Admissions FAQ

To begin the program in Fall 2027, you must have earned a bachelor’s degree by July 31, 2027. A three-year international bachelor’s degree is acceptable. Alongside the online application, you will submit:

• GMAT or GRE score (valid within five years of the exam date)
• TOEFL, DET, or IELTS score, for applicants who require it (valid within two years)
• Transcripts from every college or university attended
• One-page résumé
• One essay
• Two letters of recommendation (one academic, one professional or applied)
• Video questions and written assessment
• Application fee

There are no required prerequisite courses and no required major; we welcome applicants from every background. To begin in Fall 2027, you will need a bachelor's degree, or its international equivalent, by July 31, 2027.

A strong quantitative foundation will help you succeed in the program. Coursework in areas such as multivariable calculus, linear or matrix algebra, microeconomic theory, probability and statistics, and computer programming can provide helpful preparation, but none of these courses is required to apply.

To learn more, visit our quantitative preparation page.

No. There is no required or preferred major. We’re much more interested in how you think, what has sparked your interest in investing, and whether you are prepared for the quantitative rigor of the program than in the name of your major.

Our students come from a wide range of academic backgrounds, including economics and finance, mathematics, engineering, the sciences, and the humanities. In fact, different fields of study can bring valuable perspectives and ways of thinking to investment decisions. You can see the range of academic backgrounds represented in our Class Profile.

Applicants to the Master's in Asset Management program will be assessed an application fee of $95. You will pay the fee with a credit card directly after submitting your application form.

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

• Active U.S. military members and U.S. military veterans
• Alumni and current students of nearly 700 US colleges and universities that have significant initiatives to promote economic diversity, including institutions where at least 35% of students receive Pell Grants.
• Alumni of Girls Who Invest
• Current Forté MBALaunch participants
• Current and former U.S. Peace Corps volunteers
• Current students at Yale University
• Management Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT) MBA Prep fellows
• Members and alumni of Teach for America, Teach for China, Teach for India, or other Teach for All Network Partners
• Members and alumni of First Generation Investors
• QuestBridge college seniors and alumni

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.

Our Class Profile provides the latest academic snapshot of our incoming class, including average GPA and test-score ranges. These figures can give you a sense of the academic backgrounds of our students, but they are not minimums or cutoffs for admission.

We review each application holistically, considering your academic preparation alongside your experiences, accomplishments, interest in asset management, and the perspective you would bring to the program. A GPA or test score above or below an average does not, on its own, determine the outcome of an application.

Absolutely. Full-time work experience is not required to apply. The Master’s in Asset Management is designed for students at the beginning of their careers, and many students enter the program directly from college or shortly after graduating.

We don’t expect early-career applicants to have years of professional experience—or to have already worked in finance or investing. Internships, research, part-time work, student organizations, leadership roles, and other experiences can all help you explore your interests and develop skills you’ll bring to the program.

If you do have full-time experience, that can be valuable as well. Applicants who have worked in other fields and are looking to pivot toward asset management are also encouraged to apply.

The Master’s in Asset Management is a nine-month, full-time program, running from August through May. The program is intentionally designed to be focused and intensive, giving you the opportunity to build knowledge and skills specifically for investing and asset management without spending time on a broader finance curriculum.

Over nine months, you’ll combine rigorous coursework with exposure to leading investors and practical experiences that allow you to apply what you are learning. And because there isn’t time to wait until later in the program to think about your next step, career preparation starts early. You’ll have access to a dedicated career adviser before you arrive, as well as Yale SOM’s career resources, alumni network, and industry connections throughout the program.

No. It is a full-time, in-residence program on Yale’s campus in New Haven, Connecticut. There is no part-time, online, or hybrid option.

The right program depends on where you are in your career and what you want to learn next. Yale SOM’s Master’s in Asset Management is designed primarily for students and early-career professionals who know they want to build expertise in investing and asset management. The curriculum is specialized and quantitatively rigorous, allowing you to develop deep investment knowledge and prepare for investing-focused career paths in just nine months.

The MBA is broader and is generally designed for candidates who want to develop skills across business disciplines, expand their leadership capabilities, and keep a wide range of career paths open—including, but not limited to, investment management.

If you’re still in college and know you eventually want an MBA, Silver Scholars offers another option: you can begin the Yale MBA immediately after graduation, spend a year gaining professional experience, and then return to complete the degree.

Could both programs make sense? Potentially. The key is to think about what you need right now. If your immediate goal is to develop specialized investing expertise and launch an asset management career, the Master’s in Asset Management may be the stronger fit. If you’re looking for a broader management education and leadership development—or are further along in your career—the MBA may make more sense.

Yes, we require a verified GMAT or GRE score to apply and do not waive the test score requirement for any applicant.

No. There is no minimum GMAT or GRE score required to apply, and we do not use a specific score as a cutoff for admission.

Your test score is one part of our assessment of your academic preparation for the program, and we consider it alongside your coursework, grades, and the rest of your application. For context on the scores of recently enrolled students, you can review the GMAT and GRE ranges in our Class Profile. Remember that these are ranges, not requirements, and there is no single score that guarantees—or rules out—admission.

Yes, we require you to send official scores from the testing agency by the Post-Submission Materials Deadline on January 11, 2027, which is four days following the application deadline on January 7, 2027. You must send us an official score report for any exam before it expires.

Test scores remain valid for five years and must be valid on the date you submit your application. You must also arrange for the testing agency to send your official score report before the score expires. For example, if your score expires on December 15, 2026, you must submit your application and arrange for the official score report to be sent by December 14, 2026.

If you took the exam within the past five years and named the Master's in Asset Management program as a recipient, we will have access to all of your GMAT or GRE scores from that window.

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 retake a test after the application, 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. 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. 

If you have taken the GMAT and your official score report includes a Superscore, we will review it alongside your individual test sittings and other academic information you provide.

You may send your official score reports at any time directly to the Yale School of Management Master’s in Asset Management. Applicants can send official GMAT scores through www.mba.com (search for Yale School of Management and select the “Master of Management Science – Asset Management” option). Send official GRE scores through www.ets.org (code 4548). Yale SOM has multiple GMAT and GRE codes. Be sure to send your scores to the codes above, which correspond to the Yale SOM Master's in Asset Management program.

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.”

If you’ve taken or passed one or more levels of the CFA exam, that experience can provide additional evidence of your interest in investing and the knowledge you’ve begun building in the field. Be sure to include your CFA exam history on the “Academic Record” page of your application so we have a complete picture of your background and preparation.

That said, CFA progress is just one of many ways applicants may demonstrate their interest in asset management, and it is not required or given special weight in the admissions process. We consider it in the context of your overall application, alongside your academic background, experiences, career interests, and other ways you have explored the field. You do not need to have taken—or plan to take—a CFA exam to be a strong candidate.

Two: one academic and one professional or applied. Your academic recommender can speak to your work in a university setting, like a professor or academic mentor. Your professional or applied recommender is someone who has worked with you in an applied setting, such as an internship, job, research, or a long-term project, and we highly recommend choosing this recommender from what you consider your most significant professional or applied experience. Please select recommenders who know you well and can speak to your strengths.

While all letters must be written in English, we encourage you to find recommenders who can best speak to your past experiences, regardless of English language fluency. We will evaluate only the substance of the recommendations, not the proficiency of the language used therein. Your recommenders may choose to write their letters in English or to write in their native language and use of many free translation programs available.

Our application includes one required essay, with a 500-word limit:

What are your short- and long-term career interests? Please describe what drives these interests and how they connect to your academic, professional, or personal experiences.

This is a specialized program, so we are less interested in a general career statement and more interested in your interest in asset management specifically: where it came from, and where you hope it will take you, so we can understand how the program might help you get there. You do not need your whole career mapped out, and there is no "right" goal we are waiting to hear. Be authentic, be concise, and stay within the 500-word limit.

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. The Optional Information section is truly optional - if no aspect of your application requires further explanation, you should leave this section blank.

After you submit your application and pay the application fee, you’ll receive access to this portion of the application through Kira, which you can launch from your application status portal. The assessment includes two recorded video responses and one written response. You’ll have a short period to review and think about each video question, followed by 60 seconds to answer the first and 90 seconds to answer the second. For the written question, you’ll have 8 minutes to type your response.

The questions are drawn from a randomized set and are similar to questions you might encounter in an interview. There are no trick questions, and you’ll have an opportunity to complete practice questions beforehand so you can get comfortable with the format and timing. This component does not replace the admissions interview.

How should you prepare? Reflect on your experiences and goals, but don’t prepare scripts or rehearsed answers. The purpose is to hear directly from you and get a sense of how you think and communicate, so leave AI out of your responses and answer in your own voice. We are not looking for perfection; it’s okay to pause briefly to collect your thoughts, and a natural, direct response is more valuable than a perfectly polished one.

Before you begin, find a quiet, private space with a reliable internet connection and use a desktop or laptop, as Kira cannot be completed on a mobile device.

Yes, all applicants who are offered admission will have had an interview. Interviews are offered by invitation on a rolling basis throughout the application review process. Invitations are extended at many points across the cycle, so it is possible to be under review for some time, or even placed on the waitlist, before being invited to interview; the timing of your invitation carries no signal about the outcome.

If invited to interview, your interview will be a conversation of about 30 minutes with a member of the Yale SOM staff, from Admissions, the Program Office, or the Career Development Office, so you will be speaking with someone who knows the program and the paths our students pursue well. The questions are behavioral, focused on your experiences, how you have handled real situations, what motivates you, and your goals, rather than technical finance. You will not be quizzed on markets or valuation.

To prepare, revisit your own application, résumé, and essay so the experiences you wrote about are fresh, and think through a few examples that show how you have approached challenges, worked with others, and pursued your interests. Beyond that, there is no script to memorize and no need to over-prepare. Come as yourself, be ready for a genuine conversation, and treat it as a chance to share what you care about and to ask us what you would like to know.

The application process for a joint-degree applicant is the same as for any other applicant, with one addition: a brief statement explaining your interest in the joint degree, including why you intend to pursue both programs and how each serves your academic and professional goals. You must apply to and be admitted to each program independently, and admissions decisions for the two programs are made separately. You may apply to both at the same time, or apply to the Master's in Asset Management during your first year in the MBA program.

It is worth understanding the shape of the commitment before you apply, since the timeline depends on where you are in your own path:

• Standard joint-degree students follow a two-year path. You complete the MBA's first-year core curriculum, then move into the Master's in Asset Management in your second year, finishing with both degrees.
• Undergraduate applicants enter through the Silver Scholars Program and follow a three-year path. You complete your first year of MBA coursework, spend a year-long immersive internship gaining hands-on professional experience (Silver Scholars may extend this to more than one year), and then complete your remaining coursework, finishing with the Master's in Asset Management.

In either case, you graduate with both the MBA and the Master's in Asset Management. If the joint degree interests you, we would encourage you to reach out to our Admissions team so we can help you think through the structure and the application.

Yes. College seniors can pursue the joint degree through the Silver Scholars Program, which lets you begin your Yale MBA directly after graduation rather than working for several years first. As a Silver Scholar, you complete your first year of MBA coursework, then a year-long immersive internship (which you may extend beyond one year), and then your second academic year on campus in the Master's in Asset Management program, finishing with both the MBA and the Master's in Asset Management. You apply to and are admitted to each program independently, the same as any joint-degree applicant. If this path interests you, reach out to our Admissions team and we are glad to walk you through it.

As a re-applicant, you are required to submit a new application, pay the application fee, complete the video questions, and provide a re-applicant essay.

If you applied within the last two years, you are not required to submit new transcripts. If we do not have verified test scores from the testing agency from your previous application you will need to provide them. Please note that GMAT and GRE scores are valid for five years from the test date through the date you submit your new application.

You may use the same essay you submitted with your previous application or write a new one. Although new letters of recommendation are not required, you may choose to request them if they would provide additional 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.

When reviewing your new application, the Admissions Committee will look to understand what has changed about your candidacy since you last applied. We therefore suggest reapplying only after you have had sufficient time to reflect on your previous application and can provide meaningful updates to your candidacy.

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.

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, with no separate application or materials required. If you are awarded a scholarship, you will be notified at the same time you learn of your admission to the program.

Yes. The Master’s in Asset Management is a STEM-designated program, reflecting its strong quantitative and analytical focus. For international students who qualify, that designation can support eligibility for the two-year STEM OPT extension after you finish the program, subject to U.S. immigration rules and your individual eligibility.

Yes. Applicants generally hold a four-year bachelor’s degree from an accredited U.S. institution or its international equivalent, and a three-year bachelor’s degree from an accredited international institution is also eligible. We review international credentials in the context of the system where they were earned, so a three-year degree will not disqualify you.

Yes, non-English transcripts should be translated into English. If your institution does not provide an English translation with the transcript, you should obtain a notarized English translation. Please provide both the translation and a copy of your transcript in its original language.

If your native language is not English and you have not completed a degree in an English-speaking country, we require the submission of TOEFL, DET, or IELTS test scores.

Applicants studying in countries or territories that list English as an official language, such as India, Pakistan, Hong Kong S.A.R., or Singapore are still required to submit an English language test; however, this requirement may be waived if the applicant completed a bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree from an institution in which all instruction is conducted in English. Education in English-medium institutions in other countries or territories does not qualify for the exemption.

Test scores are valid for two years. For applicants applying in January 2027, we will accept a TOEFL, DET, or IELTS test taken within two years of the date of your application submission. When assessing English language abilities, we will also consider any other experiences you’ve had in English, such as internships and study abroad, in addition to the TOEFL, DET, or IELTS test scores.

Yale's Office of International Students and Scholars (OISS) provides English language support, local community connections, and a multitude of events for international students and their families. For more information, visit the OISS website.