Yale-NUS College welcomes its largest student intake to date

248 students from around the world form the Class of 2021 at Asia’s leading liberal arts college

248 students will form the Class of 2021 at Yale-NUS College, its largest intake to date. In all, 8773 prospective students from around the world applied to Yale-NUS. 45 nationalities are represented in the Class of 2021. Singaporeans continue to make up the largest pool of students in this year’s intake, hailing from 28 schools across Singapore. The College sees the strongest international representation from India, United States, China and South Korea. For the first time, students from Uzbekistan and Paraguay are also represented, amongst others.

The Class of 2021 is made up of students who possess stellar academic credentials as well as outstanding extracurricular interests and accomplishments. With its fifth intake, Yale-NUS continues to expand the diverse and global nature of its student body, which will now stand at over 800 students.

The College evaluates its global applicant pool holistically, assessing both academic and extracurricular achievements. Interviews, a key pillar of the admissions process, enable the College to identify students who will thrive under the unique curriculum and residential college experience at Yale-NUS.

Yale-NUS Director of Admissions, Laura Severin, says, “We are thrilled that students who have pursued excellence in a great variety of fields, while attaining impressive academic results, have found our innovative liberal arts curriculum and residential experience to be the right fit for them. The drive and passion for learning that we have seen in the incoming class, combined with their diverse skills and experiences, will enrich the lively exchanges of ideas in the Yale-NUS community of learning. We believe their experience at Yale-NUS will enable them to hone their skills at overcoming challenges in today’s ever-changing environment, and to be intellectually curious while having a deep sense of social responsibility. ”

Some members of the new class have decided to enrol, following the footsteps of their siblings who have earlier joined Yale-NUS. Incoming student Boden Franklin, brother of Anne Caroline (Kei) Franklin who recently graduated, shared, “Kei’s experience at Yale-NUS College had an immense impact on both my choice to attend and my perception of the College. I was encouraged by Kei’s transformative experience at Yale-NUS and even before applying, I was able to see the college through my sister’s eyes. She returned with stories of her numerous experiences that introduced her to new ways of thinking, living, and interacting.”

Many incoming students are also deeply involved in the community, such as Wong Cai Jie (Jay), who hails from Meridian Junior College. Jay is fluent in sign language and volunteers with the Singapore Association for the Deaf. She hopes to bridge the gaps between the hearing and Deaf communities.

“Spending time as a volunteer allows me to help a community that tends to be overlooked and de-stigmatise Deaf culture and sign language, concepts that tend to be very foreign to most hearing people in Singapore. I’ve learnt to better understand and appreciate my privileges as a hearing person and I hope to use these privileges to amplify the voices of the disenfranchised instead of speaking over them,” Jay shared.

Yale-NUS offers a distinctive curriculum and residential programme that encourages active learning, adaptability and critical thought. Students are exposed to an interdisciplinary inquiry-based curriculum which enables them to master a broad body of knowledge and techniques, taught by a globally diverse faculty of leading educators and researchers who are passionate in mentoring and teaching. The College’s faculty has over 100 members who contribute actively to the collaborative development of the curriculum, co-curricular programmes and residential life of the College. At full capacity, the total expected student population is 1,000 students.

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Yale-NUS College Class of 2021 at a glance:

Yale-NUS College at a glance:

For media enquiries, please contact publicaffairs@yale-nus.edu.sg.