Claim OwnershipInside the Yale Admissions Office
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Admissions Officers Hannah and Mark share the complex and dynamic work happening inside the Yale Office of Undergraduate Admissions. The podcast gives firsthand accounts of how officers read applications, make decisions within the Admissions Committee, and collaborate with other offices and resource centers. Yale College receives more than 35,000 applications annually for a first-year class of 1,550 students. Hannah and Mark give an inside look into the strategies and processes that enable admissions officers to attract promising applicants from around the world, consider every applicant through a whole-person review process, and build a class filled with strong students from an amazingly diverse collection of backgrounds. Recorded inside the Office of Undergraduate Admissions on Hillhouse Avenue, this new podcast pulls back the curtain to reveal some of Yale’s most fascinating and rewarding work.
51 Episodes
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Hannah and Mark interview Jimmy Hatch, a recent Yale graduate and 26-year US military veteran who is the host of the new podcast, The Ivy League Insurgent. As a former Navy SEAL, Purple Heart recipient, and nonprofit founder, Jimmy became Yale’s oldest freshman at the age of 52. In their interview, Jimmy reflects on his remarkable story, the importance of connecting with those who are different, and how the humanities have shaped his understanding of what it means to be a “better human.”
A prospective student’s high school transcript is the most important individual component of an application. Hannah and Mark discuss what admissions officers look for when reviewing transcripts and how transcripts demonstrate an applicant’s academic preparedness and academic resourcefulness. They share advice on building a high school course schedule and how to navigate the challenges that inevitably arise when students are unable to enroll in their preferred courses. The hosts share answers to some of the most frequently asked questions and give their advice on how to keep a healthy perspective on often-fraught topics such as mathematics placement and maximizing advanced courses.
At the start of the new admissions cycle, Kenan joins Hannah and Mark for the fourth annual application update episode, highlighting changes to Yale’s first-year application. The admissions officers discuss a revised Yale-specific question and changes to two parts of the Common Application that invite applicants to share additional information. This episode is an update to episodes titled “Essays: The Little Stuff” and “Application Update 2024-2025.”
For their third annual Bulldog Days Live episode, Hannah and Mark interview three recently admitted students about how they chose to spend their time in high school. The students share their insights on balancing schoolwork, extracurricular activities, social life, work, family, and everything else on their path to applying to college. Admissions officers Skylar and John discuss how the admissions office produces an action-packed three-day campus preview program, including two world-class performance showcases. Hannah and Mark also share dozens of pearls of wisdom submitted by audience members about prioritizing commitments and finding balance.
In the latest installment in the Mythbusters miniseries, Hannah and Mark discuss examples of reasonable—but ultimately inaccurate—beliefs that some applicants have about the admissions committee’s values and expectations. They address persistent myths about the qualities Yale admissions officers look for in applicants and offer advice for composing activities lists, essays, and short answer prompts.
The second episode in a mini-series about the first step in the admissions process: deciding where to apply. Hannah and Mark emphasize the importance of beginning the college search process by engaging in honest introspection and ignoring every college ranking website. Admissions officer John returns to the podcast to share his advice on creating a list of personalized non-negotiables to guide the search process.
With Yale’s first application deadline approaching, Hannah, Mark, and special guest Alfie hosted a special live virtual event for students planning to apply in the current admissions cycle. The officers answered questions about standardized testing, essays, and how officers review applications, while busting a few myths and responding to some of the most persistent rumors about selective college admissions.
The opening episode in a mini-series about the first step in the admissions process: deciding where to apply. Samantha — the admissions office’s new senior assistant director for partnership programming —joins Hannah and Mark to share advice on asking questions of admissions representatives, current students, faculty and staff. The officers discuss how asking thoughtful personalized questions is an essential step in building a college list and share strategies for seeking insights about a college’s potential fit.
At the start of the new admissions cycle, Karen joins Hannah and Mark for the third annual preview of the questions that will appear on Yale’s first-year application. The admissions officers discuss the types of responses that are more and less effective and what admissions officers hope to learn about applicants when reading their responses. This episode is an update to Episode 6: Essays: The Little Stuff, originally released in summer 2020.
Recently admitted students in the Class of 2028 join Hannah and Mark for the second annual Bulldog Days Live episode, recorded during Yale’s three-day campus preview program. Admissions officers Becky and Julian discuss how admissions officers enjoy meeting admitted students in person and the conversations they have with Bulldog Days attendees. Three admitted students reflect on navigating the process of selecting a college after receiving admissions offers, and the hosts share dozens of pearls of wisdom submitted by audience members to help students navigate the process of making a final college decision.
To help listeners better understand what test scores can and can’t say about a student’s relative strengths, Mark outlines an analogy he devised that connects standardized tests to his favorite sport. Dean Quinlan joins to discuss how applicants often overemphasize testing, the many ways applicants can show academic preparedness, and famous New York Mets knuckleballer R.A. Dickey.
Part 3 in a 3-part series on Yale’s test-flexible policy. Over four years, Yale’s admissions office went from requiring the ACT or SAT, to being fully test-optional, to adopting a new test-flexible policy. Hannah and Mark give a quick history of the factors that led to those changes and an overview of what happened to Yale’s applicant pool in the wake of the pandemic. Dean of Undergraduate Admissions Jeremiah Quinlan joins to discuss the data and analyses that persuaded the admissions office to update its testing policy in early 2024.
Part 2 in a 3-part series on Yale’s test-flexible policy. Hannah and Mark reveal the details of Yale’s newly announced test-flexible policy, which goes into effect for first year and transfer applicants for fall 2025 admission. They explain how applicants will fulfill Yale’s requirement and describe the questions that will appear on Yale’s application. They address concerns and questions about the new policy and share advice for how applicants can put their best foot forward with their available scores.
Part 1 in a 3-part series on Yale’s test-flexible policy. Dean of Undergraduate Admissions Jeremiah Quinlan shares his thoughts on the role and value of tests generally, and how students should consider their scores during the college search process. Hannah and Mark discuss how admissions officers incorporate test scores in Yale’s whole-person review process, and they bust some persistent myths about testing.
With just days to go before Yale’s early action deadline, Hannah, Mark, and special guest Moira hosted a special live virtual event for students preparing their Yale applications. The officers answered questions about standardized testing, the activities list, essays, and short answer questions, while busting a few myths and dispelling rumors about the selection process.
In June 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in two cases about how admissions offices can consider an applicant’s race and ethnicity. Hannah and Mark explain the basics of the ruling and how it affects the work of the admissions office. Special guest Jeremiah Quinlan, Dean of Undergraduate Admissions and Financial Aid, joins to share his insights on why the ruling should not affect how applicants and educators approach the college application process, as well as the details of Yale’s strategy for responding to the ruling to ensure that Yale’s student body remains diverse along all dimensions. The ruling changed the court’s interpretation of the law, but it did not change Yale’s values.
In September 2023 Hannah and Mark hosted a special live virtual event for high school seniors. Responding to questions submitted by audience members, the hosts addressed common questions about essays, activities, intended majors, and the review process. They also shared their advice for navigating the application process during senior year.
The sudden availability of Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT have raised new questions about authorship, plagiarism, and fairness in college admissions. Hannah and Mark discuss why they think these tools are unlikely to help applicants gain an advantage in Yale’s selection process and why questions about generative-AI are the wrong starting point for understanding how to compose an effective college essay. LLMs can appear very knowledgeable, but they are inevitably ignorant of the foundation of any successful application: the unique person applying.
At the start of the 2023-2024 admissions cycle, Jackie joins Hannah and Mark for the second annual preview of the new and updated questions that will be on Yale’s first-year application. The admissions officers discuss the annual process of reviewing and revising the Yale-specific questions and the staff’s thinking behind each one. This episode is an update to Episode 6: Essays: The Little Stuff, originally released in summer 2020.
A live audience of recently admitted students joins Hannah and Mark for a special episode recorded at Bulldog Days, a three-day campus preview program. Special guests Chandler and Marty share insights on how admissions officers plan and execute Bulldog Days with the help of current students and campus partners. Three admitted students reflect on their experience navigating the college search and application processes, and the hosts share dozens of pearls of wisdom submitted by audience members to help future college applicants.
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