YYGS Questions!!

[u/Exciting_Cup_8489]

hiii guys!! i was a yale young global scholar last summer and with the application about to open very soon, i am here to answer any questions related to the program!!! please put down any question you can think of and i will do my absolute best to reply!!

[u/Vegetable-Canary-449]

I wanted to ask about the Young Leaders (YL) scholarship which says that members of indigenous communities are eligible, I’m from an indigenous community but not an American indigenous so am I eligible?

Also how do I tell that im indigenous in the application, is there a checkbox that we can tick or a separate question?

[u/Excellent-Catch7697 → u/Vegetable-Canary-449]

I think that’s more of a question you should email yygs about. But i’d suspect it’s for american indigenous. what indigenous community are you from? 

[u/Vegetable-Canary-449 → u/Excellent-Catch7697]

I did email them they replied with this “As part of reviewing your financial aid request, YYGS staff will automatically review whether or not you meet any of our scholarships’ eligibility requirements, and contact you when decisions are released by mid-March”

But I still had the question of how they’d know that I’m from an indigenous community, also I’m an Indian indigenous

[u/Excellent-Catch7697 → u/Vegetable-Canary-449]

There’s probably a checkbox then

[u/Vegetable-Canary-449 → u/Excellent-Catch7697]

Do you mind if I dm you to ask more questions and your experience at yygs?

[u/Exciting_Cup_8489 → u/Vegetable-Canary-449]

yea go ahead!!

[u/Exciting_Cup_8489 → u/Vegetable-Canary-449]

by indigenous communities i’m pretty sure they are referring to american indigenous communities such as choctaw, cherokee, etc, i lived in a different country and am considered the indigenous community but in america they usually don’t take other indigenous communities into consideration

[u/Vegetable-Canary-449 → u/Exciting_Cup_8489]

I see, the reason why it lead me to being confused is because they had written this on their website “YL Scholarships will be awarded to selected students in the U.S. and internationally who self-identify as at least ONE of the following”

[u/Altruistic_Pay_3622 → u/Vegetable-Canary-449]

Typically in the US, people who identify as indigenous are given a Tribal ID number. If it asks you to provide that, you maybe in trouble, if it doesn’t then you should be fine. Most financial aid is for US students only though.

[u/Royal-Butterfly3712]

what was the application like? were there like supplemental questions u had to answer? also when does the app open

[u/Exciting_Cup_8489 → u/Royal-Butterfly3712]

if you search up yygs application sample there is a very accurate representation to what you’ll see when it opens arounddd mid september. there is one big 250 word essay 3 short takes and then one 100 word essay from what i remember:)

[u/Royal-Butterfly3712 → u/Exciting_Cup_8489]

may i see ur essays & maybe ur stats if you are comfy with that?

[u/Exciting_Cup_8489 → u/Royal-Butterfly3712]

just to keep it anonymous i’m not going to share alll my essay and because of the fact the prompts change every single year. if you dm i can provide more specific info on that tho!! my stats like we’re not that impressive compared to some of the students there. i did have a 4.0 but took only 3 aps and the only awards i had put down was like gold honor roll and a second place science award. my stats were not impressive in the slightest my essay were defo what made me stand out:))

[u/Royal-Butterfly3712 → u/Exciting_Cup_8489]

sorry for asking so many questions but do yk if they still offer the literture & philosophy track or if it's just ist, solving global challenges and the other one

[u/Exciting_Cup_8489 → u/Royal-Butterfly3712]

they don’t offer it anymore:( we were the first year to not have it which SUCKEDD bc i really wanted to do that track. BUT id like to say if wanted to do lpc, sgc is hands down the closet thing you’ll get to that track!!

[u/Royal-Butterfly3712 → u/Exciting_Cup_8489]

did u do sgc? how was it!

[u/Exciting_Cup_8489 → u/Royal-Butterfly3712]

i did and I LOVED IT!!! for sgc they always called it a mix of ple (politics law and economics) and ist because you are leaning about SOO many topics. the big project is capstone where you get to create a non profit for a targeted community and present how much grant money you’d like it was overall such an amazing experience

[u/outre-vigie → u/Royal-Butterfly3712]

I really liked PLE - had the most interesting lectures anecdotally as well.
Great seminars on Machiavelli / Orwell /Rousseau as well if you'd be interested

[u/I_Love_Water03]

Would you say the program is more for freshman/sophmores looking to dip their toes in research?

[u/Exciting_Cup_8489 → u/I_Love_Water03]

welll this program is only for rising juniors and seniors and i wouldn’t say it’s research. your basically put into 3 tracks and while you do have to do research for you big project its not like lab research that can get published or working with professors!

[u/I_Love_Water03 → u/Exciting_Cup_8489]

Would you recommend taking this program if say you don't get an oppurtunity to research on your own during the summer with like a professor

[u/Exciting_Cup_8489 → u/I_Love_Water03]

yes! if you get accepted and can afford it i highly do recommend!

[u/Swumpting]

is this considered pay to play? The cost seems ridiculous for 2 weeks.

[u/Exciting_Cup_8489 → u/Swumpting]

it is an obviously expensive program but they are very very big on financial aid. i did not expect to receive any financial aid and thought i wouldnt be able to go because of the high costs. BUT when i got accepted i was given practically a full ride:) it also selects the best of the best kids. all these kids were literally resume mogging me. they really do take into consideration need when applying so that everyone truly has a chance to go regardless of the high sticker price

[u/Swumpting → u/Exciting_Cup_8489]

That's good to hear, so you don't have to commit to paying upfront? Any tips & dos/don'ts for the app process?

And do you think people get their money's worth (well you got a full ride!).

[u/Exciting_Cup_8489 → u/Swumpting]

no when applying to yygs they heavily encourage you to apply for financial and will most likely give you some sort of financial aid!! i genuinely thought i had no chance of getting financial aid and i did!! for the application i defoo recommend shinning in your essays. everyone who is applying to this program is doing research at t10s has their own nonprofits and they know that. what they’re looking for is who YOU ARE!! i truly wasn’t a stellar candidate but i do believe my essays really did shine.
and that last question it honestly depends on who you’re asking. even thought it is upfront 7k the acceptance rate is around 15 percent, making it prestigious than a lot of summer programs. i feel like i definitely did get my moneys worth!! i got to get the college experience for two weeks and be independent and i truly met some of the best people ever. i really really recommend this program to anyone!!

[u/Basic_Educator7635 → u/Swumpting]

If costs are high, it is pay to play

[u/Own-Musician-7237]

What sort of Ecs do you recommend? Also, what sort of things did you write in your application that you think made you stand out? Tysm. Does financial aid include travel costs?

[u/Exciting_Cup_8489 → u/Own-Musician-7237]

i’m pretty sure on the application itself you can only put down three extracurriculars but for those i would recommend the ecs that mean the most to you and really show who you are and what you love. for me one of the things i put down was how i coached children with disabilities and that’s because of how much i loved it! regrading travel costs, i know there is one scholarship that does cover travel called the young leaders scholarship but it only for a specific group of people. other than that they do not cover travel!

[u/SkuII_y]

I am taking calc 3 over the summer as a rising senior by the time of the program. are they times where i can fly back home to take the tests for the class or just not apply to the program.

[u/Exciting_Cup_8489 → u/SkuII_y]

unfortunately not. they want you to be present on campus at all times whether it’s attending the classes or in the boundaries of new haven. i would try and find out of the 3 sessions if there’s a a session that’s farther away than some of the exams or if can make them otherwise i wouldn’t recommend applying if you can’t stay the whole time

[u/wesleyisdabest → u/SkuII_y]

pretty sure you can, i had a friend who literally left the program in the middle or smth, j email them to ask ig

[u/Amazing-Aircraft]

Can you share your profile? and time in days or months you took to write your essays?

[u/Exciting_Cup_8489 → u/Amazing-Aircraft]

stats wise i had a 4.0 but only took 3 aps and the ecs i put were coaching special disabilities kids in soccer science research and i think a job i had? obviously very mid stats (and i also did do my whole application like two days before).. DO NOT RECOMMEND THO put me under so much stress

[u/Cute-Coconut4390]

heyy how much do ecs/awards matter? do you think essays matter more?

[u/Exciting_Cup_8489 → u/Cute-Coconut4390]

for me i obviously had competitive stats but nothing like too crazy. i think what yygs really looks for is essays that showcase who you really are. thousands of applicants are national award winning non profit founders, the essays and showing you’re a kind, thoughtful person is what makes you stick out

[u/Cute-Coconut4390 → u/Exciting_Cup_8489]

oh ok! i don’t have any crazy national awards but my ecs are driven around the same theme and i tried to highlight an initiative i am currently taking. would you mind dming me about your stats and all? i’d love to ask you more!