<p>Hi, I'm very interested in Yale, and I had a few questions about the University. Please help if you can, especially if you're a current or former Yalie!</p>
<p>First, what do you know about the Directed Studies program? It sounds so interesting, and very well suited to my interests, but I read that it's also very difficult. Is it advisable to take Directed Studies?</p>
<p>Second, how much does URM status help for Yale? Does it help comparatively more/less than at other top schools, or about the same? I'm a Hispanic male, btw.</p>
<p>Third, how awful is New Haven weather? I figure it's bad, but is the campus at least nice during fall and spring?</p>
<p>Fourth, I'm interested specifically in English Literature and History, which is why I picked Yale as my Ivy of choice. From what I've heard, that tends to be the strong point for the University... is that correct?</p>
<p>Sorry for so many questions. Please help if you can.</p>
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<li><p>If you are interested in what DS has to teach, then it is advisable to take DS. IT is a lot of work, but I’m not sure if I’d say it’s difficult work. It’s a lot of reading, and seemingly a lot of writing. You’ll have an essay a week to write, except for like 3 weeks in the entire semester and hundreds of pages of reading. That doesn’t mean the same wouldn’t happen in another class though. If you’re interested, apply, see if you get in, and check to see if you like it. You can always drop it. </p></li>
<li><p>You’ll get many different answers to this question. IMO, everyone is looking for a diverse class, people with high academic achievement, differing backgrounds, and unique qualities. It’s not sufficient to present your ethnicity to get into Yale. You need to present yourself as a qualified, ambitious applicant who also happens to be Hispanic. That being said, we do have a vibrant Latino community at Yale and think that it would be harder to overlook a Latino applicant since there are so few of us anyways, especially if you’re not Mexican or Puerto Rican.</p></li>
<li><p>New Haven weather is… pretty bad, IMO. Early in the fall, it is GORGEOUS (late August/early Sept). It stays pretty nice for the most part until Nov./Dec. but it RAINS ALL THE TIME (at least twice a week). Didn’t snow that much this year, but it does once in a while. Yale will rarely give snow days. In the spring, MORE RAIN but somewhat nicer weather and the blossoming of the trees is beautiful. So it has some positives. But, it’s what you would expect from the northeast.</p></li>
<li><p>We definitely are strong in History. So many classes, distinguished professors, concentrations, and people majoring in it. Not too sure about English Lit though.</p></li>
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<li><p>Okay. If accepted, I’ll try it.</p></li>
<li><p>I’m not a typical loophole-URM, really. I’m Venezuelan, and fluent in Spanish. And I have real passions and strong EC’s to show my love for the humanities. I’m hoping that would give me a real boost, but I’m not applying to Yale for any superficial reasons: the only other Ivy I’m applying to is Brown.</p></li>
<li><p>I don’t have a problem with rain/snow, as long as it’s not very frequent. I guess it’s to be expected.</p></li>
<li><p>Cool. I wanted to be a Humanities major so I could kinda do both, and I heard Yale was the best in history and also quite strong in English, so that’s what primarily attracted me to it.</p></li>
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<p>I researched on their website, specifically looked at the History and English department, and that led me to the DS page, which was really fascinating. If accepted, I’d love to take that course. I think I might mention that in the “Why Yale” section.</p>
<p>Oh, also, could anyone list me a few schools that are very similar to Yale socially/structurally/etc. but have a considerably higher admit rate? Ya know, for if and when I get rejected :P</p>
<p>^You may want to take a look at the University of Chicago. If you like Yale’s DS program, you will probably find Chicago’s core curriculum very attractive. Also, the campuses look and feel similar (at least to me), and Hyde Park isn’t unlike New Haven… except that the great city of Chicago is only a few minutes away. UChicago’s acceptance rate - which I believe was around 27% last year - dropped significantly this year because they saw a meaningful increase in the number of applications. However, it’s still easier to get into the U of C than into some of the other top-tier schools. </p>
<p>By the way, I have no ties whatsoever to UChicago. I got to know it only because my son liked it (it was his 2nd choice after Yale), and I can say honestly that, to my mind, it provides one of the very best educations in the United States.</p>
<p>I actually loved U Chicago when I read up on it, but it’s so expensive. Nearly $60K per year for me. And since I’m middle class ($80K per year), I doubt I’d get good enough FA to attend.</p>
<p>Financial aid is calculated via EFC and is independent of the tuition of the given institution. You’d probably pay less at Chicago than some public schools, if you got in.</p>
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<p>This is true. However, expect Chicago’s admit rate to drop 2-3% each year for the next few years, if not more, based on observations of the historical record of the new admissions dean. It will probably have a similar selectivity to Penn or Dartmouth next year, so it’s probably not much of a “safer” school.</p>
<p>…Really? I thought HYP were the only schools that would pay (near) full cost for me based on need. At least that’s what I was told. I doubt my family can contribute more $10K per year, since I have a sister who will enter college soon too.</p>
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<p>Lol, great. Dartmouth’s acceptance rate is around 11%. Would it really drop from 27% to 11% in less than two years?</p>
<p>Students whose parents make about $80k/year get pretty good offers. My parents make a combined $120k/year (although divorced) and I pay about $20k up until my sister entered college, at which point the tuition + room/board added up to about $10k.</p>
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<p>Well, it dropped from 27% to 18% in a year. Theoretically, with an increase in yield and applications, it could drop to about 11%, although it’s more likely to drop to the 14% range. However, it’s my personal opinion that Chicago has a stronger applicant pool than Dartmouth, which means that the two schools’ selectivity would be approximately equal. It’s the same situation with Caltech - even at Caltech’s current 15% acceptance rate, it is more selective than schools like Brown and Dartmouth, even though the latter have lower acceptance rates.</p>
<p>Yeah, I guess that makes sense. It’s a self-selecting pool, as I believe they call it…? It would be great to go to UChicago, but I’m not sure if I can. My parents already told me: no more than about $10K contribution per year, no matter where I go. So it would have to be a very good offer.</p>
<p>So… I don’t know. I’m already applying to five reaches (Yale, Stanford, Brown, Vanderbilt, Rice). Unless I got a really good offer from UChicago, I doubt I would turn down Yale or Stanford’s FA (if accepted, lol) or a merit scholarship and FA from Vanderbilt or Rice. Still though, I guess it might be worth applying.</p>
<p>^ Decrescendo, of course you will decide whatever is best for you; only you can understand fully your personal and family situations. For my part, though, I’d encourage you to apply to UChicago. If you have the kind of mind that appreciates DS, Chicago may be a great match for you. As for financial packages, you never know until you try. And, looking at your list, the U of C may merit a spot in there. It is truly a top-tier school, and not only because the published rankings say so:</p>
<p>I confess that I don’t put a whole lot of stock in those. I suppose that, in the end, I was genuinely impressed by what I learned about Chicago over the past year after some in-depth research. It provides a truly exceptional education, and I think that it is an undiscovered (at least by some) gem.</p>
<p>Yes, DS and the Chicago Core have a lot in common, and the vibe at Chicago is remarkably close to the vibe at the Yale of my youth, minus some sports and a lot of sense of privilege. DS and the Columbia Core probably have even more in common (although Columbia isn’t that much easier to get into than Yale). I think Stanford now has a version of DS, too.</p>
<p>If you really, really love the idea of DS, check out St. John’s College in Maryland or New Mexico. </p>
<p>Yes, Yale has a strong English department. That’s been true for at least 70 years – it generally gets ranked #1 or #2 (with Berkeley). It’s not as dominant now as it was in the 50s-80s, when it was head and shoulders above everyone, but it still gets ranked on top.</p>
<p>Other places with really good English departments that are a little easier to get into include Chicago, Johns Hopkins, Cornell, NYU, Berkeley. But, really, almost everyone has a good English department – third-tier teachers’ colleges in the sticks have really high-quality English faculty, because there are so few jobs that any one that opens up gets filled by someone great.</p>
<p>To be honest, I didn’t want my list to get bigger than 10 schools. My guidance counselor will be very irritated with such a large amount of work for one student, and I need an outstanding recommendation from her. Plus, it’s $60-$80 to apply to each, so 10 seems plenty enough to me.</p>
<p>It’s interesting that Columbia and Chicago’s core curriculum is similar to DS. But I’ve never wanted Columbia - I’m a small town guy, I don’t really want to be smack in the middle of the country’s largest metropolitan area. In addition, while I certainly love academics, there are lots of other social aspects of my college life that I wish to be fulfilled and, from what I read about Chicago, they don’t offer much outside of their incredible academics.</p>
<p>I was told by many that Yale and Stanford were perfect for me. They’re both reaches, though, so I can’t count on acceptances from them. I’d be happy to attend Rice, it’s near my town and family. As for UChicago, I don’t know yet… and I’m not interested in Columbia.</p>
