How To Get Into Yale SOM

Update: This article was originally posted on August 5, 2022. It has been updated with new information and tips below.

As a haven for intellectual and impact-minded leaders, Yale School of Management is one of the best places to prepare for a successful career solving some of the biggest problems in business. Considering that Yale SOM offers one of the best-ranked MBAs out there, earning a spot at this school requires you to really stand out among the competition. 

In this guide, we will guide you through how to get into Yale SOM. While many applicants think that simply marketing themselves well is enough to gain admission, successful applicants are the ones who understand a) who Yale SOM is looking for, b) how Yale SOM’s MBA program, community, and opportunities fit their profile and goals, and c) how to prepare a Yale SOM-specific essay and interview. Read on for our expert advice on how to master these three things.

 

1. Understand who Yale SOM is looking for

Source: @yalesom on Instagram

“The Yale School of Management embraces diversity. We believe that effective leaders are those that understand and benefit from the perspectives of people with different backgrounds, and that a commitment to building a diverse community is a key element of our mission of educating leaders for business and society.” Yale SOM Admissions

Every year, Yale reads through thousands of applications to hand-pick slightly around 330 students to take part in their prestigious MBA program. 

With a strong emphasis on diversity (25% of Yale’s Class of 2025 came from humanities and social sciences backgrounds), there is no “standard” student at Yale, yet the median GMAT score for the Class of 2025 was 720, slightly down from 725 last year. The median GRE score for the class was 164 Verbal, 166 Quant. Furthermore, Yale’s class included a whopping 50% of international passport-holding students! 

In addition to diversity, Yale is extremely dedicated to leadership development and has numerous resources on campus to ensure that diverse students not only grow at Yale but that they also have all the tools and support they need to reach their personal and professional goals on a global scale.   

So, if this sounds like a community in which you’d be right at home, you’ll have to think of the ways in which you align with the main characteristics of Yale SOM’s students. This means forming your business school brand and then focusing on the aspects of that brand that align with solving the biggest problems in business and society, collaboration, and building networks. 

 

2. Know Yale SOM’s program and how you can use it

The second thing you must do to get into Yale SOM is to know the MBA program and how it applies to your career goals. If you want to get into Yale SOM, you really need to show the admissions committee why it’s a good fit for you (and why you’re a good fit for the community too)!

While you will have to do your own research to find the specifics of what aligns specifically with your goals and profile, below we are highlighting some of the main aspects of Yale SOM’s MBA program so you can be informed about what makes it unique in comparison to other business schools.

 

Yale SOM’s raw case method

Yale SOM’s “raw case method” is a unique approach to preparing students for real-life leadership and organizational challenges. This approach, developed by Yale, uses sources like reports, articles, interviews, videos, and photographs to mimic the real world, and students produce conclusions based on the information they are given. With a balance of theoretical rigor and immersive problem-solving, this method engages students to sharpen their minds and learn new skills and strengths to prepare them for career development.

 

Social impact

Yale SOM has a reputation as a school that not only educates socially-aware business leaders, but also prepares many students for work in the public and non-profit sectors. Yale’s MBA curriculum is focused on developing business leaders who recognize their impact on society. Additionally, with a famously flexible curriculum, elective courses focus on a wide range of topics including entrepreneurship, healthcare, and sustainability. 

There are also a number of extracurricular opportunities that expose students to social impact-related leadership. For example, the Broad Center is a place where students develop and test ideas, policies, and leadership to help students, especially those from underserved communities, and the Program on Social Enterprise is a center where faculty, students, alumni, and practitioners leverage business skills to efficiently achieve social objectives with both nonprofits, the public sector, and social enterprises. 

 

Globalism

With a wide range of meaningful global opportunities and a requirement for international study of some kind, Yale SOM students are prepared to operate and lead within an increasingly global world of business (and beyond). All Yale SOM students are not just encouraged but required to fulfill at least one global study opportunity, such as the International Experience course in which students learn about a foreign business environment and leadership in the classroom, then go on a 10-day trip to one or more business capitals to visit companies and meet political leaders. There are also Global Network Courses that offer students the opportunity to work on project teams with students at Global Network schools around the world.

Looking for more than just a summary of the Yale SOM MBA? 

Luckily, we’ve created a complete guide on Yale, including program specifics, MBA class profile, and Yale post-MBA salary and employment information. 

Additionally, we have dozens of sample Yale SOM MBA essays that got our past clients into Yale, plus essays for numerous other top schools, all in one place. Click to join!

 

 

3. Prepare a winning application

Last, but certainly not least, is knowing how to write an outstanding essay and prepare for a successful interview. Below are our top tips on succeeding at both of these key aspects of your Yale SOM application!

 

Write an outstanding essay

Writing any admissions essay is a tough task, however, impressing Yale SOM’s highly selective adcom is especially challenging. Below, we discuss how to successfully respond to Yale SOM’s main essay questions.*

*Though these questions are accurate at the time of publication, check out our Yale SOM Essay Analysis post for the most up-to-date questions and analysis. 

 

 

Here’s the question:

Describe the biggest commitment you have ever made. (500 words)

Before starting on your essays, we suggest you watch Yale’s video tips on how to prepare a successful Yale SOM application. 

Developed in conjunction with one of SOM’s organizational behavior professors, the question has remained Yale’s only essay question for several years now. According to an interview with admissions director Bruce DelMonico:

 “We don’t have a preference for professional or personal accomplishments. . . . We are not making value judgments about what that commitment is, but it is more about how you approach that commitment, how you have demonstrated that commitment, and what sorts of behaviors underlie that commitment.”

To answer this question, you first want to think about your scope. Though you can certainly talk about a single story or achievement or your commitment to a single cause, the question is broad enough for you to explore a theme in your life. 

No matter which approach you take to describe your commitment, you should make sure that you are fully presenting stories and examples that support your theme. 

Finally, make sure you include enough analysis of your example(s) to ensure that your reader can see why you made the commitment and how you achieved results along the way. 

Remember that the outcome here is not your main focus — rather, your focus should be on the how and why you acted as you did. 

For more information on how to successfully complete Yale SOM’s essays, see our essay analysis with sample responses!

*Note: this is the latest essay question as of the date this guide was published, but we suggest that you check for recent changes, as schools often update their essay questions closer to the round 1 deadline. You can access Yale SOM’s essay question and more application info here.

 

Prepare a winning interview

Once you’ve submitted your application, you will wait for your invitation to interview. Once you receive this, congratulations! Landing an interview with Yale is an exceptional achievement.

During the interview, the admissions committee member is actively trying to gauge how solid your motivations for wanting to pursue an MBA are, how interested you seem in the Yale SOM program, and if you fit well with the program’s focus on diversity and its raw case method. Interviewers often ask many standard MBA interview questions, as well as questions designed to gauge your self-awareness and ability to be part of a team. You can also expect numerous follow-up questions. Yale SOM interviews typically last around 30 minutes.

The interviewer will have read your entire application and will have seen your video essay responses. Past reports indicate that interviewers develop specific questions based on your application, so make sure to take the time to review what you presented. 

You will also be required to submit a quote at least 24 hours before your interview. The quote (and why you chose it) will also factor into your interview.

Our clients who have interviewed with Yale in the past say that the interviewer was very friendly and prepared questions specifically tailored to their profile. As such, some clients received questions that were far more personal in nature, while others focused strictly on their academic and professional achievements. 

 

Make sure you prepare a successful Yale SOM application

Getting into the Yale MBA is no easy feat. 

With multiple essays, numerous letters of recommendation, and admissions interviews, a successful application to Yale requires that you carefully think about all aspects of your profile and craft the most cohesive, compelling narrative possible. 

Starting from scratch, though, can leave many applicants like you feeling confused and uncertain they are developing an application that will impress the Yale admissions committee. 

That’s why we created our MBA Resource Center, which includes everything you need to get into the Yale MBA, all in one place. This includes dozens of sample essays, recommendation letter questions and guides, sample letters of recommendation, MBA CV templates, interview mock sequences, and even sample answers to the most common interview questions. 

In short, our Resource Center puts the Ellin Lolis Advantage into your hands, giving you exclusive access to the materials we used to help maintain our 98.9% success rate.

The Ellin Lolis MBA Resource Center has helped countless applicants around the world get into Yale. Sign up today to put this competitive advantage to work for you.