Advanced Studies & Research

“At Yale, we evaluate students within the context of courses offered at their specific high school. Some schools have APs, others have IBs, dual enrollment, college prep, honors, French curriculum, etc. We do not have a preference, and we never compare one high school’s curriculum to another.”

“We don't care about ‘AP’ but what you offer your students at YOUR school, what you call it, how students get into these tracks, and what does that mean for them—what other opportunities are available to them. AP’s are not the end-all-be-all. Reconsidering them will not hurt your students in any shape or form.”

“Given our holistic review process, we aren’t looking for a certain number of AP courses or exams. We evaluate each student in the context of their high school. We ultimately want students to take the most rigorous curriculum available at their high school. As you can imagine this varies from school to school.”

“The class that was the most impactful for me was my AI and Machine Learning (ASR) course in Junior year. This class was the most impactful to me because AI is such a prominent topic right now, and learning about it through this course made me more knowledgeable about how to use it and how it will be used in the future.”

“My most impactful class was taking Literature of Israel, Palestine and Lebanon (ASR) in my Junior year, as there were lots of high-strung emotions, tense and uncomfortable conversations, and political strife. It was incredibly difficult, as the class was taking place in tandem with the conflict, but I ultimately forged stronger friendships and appreciated different perspectives.”

“One class that really stood out is The History of Ideas and Inventions (ASR) that I took Junior year. It was unlike any of the classes I had taken in the past and was way more challenging than I expected. But what started as something that I felt was out of my league, in terms of what I could accomplish quickly, turned into a space where we were able to have discussions and learn about topics I had never heard of before. And, while writing the research paper at the end of the class was one of the hardest things I have ever done academically, it was a chance to push myself to my absolute limit to see what I am able to accomplish.”

“I think the Cryptography in History & Mathematics (ASR) class has been exciting. Taught by both Ms. Sarles and Dr. Huntington, it is super challenging but also really interesting. One day they just put a piece of paper with random letters on it and told us to decrypt it. After spending more than an hour on it, that feeling of finally breaking it can’t be beat.”

“The most impactful class I’ve taken at CA is undoubtedly The History of Ideas and Inventions (ASR). This class not only pushed me to speak my mind, but also helped improve my writing skills and gave me the opportunity to do pointed research on a topic of my choosing. I really enjoyed being able to dive deeper into mechanisms that are central in the medical field for my final research project, and while this paper proved to be the most challenging I’ve written, it was so rewarding to read the finished research paper in the end. ”

“The ASR class discussions are much more in-depth, and people are willing to have their opinions challenged.”

“ASR puts students and purpose at the center, emphasizing self-direction. It cultivates mastery, more profound depth of study, and a learning posture that connects to the broader world.”

“My favorite thing about ASR so far is its organic nature. Whereas the AP curriculum demands that you move through the material toward the test in a linear, proscribed way—or else you get ‘off track’—in my class there’s never that pressure. We’re never behind: We just pivot.”

“Yes, it is easy to throw paint on a canvas and create works that appear haphazard, but it is a demanding process to become emotionally involved in art that looks ‘easy’ to create. Placing a piece of your identity that could be deemed as superficial on display for the world to judge requires a mental fortitude that I have been pursuing since beginning my artistic process.”

“While conceptualizing what I wanted my ASR Portfolio exhibit to be, I was reminded of the little girl I once was. I looked through my family photo albums, examining the grainy images that perfectly captured sweet smiles across my parents’ faces and my crooked pigtails. Right next to the printed photos were random doodles along the margins I had no recollection of drawing. Small hearts and flowers surrounded a picture of my parents, older brother, and I posing in front of our old apartment. Suddenly, the once-forgotten memories came flooding back.”

“The goal of this ASR course’s approach is to create the conditions and the context in which we can experiment with ideas. None of us in the room, including me, is going to definitively answer the questions we’re considering—How do I know what I know? What makes me who I am? Instead, I’m facilitating a classroom dynamic and a community that nurtures the very best kind of learning. 

“Senior Portfolio was an ASR course before we ever defined the ASR program. It has always been about teaching students how to be independent artists—from researching the history of a genre and learning about current movements to analyzing that landscape and figuring out how it informs their own practice.”