FAQ

To apply to the Yale School of Management, applicants must have earned a four-year bachelor’s degree from an accredited U.S. institution or the international equivalent. Applicants must submit the online application (including an essay), and the following materials:

- Transcripts from every college or university attended
- GMAT or GRE score (valid within 5 years of exam date)
- Two professional recommendations
- Resume
- Application fee
- Video questions and behavioral assessment (links provided after application submission and payment of application fee)

To make the application process as affordable as possible for candidates with diverse backgrounds, the Yale School of Management uses a sliding-scale application fee structure. The standard application fee is $250. For applicants earning less than $40,000 a year, the application fee is $175. For applicants earning less than $20,000 a year, it is $125. The application fee is based on the total annual compensation information you provide in the application. If you are admitted and enroll, we will verify this compensation information. Your offer of admission is contingent on successful verification.

Yale SOM waives the application fee for members of the following groups:  

- Active U.S. military members and U.S. military veterans

- Members and alumni of Teach for America, Teach for China, Teach for India, or other Teach for All Network Partners

- Current Forté MBALaunch or Rising Star program participants

- Current and former U.S. Peace Corps volunteers

- Current students at Yale University

- Management Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT)

- QuestBridge college seniors and alumni

- Access Fellows

Within the Yale SOM application, you can request a fee waiver if you meet any of these criteria. We ask students requesting  a fee waiver to do so  at least 48 hours before the application deadline.

You should apply when you feel you can submit your best application. We model the application cycle so that the same application has a comparable chance of being admitted regardless of the round in which you apply, although it is worth noting that Round 3 (the final application round) is subject to remaining space in the class and available scholarship funding.

Visit the Class Profile for information about the current class, including demographic details, test score ranges, and GPA ranges. 

There is no minimum GMAT or GRE score required to apply to Yale SOM.

We will use your self-reported scores to evaluate your application; we will only require you to send official scores from the testing agency for final verification should you be admitted and enroll.  You must send us an official score report for any exam before it expires, as you will not be able to send a report for an expired test score after you are admitted.

All test scores must be less than five years old, measured from the date you submit your application. For example, if you are applying with a test score from December 15, 2018, you must submit your application by no later than December 14, 2023 if you would like this score to be considered. We will use your self-reported scores to evaluate your application; we will only require you to send official scores from the testing agency for final verification should you be admitted and enroll.  You must send us an official score report for any exam before it expires, as you will not be able to send a report for an expired test score after you are admitted.

If you took the exam within the past five years and have designated Yale SOM as a score report recipient, we will have access to all of your GMAT and/or GRE scores from that period.

Sometimes applicants have a scheduled GMAT or GRE exam very near or just after an application deadline. We can’t guarantee that we will be able to review scores from exams taken after the application date, so plan to have all of your testing done in advance of the application deadline. If you do end up retaking a test after the application deadline, you will be able to enter the new score on your applicant status page.

We see and consider all the scores reported to Yale SOM as we review your application, although we credit the highest score you achieved. We do not average scores. If you have taken either exam more than once and have already reported your scores, you will need to report all subsequent scores to our institution code, should you enroll at Yale SOM.

You can request GMAT score reports through www.mba.com (use code 3TJ-BX-45) and GRE scores through www.ets.org  (use code 3986). Please make sure you use the correct code at the time you submit your scores. Note: Yale SOM has multiple GMAT and GRE codes. Be sure to send your scores to the codes above, which correspond to the Yale SOM full-time MBA program. Use of a different code will result in a delay of receiving your official scores.

As part of your application, you will be asked to provide transcripts for all undergraduate, graduate, study abroad, transfer and non-degree programs you have attended and for which you were issued university-level course credit.  Professional and personal development activities not taken for university-level credit, such as CPA, CFA, and online classes for which you did not receive course credit, do not require transcripts.

You do not need to submit official transcripts when you apply, but you should submit either a copy of a physical transcript (which should appear on school letterhead and contain all available pages) or an electronic transcript (which should appear in the electronic format provided by the school that most closely replicates the format and information provided in a physical transcript with classes appearing in chronological order). Transcripts should clearly show the name of the institution, all course descriptions and grades. Submit all available pages of each transcript, including pages that detail your institution's grading scale. We will require official transcripts once you enroll at Yale SOM; all offers of admission are conditional until the official transcripts and degree certifications are received and verified.

If your transcript is not in English, we request both a copy of the original untranslated transcript as well as a notarized English translation.

If your degree-granting university transcript includes any study abroad work or transfer credits, you’ll need to submit a separate transcript from the institution where those courses were completed.  The only exception is if your degree-granting university includes the full course names and grades (not pass/fail) for your study abroad or transfer credits; in this case, you do not need to submit a separate transcript from the institution where those courses were completed.

Only report a GPA if it is listed on your transcript; do not calculate your own GPA if it does not appear on your transcript.  In this case, leave the GPA field blank and check the box reading “No GPA reported on transcript.”

Although full-time work experience is strongly encouraged, it is not a requirement for admission. Our incoming students have an average of five years of work experience when they start the program, although the overall range of experience is much wider than that. We also admit a select group of students directly from college through our  Silver Scholars Program.

The application requires two professional recommendations, one of which ideally should come from your most recent supervisor. If you are an entrepreneur or work for your family’s business, you may get a professional recommendation from a client or mentor. Please select recommenders who know you well and can speak to your strengths.

Yale SOM welcomes your recommenders to upload and submit letters of recommendation written in Mandarin or Spanish. Yale University will be responsible for providing a translation to English for review by the Office of Admissions.

Note that undergraduate students applying to the Silver Scholars program must provide one letter from an academic instructor and one letter from a professional experience.  More detail can be found here.

If any aspect of your application requires additional explanation, you can address it in the Optional Information section. This might include academic performance, promotions or recognitions, or other information that is not apparent from the rest of your application.  Note, you should use the specific prompts provided in the Work Experience section to address gaps in work experience or choice of recommender.  The Optional Information section is truly optional - if no aspect of your application requires further explanation, you should leave this section blank. 

The Behavioral Assessment is an online exercise administered by ETS, the testing service behind the GRE. But unlike the GMAT or GRE, which are tests of certain cognitive abilities, the Behavioral Assessment is a non-cognitive instrument that measures a set of inter- and intrapersonal competencies that are associated with academic success in business school.  The exercise itself should take about 25 minutes to complete.  You’ll be given 130 pairs of statements and asked to select the ones that best match your own behaviors.

Yale SOM is committed to exploring innovative ways of evaluating candidates for admission, allowing us to look beyond traditional metrics such as testing and academic performance.  While these admissions factors are useful predictors of business school performance, they do not tell us everything we need to know about a candidate.  The Behavioral Assessment gives us an additional piece of information to use in assessing who will perform effectively in the curriculum, specifically by helping us predict who will perform better than their academic history might suggest.  And much like any other piece of the application, the Behavioral Assessment will never be the deciding factor for admission, but will instead be used in combination with the rest of a candidate’s profile.

Yes, all applicants who are offered admission will have had an interview. Interviews are offered by invitation on a rolling basis throughout each round. Although many interview invitations are extended within the round in which you apply, it possible to be placed on the waitlist without having been interviewed and then to be offered an interview in a subsequent round.

The application process is exactly the same for joint degree applicants as it is for other applicants with the addition of a brief statement to explain your interest in the joint degree. Applicants must apply and be admitted to each separate degree program to enroll as a joint degree candidate. Admissions decisions for each program are made independently.

As a re-applicant, you are required to submit a new application, upload new essays (including a re-applicant essay), pay the application fee, and complete the video questions. If you have applied within the last two years, you are not required to submit new transcripts or a new test score report (please note, GMAT and GRE scores are valid for five years from the test date to the date of submission of your new application).  Although it is not required, you may choose to request new letters of recommendation if they would provide insight into your candidacy since your last application.

If you applied more than two years ago, you will need to submit an entirely new application and provide all required materials.

If you are reapplying to Yale SOM, the Admissions Committee will look to understand what has changed about your candidacy since your last application. Therefore, we suggest you reapply only when you have had enough time to reflect on and can provide meaningful updates to your candidacy. There is no single round that is the best for all re-applicants; rather, we see successful re-applicants apply throughout the year. If waiting until a later round gives you a better opportunity to put forward your best application, then we encourage you to take the extra time to prepare.

Once you submit your application online, you will be able to check your online status by signing in with your email address and password. You will then be able to see which materials our office has received and which we are still awaiting.

Applicants will receive their decision by close of business (5 p.m. ET) on the decision release date. For a list of this year’s application and decision release dates, please visit the Admissions page.

Invitations to interview are sent via email throughout the round in which you apply. Although we try to extend invitations as early as possible, they may be extended as late as the admissions decision deadline. The timing of your interview invitation has no bearing on the outcome of your application. In some cases, a waitlisted candidate may be invited to interview in a future round.

After submitting your application, any material changes or updates – such as new grades or a change in employment – must be reported as soon as possible through the form on your application status page. You may also use this form to report other updates, such as a new test score. We will do our best, but we cannot guarantee that new materials received after the application deadline will be considered in our evaluation process. 

All applicants are automatically considered for a merit scholarship. There is no need to take any additional steps to be considered. If you are awarded a scholarship, you will be notified at the same time you learn of your admission to the program. If you do not receive a merit scholarship, there are other means of financing your MBA studies, including outside scholarships for which you may be eligible. Please visit the Affording Your MBApage for more information.