Common Questions

No, your application will not be negatively impacted by these concerns. We recognize the challenges to teach and learn during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Please know that YYGS evaluates applicants holistically and will take the significant disruptions of COVID-19 into account when reviewing students’ transcripts and other admissions materials relating to the years 2020-2022. In particular, we will respect decisions regarding the adoption of credit/fail and other grading options during this unprecedented period, whether they are made by institutions or by individual students.

We also understand that many tests and activities were not able to be offered from 2020-2022, and that many materials may be difficult to secure from school officials.

YYGS understands that this will be a difficult year for many students to coordinate with their school officials or teachers to submit materials, including (but not limited to) materials like transcripts.

We prefer to receive Official Transcripts, which are submitted directly to YYGS by the school official. To do this, students complete Education Part I in their YYGS application, and then YYGS sends an online link where their school official can submit the student’s transcript(s).

However, YYGS offers all students the option to upload an Unofficial Transcript, which are submitted to YYGS by the student. To do this, students complete Education Part II in their YYGS application. This step typically involves students getting the transcript from their school and taking a picture of it, or logging into an online portal and taking a screenshot, and then uploading that transcript(s) image onto their application.

YYGS understands that this will be a difficult year for many students to coordinate with their school officials or teachers to submit materials, including (but not limited to) materials like recommendations.

YYGS requests one recommendation. We accept completed online YYGS Recommendation Forms ONLY, and we do NOT accept written letters of recommendation. The form helps compare applicants from vastly different places around the world, and we hope it helps recommenders save time since it is a simple, user-friendly form.

We encourage students to connect with teachers, guidance counselors, coaches, adult club leaders (e.g., youth group leader, choir director, math club supervisor), employers, and/or school officials to provide their recommendations. Recommenders can come from your current school and/or previous schools you attended too.

The longer the recommender has known you, the better their recommendation will be.

Recommendations from parents/guardians, siblings, relatives, family friends, and/or paid private tutors/counselors will NOT be accepted.

To submit, students complete the “Recommendations” page in their YYGS application, and then YYGS sends an online link where their recommender(s) can submit the online YYGS Recommendation Form.

Please note that you can submit your portion of the YYGS application prior to your Recommender completing their form, and all of those materials will still be read together when your application is reviewed.

YYGS understands that this will be a difficult year for many students to coordinate with their school officials or teachers to submit materials, including (but not limited to) materials like an application fee waiver request.

First, it is important to note that YYGS cannot refund application fees, so if you are waiting for a fee waiver approval to come through and if it would be a financial hardship for you to pay, then you should NOT pay; instead, please contact us and our YYGS staff can help.

Second, application fee waivers are only available to those who apply for need-based financial aid in their YYGS application. If you did this and are still waiting for your fee waiver approval to come through, we recommend waiting two weeks (14 days) and then please contact us to see if we can help.

Participants have the opportunity to meet like-minded peers from around the world, all while experiencing life as a university student. Students attend lectures and seminars, and take full advantage of campus offerings by engaging with Yale professors, exploring renowned libraries and museums, visiting Yale research labs, and much more. All students develop research and presentation skills by completing our cumulative Capstone Project.

Our program is for young leaders with a genuine interest and curiosity in the subject material of their preferred academic session. YYGS emphasizes an open, exploratory, and collaborative approach to learning, and students experience learning in a variety of different university contexts, from large faculty lectures to small seminars. Since participants attend YYGS from over 150 countries and all 50 U.S. states, classroom conversations are incredibly diverse and global in nature.

YYGS is unique as a pre-college program in that it is not a feeder program for Yale nor was it founded to be a revenue generator. YYGS is run out of the Office of International Affairs (OIA) at Yale, and was founded simply to bring students together to help future leaders gain perspective from one another in solving global challenges. We are proud of all of our YYGS alumni, and actively encourage students to find a college/university that is the best “fit” for them academically, socially, and financially.

Each year, a large number of students go on to attend prestigious post-secondary institutions around the world, including many students who choose to attend Yale College. In short, a Certificate of Completion from YYGS helps students as a credential to add to an application to ANY college or university around the world (including Yale), as it is an internationally recognized and respected program.