Class of '20: First Step Toward Yale

A panel of current Yale students addressed questions from Westchester admitted students at the annual reception in Bronxville. (YWAA photos)

You never know what factors influence the decisions prospective college students must make when they go through the agonizing process of selecting a campus to spend the next four years, even if it's Yale.  Sometimes they want to know all about the dining-hall offerings, whether the meat loaf that was served in the 1960's is still a popular staple today or whether Berkeley College indeed offers farm-to-table selections.

Sometimes they want to know whether they will have time to race from a Lindsley Chit English lecture to a Linear Algebra class at the bottom of Science Hill before it starts. Often they want to know about relationships with professors, majors that will promise employment, research opportunities in other countries, and juggling academics with Yale's bountiful supply of extracurriculars.

At the annual Westchester admitted-students reception in Bronxville, Apr. 12, (sponsored in part by YWAA), the surprise Yale topic for the moment was whether freshman students living in Timothy Dwight and Silliman Colleges are at a social disadvantage.  As all Yale College alumni know, freshmen from 10 of Yale's residential colleges live together on Old Campus, where they can bond with first-year students from other colleges before they scatter to their respective colleges in sophomore year.  Freshmen from TD and Silliman live in their colleges. Or in other words, they get a one-year head start on residential-college life.

So who has the advantage? A freshman from TD or a freshman from Davenport?

Christopher Bates '14, a Yale Admissions officer, led a panel of current Yale students, who traveled from New Haven to convince about 20 newly admitted Westchester students and their parents that Yale is the right choice. Bates took a poll and learned that most in attendance were already committed to Yale, so he and the students addressed lingering questions, thoughts, or worries.

Many students and alumni who lived on Old Campus have always groaned that TD and Silliman Colleges "are too far away."  Yet Bates and the student panel explained that the distance from one end of Old Campus (Vanderbilt) to its other end (Durfee) is the same the distance from TD to Old Campus's edge.  They said while an Old Campus resident shares experiences with 1,000 other freshmen, TD-Silliman freshmen become better acquainted with their deans, masters, and college traditions.

Freshmen assigned to the new colleges (to be ready by fall, 2017), Bates said, will live in those colleges in their first year (like TD and Silliman).  Hence, about 30 percent of future Yalies won't have an Old Campus experience.

Bates and his panel addressed an assortment of other questions and reeled off long lists of the wonders of Yale.  They explained how Yale students live in suites and common rooms and highlighted the diversity not only on campus, but within suites. They boasted of the special guests who speak at Masters' Teas.

Emily Yankowitz '17, who returned to participate on the panel again this year, spoke about her academic interests (including history, Alexander Hamilton, and slavery in Jamaica), her activities elsewhere (the New Haven Girl Scouts) and her loyalty to Pierson College.

The students shared stories about attending Bulldog Days, singing in the Bakers Dozen a cappella group, playing tuba in the Yale Symphony Orchestra, and getting involved in Autism Awareness at Yale. They said their favorite Yale traditions included the Symphony Orchestra's annual, sold-out Halloween concert and something younger alumni are familiar with (Freshman Olympics on Old Campus) and something even older alumni know all about (the annual Freshman Holiday Dinner in what is still informally called Commons).

This year's class of Westchester admitted students included those from popular Yale feeder schools (Scarsdale, Rye Country Day, White Plains, Hackley, Byram Hills and New Rochelle), but also from other schools (Dobbs Ferry, Hastings, e.g.).  Three classmates from Mamaroneck High School will also become members of the Class of '20.

Bill Primps '71, who leads Yale Westchester's Alumni Schools Committee, welcomed students, parents and Yale alumni who are involved in interviewing applicants. Yale applications in total set another record with over 31,000 applying; about six percent were admitted.

Next year's process will add about 200 more freshmen (above the traditional 1,350) who will be part of Yale's largest freshman class ever and who will matriculate to become members of the still-to-be-named new residential colleges. TD and Silliman will be their neighbors.

Timothy Mattison '73, president of YWAA, also congratulated and greeted students, their parents and guests.

The Yale panelists talked about suites, common rooms, popular majors, the symphony orchestra, a cappella groups, Freshman Olympics and Old campus living. (YWAA photos)

Class of '19: Overcoming Daunting Odds

In Bronxville, current Yale students joined Debra Johns from the Admissions Office to greet Westchester admitted students and convince them to choose Yale before May 1.  (YWAA photo)

YALE CLASS OF 2019

A lucky group of Westchester high-school students beat Yale's formidable admissions odds this school term. They were among the 1,962 from around the world fortunate to receive the jubliant "Bulldog-Bulldog" admissions e-mail (6.5% from over 30,000 applicants) from the Yale admissions office last month. The admissions office invited them to join the Class of 2019, the privileged 1,350 or so who will close out the 2010's at Yale.

The odds were slightly better for Westchester students (about 10% from about 300 applications), but still daunting, still harsh realities for trail-blazing students in the area deserving of a chance to choose and attend Yale.

Yale Westchester and the admissions team invited Westchester admittees to the annual admissions reception at the Bronxville Field Club, Apr. 16. Along with their parents, 17 local students attended and got the chance to mingle with Debra Johns from the Yale admissions office, meet three current Yale students and greet some alumni interviewers who likely wrote glowing interview reports to help them get in.

They squeezed a couple of hours out of an evening to be among students and alumni, but the Westchester admittees are still involved, still leading clubs and still preparing for AP exams back at school.  One student, a top baseball prospect for Yale, couldn't attend because he was playing in a crucical game, but his parents represented him at the reception. (His team won the game, 10-2.). A few, including another baseball player and a lacrosse player, rushed to join the reception moments after stepping away from the playing field.

The reception was hosted by YWAA and the Yale Westchester Alumni Schools Committee.  Bill Primps '71, Westchester ASC Chair, emceed a short program for parents and students.

Last year, the admissions office announced ongoing efforts to expand the number of high schools represented in the first-year class, reporting that 992 schools sent students to be members of the Class of 2018. The effort to expand high-school representation seems evident, too, in Westchester and in the Class of 2019.

Admitted Westchester students this spring hailed from the familiar pipeline high schools (e.g., Scarsdale (which may likely have the largest Westchester representation come fall), Rye Country Day, New Rochelle, Rye, etc.). But this year, at least a dozen Westchester schools had seniors who gained admission. They include Holy Child, Ardsley, White Plains, Kennedy Catholic, Mamaroneck, Hastings, and Pelham high schools.  Among those who plan to attend (and have already chosen Yale) are at least two baseball recruits, two soccer recruits, and a football/ice hockey recruit.

Many others attending the Bronxville reception have already selected Yale and plan to move to Old Campus in August. They came to meet other Westchester students, share stories about the stress of applications and the relief of getting in, and to meet Johns, who knew a lot of more details about them than they realized. Some others are still deciding, wrestling with a big May 1 decision, but politely acknowledging to Yale alumni at the reception they are leaning toward Blue.

During the program, Johns and theYale students provided ample reasons for why Yale should be a no. 1 choice.  They answered parents' questions about transitions, workloads, and the inevitable feelings of a freshman feeling homesick.

Johns and the students presented campus updates and pleaded with them to attend "Bulldog Days," the two-day campus extravaganza next week that welcomes over 1,000 pre-frosh to campus and turns into a campus party and pizza-fest to celebrate the Class of 2019.

Emily Yankowitz '17, a Pierson College resident and history major, discussed her experiences in studying and traveling abroad, even as a sophomore.  She has already spent time in Croatia and Nicaragua. On campus, she is a Girl Scout leader for a New Haven troop.

The students reported the latest trends, traditions and cool activities on campus. They raved about the annual Halloween Concert presented by the Yale Symphony Orchestra. Last year's concert, so popular an event and tradition, was sold out in 72 seconds.  They recounted the joys of playing inner-tube, intramural water polo, tooting the tuba in the symphony, engaging in impromptu conversations on Elm Street, taking courses in cognitive science, and basking in the sun on Cross Campus after what they all admitted was a rough, snowy winter.

They talked about how they support roommates' projects and activities by attending their games, concerts, theater productions, and art exhibitions.  The students say these are opportunities for "I See You" shout-out moments, where roommates and friends shout out, "I see you (roommates name here)!" to signal presence and express support. A common occurrence at Yale events these days, they said.

Johns summed up.If you were to ask each Yale student about why Yale was special, she said, you would get an account of 5,000 "amazing experiences."

At the reception in Bronxville, Admitted students and parents had an opportunity to ask about Bulldog Days, academic workload, athletic facilities, and experiences abroad. (YWAA photo) 

Westchester Applicants: A Leg Up?

Yale Admissions Office:  The marathon resumes soon. (Yale Photo)

Summer is already winding down. For members of the Yale Class of '17 in every corner of the country, August unfurls into that frenetic preparation for the journey to New Haven. New freshmen still recall the glorious minute they viewed the Yale-acceptance e-mail, but now they must start packing. They pack boxes of winter clothes and loads of anxiety for the trip.

On campus, Yale admissions officers are finally coming up for air after a madhouse admission season. In August, they begin the marathon to compose the Class of '18. They will also acclimate themselves to a new dean of admissions, Jeremiah Quinlan '03, who follows the footsteps of Jeffrey Brenzel '75.

The race for a seat in the Class of '18 at selective colleges heats up in September for hundreds of thousands of seniors in high school coast to coast. About 30,000 of them will apply to Yale, and many of them have already prepared first drafts of how they will present themselves to admissions readers. 

The race for Yale is grueling. Less than 7 percent will get an offer to attend. You can bet some prospective applicants on the West Coast, those applying to Yale from thousands of miles away, will assume applicants on the East Coast have an advantage because of their familiarity and access to Yale. 

And you can bet applicants from the East Coast, especially those from New York City and Westchester County, will argue applicants from the West have the advantage because Yale will go extra miles to ensure the Class of '18 includes students from Oregon, New Mexico and Wyoming.

Do Westchester applicants really have a leg up?  

Are they disadvantaged by being too close to Yale? Does a Westchester application risk being lost in an overflowing batch of applications from the Northeast? Is a Westchester application undistinguished and overlooked when bundled with the applications of the large concentration of sons and daughters of alumni in the area?

 New Dean Jeremiah Quinlan '03 (Yale photo)

Yale admissions officers, like those throughout the Ivy League, must say and will say the right things, no matter the conspiracy theories that  abound in admission-land. All applications are reviewed individually and carefully, they will say as they do every year.  All applications are scrutinized, get second and third readings, and are presented to a committee. From the start, no candidate who hails from Pasadena has an advantage over a candidate from Pelham. A candidate from Bedford, on the other hand, from the outset shouldn't have an advantage over the applicant from Berkeley.  First and foremost, the admissions committee will claim, Yale will judge the applicant's ability to handle the rigors of Yale academics. And then Yale will assess the likelihood the applicant will make meaningful, enthusiastic, and broad contributions to campus life--in labs, in college seminars, in singing groups, in cultural centers, on journals, and in late-night conversations in the basement of Trumbull College. 

But year after year, such reassurance seldom soothes the worries of the high-school student with dreams of Commons, Calhoun College and treks up Science Hill.  Students and parents will still hunt ferociously for the "edge," the "hook," the incremental something special that will excite a Yale admissions reader. 

No soul in the admissions office will acknowledge the subtle advantages that proximity and familiarity give the Westchester applicant, particularly the applicant who is keenly interested in attending Yale and can make a swift trip up I-95 to do homework on the essence of Yale.  A second, quick overnight roadtrip to New Haven might be the advantage an applicant can get in an interview or in the "Why Yale" supplement essay.  

With Yale almost in the backyard, an applicant, too, can decide early on whether Yale is the right school for her.  Hence, the Westchester applicant, more knowledgeable about Yale, can choose Yale as her preferred school with confidence and show that confidence vividly in essays and interviews. A subtle, faint advantage? Perhaps so, admissions gurus say. Perhaps not, admissions officers might rebut.

The Class of '17 convenes in New Haven (Marsland/Yale photo)

Meanwhile, her West Coast peer, who has never stepped into a residential-college courtyard, may choose to apply, but with less vigor and with some doubt, unsure about being far from home. Her peer may then choose to direct more application attention instead to the Pomonas, Reeds, Rices and Claremonts.

There could be other unspoken advantages. Yale recruiters, with ease, can visit Westchester high schools.  While encouraging juniors and seniors to apply, they can get to know faces and personalities. They can summon up those eager faces and striking personalities later when they read the blurred, weary lines of thousands of applications later. An advantage? Maybe. 

Yale admissions will have had long-standing relationships with many Westchester schools. They will know intimately the academic offerings and rigors of those schools. There will be decades of a track record and pipelines of students from those schools.  In other words, they won't need to spend precious candidate-reading time learning about an unfamiliar school.  They can bury themselves immediately into what makes the candidate special.  

Yale Commons:  Class of '18 Destination

An application file with "Horace Greeley High School" slapped on top means an admissions reader doesn't need to study and analyze the school's SAT mean scores and GPA ranges to determine whether it challenges the best and brightest who attend.  They can get to the essays and recommendations right away. Yale alumni involved in the interviewing process know those schools well.  For some of them, it's a seasonal rite to announce and boast of the handful of students, year after year, who choose Yale:  Scarsdale, Rye, Hackley, New Rochelle, Fox Lane, and Bronxville.  

Indeed, there are many other Westchester schools with fleeting, erratic track records with Yale.  Some may not have sent a graduate to New Haven in over a decade.  Some of those may not have a sufficient core of children of alumni, who would encourage their offspring to look toward New Haven and send in an application, even if Yale doesn't have close ties.

But ask any senior this fall from any area school if he thinks "Westchester" gives him added points in the process, and watch the rush of anxiety, uncertainty and concern. High-school students in the area  repeat the refrain every year:  "There are only but so many students from the New York area that can be a part of a freshman class." The Westchester applicant will--at least for a moment--wish he can scratch off Mt. Kisco and insert Boise, Idaho, or Jackson, Mississippi in the place-of-residence boxes. Surely, Yale covets the candidate from Carolina, they surmise, more than the applicant from Katonah. 

JE College freshmen reside in Farnham, Old Campus

Nonetheless, because they have explored Yale, may know many who attend and will possibly have a parent or grandparent who graduated, they will still apply-- by the hundreds in Westchester.

And somehow, despite acceptance rates that would discourage even Intel science winners and Internet entrepreneurs with 2400 SAT scores, many from Westchester (by the dozens) will actually get in.  Many of those will choose to attend and eventually be delighted to be assigned to an Old Campus room with peers from Seattle and San Francisco.  

Admissions officers and college counselors usually provide the best advice:  It is a futile exercise, a waste of precious time in the days before Dec. 31 to figure out the whims and strategies of an admissions committee.  Just give it your best shot.

TWilliams

Landesman Departs for Choate

ASC program director Landesman leaves Yale after 12 years

How often did Marcia Landesman provide a soft shoulder for Yale alumni interviewers to cry on?  How often did she applaud interviewers for their efforts and their colorful, detailed and warm write-ups? And how often did she remind interviewers that, yes, she and the Yale admissions committee read every word they wrote in interview summaries?

As everyone who follows the college game knows, over the past decade, the number of undergraduate applications to Yale has soared toward the heavens--progressing toward a magical 30,000 mark. Year after year, Landesman stepped in to soothe and console Yale interviewers all over Westchester who were flabbergasted when stellar applicants with perfect scores and unblemished records were rejected in the early days of spring.

It was part of the job. Landesman handled it with compassion and concern. Leading Yale's Alumni Schools Committee program across the country and spearheading recruiting in the Westchester area, she understood the frustration of sending a rejection letter to local valedictorians, student-council presidents, and volleyball captains. But she rejoiced in finding a gem among the thousands, the one person in 15 who received an acceptance letter, whose credentials screamed that he or she deserved a spot on Old Campus.

Landesman (Yale photo)

At many Bronxville receptions for Westchester students admitted to Yale, she relished in recounting the singular brilliance and the astounding tales of those who had just gotten in and those who proceeded to eclipse their high-school successes once they arrived in New Haven.

Landesman, an Associate Director of Admissions at Yale for the past 12 years, decided to take a different step this summer. She announced that she was leaving Yale this summer to accept a position as co-director of college guidance at Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, Ct.  She steps over to the other side to assist 17- and 18-year-olds in the arduous, agonizing annual admissions race.  She totes to Choate bags of experience, filled with advice and counsel on what it takes to win a coveted acceptance e-mail to Yale (and its peer schools)--the one that sings "Bulldog, Bulldog" to the lucky ones accepted. 

Bowen Posner, who has been in the admissions office the past three years, will succeed Landesman as director of the ASC program.

"Leading the ASC has been an honor and privilege," she wrote in a letter last month to Yale interviewers everywhere. "I will certainly miss you." An army of Yale interviewers in Westchester will miss Landesman, her enthusiasm for all things of and about Yale, and her ability to provide comforting words to the Westchester interviewer who interviews the valedictorian and lacrosse captain with a 2400 SAT score, who didn't get that Yale acceptance e-mail.

T.Williams