Yale SOM 2012 - Calling All Applicants (Class of 2014)

It has been too quiet from Yale.. Does anyone know if thats the case with only this forum? Anyone know if people who arent in this fourm have got invites in the last week?

Hello All, I just got an interview invite on 11/2! International / Reapplicant-Waitlisted. I have a deep appreciation for Yale and love its global outlook.

From my research, there is no need to panic! This forum is a good way to gauge at what stage we are with interview invites. Looking at 2011-2010, by this point, not even half had gone out!

Keep the faith! It takes time to read and digest each application!

Good luck to all!

Going4it2

Received my invite today.

Congrats to all with invites. Those who are waiting, hang in there, don't lose hope.

To those of you who are on the fence about visiting the campus, my advice would be to visit and sit in on classes. We have very interesting and engaging classes and professors, and nearly everyone who comes to visit finds that it was worth it to put in the extra effort.

hi everyone,
i just now, received the interview invite mail from Yale.
i am an Indian applicant, i believe they are sending invites till the 24th of dec.
cheers and all the best to all applicants.
godspeed

Pankaj,

Would you mind sharing your profile and the long term goal?

Thanks!

Has anybody applying to the silver scholars program heard back from Yale yet?

Does anybody know if the decision dates are different for this program?

Thanks in advance for any help

Thanks for all the current students for stepping up and offering up the advice. It really helps us understand the nature of the Yale SOM community, and is definitely a positive impression on us all.

That said, any wise words on interview preparation?

Print out your resume, get a black sharpie, cross out your name and address.
Go outside, get a cup of coffee from Starbucks, and then look at the resume again. Pretend that it isn't your own resume. Pretend that HR dropped it on your desk for a future interview. Read through. Start coming up with at least 6-8 questions that you might have about the resume.

Ask yourself, if you were an interviewer, what would you ask about yourself? What would you want the interviewer to know about you.

Successful interview is not about walking into an interview and then answering some questions. You have to walk in, and take control of the interview. At the end of the interview, if you communicated everything that you wanted to communicate to the other party (sort of like a check-list), then you've done your job.

Also, YSOM always ask about personal things, like your hobby etc.

In the past, Silver Scholars followed the same timeline/deadline with the regular applicants. I think only the Consortium people had different timeline.

Good to know. Thank you for the response.

nink, you are awesome, definitely some great pointers.
I actually did the sharpie trick as soon as I read your post - will be coming back to my resume tomorrow with a strong cup of double espresso.

I took notice of the following quote:


I see where you are coming from, basically you need to convey your message to the interviewer, because those 30-45 minutes are all you have to really send your message. One shot per customer, so better make sure it counts.

However, playing devil's advocate, wouldn't it be detrimental to take control of the interview in order to run through your own agenda? The way I see it, the Adcom/2nd Year is conducting your interview, so let them ask the questions they are curious about. After all they are trying to assess your fit with SOM (among other things), so they probably have their own mental checklist they want to go through.

Thoughts?

Invite email came today. (Submitted 10/6)

Anybody have a rec for where in New Haven to stay the night before? I'll most likely be driving in.

I think you are misinterpreting what I've said above.

When I say that you should take control of the interview, I don't mean that you should break the structure and conduct the interview the way you want to. What I mean is that when you go to the interview and simply answer their questions, the control is still with the interviewer. You don't know what they might ask so if you want them to know A,B,C,D,E, and F about you, you may not even get that chance because they might simply want to know about X,Y, and Z.

Go in to the interview with a checklist of things that you want to communicate (sort of like an arsenal/repertoire). Know them by heart. When the interviewer asks about M, while answering M, see if you can incorporate A, and B when answering about M.

For example,

If M = "Why Yale?"
and
A = "I am a team-player and well-liked"
B = "I have a wealth of experience and I am a good communicator + teacher"

Your answer to M (Why Yale) question may be:
"Yale is a perfect school for me because BLAH BLAH BLAH..........etc. When I visited before, I noticed how tight the entire YSOM community is when interacting with one another. It's not about competing against one another, but helping each other to evolve as a professional and also as a person. I am a team player and I am well liked by my colleagues. Using the wealth of experience from my previous jobs, I can share what I know with my classmates and learn from them as well. I am a good communicator and I enjoy sharing my knowledge with the others. To me, that's what YSOM is and that's why I want to be here this coming Fall."

Bottomline, go in with a list of things that you want to say during the interview (things that you want to communicate during the interview). Then incorporate them while you are answering what's being asked. When you communicate everything that you want to communicate before the interview is over, you've accomplished the purpose of the interview from your stand-point.

That makes sense, indeed I had misinterpreted your earlier comment.
On an extreme case, I had the following conversation playing in my head
Interviewer: Tell me about X.
Interviewee: Great question, let me tell you about Y

Obviously this is an extreme exaggeration resulting from my overly active imagination.

But I hear you, point taken. Need to start practicing now!

Kudos Nink and thanks for your deep insight.

Would you, or anyone, be able to clarify the role of the interview for YSOM?

I've heard they interview roughly 25 - 40% of all applicants and of those interviewed, they extend offers to roughly 50%. (I could be wrong on the exact numbers, but that's what I've been able to find).

So my question is, for those who are interviewed, what weight does the interview have on the overall admission? If you nail the interview do you basically lock up a spot? And vice versa?

Or, do they simply re-evaluate all the candidates they interview, looking at the holisitic application once again, with the inclusion of the interview results?

Sorry if that was confusing to follow, but I'm interested in how much weight the interview carries once they have short-listed the applicant pool.

Thanks,
MrF

Interview is an important part of the admissions process. I would like to think of it as an opportunity for the school to invite you and inform you about attending the school + it gives us a chance to check you out in a personal setting. (For example, how do you conduct yourself and present yourself? Will you be a good fit for the program and can you represent our brand in front of the others and the employers?)

It's like going to the car dealership for a test-drive. You can read all about the latest car reviews and picture gallery but nothing beats the experience of driving the vehicle yourself. Interview for bschool is sort of the same. The school can read your essays and other parts of the application. Based on that, if they feel like you are a good fit for the program, they will want to meet you and see if you are the real deal.

YSOM is small, so we don't give out too many invitations and I don't think invitations indicate anything. (But it's kinda like you passed part I) Admissions decision is based on a lot of variables and if you did get an invitation, it is a good sign. Just impress them during the interview and whatever impressed them about you on the paper, it just needs to be confirmed. No matter how smart you are or qualified you are on paper, you won't get an acceptance call without acing the soft skills (a.k.a interview).