<p>If you are a current student, why did you decide to come? And after spending time there, what has exceeded expectations, disappointed you, or surprised you?</p>
<p>Also, how good are the sciences and engineering at Yale compared to other Ivies, like Dartmouth or Brown? And what is the thought on New Haven?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Not a current student but seeing as no one has chimed in (too bashful I guess): I was blown away first by undergrads who did a presentation in my city for minority students. Their energy and enthusiasm was remarkable. I had already been accepted to one of the top Public schools in the country and was only planning on a couple of "reach" schools (both Ivies). After this presentation, I went home and dug out all the Yale stuff in my pile! When I visited, again the sheer level of excitement from practically everybody made me think: what is going on here? What do they put in the water? Although other school visits were good and the schools would have been great experiences, I'm sure -- Yale really grabbed me.</p>
<p>I ended up being accepted at all the Ivies to which I applied but Y was definitely my 1st choice.</p>
<p>After arriving, I can honestly say I wasn't disappointed. It was for me and my large extended group of friends, one of the apex times of our lives.</p>
<p>Anecdote for you: I was chatting with a member of President Levin's staff at a fundraising event once. He mentioned that he had attended H for undergrad but did his grad work at Y, and now worked there. Because I never applied to H, I took the time to ask him: "Now tell me really. What's the difference between the two?" He said:"After Harvard, I felt that there was nothing I couldn't accomplish" I thought "Wow, that's some compliment". Then he said: " But I LOVED Yale."</p>
<p>I think this sums up how 99% of alumni I know and have met feel about the school. Even H alums will tell you that Yalies pull for one another.</p>
<p>Hope this has been useful. Good luck with your search.</p>
<p>As another alum, let me reiterate what T26 wrote. The campus visit sold me when I was in high school. The lectures I sat in on blew my mind. There was amazing energy on the campus and every student I talked to was beyond fanatical about his or her Yale experience. No other college I visited had anything close to the electricity of the Yale campus.</p>
<p>My expectations were sky high because of my great visit to the campus. The experience exceeded my expectations. Like T26 said, for me and for my group of friends, it was the time of our lives.</p>
<p>As for your engineering and science question, I think there are some threads on this, so do a search in the CC's Yale Forum. Yale is pouring lots of money into these fields. I think Yale provides a great opportunity for people who want to major in a science or engineering field but also want a liberal arts education. The people I knew with these majors got into great grad schools and this was before there was a push to dramatically improve science and engineering.</p>
<p>"What do they put in the water?" </p>
<p>I think it has to do with the campus. Yale has the best and most compact campus of any university in the world. It's not everywhere that students will run into hundreds of people they know just by walking across campus, and certainly not everywhere where everyone's dormitory is within a three-minute walk of everyone else's. At a place like, say, Harvard, it is more like 15 minutes or Cornell, 20-30. The surrounding college town also has more to do within a 2-3 block radius than pretty much the rest of the Ivies combined, and for that reason people are always easy to find, not hours away with their little clique of friends. Combined that with the residential college system (and, don't be fooled by the marketing materials of other universities, because Yale has the only true 4-year system out there), and it really feels like a great community. The campus there is by far the most vibrant, 24/7 active campus I have ever set foot on, and I've spent time at hundreds.</p>
<p>Good point posterX. I summered at Stanford btn my Jr and Sr years. Their campus (and the weather) was beautiful. But too large. Needed shuttles to get around. Unheard of at Yale. I'm glad you reminded me of the physical conveniences of being a Yale undergraduate.</p>
<p>Science Hill is like a mile from old campus.</p>
<p>The trot is good for working off that freshman fifteen: LOL. Really though, what we complained about trekking to Science hill is NOTHING compared to many, many other campuses.</p>
<p>Really. If you visit other schools, ask them about the distances btn certain classrooms and concentrations of housing. </p>
<p>I look back at my grumbling about the walk to Sci Hill and now can only laugh.</p>
<p>Science Hill really isn't that bad, as T26E4 said, esp. compared to other college campuses...Yale's campus is WAY more compact than those of most other schools I visited. </p>
<p>I "fell in love" with Yale because it seemed to me that it was more dedicated to the liberal arts than just about any other school...students are really, really encouraged to step out of their comfort zone not only in academics, but in extracurricular life as well. And most students do! I also loved the residential college system, which breaks down the 5,000-member student body into microcosms for each student to live in. I'm also slightly artsy, so I loved Yale's excellent art, theater and music programs. </p>
<p>New Haven isn't as bad as some people make it out to be...really, it's not worse than most other big-ish cities (including Cambridge). And the lack of a distracting city life means that the on-campus life is amazing. Also, New Haven's only like a 90 min train ride from NYC, so it's not hard to get to a huge metropolis.</p>
<p>I'm a current student. I only applied to Yale (and a couple state schools) and these dedicated CC members/Yale alums got it right. I have been in love with the school since the moment I stepped on its (compact, yes) campus.</p>
<p>I am returning in 21 days to start my next year and I couldn't be more excited. Yale is my home - it has my friends, my college (Silliman!) and my academic/extracurricular lives. I can't wait to get back and start this academic year.</p>
<p>My daughter graduated this May. She was actually pretty excited at that time to be done with undergrad, and ready for the next step.
After a month and a half at home in SoCal, she really misses Yale!
She said she started to tear up one night before going to sleep, realizing that she'd never be a student there again. She wants to do it all over again.</p>
<p>
[quote]
As for your engineering and science question, I think there are some threads on this, so do a search in the CC's Yale Forum. Yale is pouring lots of money into these fields. I think Yale provides a great opportunity for people who want to major in a science or engineering field but also want a liberal arts education.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Yes, it is true that Yale is now pouring a lot of money in science and engineering. However, it's also true that Harvard is much stronger in natural sciences in general at the graduate/research level , and Princeton is a much better fit if the OP is interested in engineering, but still wants to experience a historical Ivy university with a LAC-like atmosphere.</p>
<p>I'm not sure how significant those differences are at the Undergraduate level.</p>
<p>Yale is actually much stronger in both areas, especially at the undergraduate level. The differences you are referring to have to do with overall quantity, not quality from a student's perspective. If you look at scientific research expenditures per student, for example, Yale has much more than either of the two. In faculty quality rankings, as well, Yale does as good or better than both in many areas including engineering, chemistry, neurosciences and many others.</p>