Yale is an incredibly hard school to get into. In fact, its acceptance rate is about 6 percent. Transfer rates are notoriously hard to pin down, but a 2017 Yale Daily News article said the transfer rate at Yale was about 2.5 percent. Why is the transfer rate so low, you might ask? Well, very few people leave Yale each year. You see, when a university accepts its freshman class, it doesn’t typically leave spots open for transfer students to join in sophomore year. A school like Yale has high matriculation rates anyway, so they’re really hoping to seal the deal with the 6 percent-or-so of applicants they admit each year. So, if you’re hoping to be in the teeny, tiny fraction of people who does make it in as a transfer, we have some advice for you:
Academics
We’ve said it once and we’ll say it again. No matter where you apply to school, academics are the most important component of your application. This is especially true at a school like Yale, which has been shaping some of the brightest minds in America since the 18th century. By the time you made it to college, you should have developed a highly specific area of academic expertise. In other words, a niche. This is really important for all applicants, but it’s extra-crucial for transfer hopefuls. Some of our kids work for years of high school towards a particular academic area (say, environmental biology). We usually advise them to milk this for all its worth for their applications—joining clubs that relate to environmental biology, engaging in impressive summer activities and research, etc. What we usually remind our students, though, is that while it’s important to demonstrate an area of expertise on an application, once they’re accepted in their dream school, they can study whatever they want. Many kids want a break after four years of intensive American history studies to try on something like philosophy in college. But transfer hopefuls don’t have this luxury. You need to demonstrate that you’ve continued to master the academic niche you pursued in high school, sought out courses at the highest level possible that are relevant, and excelled in those courses. Most importantly, in general, your grades need to be really top-notch across the board if you want to get into Yale.
Essay
The essay is an important opportunity when applying to a school like Yale. It’s going to be what sets you apart from the other applicants who also have perfect GPAs and stellar extracurriculars. It’s an opportunity for your school of choice to get to know a part of your personality. Demonstrating personality is important. It’s what makes you transform from a stack of paper on an admissions counselor’s desk into a real live person with interests and character. We like to tell our students to pick 1-2 personality traits that they will plan to demonstrate in an essay. Pick a story that exemplifies each trait. These shouldn’t be big existential stories—you don’t need to talk about how you decided you’re an atheist in order to demonstrate that you’re thoughtful. Pick a mundane event or happening and write it as a story with three parts. The key here is to edit the story until it’s near-perfect and above all, unique.
Extracurriculars
Similar to your academics, your extracurriculars need to correspond to your academic niche. If you want to transfer to Yale, you should pick (or start) two clubs, activities or organizations and become leadership positions in both. Joining a club is not enough. You really need to go above-and-beyond here. Consider landing a really prestigious and rigorous internship in your field (note the word: rigorous). A lot of pre-programmed internships are BS—you don’t want to be getting coffee and making copies. You could also do research with a highly-regarded professor in your field. Get published. Start an initiative or business that corresponds to your field and solve a problem in your community. Get creative, make sure your extracurriculars are specifically tailored to your academic niche and work very hard to accomplish something tangible.
The road to transferring to Yale is a long one that should have started your freshman year in high school. The odds are stacked against every applicant, but hey, someone is going to get in, so it might as well be you.
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