I’m considering applying to Yale SCEA (go to my profile if you want to see my stats/chance me, they’re on another thread) but there’s one thing that really worries me about the school. Is it really as competitive as people say? I want a collaborative atmosphere at any school I go to, so if kids at Yale are trampling each other to be #1, I have no interest. Could anyone who’s actually been to the school/ knows someone at the school shed some light on what the vibe there is really like?
Bump! I’m interested to know as well.
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Hello all - I found you on the Yale Parents thread (apologies for randomly tagging you on this thread) and hoped some of you might have something to share with regards to you/your kids’ experience with the Yale atmosphere. Competitive? Collaborative? Difficult being surrounded by uptight overachievers? I would love to hear what the vibe there is really like.
Collaborative is not a word I associate with a selective college, whether it be HYPS or M. For example, this from Harvard’s plagiarism Policy: http://isites.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k70847&pageid=icb.page355322
Yale is much the same way: http://yaledailynews.com/blog/2012/09/11/blurring-cheating-and-collaboration/
That’s not to say that either Yale or Harvard is cutthroat, it’s just that that unless otherwise specified in a syllabus, collaboration on academic work is not allowed.
There is probably more collaboration on problem sets than other work, but there isn’t any blurring of whose work is whose. Among DS’s friends, study guides seem to be shared freely.
If I’m being honest, DS’s view on this topic became less rosy over the span of his freshman year. Definitely not cutthroat, but he came to feel that a subtle “measuring” was frequently taking place. On balance, it is still more collaborative than competitive.
I agree w/IxnayBob. Granted, I’m several decades from being an undergrad but “cutthroat” was never anything I experienced. People all wanted to do well but were generally very supportive of each other. I do recall the frenzy surrounding the first mid-terms in Chem 115 (when I was a still a Chem Eng major, surrounded by tons of wannabe pre-meds) during my freshman first semester. There was tons of pressure felt by my classmates – but that was due to the coursework, not one another. Overall, it’s quite chill. But also chill in an authentic way. People moaned about heavy courseloads and people definitely pushed themselves. But I’ve also witnessed students at other top schools where the campus culture frowned upon appearing stressed. So everyone faked looking relaxed all the time – when that was simply an impossibility and just a facade. I found Yalies to have the right balance.
I would hazard a guess that these aren’t actual Yale undergrads or alumni.
I spoke with my son, and he reports that competition varies by activity or major. He reports a sense of warm supportive collaboration. However, he is aware of more ‘conventional’ competition in other majors.
I agree that it depends on major. On another thread it was mentioned that students were aware of other students’ GPAs or class grades. My D has not seen that at all. When I asked how her roommate did in the class they shared, she had no idea, and said no one talks about it. D is a music major and her roommate was undecided at the time.
We’re on the same page @T26E4 - it has been a few decades since we have been there! To the OP, I agree with both T@6E4 and IxnayBob, competition lies generally within the student and their desire to excel. Some majors definitely attract more Type A students, but I would not say competitive in the traditional sense. Everyone is more competing with themselves. Yale of the last 70’s, early 80"s was very laid back. Listening to my child over the summer versus some of her friends who went to other Ivies, her experience was definitely more chilled. There may not be much of a difference in the classroom, but Yale is definitely more collaborative and laid back outside of the classroom which does have an affect on how students interact overall. The residential college system, Old Campus, freshmen move in, Camp Yale, intramurals and all the other things unique to Yale bond the student body in a unique way which makes it more difficult to want to “cut their throat” in class. I don’t know if my point is getting across or not. But I tried. 
@Tperry1982 do you know which majors would be the more competitive ones you mentioned? Thank you for your feedback
@ffina23 - I think my point was not clear and I apologize. I don’t think that any major is more competitive, just that some require more time commitment than others. STEM leaning students and pre-med students who must take the required courses for med school (no matter their major) always seem to be inundated with work. My D, who is an Intensive Literature Major, is also inundated, but in a different way. Students compete with themselves, or more honestly, with the kid they were in high school. When they don’t measure up to that perfect student, some have difficulties and begin to doubt themselves.
What you won’t hear from in Yale College is students out to sabotage others work. Now that is the stereotypical competitiveness you may experience at other schools. That is definitely not a Yale thing.
My son was a Physics major and I think he worked with his classmates (and the TA) on just about every problem set he did. And nobody, from what he says, ever discussed grades - just wasn’t done. Not sure if competitiveness is the right word - more a desire to excel - not at anyone’s else’s expense, just because that’s what you do. Does that make sense to you, OP?
scoutsmom’s son makes a good point. I NEVER knew the SAT or GPA of a single other student all the four years I was at Yale. Frankly, it was trivial in comparison to the opportunities we were being afforded.
D1 agrees with scoutsmom: people are not trampling each other to be number one – they are trampling themselves. It’s competitive because everyone wants to do well, but it’s not in a cut-throat way. D1 has participated in study groups and worked together with others on problem sets. She’s a humanities major but has friends in the sciences, and has heard no complaints from them (in marked contrast to rumblings that I heard in my undergrad days when a premed friend had trouble getting notes for an organic chemistry class that she had missed).
I also think the degree of competitiveness varies my major–I don’t think it’s much in humanities majors.
My kids’ experience has been that most of the pressure comes not from classes, but from the idea that everybody else is doing more extracurricular activities than you are.
I just graduated with a STEM major. In my experience, there’s nothing that resembles cut-throat competition at Yale. Maybe in some specific pockets of the community, but for the most part, I would say that there’s a lot of comparison that goes on internally (i.e. you’ll probably compare yourself to the amazing people around you, mainly focusing on extracurriculars/research/awards), and you might feel pressure from that. None of it is explicit or verbalized, though. At most, friends who are taking the same classes might try to beat each other’s exam scores, but it’s all in good fun and not actually a serious competition. For the most part, Yale has a very collaborative atmosphere.