Available Scholarships at Yale University
It would be perfect if you are studying at an Ivy League school, such as Yale, with full scholarship. You get to focus on your education and not on where you can find the money to pay for the $52,000 plus annual expenses. These expenses include tuition, room and board, books and other supplies. Student loans may provide you with the money but after graduation, you will have a big problem to contend with. Even state and federal loans come with interest. That interest added to your already hefty Yale expenses and you are in trouble.
The problem with most scholarships is that they are given to students with exceptional grades or with super athletic ability. At Yale, most students already come from the top of their high school classes. It would be tough competing with fellow Yale students for an academic scholarship. The university itself, however, does not really offer scholarships based on merit. Outside scholarships based on merit are plentiful, though.
Yale scholarships
You may go after Yale Club and Association scholarships. There are numerous other awards offered at the university that are granted by several donors. Try for the famous Fulbright scholarship if you like. Then if you are an MBA student, you could apply for the Richard Metzler scholarship. Similarly, if you are a graduate student, you can have a chance at the NSCS-Geico Graduate School scholarship. African American Management students can apply for the Hechinger fund. There are many other Yale-offered scholarships that depend solely on what your major is.
Being a Yale student, you are already expected to excel academically. Still, you do not have to be discouraged if you think that you are not really at the top of academics at Yale. You can still find a scholarship that is meant to get you through the two or four years of graduate and undergraduate work as long as you are willing to study hard.