Black Yale

Colleges and Universities A-Z Yale University
1

<p>Hey guys,</p>

<p>Judging from anecdotal evidence it seems that Yale has a larger black community than Harvard and Princeton. Furthermore it seems that the brightest African Americans seem to be choosing Yale over Harvard and Princeton. </p>

<p>Why is Yale so appealing to African Americans ? </p>

<p>What is the Black community at Yale like? </p>

<p>What are the benefits of attending Yale ? </p>

<p>Are blacks excluded from secret societies like the skulls and bones ? </p>

<p>Does Yale have numerous internship programs in Africa and Washington ?</p>

<p>What is the Yale Political Union like ?</p>

<p>Is the 36 credits requirement cumbersome ?</p>

2

<p>I think you have to visit to have a feel
JHS (a poster) is here and he can help you</p>

<p>Do not forget, Penn also has a good AA community.
They are pretty smart @ Penn. I dunno about the rest though</p>

3

<p>lol… I would actually say that in terms of black population is goes Harvard -> Yale -> Princeton. That’s what I personally experienced.</p>

<p>As for choosing Yale over Harvard and Princeton, it had nothing to do with the size of the black community… rather, it was because I liked what Yale had to offer extracurricularly/academically much more than Harvard/Princeton’s offerings.</p>

<p>I would say that in general, an equal number of blacks end up choosing Harvard/Yale/Princeton although it does seem that here on CC a lot of kids are picking Yale. Do realize however that many of these kids are not HYP cross-admits and many of them had their choices made for them. </p>

<p>The only other black Harvard/Yale (not princeton because he didn’t apply) I know here on CC (you’llsee…) picked Harvard for reasons similar to why I picked Yale.</p>

<p>Now to answer some of your other questions (I can only do a few since I’m only a prefrosh):</p>

<p>What are the benefits of attending Yale?</p>

<p>For me, it was the all of the opportunities available in the arts. Music and drama are extremely prevalent and part of the culture at Yale and the same can’t be said for Harvard or Princeton (from what I’ve witnessed). In fact, after eliminating Princeton, it pretty much came down to H and Y for me and the fact that Yale has a Theatre Studies major with many many course offerings while Harvz has fewer than 15 courses and no major really solidified that I’d be in New Haven. Plus, the idea of living in New Haven appealed more to me. It’s closer to NYC than Boston and the availability of volunteer opportunities in New Haven seemed really neatoooo. The benefits of attending Yale or Harvard are many, the benefits of choosing one or another however, are far more personal and subjective.</p>

<p>Are blacks excluded from secret societies like the skulls and bones?</p>

<p>No. My dad was actually in a secret society! (and this was some years ago, so I’m sure by now they’re even more diverse.)</p>

<p>Does Yale have numerous internship programs in Africa and Washington?</p>

<p>Yes! They do!</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>This is true. I would say that after Columbia, Penn has probably the largest black community.</p>

4

<p>I’m not black and don’t really know much about african american student life at Yale… but I can say that it seems that a large portion of the black students at Yale are African rather than African American (or African Americans whose parents/grandparents recently migrated from Africa). I dunno if this would make any difference to you, but I figure that their experiences and cultural outlook might be substantially different than AAs who are a product of the past 300 years of discrimination. Just a thought.</p>

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<p>For colleges across the nation it seems that the children of African immigrants make up a significant proportion of black students, and often a larger portion than African-American students whose families were in the U.S. during slavery. That’s not unique to Yale at all. Regarding the OP’s question regarding the black student body at Yale, this article should help shed some light on it in terms of straight numbers: [The</a> State of Black Student Freshman Enrollments at the Nation’s Highest-Ranked Colleges and Universities](<a href=“http://www.jbhe.com/features/61_enrollments.html]The”>The State of Black Student Freshman Enrollments at the Nation’s Highest-Ranked Colleges and Universities)</p>

<p>For the freshman class entering in Fall 2008, Yale had 132 black freshman, Harvard had 139. At Yale, black students are 10% of that freshman class, at Harvard they are 8.4%. Yale didn’t disclose its black student yield, but Harvard’s was 64%. (Princeton came in at 95 black students and 7.7%, didn’t disclose yield.) But between H & Y, as you can see, there isn’t a significant difference numbers-wise. </p>

<p>I went to Harvard, but the black community there had contact with the black community at Yale (usually around the Harvard-Yale football game), and from my own perception it seemed to be of pretty good size, and have a relatively strong presence on campus. That’s all I can reasonably say without descending into rumor or conjecture. In any event, if you end up having questions about the black community at Harvard, feel free to PM me or come over to the Harvard board. :)</p>

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<p>This whole post will be from my experience during BDD, so just keep that in mind.</p>

<p>When I visited, Yale seemed to have a vibrant student of color environment (meaning, not only black, but also Hispanic, Asian, and Native American). I think that eatingfood covered mostly the basics for why Yale > Harvard or Princeton. But I’ll say why I think that people like Yale more than H and P when it comes to ethnic stuff.</p>

<p>For one, New Haven has a lot to do with it. Yale can seem to withdraw into itself at times (or so it seems) and I think it’s nice to have an urban community to venture into if you feel like experiencing that community. At least, that is the feeling I got from the Hispanic students.</p>

<p>Also, I think Yale is very supportive to students of color. They have their own houses to themselves, and there are also so many clubs and organizations that are so strong and active. I think it makes students of color more comfortable.</p>

<p>In fact, as soon as I stepped into the Hispanic house (La Casa), everyone was SO welcoming and LOUD. It made me feel wanted and appreciated, and more especially, I saw that there was a community at Yale (a Hispanic one) that doesn’t exist at my present school. Whereas at Harvard, I think that experience is harder to come upon. In fact, my friend was recruiting me to go to Harvard so that I could add to the population.</p>

<p>Those are my 2 cents. Hope that is helpful (and truthful). But then again, I think a student can give a better description.</p>

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<p>What bigboyjoe means by “They have their own houses to themselves” is that several cultural specific centers exist on campus which serve as meeting places, display areas, and some offices. The “Houses” serve as the nexus of a sort for that specific community – they have lots of alum outreach efforts as well. They aren’t exclusionary and do multiple joint functions with other campus organizations. They aren’t segregated dorms or frats or anything like that.</p>

<p>From memory, there’s is an Afro-American Cultural Center, La Casa (hispanic), an Asian American Cultural Center, a Women’s Center and I believe a LGBT Center (I may be mistaken about the last one).</p>

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<p>^ Yeah, thanks for the clarification T26E4. Indeed, the houses are just areas for clubs to meet and people to hang out, and for the clubs to throw events. They’re not dorms, frats or anything like that.</p>

<p>There is an Afro-American Cultural Center, La Casa, Asian American Cultural Center, Native American Cultural Center (I’m not sure if this is it’s own house or if it shares with the Asian American Cultural Center), and a Women’s Center. There isn’t an LGBT center, I believe. I think that the LGBT “area” is in the Woman’s Center.</p>