Yale 2011 applicants Forum

[dueprocess14]

There is literally no way Yale is not pleased with their pool of applicants.

It's Yale...

They probably had enough quality people to put together a par Yale class by October.
Just saying...

I know, this is what perplexes me. Asha always says they could easily fill their class several times over with qualified applicants--so why extend the deadline and have to turn away even more qualified people? Is it really just to raise the selectivity rating and bring in a few more bucks? That doesn't seem like Yale.

If I were a betting man (and I'm not, because if I weren't risk averse, I wouldn't be going to law school...), I would bet that the new dean's certification requirements have hurt YLS' applicant pool among more diverse candidates. It might be totally random, but the admit group on facebook seems to be much less diverse than I remember from years past and it's possible that the people who are less likely to apply anyway are even LESS so if they have to go to the hassle of dean's certs when they think they have little shot of getting in. YLS' targeting of specific minority groups isn't for show or to boost their application volume: for whatever reason, I get the sense (and I could be wrong) that historically underrepresented prospective law students generally seem less entitled to thinking they should be going to YLS and/or feel less confident about their chances. Just idle speculation though...

[LinzerTorte]

There is literally no way Yale is not pleased with their pool of applicants.

It's Yale...

They probably had enough quality people to put together a par Yale class by October.
Just saying...

I know, this is what perplexes me. Asha always says they could easily fill their class several times over with qualified applicants--so why extend the deadline and have to turn away even more qualified people? Is it really just to raise the selectivity rating and bring in a few more bucks? That doesn't seem like Yale.

If I were a betting man (and I'm not, because if I weren't risk averse, I wouldn't be going to law school...), I would bet that the new dean's certification requirements have hurt YLS' applicant pool among more diverse candidates. It might be totally random, but the admit group on facebook seems to be much less diverse than I remember from years past and it's possible that the people who are less likely to apply anyway are even LESS so if they have to go to the hassle of dean's certs when they think they have little shot of getting in. YLS' targeting of specific minority groups isn't for show or to boost their application volume: for whatever reason, I get the sense (and I could be wrong) that historically underrepresented prospective law students generally seem less entitled to thinking they should be going to YLS and/or feel less confident about their chances. Just idle speculation though...

That might be it...I'm a 2008 grad and I haven't gone through the Dean's cert hassle yet, although now I might actually get it in before the new deadline.

But lord knows I am nowhere NEAR competitive at Yale, so who knows. The ways of adcomms are mysterious.

[CapHillLove]

Does YLS have a status checker? Submitted like a month ago and no word...

I'd call them, my app turned out to have the dean's certificate misplaced, and I only found out by calling, it's definitely worth a call at this point. They'll ask for your lsac or ssn and can check which piece is missing.

I did this because my school was having issues figuring out who should send the deans cert, and I was worried that they might have never sent it, but the woman on the phone kind of snapped at me at told me they can't tell me if I'm missing materials.

It worries me because I don't understand how I'm supposed to know if I need to send something else in if they won't tell me if something's missing. She was not very kind or helpful. It turned me off a little bit.

[saldanar]

Wow. Just when I thought I'd finally convinced myself that I had better uses for $100.

I don't see the downside of extending the deadline. Their selectivity goes up, and revenue also goes up since they don't give merit waivers and they don't honor LSAC waiver.

however, you can still get a fee waiver from yale. as extensive as the fee waiver process is at yale, people still get waivers. nonetheless, i can still rev going up overall.

If you don't mind sharing, how extensive is it? If I could get a fee waiver then I'd seriously think about applying.

you have to fill out some forms on the website and mail them in. in general, the forms ask about your financial circumstances. i think you only hear back from the AO if your fee waiver is not granted.

the process is not that extensive per se, but it is a bit of extra work relative to law schools that honor the LSAC fee waiver.

[rm61]

anddd...empty mailbox.

It's weird holding my breath for a letter NOT to come.

[notanumber]

There is literally no way Yale is not pleased with their pool of applicants.

It's Yale...

They probably had enough quality people to put together a par Yale class by October.
Just saying...

I know, this is what perplexes me. Asha always says they could easily fill their class several times over with qualified applicants--so why extend the deadline and have to turn away even more qualified people? Is it really just to raise the selectivity rating and bring in a few more bucks? That doesn't seem like Yale.

If I were a betting man (and I'm not, because if I weren't risk averse, I wouldn't be going to law school...), I would bet that the new dean's certification requirements have hurt YLS' applicant pool among more diverse candidates. It might be totally random, but the admit group on facebook seems to be much less diverse than I remember from years past and it's possible that the people who are less likely to apply anyway are even LESS so if they have to go to the hassle of dean's certs when they think they have little shot of getting in. YLS' targeting of specific minority groups isn't for show or to boost their application volume: for whatever reason, I get the sense (and I could be wrong) that historically underrepresented prospective law students generally seem less entitled to thinking they should be going to YLS and/or feel less confident about their chances. Just idle speculation though...

I also wouldn't be surprised if the dean's cert. thing skewed their applicant pool more in the "ivy league" direction. It's considerably easier to wrestle these things from the hands of well funded schools with student-centered bureaucracies than it is to get them from large state schools with other priorities. I wouldn't even know how to begin getting a dean's cert. from the community college I attended over a decade ago. It would have been a ridiculously massive headache.

[r6_philly]

I also wouldn't be surprised if the dean's cert. thing skewed their applicant pool more in the "ivy league" direction. It's considerably easier to wrestle these things from the hands of well funded schools with student-centered bureaucracies than it is to get them from large state schools with other priorities. I wouldn't even know how to begin getting a dean's cert. from the community college I attended over a decade ago. It would have been a ridiculously massive headache.

It was a massive headache to get a dean's cert from the CC I attended over a decade ago. I guess now I am more disappointed.

[LinzerTorte]

If I were a betting man (and I'm not, because if I weren't risk averse, I wouldn't be going to law school...), I would bet that the new dean's certification requirements have hurt YLS' applicant pool among more diverse candidates. It might be totally random, but the admit group on facebook seems to be much less diverse than I remember from years past and it's possible that the people who are less likely to apply anyway are even LESS so if they have to go to the hassle of dean's certs when they think they have little shot of getting in. YLS' targeting of specific minority groups isn't for show or to boost their application volume: for whatever reason, I get the sense (and I could be wrong) that historically underrepresented prospective law students generally seem less entitled to thinking they should be going to YLS and/or feel less confident about their chances. Just idle speculation though...

I also wouldn't be surprised if the dean's cert. thing skewed their applicant pool more in the "ivy league" direction. It's considerably easier to wrestle these things from the hands of well funded schools with student-centered bureaucracies than it is to get them from large state schools with other priorities. I wouldn't even know how to begin getting a dean's cert. from the community college I attended over a decade ago. It would have been a ridiculously massive headache.

It certainly made it a lot easier to apply if you were someone still in UG, and Yale is certainly one of the schools that wants more than just straight-out-of-UG applicants. That could be another factor.

My undergrad, which generally does pretty well with Yale, never gets anyone accepted straight out of senior year.

[neonx]

I finally submitted my app today. A part of me wants to hold onto it until March 1 and toy with commas all day; but I need to let this go.

Praying now.

[HopefulFish]

omg are we supposed to get dean certificate from even community colleges? I thought it was just degree granting institution?

Also, about a month ago YLS I submitted my app and about a week later they emailed me saying they received my app. Do they send you another email once I go under review?

[r6_philly]

omg are we supposed to get dean certificate from even community colleges? I thought it was just degree granting institution?

Also, about a month ago YLS I submitted my app and about a week later they emailed me saying they received my app. Do they send you another email once I go under review?

Stanford it's only degree granting. Yale is any higher education institution you have ever enrolled in as a degree student (For credit).

ETA: there is a complete email.

[cardinals1989]

omg are we supposed to get dean certificate from even community colleges? I thought it was just degree granting institution?

Also, about a month ago YLS I submitted my app and about a week later they emailed me saying they received my app. Do they send you another email once I go under review?

You get a complete email. That's the last thing you hear before a decision.

[jd20132013]

There is literally no way Yale is not pleased with their pool of applicants.

It's Yale...

They probably had enough quality people to put together a par Yale class by October.
Just saying...

If they normally spend the whole year putting together an average (par) Yale class, why would they be able to put one together in October in a down year?

I suspect that generally they have enough highly qualified people by October. They're just splitting hairs after that as new apps come in to get the absolute best. For such a small class and for all the qualified people applying to law school?

Yes, I believe that they probably have enough by them. Obviously speculating but there it is.


The person on the next page that was speaking about minority apps may have a point there, however.

EDIT: It was certainly true in my case...despite getting some other very good T6 acceptances I really wasn't going to apply until being encouraged by a friend and the packet from the BLSA that they sent.

I wouldn't mind that, since that would help my app out, but we'll see.

[jd20132013]

omg are we supposed to get dean certificate from even community colleges? I thought it was just degree granting institution?

Also, about a month ago YLS I submitted my app and about a week later they emailed me saying they received my app. Do they send you another email once I go under review?

I couldn't really tell from the instructions so I just had my community college I attended for a summer send one. Better safe than sorry.

[angua]

omg are we supposed to get dean certificate from even community colleges? I thought it was just degree granting institution?

Also, about a month ago YLS I submitted my app and about a week later they emailed me saying they received my app. Do they send you another email once I go under review?

You get a complete email. That's the last thing you hear before a decision.

If they sent me the original "application received" email on January 14, is it worrisome that I haven't gotten a "complete" email yet?

[Knock]

omg are we supposed to get dean certificate from even community colleges? I thought it was just degree granting institution?

Also, about a month ago YLS I submitted my app and about a week later they emailed me saying they received my app. Do they send you another email once I go under review?

Stanford it's only degree granting. Yale is any higher education institution you have ever enrolled in as a degree student (For credit).

ETA: there is a complete email.

Okay to clarify here (I called Yale). You only need a Dean's Cert if: you were enrolled in the school as a degree seeking student.

So if you took community college classes over the summer while you were in undergrad or in high school, you don't need the Dean's Cert. If you were in community college seeking your associate's degree, then you do need the dean's cert.

[r6_philly]

Okay to clarify here (I called Yale). You only need a Dean's Cert if: you were enrolled in the school as a degree seeking student.

So if you took community college classes over the summer while you were in undergrad or in high school, you don't need the Dean's Cert. If you were in community college seeking your associate's degree, then you do need the dean's cert.

You don't have to be working toward a degree to be classified as a degree student. If your transcript doesn't say "non-degree" you need a cert.

They told me to submit all.

[cardinals1989]

omg are we supposed to get dean certificate from even community colleges? I thought it was just degree granting institution?

Also, about a month ago YLS I submitted my app and about a week later they emailed me saying they received my app. Do they send you another email once I go under review?

Stanford it's only degree granting. Yale is any higher education institution you have ever enrolled in as a degree student (For credit).

ETA: there is a complete email.

Okay to clarify here (I called Yale). You only need a Dean's Cert if: you were enrolled in the school as a degree seeking student.

So if you took community college classes over the summer while you were in undergrad or in high school, you don't need the Dean's Cert. If you were in community college seeking your associate's degree, then you do need the dean's cert.

Most important question here is....what happened to the Stanford avatar????

PS-Thanks for the info.

[Knock]

Okay to clarify here (I called Yale). You only need a Dean's Cert if: you were enrolled in the school as a degree seeking student.

So if you took community college classes over the summer while you were in undergrad or in high school, you don't need the Dean's Cert. If you were in community college seeking your associate's degree, then you do need the dean's cert.

You don't have to be working toward a degree to be classified as a degree student. If your transcript doesn't say "non-degree" you need a cert.

They told me to submit all.

We'll see, that's what the lady from Yale told me but I still haven't gone complete yet .

[r6_philly]

We'll see, that's what the lady from Yale told me but I still haven't gone complete yet .

When I went to CC, I didn't want a degree, but they still classified me as a degree student with a major so they can process my district's discount rates because only degree students get the subsidized rate.

[cardinals1989]

I feel like I won't even be complete before deposit deadlines...

[angua]

Is it poor form to call Yale to see if dean's certs all got there?

[sonervous88]

anddd...empty mailbox.

It's weird holding my breath for a letter NOT to come.

+1 i was sure i was getting dinged first wave

[hoping]

!

[pride09]

What year did Yale start requiring a Deans cert? It certainly is a headache when you're out of (and far away from) undergrad.

H requires a Dean's cert after you've been accepted--this seems like a much more prudent route.