Yale Transfer Acceptance Rate and Requirements — 2024

If you received a rejection letter from Yale as a high school senior, you are in excellent company. Among the 48,000 or so who are denied each year are thousands of valedictorians, future Rhodes Scholars, and individuals with an assortment of otherworldly talents. If, as a current college student, you feel compelled to give the Yale admissions process one more shot, the opportunity is there for you, as Yale does indeed accept a limited number of transfer students each year. Accordingly, the following blog will reveal the Yale transfer acceptance rate as well as other essential pieces of information like the Yale transfer deadline, requirements, decision date, and much more.

Yale Transfer Acceptance Rate

Below we present the most current available Yale transfer acceptance rate as well as historical data.

For entry in the fall of 2022, 1,973 students applied for transfer admission, and 32 were accepted. This means that the Yale transfer acceptance rate is 1.6%. If we break this down by gender, the acceptance rates are as follows:

• Male transfer applicants: 1.7%
• Female transfer applicants: 1.5%

For entry in the fall of 2021, there were 1,991 transfer applicants and 15 individuals were accepted. This means that the Yale transfer acceptance rate was 0.8%.

Additionally, when trying to get the complete picture of how difficult it is to transfer into a given school, it is important to look at historical data. Many schools have wild fluctuations in transfer acceptance rates from year to year. However, this is not the case with Yale. As you can see, the Yale University transfer acceptance rate has remained very consistent in recent years.

Historical transfer rates are as follows:

Yale Transfer Deadline

The university offers only a fall transfer option. Consequently, the Yale transfer deadline for fall applicants is March 1.

Yale Transfer Requirements

The Yale transfer requirements are as follows:

• Completed Common App for Transfer
• Final high school transcripts
• College transcripts
• SAT or ACT scores (optional for the 2023-24 cycle)
• College Report
• Mid-Term Report
• Two letters of recommendation

Yale Transfer Acceptance Rate (Continued)

Students who have the best chance to gain admission to Yale have done the following:

• Completed one year’s worth of college credits, but not more than two.
• Earned stellar grades in their first year at a community college or 4-year university.
• Contributed to the field in which they are pursuing a degree. This could be academic or scientific research, other published works, etc.
• Possess a talent or accomplishment that will help them stand out from the crowd of other immensely accomplished applicants.
• Have a clear-cut, academically rooted reason for wanting to transfer to Yale.

Yale Transfer GPA

There is no minimum GPA required to be considered as a transfer applicant at this institution. Further, Yale states: “No simple profile of grades, scores, and interests can assure a transfer applicant admission to Yale.” That said, in our experience, you will need a GPA of 3.9 or above to be a genuinely competitive applicant.

Yale Writing Supplement

In addition to the main application, all transfer applicants must respond to the following essays and short answers.

Academic Interest

1. *After selecting up to 3 academic interest areas* Why do these academic areas appeal to you? (200 words or fewer, 1400 characters)

Short Answers

1. What are your reasons for applying to the Yale Transfer Program? (100 words or fewer, 450 characters)
2. Tell us about a time when you made a positive impact on others. (100 words or fewer, 450 characters)
3. Describe a disappointment you have experienced. What was your response? (100 words or fewer, 450 characters)
4. Outside of your family, who has been your strongest advocate? Why has this relationship and connection been important to you? (100 words or fewer, 450 characters)

Yale Transfer Acceptance Rate (Continued)

Personal Statements

1. Please reflect on how your past experiences have transformed or strengthened your personal values, opinions, or goals. (Maximum 400 words or 2800 characters)
2. In this second essay, please discuss your intellectual interests. Are there topics that you would like to deeply explore during your undergraduate years? Please reflect upon what you hope to gain from a liberal arts and sciences education. (Maximum 400 words or 2800 characters)

Yale Transfer Decision Date

The Yale transfer decision date is in mid-May. Applicants will learn of their acceptance or rejection around that timeframe.

Final Thoughts – Yale University Transfer Acceptance Rate

If you have a pristine college transcript and other winning attributes, such as intellectual curiosity (especially valued by Yale), gaining admission to this Ivy League institution can be done. We have worked with applicants in the past who have successfully gained admission to Yale as a transfer.

Moreover, it is important to note that around half of the students admitted to Yale in recent years hailed from community colleges. In the words of their Dean of Undergraduate Admissions, “We are interested in admitting students from community colleges in particular because there, the academic argument for why you should move from your community college that you are completing to a private four-year research university — that argument is clear and apparent.”

If you are looking for information on how to apply to Yale as a first-year student, you may find the following blogs to be of interest:

• How to Get Into Yale
• Yale Supplemental Essay Prompt and Tips

Those searching for application info on other institutions may wish to visit our Dataverse pages:

• Transfer Admissions Deadlines
• Transfer Acceptance Rates