Yale is Yale is Yale. It’s Yale. You know the name, and it doesn’t need a ton of explanation. But we’ll try our best to tell you something you don’t already know, in addition to spotlighting the top five majors.
Yale is a globally-leading university in New Haven, Connecticut that is a member of the iconic Ivy League. Since its founding in 1701, Yale has been among a small group of schools setting the bar for colleges and universities in the United States. Today, there are 6,750ish undergraduate students, and the total student body sits around 12,000. The campus highly global, with over 30% of the total student body coming from countries outside the United States, but also deeply connected to the New Haven community.
In nearly every program they offer, they have some of the best faculty, facilities, and students in the world. But there are a few that we think are particularly worth exploring. First, though, let’s talk numbers. For the class of 2028, the acceptance rate was 3.7%. This is, let’s be honest, comically low — but it’s likely to go even lower. It’s been a few decades since Yale could be considered a ‘fit’ or ‘target’ for anyone, even students at the tippy-top, so no matter who you are you’re going to have to work really hard to make Yale more than a far-off dream.
If you think Yale is your perfect school, send us an email. We can help.
What do we mean by best major at yale?
Yale has a lot of majors, and many much-beloved majors. The top ten most popular majors among Junior and Seniors, in the Fall of 2023, were:
Economics (11%)
Computer Science (6%)
Political Science (6%)
History (6%)
Global Affairs (4%)
English (4%)
Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology (4%)
Psychology (3%)
Statistics & Data Science (3%)
History of Science, Medicine, & Public Health (3%)
But this isn’t a popularity contest post. Instead, we are looking for programs that are unique in their offerings, or even in their very existence, and that have lots of resources for students. We prefer majors with a lot of course options, and we love multidisciplinary majors that pull from a variety of departments to offer dynamic opportunities for customization. Finally, we really prefer majors with strong post-graduation career resources. Most of us at TKG are humanities majors, so we’re not biased against an English degree, but we tend to give greater weight to majors that are more focused and specific, lending themselves to clear career applications.
Without further ado, here are our top five.
Applied Mathematics, B.A. or B.S.
The applied mathematics program at Yale prepares students to pursue careers in the natural sciences, social sciences, engineering, and more through the use of mathematical models. This sounds pretty broad, but something we love is that it all ties back to a set of core essential concepts. So, students in the program don’t need to pick a definite path necessarily, they just need to be fantastic at applied math. Core courses are pulled from computer science, mathematics, statistics, and engineering, and additional courses are available through physics, astronomy, ecology, economics, political science, and more. All of this adds up to a ton of opportunities for exploration, and you’ll take three-courses in a field “in which mathematics is used,” to form a concentration. The major in Applied Mathematics has amazing career opportunities right out of undergraduate, but students are also highly sought after by graduate programs — often with lots of perks attached.
Physics and Philosophy, B.A. or B.S.
The Physics and Philosophy major at Yale is the type of program we get excited about. It mashes together two fields that are often held at odds or in opposition to each other and finds commonalities and ways that they lift one another up. To pursue the major, you’ll have to be skilled at math, even better at physics, and you need to have a genuine curiosity for the field of philosophy. This last one can be hard to pinpoint as a high school student when you’ve probably never even had the option to take a philosophy course. At Yale, philosophy is divided into three ‘buckets’: history of philosophy; metaphysics and epistemology; and ethics and value theory. We get super excited by the courses, too, which include things like “Moral Emotions, Especially Attitudes of the Heart” and “Weakness of Will.” When you pair big ideas from philosophy with the practical realities (and equally big ideas) of physics, really powerful things happen, lining you up for a future in science, research, industry, and more.
Ethics, Politics, and Economics
The Ethics, Politics, and Economics major at Yale is another awesome multidisciplinary major that brings together fields of study with strong overlaps to create a powerful program where each ‘arm’ reinforces and elevates the other. The major is rooted in the social sciences and guided by many of the questions that drive philosophy, while sharing its foundation with the technical realities of economics. As a whole, this major is ideal especially for aspiring lawyers. Students interested in the major do need to start lining themselves up for it soon after arriving on campus, as you’re required to complete all eight introductory courses before you can even declare — ideally by the end of your second year. Finishing the introductory courses means you get access to some killer higher-level courses. Who wouldn’t want to take “First Amendment and Ethics of Law” or “Bureaucracy in Africa: Revolution, Genocide, and Apartheid.”
History of Science, Medicine, and Public Health
The History of Science, Medicine, and Public Health program is one of the most popular majors at Yale, and for good reason. It’s a great track for students looking towards the medical field in any capacity (research, patient care, drug development, etc., but also science journalism, business, or policy), while offering a track that isn’t so future-focused that you lose the opportunity to explore and learn creatively. The program is an ideal fit, as well, for students interested in participating in a study abroad program. There are seven concentrations, and students in the program must choose one (or design their own), which are: Colonialism, Knowledge, and Power; Environment and Society; Gender, Reproduction, and the Body; Media, Information, and the Public; Medicine and Public Health; Minds and Brains; Science, Technology, and Society. While there is a lot of overlap among the concentrations, they provide an important guiding theme that keeps you focused while empowering discovery.
Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, B.A. or B.S.
One of the most popular prospective majors for students preparing for college across the country is biology, but biology is super broad and there is a lot that fits into its massive bucket. Most colleges offer biology as a big wide major, and the programs are often pretty interchangeable. One of the things that we love about Yale is the focus they bring to the field, and the Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology major is a perfect example of this. Students in the program go on to careers in medicine, scientific research, and the development of biologicals and pharmaceuticals. Students have access to numerous independent and affiliated laboratory research opportunities, and receive mentorship and guidance from the exceptional Yale faculty.
If you are considering Yale, we hope this list of exceptional majors — our top 5 — will make you more curious, excited, and excited for your potential future at one of the best universities in the world!
Applying to the Ivy League requires strategy. We’re experts at it.