Yale School of Management

Silver Scholars Program

Each year Yale SOM admits a select handful of college seniors to a three-year MBA program called the Silver Scholars Program. The program provides the unique opportunity to enter an MBA program immediately after your undergraduate education and move more quickly toward your career goals. The program was created in 2001 to celebrate Yale University's tercentennial and the 25th anniversary of the Yale School of Management.

As a Silver Scholar, you will spend your first year at Yale developing the basic skills and mindset of a manager through Yale SOM's innovative core curriculum. During the second year, you will complete a full-time internship; this extended work experience will help you put your business education into practice, develop your leadership skills, and give you a competitive advantage as you pursue a permanent position. In your third year, you will return to campus for the conclusion of the MBA program, taking electives at Yale SOM and elsewhere at the university in the areas that most interest you.

While at Yale, you will learn from our renowned faculty of scholars and active practitioners, and you will have the benefit of your classmates' diverse life and work experiences. The Yale SOM Career Development Office will help you examine possible career paths, develop your networking and interview skills, and pursue an internship and a post-MBA position. The Yale SOM alumni network will serve as a resource during your job search and throughout your working life.

Career Path

Silver Scholars have secured internships at organizations such as Booz Allen Hamilton, Boston Consulting Group, CARE, Coca-Cola, Dow Jones, Motorola, Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, Pfizer, Time Inc., the U.S. State Department, and Vanguard.

Graduates of the Silver Scholars Program have gone on to full-time positions at Barclays Capital, Boston Consulting Group, British Petroleum, Citigroup, Google, Kimberly-Clark, Mercy Corps, Nationwide Insurance, the New York Times Company, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the U.S. Treasury.

Who We're Looking For

Silver Scholars are chosen for their combination of intelligence and common sense, maturity and curiosity, passion and compassion. Each has made a difference and distinguished him- or herself in a particular field of interest. We are looking for people who will be future leaders in business, government, and nonprofit endeavors.

Only current college seniors are eligible to apply.

Applying to the Program

The Yale SOM application is online. The application deadlines and requirements for the Silver Scholars program are the same as for the full-time MBA program. Full instructions can be found under the How to Apply section of this website.

A Silver Scholars application has the following additional considerations:

Only current college seniors are eligible to apply. Your graduation date must be on or after December 1, 2012. If you have any questions about eligibility (if you have had previous full-time work experience, if you went directly into another graduate program, etc.) you may email us for more individualized guidance. Also, if you have a preference to be considered for our two-year MBA rather than the Silver Scholars program, you may use the additional information space on the application to tell us why your previous experience or background might qualify you for the two-year program.
Silver Scholars must provide two letters of recommendation; one (1) letter from an academic instructor and one (1) letter from an employer.
Academic recommendation: This should be a faculty member who has taught you in class and graded your performance.
Employer recommendation: This is someone for whom you have worked professionally in some capacity during college: full-time during a summer internship or part-time during the academic year. If you have no work experience, then you may secure a letter from an extracurricular activity or volunteer organization in which you have been actively involved.
If invited to interview on campus, Silver Scholar applicants have one half-hour interview with one or more members of the Silver Scholars Committee. The interview will focus on your personal goals and interests, and your academic background.
International students are welcome to apply. If your undergraduate degree is a three-year course of study, you are eligible to apply in your final year.
For the Work Experience section of the application: You must list any part-time or summer internship experiences you would like to highlight for the Silver Scholars Committee. Alternatively you may fill in "Not applicable," and we will use your résumé to glean any relevant experiences.
For the Activities section of the application: You may use this space to highlight extracurricular activities with which you are involved at your academic institution or with outside organizations.

More information

Please email us with any questions about the program.
We also encourage potential applicants to schedule a campus visit at the Visits & Interviews section of the Yale SOM website.
You may also use the Talk with Students section to contact current Silver Scholars and learn about their experiences at Yale SOM.
University career service officers can order extra brochures by emailing us.
Begin your Yale SOM application.