Hi everyone! My name is Victoria, and I just came back home from attending Yale Young Global Scholars, where I studied Politics, Law, and Economics. I had a lovely time there, which inspired me to share my experience with you!

My background

I attend a private school in Montevideo, Uruguay. My high school follows the national curriculum, which makes students choose an orientation in their junior year and a specification on their senior year. This means we have specific subjects towards our desired academic paths, besides some general courses like literature, philosophy or maths. I applied during my junior year’s second semester, when I was pursuing the Humanities and Social Sciences orientation. My school does not offer IBs, APs, or any kind of honors classes, replacing them with a holistic approach to education. It could be defined as a hippie school, an environment that has challenged me to think and analyze the world around me critically.

Why YYGS?

I discovered YYGS through a Borderless story of another Uruguayan student, which made it feel reachable for me. However, my main reason to choose the program was their financial aid policy, since it covers 100% of any applicant’s calculated need, including tuition, housing and food. Moreover, YYGS is focused on bringing students from all over the world to converge at Yale campus, resulting in a highly diverse student body, where everyone can find their place.

Stats

I applied with a 4.0 GPA, even though I did not have straight 10s, because my country’s grading scale falls within the range for a 4.0. 

Since my primary language of instruction at school is not English, I took the Duolingo English Test, where I scored 145 (equivalent to a C1+). I prepared the test along with the rest of the application, but its simple structure made it easy for me to focus solely on the language component. Before receiving the results, I was quite worried about it, since I just started studying English three years ago, but the YYGS application has a space for explanations on your domain of language, which I found really useful. 

Extracurricular activities

My main extracurricular activity was my book review blog, an online space I created to share my thoughts on my readings. As a future journalist, it has helped me to understand the industry roles beyond writing, such as marketing or design. Moreover, it was a great way to gain confidence in my English skills, since not only I wrote my reviews in that language, but also I read the books in their original English versions. 

As a second activity, I listed my volunteering in a re-literacy project, an amazing opportunity through my school’s social movement that allowed me to assist adult women in their process to learn how to read and write, as well as helping them with math exercises. 

My third activity was my participation in a theater club for three years, where I practiced both improvisational acting and musical comedy. 

As for awards, I didn’t have many, since my school’s philosophy tries to avoid competition. However, I pursued my freshman year of high school at a local public school, where I was awarded flag bearer, a recognition for the highest-achieving students.

Essay Writing and Application Process

I wanted to apply Early Action, mostly to be able to start with the visa process early. Because of this, I only had one month to prepare my application. Thankfully, my first week of preparation coincided with spring break, which helped me manage the most demanding parts of the application, such as the English exam or the first drafts of my essays. 

The application consisted of a ‘Why YYGS’ essay (100 words), a long essay (400 words), two fast takes (200 characters) and a response (200 words). The structure was very similar to Yale University’s supplemental essays for undergraduate admissions. I really enjoyed writing them, because they were an opportunity to reflect about myself. I remember making more than five drafts for some of them, but I was confident on my final versions. 

Traveling to Yale University

I travelled alone for the first time in my life. It was a wonderful experience, but it was also very challenging. In the days leading up to the trip, I was extremely nervous. I flew seven hours to Panama City, had a huge six-and-a-half-hour layover there, and then flew on to New York City. As soon as the plane landed at JFK Airport, I started shaking nervously. I couldn’t believe I was already there! The journey felt exhausting at times, and I was definitely scared, but everything went smoothly. After border control, I waited for a few hours and took a shuttle to New Haven. Everyone on my shuttle was also traveling to YYGS, which is how I first met my fellow YYGS scholars.

My Experience at Yale Young Global Scholars

As soon as I arrived at Yale, I felt like I was in a fairytale. The gothic architecture made everything look like a dream. As a long-time fan of the show Gilmore Girls, I can admit it was definitely more beautiful than I had imagined from how TV shows portray it.

I stayed at one of Yale's newest residential colleges, Benjamin Franklin. I had an individual room inside of a suite, the ideal mix of privacy and company. The food was beyond great, and they offer a laundry service in the basement. The dorms at Pauli Murray and Benjamin Franklin have air chilling, something similar to air conditioning but more environmentally friendly.

We had family time every morning, a wonderful opportunity to bond with classmates from other tracks. The lectures were amazing and covered topics from the age of growth to U.S. history, including the life of a public defender. After lunch, we had seminars on topics of our choice. The Capstone Project was a great chance to meet new people and do research on something interesting for all of us (my project was about statelessness in Cyprus!). After dinner, we met in small groups to debrief and discuss the morning lecture, in a component called breakout sessions. It was certainly one of my favorite parts of the day.

On some evenings during the second week, we had special events, such as the talent show or speaker series. Those were amazing opportunities to get to know my classmates’ passions and cultures better.

Definitely, the most wonderful part of YYGS was the town where the campus is located, New Haven. It is the perfect picture of a New England small town, looking like a little piece of Europe in the United States. We had boundaries to walk safely within the city, and our free time was the best excuse to explore New Haven’s gastronomic and shopping options. I wouldn’t have expected a small town to be this interesting, and I think this was another preconceived idea of mine that got challenged by Yale Young Global Scholars.

My advice for future applicants

If you are interested in the idea of sharing with people from different backgrounds, challenging yourself academically, and experiencing the residential life at Yale University, you should definitely apply! Cost should not be a barrier, since YYGS is need-blind (which means they do not consider your ability to pay when reviewing your application). Don’t let the low acceptance rate stop you. Always keep in mind that they are looking not only for grades, but also for people who will enrich their community. During my time there, I couldn’t stop thinking about how I almost told myself not to apply, just because I thought I wouldn’t be accepted. As one of our instructors told us on the last day, don’t be your first negative answer. Good luck!