to shut down my MBA obsession after all my results came through in December to just think to myself. Whether you were admitted, waitlisted, or rejected, it's good to take a break and remind yourself what really matters. Simply put - don't feel rushed to make a decision. You have two months for a reason!

Guys, the new building is AMAZING!!! That is all.

Countdown to Friday! Good luck, everyone! May all of your phones ring with 203 area codes

Interesting note from the SOM Dean this week about the increase in applications:



Also, this is an excuse to post to get notified when this thread has new posts.

Hello Guys,

I am happy introduce my self as a proud member of the Yale MBA Class of 2015. I can still remember exactly last year this time around how I was all over the place trying to figure what I want to achieve and where to pursue my MBA. I can proudly say this platform, with people like OhDenny, has played pivotal role to my admission into Yale SOM. Now its time for me to help my dear friends and prospective students for the class of 2016. So I am happy to provide my thoughts and "insider information" :D about the few of the amazing things that I saw in Yale in just 3 weeks of time which you think might be helpful for your major decision at this juncture in life.

Do feel free to drop in a PM or reply in this thread. I will get back to you ASAP and I will be checking the forum once a day to ensure I do not miss any questions from my friends in here. For what its worth, I am an international student so I can provide thoughts and answer questions for any international student specific questions.

- Yours Maxkrewl

Wow. Just.... wow.
I just did my Yale SOM video interview. Up until this point, I really thought my application had a chance with Yale, although there were many things I wanted to add that I didn't have the room to do. This video interview was going to be the perfect opportunity! Yale SOM would see I am the person for them! I drafted answers to all the interview questions I had seen and felt pretty confident that I could take anything they threw at me.
First two questions... meh. I ran out of time on the second one. Neither of them were too awesome.
Third question... first, I was trying to get my camera/microphone approvals done (for some reason I had to do this before every question, which was obnoxious. I tried to save the settings but obviously it didn't work), which cut into my recording for a few seconds. But that... that wasn't the bad part. The question. They asked me if I agreed or disagreed with someone's statement... and I had no idea what the statement meant. Honestly. You know the videos of the ridiculously unintelligent responses Miss America contestants have in the Q&A section of the pageant? Embarrassingly enough -- that was me. I don't even think I had complete sentences, and none of it made sense. How many times can you repeat the question in your answer without sounding brain dead?
Let's cross our fingers that I get an interview (a miracle!) so I can prove to Yale that I can form coherent arguments. Womp wompppp.

I just got an interview invite!!!!!!!! Don't give up hope!

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