<p>What's good abt Yale? What's bad? Thx!</p>
<p>What are you interested in, specifically? Ask specific questions. (Lol...not that I can answer anyways, but vagueness is irritating).</p>
<p>how much work/free time do you guys have</p>
<p>i have a lot of free time but it goes by really fast...i waste too much time though and dont get all of my work done...i have quite a bit of work, but not excessive amounts - if you're good at time management, you should find it fairly easy...of course it depends on what classes you take</p>
<p>have u graduated already? and what were your classes?</p>
<p>Which major has the most workload? The least?</p>
<p>i assume the above poster refers to me - i have not graduated, in fact im a freshman - and all my classes are pretty standard - econ, orgo, philosophy, french, some other stuff...im taking 5.5 credits tho, which is pretty tough and orgo is supposed to be really hard (and it is)...in terms of majors and workload im not sure, id guess some science majors or pre-meds or art majors have a lot of work...history majors and others like that are supposed to have less work bc they have to take less credits to fulfill major requirements</p>
<p>Can you only take orgo (which is, I presume, organic chemistry) if you've taken AP chem in high school?</p>
<p>Haha, true, that was quite vague. How are the courses? Are profs really as open as admission dept makes it seem?</p>
<p>Is anyone in directed studies? What do you think of the prgm?</p>
<p>conwoman, is it easy to make all As?</p>
<ol>
<li><p>yes pretty much you can only take orgo if you've taken AP chem or the equivalent, but if you're a closet chem genius or you just know a lot of chem, you can definitely place. basically, to get into freshman orgo, you have to take a placement test at the beginning of the term. if you pass, you get in. there are about 60 kids in the class</p></li>
<li><p>the courses vary but i've liked most of mine. profs are pretty open but you've got to be willing to go up and talk to them - most have pretty open office hours and are accessible - i have stayed after class a few times to talk to my philosophy professor or orgo or french prof...</p></li>
<li><p>i dont take DS but my friend whos in it says: " Directed Studies is a great program if you're interested in being a pretentious and chronic quoter of stodgy old white guys...but more seriously, that it's a really great survey of the great ideas of the "Western Tradition." I think that what we learn in Directed Studies, for the most part, is immensely valuable in understanding the traditions that have shaped our culture. but also, the professors are, for the most part, really good. it's nice because it has small seminar-like sections
the lectures are usually pretty decent...thats what he said</p></li>
</ol>
<p>how is the "art life" at yale? does yale bring in music/dance groups from to the campus? </p>
<p>a few random kinda stupid questions:</p>
<p>is there a caribou or starbucks near campus?
is there a Borders bookstore near campus?
is everyone there incredibly intellectual?
is the social life boring?
who the hell gets into skulls and bones? :D</p>
<p>I can at least answer the Starbucks question for you CHOCO - one right behind old campus on Chapel. You could stick your head out of my sons first year dorm room and it was the street he looked out of and to the right.</p>
<p>I can also say, from what my son says, life at Yale is FAR from boring - he loves Yale, and everything about it.</p>
<p>Not sure about the Borders, but do believe there's a B&N on Broadway, aka Yale Bookstore.</p>
<p>Best of luck to everyone applying this year!!!!!</p>
<p>didn't anmswer the first... i'll ask again.</p>
<p>conwoman, is it easy to make all As? - or at least, make some As? like have a 3.8 avg?</p>
<p>amnesia - how is your question even answerable, especially for a freshman who hasn't even seen his/her final grades?</p>
<p>As a parent of a Yale Junior, I can only speak of her experience.
She works very hard and has managed to do almost as well as she did in high school. Classes vary in difficulty - seminars where you are one of 12 or so, consisting of mostly majors and some grad students are more difficult than the big lecture intro classes. The key to not being overloaded is to have a healhy mix - Yale students often biting off more than they can chew probably accounts for some not doing as well as they otherwise would, but there are so many great courses, it's hard not to.</p>
<p>I think if you are admitted to Yale with a strong academic background and you work hard, you can expect to continue to do well, even if you get involved in several activities. Yale students are really active in EC-type stuff- theater, politics, music groups, etc, and still manage to do well enough in their classes. I'm sure some are pretty stressed right now, though, with finals looming.</p>
<p>well she has like a few weeks to decide, but she's been in it for a while</p>
<p>In college, unlike high school, you often have no idea how well you're doing grade-wise until final exams are over. Sometimes your grade for a class is based entirely on one or two exams, or maybe a paper and an exam.
Makes for some nice or not-so-nice surprises.</p>
<p>About the grades: It really depends on the class. I thought my Chinese class was pretty easy (most people think otherwise), and it's not too difficult to get an A in that class. In my English class, it's very difficult to get an A, though not too hard to get an A-. Most people say that, generally speaking, A's are pretty difficult to get; you really have to work hard to get an A. B's tends to be the norm.</p>
<p>Regarding the last post, that is very true. One of my suitemates is taking a freshman seminar. Even though he's written papers and taken midterms, he has no idea what his grade is because the professor hasn't graded anything yet.</p>
<p>A's are not too hard to get, from my POV. i've worked barely at all, even compared to HS, besides cramming a few times when i needed to, and i have A's in econ, french, and orgo so far, Cr in philosophy (its Cr/D/F), prolly a B+ in lab, and prolly an A in perspectives on science...and for the amount of work that i put into my classes, that's pretty good - if i had even decent organizational skills, i could prolly manage all A's - but i mean, is that really the goal? for me, it's more about having the most fulfilling college experience from all aspects...h/e i hear from most ppl that Bs are the easiest to get..</p>
<p>Do many people opt to take Cr/D/F classes?</p>
<p>Also, is absolute liberalism rampant on campus? Or is there some worthy political confrontation?</p>