The admissions perspective

COURTESY OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

The Yale Herald: Students who get in early decision don't have the opportunity to compare different schools' financial aid offers--they have to attend Yale no matter how much aid they receive. Does this mean early decision limits the socioeconomic diversity of the applicant pool?

Dean of Admissions Richard Shaw: If we weren't conscious of the issue it might hurt that part of the applicant pool, but we give those applicants just as much consideration, and we try to take the best students regardless of their socioeconomic level. We would worry if the percentage of students we accepted early kept going up, but it's not. We accept about 40 percent of the class early every year.

YH: Why is Yale's early admissions process binding?

RS: Early action was changed to early decision three years ago because we found in the process of students applying through open-ended early action, students were applying to multiple institutions and collecting trophies. This meant they were taking away space from other applicants.

YH: Even though the process is "need-blind," does Yale consider students' economic background in admissions?

RS: We don't have access to the family income information, but we know there's a lot of variation in students' experiences just from talking to them and looking at their essays. We take that into account. We look at the student in the context of where they are and where they learn.

YH: Does Yale make a conscious effort to achieve socioeconomic diversity in its student body?

RS: Certainly. We have a full-blown minority recruitment program, and we have outreach efforts to try to identify populations around the country. We actually have one of the most successful [recruitment] programs among the group we compete with. But it's very competitive; kids eligible for positions [at Yale] are also going to be eligible in other places.