Inbox Application Insights

Hello from the Yale School of Management! Welcome to our Inbox Application Insights series. As we approach our Round 1 deadline on September 15, I will be in touch with Yale SOM application insights—delivered right from me to your inbox.

As you explore the MBA application process, I hope these resources will help make the Yale SOM application more approachable:

1. Our Best Application Advice: My colleague Laurel Grodman and I will be hosting Our Best Application Advice, where we... well, will provide you with our best application tips!
2. Application Workshops: Interested in chatting directly with an Admissions Officer? Join one of these small-group sessions to get your questions answered about the Yale SOM application.
3. The Application Guide: This tool was designed to help you step by step during your application process. I hope you find the videos embedded within the guide to be useful.

I'll be in touch next week with two editions of Inbox Application Insights focusing on some overarching guidance on the Yale SOM application and your letters of recommendation.

Best regards (and I hope to see you at an event soon!),

Bruce

I'm excited to share the first edition of Inbox Application Insights with you today. Over the coming weeks, I'll break down the various components of the Yale SOM application and share advice to help you put your best foot forward. Before we get into the specifics, though, I wanted to start with something a little more fundamental.

One thing that has become clear to me over my years in admissions is that competitive applicants often eliminate themselves long before the Admissions Committee ever would.

Applicants often fixate on one aspect of their candidacy they believe will keep them from being admitted. So, for this first edition, I'd like to address a few of the most common concerns I hear each year and offer a little perspective on how the Admissions Committee tends to think about them.

#1 I don't have the "right" GMAT or GRE

You'll often hear that you should look at the mid-80% range on our class profile to assess your competitiveness. That's generally good advice—but remember, even that doesn't tell the whole story. First of all, that's the range for our enrolled class; the range is different (and broader!) for the applicants we admit. So use the range as a rough guide, but don't fixate on it.

Another important consideration is that we don't look at your score in isolation; rather, we use your undergraduate academic record to complement your test score. Taken together, these elements help us understand your preparedness for the MBA classroom—which is an important metric, but is only one aspect of your overall MBA application.

I would add that we have no minimum test score requirements, and one of the most rewarding parts of my job is getting to know applicants beyond what any standardized test can tell me. We'll talk more about test scores, academic preparation, and the Behavioral Assessment in a future edition of this series.

#2 My career goals aren't clearly defined

If you're still working through exactly what you hope to accomplish five, ten, or twenty years from now, you're probably in good company.

Many Yale SOM students arrive with a range of interests and possibilities they're excited to explore. In many cases, it's the MBA itself that helps them refine those aspirations and discover opportunities they hadn't previously considered.

What we hope to see in your application is not a fully fleshed-out post-MBA career, but that you've reflected thoughtfully on why you're pursuing an MBA, which skills you hope to develop, and where those interests might lead you both during the program and after graduation.

You don't need to have every step mapped out. Thoughtful reflection matters much more than complete certainty.

#3 I'm not sure what Yale SOM is looking for in an applicant (and I'm not sure I'm it)

After conversations about test scores, this is probably the concern I hear most often.

Some applicants worry they don't come from the "right" company or industry. Others, coming from consulting or finance, worry they're too traditional and will blend in with everyone else. And many wonder whether they need to shape their application around what they think Yale SOM is looking for.

The reality is that there isn't a single profile we're hoping to find.

Every incoming class includes teachers, nonprofit professionals, engineers, members of the armed forces, healthcare professionals, entrepreneurs, athletes, musicians, consultants, financiers, and many others. That diversity of backgrounds and perspectives is one of the strengths of the Yale SOM community.

Just as importantly, our mission isn't meant to become a checklist for applicants. For example, because of our emphasis on global perspectives, candidates sometimes assume they need extensive international business experience. But our goal isn't to see whether you match a predefined profile—it's to understand the experiences, interests, and motivations that have shaped you.

The applications that leave the strongest impression are the ones that approach the process with sincerity, not the ones that try to anticipate what an admissions committee wants to hear.

Some of my favorite conversations are with highly qualified applicants who simply need a little encouragement to see themselves the way an Admissions Committee might.

I hope this series helps you do a little of the same. And if you find yourself wondering whether you're competitive enough to apply, my advice is simple: don't make that decision for us. I look forward to getting to know you through your application.

Best regards,
Bruce

Hello again—Bruce DelMonico here, back with another edition of Inbox Application Insights. Today, I'd like to talk about one part of the application that applicants often underestimate: letters of recommendation.

One of the main things we evaluate in MBA applicants is your professional potential, and an important voice in that evaluation comes from your recommenders. Therefore, as you contemplate your MBA application, pay attention to the people you work with who have seen you in action—solving problems, leading projects, collaborating with colleagues, and making an impact. Those are often the people who are best positioned to write a thoughtful recommendation on your behalf.

The best thing you can do now to strengthen your MBA application is simply to continue to do good work. When you're ready to apply, identifying the people who have seen that work firsthand will likely be one of the first steps you'll take. And when the time comes to ask them for a recommendation, give them plenty of time to reflect on your work and prepare a thoughtful letter.

I also encourage applicants to have a conversation with their recommenders to help prepare them and help them reflect on some of the experiences they’ve had while working with you.

Read on for a few more thoughts on selecting your recommenders.

💡Advice on Letters of Recommendation

Why They Matter

When evaluating your work experience, the overriding consideration of the Admissions Committee is that you’ve performed at a high level, regardless of your field, industry, or tenure. While we get a sense of your professional performance from you directly, it’s also important for us to hear how others describe it.

Choose Relationships Over Titles

The most valuable letters therefore come from people who know your work well. A direct supervisor who can speak in detail about your contributions is far more meaningful than someone in a more elevated role who doesn’t know you well. In short, depth of insight matters more to us than your recommender’s title.

What if You Can’t Ask Your Current Supervisor?

That’s okay—and not uncommon. For example, maybe you haven’t been in the role long, or you don’t want to jeopardize your position or progression. Consider looking to a recent former supervisor as the next best option. For applicants who are entrepreneurs or work in family businesses, strong alternatives might include clients, board members, investors, or vendors—anyone who can speak credibly about your contributions and impact.

Best regards,
Bruce

Hello from the Yale School of Management! Welcome to another edition of our Inbox Application Insights series. Today, I wanted to address our one required essay question.

Even if you haven't started an application yet, my guess is that if you're considering an MBA, you've already given some thought to what you might write about in an essay. Maybe you've even found yourself mentally sorting through the experiences, accomplishments, and moments in your life that you think might make for a compelling response.

My first piece of advice is not to overthink it. At Yale SOM, we offer you a choice of three possible prompts for your essay:

1. the biggest commitment you’ve made;
2. the community that has been most meaningful to you; or
3. the most significant challenge you have faced

We give you a choice of prompts because we want to know what truly matters to you. You don't need to have your topic figured out today, but as you begin thinking about your application, I hope the advice below helps you approach the essay with a little more clarity, and perhaps a little less pressure.

💡Advice on Writing Your Essay

Choose the Prompt That Resonates

Go with the prompt that speaks to you and for which you have the most enthusiasm. Think about the life experiences (whether personal or professional) that have been most meaningful to you and that you most want to communicate to the Committee, and pick the question that will best allow you to express that aspect of yourself. There is no right or wrong essay topic.

Remember to stand out Be Genuine

The goal of your essay is not to stand out or be unique, but to be genuine and sincere. We find that the most compelling essays are the ones that are truly most important to you, so make sure that’s your guide in choosing what to write about; don’t try to guess what we’re looking for or what you think we want to hear.

Support Your Story

As you consider possible topics, think about the behaviors, decisions, and mindset behind your actions. What does this experience reveal about your values? Your resilience? Your priorities?

Stay Focused

Finally, I would also note that you do not need to connect your essay to your MBA goals or future career. We ask those questions elsewhere in the application process, so don’t spend your limited words on those areas here.

Best regards,
Bruce

Hello again—I’m back with some insights into the Yale SOM application. Today, I want to spend some time on an area that I know is top of mind for many prospective MBA students: your academic profile.

One key thing the Admissions Committee is evaluating in our review of your candidacy is your preparation for the Yale SOM classroom. We assess this element through your undergraduate (and, if applicable, graduate) transcripts, standardized test scores, and, to a lesser extent, our Behavioral Assessment.

Whether you're actively preparing to apply or starting to think about what your future application might look like, it can be helpful to understand what we mean when we talk about "academic preparation." So rather than focus on preparation tips, I'll share some insight into how the Admissions Committee looks at your GPA and test scores, and give some information about our Behavioral Assessment, a unique feature of our application.

💡How the Admissions Committee Evaluates Your Academic Profile

We Take a Holistic Approach

Your undergraduate record and standardized test scores are both strong predictors of your performance in the MBA classroom, but they are just two data points. We take what is commonly called a “holistic” approach to candidate evaluation, which means we look at all application inputs in combination and don’t assign a fixed weight to any element.

Test Scores

Rather than focus solely on our median GMAT or GRE score, I encourage you to look at the range of scores in each class. Your test score has different meaning depending on the rest of your application, so don’t feel as though you need to be at or above the median (by definition, half of our students aren’t!). It's also worth noting that we accept both the GMAT and GRE, so you should take whichever test you are most comfortable with.

Interestingly, although we care about your quantitative preparation for our program (and that’s an example of where we look at your test score and coursework in tandem to evaluate your overall level of preparation), the verbal section of the standardized test is actually more predictive of performance in our MBA program.

We Look Beyond Your GPA

Similarly, when evaluating your academic history, we look at far more than just your overall GPA. The Admissions Committee will go semester-by-semester through your transcripts, looking at each of the courses you’ve taken and your performance in them. We also look at your major, your institution, the range of courses you’ve taken, and any trends in your performance.

How well you performed in college is much more predictive of success than where you went to school, which may be why in each MBA class of roughly 350 students, well over 100 different undergraduate institutions are represented.

Quantitative Preparation

Exposure to quantitative coursework is by no means a requirement for admission; however, in our review, we would like to see some evidence of your quantitative abilities. In evaluating your quantitative preparation specifically, we look at your exposure to a number of different courses such as calculus, statistics, microeconomics, finance, and accounting. Successful applicants do not need to have taken all of those courses, and some have not taken any of them.

That being said, some candidates will ask how they may be able to signal quantitative preparation for our program. While not a requirement, taking statistics and microeconomics can show the Admissions Committee your ability to do that work and will help prepare you for the program itself, where data-driven decision-making is a core competency and microeconomics is a common language.

The Behavioral Assessment

One unique feature of the Yale SOM application is our Behavioral Assessment, which is an additional data point we review alongside your test scores and transcripts.

The Behavioral Assessment is a non-cognitive instrument that measures inter- and intra-personal competencies linked to academic success. It takes only about 20-30 minutes to complete and consists of 130 paired statements, from which you choose which statement best describes you. Because it’s about you, there are no right or wrong answers, and nothing to prepare.

The Behavioral Assessment is meant to give the Admissions Committee a fuller picture of your candidacy. We use it to lift up applicants who may otherwise have a more modest academic profile. It won’t be a deciding factor in any application–we use it with a light touch, as we like to say–but it does help us broaden the scope of our evaluation and expand the range of candidates whom we can admit, which we feel is an important goal.

Best regards,
Bruce

One question you may already be thinking about as you consider an MBA is what you actually hope to do with the degree. Maybe you have a very specific career path in mind, or perhaps you're simply looking for something different from what you're doing today.

The good news is that you don't need to have your post-MBA life completely mapped out. In fact, one of the great benefits of an MBA is its versatility. It can expose you to industries, functions, and career paths you may not have considered—or even known existed.

So, as you begin thinking about what an MBA might mean for you, I'd encourage you to think about what you hope to gain from the experience. What interests you about the work you're doing now? What would you like to do more of? What skills would you like to develop? And what opportunities might an MBA help make possible?

These are also the kinds of questions that will eventually help you complete the Post-MBA Career Interests section of our application. Read on for some thoughts on what the Admissions Committee hopes to learn from you there—and, more broadly, how you might begin thinking about your career interests.

💡Communicating Your Career Interests

As I mentioned above, it’s common that career goals may shift from the time you apply to when you are a student, and this is one of the reasons we don’t base admissions decisions on what you say you want to do after your MBA; those goals are highly variable and very fluid.

We’re less focused on your exact end goal and more interested in how you’re thinking about it—where your interests come from, how you’ve developed them, and what steps (if any) you’ve taken to prepare.

A few things to keep in mind as you think through your career interests:

Explore your interests. What are you curious about? Talk to people doing work that interests you, learn about different paths, and pay attention to what excites you. You don't need to emerge with a definitive answer.

Demonstrate awareness. If you're considering a significant career change, begin learning what it might take to get there. This exploration will help when it comes time to apply to an MBA.

And, as always, be genuine. Don’t try and guess which careers the Admissions Committee wants you to pursue. As with every part of this process, there isn’t one "correct" answer. We care much more that you’ve been thoughtful in your approach.

Best regards,
Bruce

Hello—it’s hard to believe that we’ve arrived at the final edition of Inbox Application Insights before our September 15 Round 1 deadline. Over the past several weeks, I’ve shared quite a bit about how we approach the application and what the Admissions Committee hopes to learn about you through it.

Some of you reading these emails may be planning to apply in Round 1. Others may be thinking about a later round or even future admissions cycle.

Wherever you find yourself, I want to leave you with one final thought: you don't need to have everything figured out before you start. Good applications are thoughtful, not perfect.

Over the past several weeks, I've encouraged you to think about your academic preparation, the people who might recommend you, the experiences you might share in your essay, and what you ultimately hope to gain from an MBA. You don't need to have perfect answers to all of these questions before you begin an application. In fact, working through the application is often part of the process of reflecting on where you've been and where you might want to go next.

If Round 1 is on your mind, there is still time to complete an application. Each round, we find that a significant number of applicants don’t even open an application until the final two weeks.

I hope this email series has made the process feel a little more approachable and given you a sense of the care the Admissions Committee at SOM takes in reviewing your application. Most importantly, I hope you’ve come away knowing that you don’t need to strive to be the perfect candidate. Your application should simply give us a thoughtful and honest picture of you.

And if you want to chat about anything application-related or about SOM more broadly, stop by for one of my upcoming Office Hours on September 8 and September 10. I hope to see you online soon!

Best regards,
Bruce