From the Director of Admissions: What Do Yale SOM Students Have in Common?

Orientation for the Yale SOM MBA Class of 2017 began on Monday here in New Haven. A quick look at a profile of the class confirms that it is an amazing group of diverse individuals with impressive academic and professional backgrounds, compelling personal histories, and deeply felt career aspirations.

View photos from orientation

I’m often asked what Yale SOM students have in common—a question usually posed by a prospective student seeking to understand what the Admissions Office looks for in applicants. As I think about the incoming class, there’s no single experience or background that connects the students; they’re simply too diverse to have any one thing in common on their résumés or applications. Instead, I typically note students’ alignment with the school’s mission of educating leaders for business and society, as well as their broadmindedness and intellectual curiosity, which make them well suited to that mission and our interdisciplinary, integrated curriculum.

At a deeper level, underlying these common traits is an overwhelming sense of optimism. Yale SOM students are not cynical. They want to make a difference, and they feel that doing so is something worth aspiring to. This core quality shapes the culture and community here at a deep level. And to me, it is a large part of what makes the school such an inspiring place to be.