<p>For those who studied in the DS program or have friends in the program, could you elaborate on the intensity of the experience? Does it just feel overwhelming because everyone else is going out on a Thursday night to do something fun, but these kids have to work on a paper?</p>
<p>1) I don’t know anyone who goes out on Thursday nights, aside from DS students who don’t have a paper that week.
2) The paper workload in DS isn’t that bad. Many science and math classes (most ones designed for science majors) have problem sets that take in excess of 10 hours each week for each class. A science version of DS would hence have 30 hours of work to complete each week outside of class, and DS papers don’t take that long. From what I’ve heard, the big thing in DS is actually getting the reading done, which does take a long time.</p>
<p>So the suicide reference is just because of the volume of readings involved with the course sequence? Does everyone work collaboratively in the program and build off their section discussions? Do you know if the DS group ends up socializing together much as well? Kind of like “misery loves company” type? It would appear that the program has avenues to interact with faculty and speakers. Is this different than classes outside of DS?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>As a friend said, there are two types of people in DS: people who talk about DS outside of class and people who don’t. The former generally become close in the program. </p>
<p>I did perspectives rather than DS so I can’t comment on quite a few of the points. But in terms of professor interaction, this is possible in a lot (most?) classes at Yale, but it really depends what classes. Introductory economics, for instance, is usually a lecture of 200+ people, and hence you don’t get much interaction in this setting.</p>
<p>Does Directed Studies really really restrict what else you can take?? Can you only do DS +foreign language in order to fulfil freshman requirements??</p>
<p>My understanding is that DS includes 3 required courses each semester leaving one free for the individual to choose (assuming a typical 4 course per semester courseload). It seems as if most students choose foreign language, math, or science for their fourth course as those are not included in the DS curriculum, but I don’t think it’s mandatory to choose one of those.</p>
<p>I think DS is a great program, for those who would like to do it. But I’d like to dispel the idea I see on CC that somehow you need to aspire to DS to get the most out of Yale, or to show that you’re a super-student. You don’t. It’s a specific program that students choose to do; most choose not to, partly because it limits your choice of courses. DS has a lot of reading and writing, but so do a lot of other courses.</p>
<p>I’ve had two kids in DS. One was unhappy and transferred out after the first semester which does happen. She loved the literature and some of the other reading, but there is an overall intensity to the program that is not for everyone and some of that is that DS tends to attract a lot of intensely driven students, which is saying a lot at a place filled with intensely driven students. And a lot of them do stress out a lot because of the reading, etc. I think there are people who do DS just because it is DS and considered hard, etc. And then there are people who do DS despite all of that because they really want that Core experience. But being surrounded by so many very intense kids can be a little bit tough and you have to be able to stay grounded. </p>
<p>My second kid has really enjoyed it. He had a very strong background in some of the reading and had read much of the literature before which gave him an edge. He also was able to step away from some of the anxiety that seems to go along with the program. He really wanted a Core program and was choosing between Columbia and Yale and U Chicago. It was something he knew he wanted. </p>
<p>I don’t think it’s the volume or frequency of papers that is hard, but I do think the topics are difficult compared to some other intro classes. In particular, for kids coming from public schools, where perhaps a lot wasn’t demanded of them in terms of writing, it can be a big shock and learning curve. I think my first kid found it daunting to come from a public school where she didn’t have strong English teachers into an environment where some of the kids had not only read the works before, but had even read them in the original language at elite prep schools. </p>
<p>DS is not for everyone. It should not be viewed as some kind of intellectual triathlon where there is something to prove. Also, bear in mind, that there is a massive amount of reading and you aren’t going to get everything there is to get out of all the reading at that pace. It’s just not possible. But you’ll get a lot.</p>
<p>Also, it is worth noting, that DS does knock out a lot of requirements, so even though a big chunk of the freshman year is taken up, a lot gets accomplished for graduation requirements. My son completed his language requirement first semester and will finish his freshman year with only his quantitative reasoning and science requirement left.</p>
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<p>You don’t have to do foreign language the first year, but a lot of people probably do if they are continuing a language they began in high school. Also, some kids take five classes second semester, but not everyone does.</p>
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While it’s true you don’t have to take a FL first year, if you don’t you will need at least one credit in both Writing (WR) and Quantitative Reasoning (QR) by the end of the year. Also, you will need to take at least one FL class sophomore year if you don’t take one freshman year.</p>
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<p>My D did DS and loved it. Yes, it was a lot of reading and writing but she learned a lot. It was great to have very close guidance from professors (no TAs) in her freshman year.</p>
<p>She took an L5 class to finish her foreign language requirement in the fall and in the spring she took a couple of less intense lecture classes to balance out the discussion and writing heavy classes of DS. </p>
<p>The most important thing is you have to really like to read and write the stuff. And have a certain tolerance level for “section a-holes” that DS is well known for.</p>
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They aren’t limited to DS.</p>
<p>Yes, but there does seem to be a higher concentration in DS. When DD graduated, the video shown made gentle fun of that.</p>