Decision Questions

Submitted applications (complete or incomplete) are made available to your program of study for review by the program’s admissions committee after the deadline for your program.  

Once that review is completed, your program notifies the Graduate School (GSAS) which applications are being recommended for admission.

Applications of those being recommended for admission are then reviewed by the Graduate School academic deans who make the final decision to admit.

• Decisions are made and communicated during the months of February and March.
• Official notification that a decision on your application has been made is communicated by email. 
• The decision notification email does not contain the decision itself, decision information will be posted in the online application.
• Official decision notification is made by the Graduate School and not individual departments or programs.
  1. You will be notified by email when a decision is available for you, at which time you will:
     1. Log into your Application Status Portal. 
     2. Click on the link Status Update.
  2. For admitted students, an offer of admission is displayed within the online application.  This is your Electronic Offer Letter (EOL) and contains the details of our offer of admission.  You must print and retain this EOL - no hard copy letter is generated.
  3. For students not admitted, electronic notification will be displayed within the online application, no hard copy letter is generated.
• The Office of Graduate Admissions will not give decision results over the phone.

Please fill out the “Reply to Offer of Admission” form in your Application Status Portal.

Your admissions decision will be available on your Application Status Portal only. You should print and retain a copy of this letter.

Hard copy letters are no longer printed and mailed.

 

Please refer to our Transcript FAQs. 

You should first go to the Graduate School’s Financial Aid web page.

If your question is not answered, you may call the Financial Aid Office at (203) 432-2739.

Unfortunately, no. As a matter of policy, we do not return application materials to applicants. 

We may retain your application year to year, but you will nevertheless need to submit a new application each time, including all required materials and the application fee. 

Applicants who have been denied admission three times by the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, whether by one or more departments, are not eligible to apply again. If a fourth application is submitted, it will not be considered and the application fee will not be refunded.

Departments/Programs make admission recommendations to the GSAS deans, who make the final decisions concerning admitted applicants. 

Decisions not to admit an applicant are almost always made at the program level. 

• You might try contacting the program to which you applied.
• Please consider that the large number of applications received and the small number of places available often make for difficult decisions. 
• Admissions committees adopt a comparative perspective toward all applications received and seldom keep extensive records concerning the decision in each case. 
• Programs are not required to provide applicants explanations concerning admission decisions.

Requests for deferred admission will be considered only after an offer of admission has been accepted. 

• A request for deferral must be submitted in writing to the appropriate associate dean who will communicate with the Graduate School’s official department or program. 
• An admissions deferral may be requested for one academic year.

Please contact the Office of Graduate Admissions by emailing us at graduate.admissions@yale.edu.