Am I Far Too Ignorant? Accepting Yale's Offer of Admission

Colleges & Universities A-Z Yale University
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<p>Hello everyone,</p>

<p>My admissions story is similar to many on this site - I had applied to quite a few places and heard good news from many of them. When I found out that I had been admitted to Yale, I did feel the excitement and envisioned myself on its campus next fall. I ignored the rest of the colleges to which I had been accepted...and, when I think about it, I only did so because most of my life, I had been told of Yale's prestige/quality.</p>

<p>What US News does to colleges is terrible; placing them on a hierarchy as if colleges can be quantifiable is absurd. Yet, as much as hate to admit it, my decision to accept Yale's offer is heavily based on such perception. Am I being far too narrow minded? I mean, I'm not rooting for a state school or anything, I'm just thinking of schools like Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore, Duke, Dartmouth, etc, which see many of its cross admits go to HYPSM. </p>

<p>Now that I think about it, the only colleges I really looked into were HYPSM - out of those, I found Yale to be the best fit for me. Am I being far too narrow-minded by rejecting all of the non-HYPSM schools previously mentioned (all of which I was luckily admitted to)? Or am I being sensible, seeing that a really, really large number of individuals faced with the Yale vs. Duke decision pick the former over the latter? </p>

<p>I don't quite care for little details; if the weather is bad, I can adjust. If the school is huge, I'll live. So basing a decision on those commonly prescribed details seems a bit too shallow for me. What I'm ultimately getting at is that is there some deeper criteria, something with more meaning, that I can use to evaluate what college I ought to attend, other than just being a prestige-chaser? Why should I pick Yale other than its prestige and its student body? Am I missing criteria that I really ought to use to evaluate other colleges? And if I am missing a criterion, why is it that most people who are cross-admits choose Yale over liberal arts / good national universities, like Amherst, which could offer a better education in some respects?</p>

<p>A good way to put it in context: if you had picked Yale in the past, what truly made you do so? No, don't list little things that are used as cover-ups - "omg, the architecture was pretty." Rather, it would help if you can give genuine, true-to-heart reasons as to what made you mark a box labeled "Accept".</p>

<p>I'm sorry, I'm just a little confused. Blindly clicking the accept offer button and rejecting other institutions feels wrong. I'd like to be informed of meaningful info before I can make that decision.</p>

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<p>If the “accept” button is blue, I would click it. It is a sign from the Lord up high. In all seriousness though, Yale will surround you with some of the best students and proffesors from all around the globe, that alone makes it worth it.</p>

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<p>This sounds like drama over nothing. Click the button. The fact alone that you have pointed this out means that you are not “being blind.”</p>

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<p>I know you asked for something other than prestige, but that plays a part.</p>

<p>Obviously, when it comes to choosing between HYPSM schools, there are a lot of different factors, and if you look around these boards, you’ll find a lot of why people like Yale. But you also mentioned closed mindedness in rejecting non-HYPSM schools. I think when it comes to prestige, its really hard for those little schools to compete.</p>

<p>The smaller schools simply don’t have the same sort of prestige that the bigger schools have. People from smaller schools will come on and say “They are too well respected!” But let’s make no mistake–they’re not called the HYPSMWWA schools for Williams, Wesleyan and Amherst. They do say they work very hard to get students from their schools into the workforce and to give them opportunities bigger schools offer, so you can obviously still be successful out of those schools.</p>

<p>But clearly, there are more resources, better facilities, and more prestige at the bigger schools. They’re on another tier from the smaller, Lib-Arts schools. So if you aren’t a fan of that small program, it’s not closed minded of you to want to go to a larger school. Then from your HYPSM schools, you can make the decision on what’s the best fit (I’m personally visiting campuses this month before I decide between YPC) but to answer that question, no, you’re not being closed minded for wanting to go to the best schools.</p>

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<p>The standard argument for attending “smaller, Lib-Arts schools” is that the OP would only have one bite at the apple attending one: so few of them have graduate programs that it is far less likely that you can go from Yale to Wesleyan than the other way around. Yale is a great school but its residential college system – the pride of the Yale experience – is essentially an attempt to recapture something it lost a long time ago: the small New England college experience which it championed well into the nineteenth century:
<a href=“http://images.library.yale.edu/nhsize3/YVRC/D3727/258200.jpg[/url]”>http://images.library.yale.edu/nhsize3/YVRC/D3727/258200.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>This is Wesleyan as it appears today:
<a href=“http://roth.blogs.wesleyan.edu/files/2008/11/1108campus-1.jpg[/url]”>http://roth.blogs.wesleyan.edu/files/2008/11/1108campus-1.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Neat, isn’t it?</p>

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<p>@tiscookiemonster:</p>

<p>Before ending up at Yale, I had very similar qualms. A friend who chose a small LAC over Yale summed it up for me: when admitted, it’s near-impossible to separate the brand identity from the ground-level institution. For him, the inscrutability pushed him to accept a less-mythologized (but, in my opinion, equally rigorous) college’s offer. In turn, it caused me to hesitate for 5 months before finally choosing Yale. </p>

<p>I doubt I will ever be able to entirely separate the mythology from the reality. I don’t think anyone can fully. Today, I stumbled across the ostentatious chapel in Sterling Library where the Gutenberg Bible (currently displayed in Beinecke) was enshrined until the 1960s. It’s now office space. The vaulted, ornately carved ceiling and the felt-lined cubicles and file cabinets below are an absurd juxtaposition. It was my little didactic metaphor for the day: modern Yale doesn’t always know what it should do with its past and legacy. </p>

<p>So I encourage you to keep asking the question, because my perception is that the University contemplates the same questions. To what extent do prestige and tradition blind its capacity to think ahead of its peers? Do its programs really exceed or match those of other excellent colleges, or is it given a free pass because of the name brand? </p>

<p>There are many things Yale gets really, really right. Residential colleges. Suite-style living. Partnerships with New Haven. Alumni networks. Undergraduate attention. Humanities, social sciences, and current hard science investments. Internship opportunities. However, I don’t think these are sufficient reason to come. You have to trust that these things are legitimate enough to substantiate the external perceptions of the University, and that’s a completely personal discernment. In the end, it will probably take a leap of faith.</p>

<p>I suspect you would love Yale if you came, especially if you applied because you thought it fit your interests better than the other schools its most often grouped with. I know I love it here. But don’t give up on the other places you’re looking until you’re pretty confident that this is the real deal. Or May 1. Whichever comes sooner.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

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<p>Don’t have enough time to help out the op (in a sentence: Yale is best place in the world)… that said, John, I have no idea what the point of your pictures “prove.” Yale also pretty much looks like that still. As do many other schools.</p>

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<p>Also, in response to johnwesley, I agree that Wesleyan is an excellent school, well deserving of any strong student’s consideration. But the argument that you should choose a LAC because you could go to Yale for grad school really isn’t a very good one. First, of course, it’s far from guaranteed that you could go to Yale later. Do you even want to go to grad school? If so, will Yale have a program that fits your interests? If so, can you really be certain you would get in to Yale again? More importantly, though, being an undergrad at Yale is nothing like being a grad student here. This isn’t a choice between having the Yale undergrad experience now or later - if you don’t come as an undergrad now, you’ll never really have the chance again. So much of undergrad life centers around undergrad-specific institutions, from residential colleges to the vast majority of extracurricular organizations. </p>

<p>That all being said, I’m not saying that Yale is necessarily a better choice for you than a LAC, that’s for you to determine. But don’t be blinded by the notion that you could simply go to Yale later - it really isn’t true. </p>

<p>Personally, though, I agree with booyaksha. I love Yale and couldn’t imagine being anywhere else - and I don’t love it because they give us injections of prestige every morning, but because Yale is really an amazing place to be.</p>

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<p>I see your question as coming down to College or University?? My oldest child took several School of Management classes as an undergraduate. This proved to be a perfect option for him… we had been encouraged to have him focus on universities vs LAC’s and it was actually a very valuable piece of advice. Could he have benefited from a LAC? Absolutely, but he was very happy to be a part of a university. </p>

<p>Some other miscellaneous thoughts on why Yale:
I think you are going thru that phase of admissions of having to say goodbye to some of your options, via sending in your “thanks but no thanks” cards. It is very difficult to give up 4 years at Amherst or Williams… or Duke… it is completely valid to get cold feet about giving up these other paths… they are great paths… but you can only choose 1… </p>

<p>I did not go to Yale… my husband did… my two kids did/are… there is much that I have grown to love about Yale… the residential colleges do surround you with a subset of international diversity that will stretch and enrich you… the professors will teach and challenge you… the resources will amaze and benefit you… but my very favorite thing about Yale is the history. I love that it was founded in 1701…one has to look across the pond to get a sense of the value of that history… Cambridge in England was founded in 1209… I think it is a very special privilege to become a living part of such history…the graduation pomp and circumstance was absolutely world class… it was a great celebration of the 4 year experience…I can’t wait for the next one… all the residential college flags…along with the flags from each of the graduate programs… it was almost medieval in feeling… total goosebumps!!</p>

<p>We get the Yale magazine at the house and have for years… it is classic subliminal marketing, in my opinion… because it provides insight into current goings on on campus, it delivers lots of food for thought… and it offers the class notes… not everyone is major league successful, but there are many many accomplishments and there is a lot of tangible pride to be an alum… </p>

<p>best wishes!!</p>

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<p>booyaksha wrote:

</p>

<p>The only thing still standing in that engraving is Connecticut Hall on the far left and pieces of the Yale fence. Almost immediately afterward Yale chose to model itself upon the European university made up of enclosed (mainly Gothic) quadrangles that follow a city grid. </p>

<p>Other schools with the same spartan brick or stone row houses facing an open parade ground would be:</p>

<p>Dartmouth College
Hamilton College
Amherst College
Trinity College
Bowdoin College
Middlebury College
Wesleyan University</p>

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<p>I don’t believe that students from middle or working class families have the luxury to choose schools based on fit.</p>

<p>Thus, choosing to attend an institution based on one prevailing factor, prestige, is legitimate and understandable.</p>

<p>The more prestigious an institution, the greater a safety net one has toward ultimately acquiring financial security.</p>

<p>For these students, HYP is the sensible choice over the over the other Ivy League schools, and Amherst and Williams.</p>

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<p>Are you actually mad that you’re going to Yale?..I do understand your point. However, I’m sure Yale isn’t all that bad. Luckily, it’s just Yale, and not some worse place.</p>

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<p>You would like any of those colleges. Just pick one. It will be fine.</p>

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<p>To each of you, thank you for the advice! </p>

<p>This board is awesome. The explanations make sense. I think i’ll choose yale not for it’s prestige, but for the amazing side-effects its prestige creates. Also, though by picking Yale I automatically close out many different paths the other colleges would provide for me, choosing one path is inevitable, as I am only one person. Looking at it that way (thanks maineparent for that advice), I like the path Yale provides, so I’ll go with it.</p>

<p>@kafka- it’s grey! :open_mouth:
@nicknack- that’s exactly the line of thought i was following. i’ll definitely take your advice and keep those questions in mind.
@MSauce- cya at BDD!
@engineerjw- haha nahh. in no way am i mad. i’m just wondering why the system is so heavy on the hyp.</p>

<p>yale 2014! :D</p>