Seeking, Once Again, the Globe’s Best, Brightest and Most Diverse…
… all in the midst of the COVID pandemic

By George Snider

If you have ever said, “I probably couldn’t get into Yale today,” you were probably right – though not because today’s kids are smarter than ever.

When we entered Yale College, mostly in the Fall of 1958, 100 percent of us were born male, and a very high percentage were white. We came largely from the 48 states (still a year away from being 50), and more of us came from private schools than public. We spoke English with ease, though writing may have been another matter. We were likely in the top 10 percent of our class.

How different this year’s profile is.  For the class graduating in 2024, the male / female ratio is 52:48 (vs. 50:50 the year before), and 55 percent self-identify as members of a minority group – principally Asian-American, Hispanic and Black in that order. Two-thirds attended public schools, while only five percent came from boarding schools (Andover and Exeter, watch out!). In addition to all 50 states, over 50 foreign countries are represented. Ninety-four percent graduated in the top 10 percent of their class, and 49 percent cite English as a second language. Fifty-nine percent receive financial aid.

So what are your – and your grandchildren’s – odds today of getting into Yale, even if you and they are especially bright? Much smaller.

I cannot locate the number of applicants for the 1000-member Class of 1962, but more than 35,000 students have applied in recent years for some 1,600 spots. Because the number of first-year students was down this academic year, reflecting the approximate 340 students who chose a gap year because of Covid, Yale’s first-year class will be larger this September – probably the largest ever – to allow for returning deferred students and the number of admitted graduating seniors who come to New Haven. Still, that’s only a 5 to 7 percent admissions rate. According to Dean of Admissions Jeremiah Quinlan, the overwhelming majority of those 35,000+ students have the academic chops to get in, so the funnel is quite narrow indeed.

Enter the Yale Alumni Schools Committee (ASC) — a group of volunteer alumni from across the country who interview aspiring high school seniors for both Early Action and Regular Decision, this year by Zoom.  Volunteers are under the control of regional directors, including our own Murray Wheeler for the Boston metropolitan area. After the interview, the ASC member files a narrative online report, accompanied by a five-choice ranking ranging from “absolutely superior, unusual or rare” to “not recommended.” “Outstanding” is just the second-highest grade.

Applicants are free to decline interviews, and not all who want them will receive one. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the Zoom process is scaring off some traditional interviewers and perhaps some applicants as well. But even for students receiving an interview, the alumni report is only a small part of the admissions process and occurs near the end. Each student application is first reviewed by an assistant dean responsible for a given geographic area. If the student survives that round, his or her application is then reviewed by the entire Admissions staff, perhaps for 10 minutes or so. Again according to Quinlan, the ASC report may help “push” an application into the small “accept pile,” or more likely confirm a decision to reject or defer it for final consideration at the end of Winter. The Regular Decision date just been pushed back until the evening of Tuesday, April 5, as Yale and the other Ivies struggle to review an increased number of applications.

Classmate Lee Bolman was an ASC volunteer for five or six years while still living in Kansas City, and he never had an applicant accepted – a fate shared by many others. “Some students were spectacular and others not,” he says, “but the reward lay in getting to know some very interesting people. Writing the online report was less rewarding.” Bolman’s own youngest son was turned down by both Yale and Princeton – but then accepted by Harvard.

Classmate Bob Breault in Tucson has had better success this year, having one of the students he interviewed accepted during the Early Action round, while another was deferred for consideration during the Regular Decision round. He too enjoys getting to know some very talented kids.

One thing for sure is that the Yale admissions process is highly opaque. Neither applicant nor interviewer is ever given any explanation for the University’s decision, whether yea or nay, and that is probably for the best – given the litigious nature of our society. (In fact, Yale was sued by the U.S. Government last Fall over its admissions process, which the Dept. of Justice alleged discriminates against whites and Asian-Americans. On February 3, the Biden administration dropped the suit, although a private group called Students for Fair Admission said it would re-file it.)  Over time, there is likely a fair degree of burnout among ASC volunteers due to the high ratio of rejections to acceptances that they experience.

And, for those of us who still interview at 79 or 80 years of age, are we too old to relate to kids still in their teens – and vice versa? (Classmate Wheeler says “yes.”} Certainly the Yale College they will experience is nothing like the one we experienced, especially when Covid is factored in. With the University’s one-student-per-room policy at the moment, significant numbers of upperclassmen currently reside off-campus, while others have chosen to study remotely. The uncertainty about what life will be like next Fall makes planning much more difficult for students, faculty and administrators alike.

But even if the novel coronavirus did not exist, a visitor would see much different campus life than existed when we entered Yale. Yale Daily News is now found online, women belong to the Whiffenpoofs, Directed Studies is now focused solely on “influential texts,” and there are more senior societies than one can shake a stick at. For sure, this is not the Yale of 1958-62, and admissions reflect that fact.

What have been your experiences with Yale admissions? Let us know below.