<p>If it means anything, I met very few of those students that got in.</p>
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<p>Yep. I met one or two arrogant people at Yale out of hundreds in my time there. Quite the contrary: genuine, self-effacing modesty was the rule. And rude? Never. So I’m skeptical of the report. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, if you want stunning beauty, start near Wolf’s Head, cross York Street and amble down Library Walk–peer into Branford Courtyard, then on into the Old Campus (check out the “Bridge of Sighs” on the way) through the gates on Elm Street and then through Cross Campus to Hewitt Quad where the neoclassical splendor awaits. If you’re not knocked out by then, you may be blind. And I could easily come up with five more paths, equally stunning. </p>
<p>[Yale</a> Daily News - Yale fights the war on ivy](<a href=“http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/features/2009/10/02/yale-fights-war-ivy/]Yale”>http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/features/2009/10/02/yale-fights-war-ivy/)</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.yale.edu/terc/map/c.html[/url]”>http://www.yale.edu/terc/map/c.html</a></p>
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<p>The people I was talking about were other students my age who were looking at the school on the tour, not actual Yale students.</p>
<p>^ Let’s hope the admissions officers serve as insightful filters then. :)</p>
<p>Thanks for the correction Honesto, that’s a good point. Given the unsurpassed prestige of HYP, it wouldn’t surprise me a bit if there are a lot of obnoxious people interested in them! And I’ll hope along with silverturtle (and my experience would seem to confirm) that they get sorted out for the most part. But no one’s perfect, not even an adcom member :)</p>
<p>I visited after a blizzard, and it was gorgeous!
And Yale definitely has the best bookstore- ATTICUS.</p>
<p>Honesto: thanks for clarifying that it was the people on the tour and not the general populace of Yale itself. I visited Yale as the last leg of a bunch of East coast schools. I visited by myself the Feb of my senior year. I hadn’t been able to visit any of these prior to applying and I figured I should at least see them to confirm/learn things in order to decide if any acceptances would come in April.</p>
<p>To be frank, the physical lie of the campus wasn’t more or less impressive than other schools I saw (sure I’ve been to some neo-Soviet/penetentiary looking public colleges before --but that’s not the point). It was the enthusiasm and engagement of the students that really wowed me. Here I was, an unknown HS senior from an urban school district – they didn’t know me from Adam – other than that I was an applicant. Everyone I met was extremely gracious and well-wishing. While some of this happened at the other schools, at Yale, it was everyone – staff, my student hosts, random students, faculty. Frankly, there seemed to be something in the water!</p>
<p>Aside from Yale’s offerings and faculty and reputation, their reception of a solo-traveling HS senior alone – won me over. On my ride down to JFK airport, I can literally recall ordering my colleges and smiling over the fact that Yale was definitively on top.</p>
<p>That being said: once as a student, I found myself being continually astounded by new things I would discover – even in my later years. Even though I was there at a downtime as far as physical amenities, I loved it.</p>
<p>If I may, I’ll also share this anecdote about the un-stuffy atmosphere of Yale. Upon entering, we’re all assigned a faculty advisor. Our professor arranged a meeting at one of the college common rooms. Our group was all guys and none of us knew each other. We pulled various chairs around in a circle to listed to the prof. Bizarrely, one guy who happened to be a little more eccentric in his dress and manner, didn’t sit in a chair but instead, lay down in the middle of our circle, feet toward the professor and propping his head with his hands. All of us were a little taken aback, the professor included. Anyway, the prof asked us to introduce ourselves. As we went around the circle, brother lounger said his name was “Chateau” – (French for mansion/home). Eyes rolled. Anyway, the meeting went on and then we discussed some items as we chatted. One guy addressed brother lounger “Oh Big Toe – I mean, Chateau…” We snickered. It was the perfect ego deflating moment for Mister Look at Me. It turns out the wisecracker was an Andover student but extremely down-to-earth and was in my college. He became a great buddy and was in my circle of close friends.</p>