Yale is Yale. There isn’t much else like it anywhere else in the world. A member of the exclusive Ivy League, Yale is widely considered one of the best universities in the world. Despite that, it still feels like a small, close-knit school. Based in New Haven, Connecticut, Yale has an urban campus with a classic collegiate feel.

Once upon a time, Yale deferred a massive number of early applicants. As a result, being deferred didn’t really tell the applicant anything about the status of their application. But now you’ve been deferred, and you’re probably wondering what this means. Luckily, things have changed in recent years. As the number of first-year undergraduate applications to Yale soared, they had to change their strategy. Instead of deferring upwards of 50% of early applicants, they began only deferring applicants who truly have a chance of getting in through the regular decision round.

Yale is universally recognized as one of the best universities in the world. A member of the vaunted Ivy League, Yale has one of the best undergraduate programs in every single subject they offer. The 6,750ish undergraduate student fight hard to get there. Yale receives nearly 60,000 applications for only about 1,600 spots per class. The acceptance rate for the Class of 2028 was only 3.7%, the lowest acceptance rate in the history of the university.

Yale. The name speaks for itself. Yale is widely regarded as one of the best school in the nation (though these days, U.S. News & World Report ranks it at #5). And aspiring Yalies should take the application process extremely seriously. Recently accepted students had very impressive test scores. SATs were (on average) between 1500 and 1580, which ACT averages ranged from 33-35! And the acceptance rate for the most recent class reported was just 5%. So, if you aspire to attend Yale or any other Ivy for that matter, it’s critical you take advantage of every opportunity to stand out, including during summer vacation.