<p>I have been admitted to Yale, and I am now wondering what I can do to prepare for it. I am warned by many people that it will be difficult to survive and that many students have a hard time adapting to the rigorous work. Personally, I feel like my study habits, with procrastination and what not, do not help me. Is it wrong for me to be so worried?</p>
<p>Nothing. The people who are warning you know little, to be blunt.</p>
<p>Enjoy your last few months as a HS student. Crank out your grades. Leave HS with no regrets. Have fun. Show gratitude to your parents. </p>
<p>You’ll be fine once at Yale. Congrats on your QB admit. You were one of only 21 people on the planet to be chosen. Yale (who will read 30K applications this year) believes you’re absolutely stupendous. Please read my advice to another student on this thread: </p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/columbia-university/1586196-ivy-league-fear.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/columbia-university/1586196-ivy-league-fear.html</a></p>
<p>And please: don’t go to that SAT sitting. What a time waster. You’re better off sitting at home baking some cookies for yourself.</p>
<p>BTW: I was fortunate enough to interview one of your fellow QB admitees. He is ecstatic about being accepted. Yale, Class of '18. Get used to that phrase!</p>
<p>I guess this means that you were a Matched QuestBridge Finalist… so First of All - Congratulations! </p>
<p>I am a parent of a Yale SCEA applicant. I myself attended Johns Hopkins University, which was also a challenging academic environment. Having been accepted to Yale, you clearly have the skill set to not only survive, but also to prevail there. The key to making the transition to college, in my opinion, is balancing out the multitude of new distractions and figuring out a time management system that works for you and also prioritizes the actual school work. </p>
<p>College is different from HS in the sense that there are often breaks between classes and a lot more down-time than HS students might think would be the case. The challenge is to simply use your time wisely and to not allow yourself to get behind. Most students willing to dedicate 1-3 hours each day to the schoolwork necessary outside of the classroom will have no problem doing as well in college as they did in HS. Those that have issues are the ones who get caught up in all of the other distractions that college offers, allowing themselves to get behind. It is hard to catch-up once that happens. So… have fun, but keep all of those EC activities in balance. Also keep your social life in balance. Make school a priority, and the talent you clearly already possess will be more than sufficient. </p>
<p>Good Luck at Yale… :)</p>
<p>Congratulations bethelka!</p>
<p>From a parent perspective I do believe that Yale is one of the most supportive schools you could have chosen. Although Yale is not particularly small, the level of support and effort made by administrators and staff to ensure each and every student’s success is remarkable. One example, which we experienced, is that when you move, in your college dean will recognize you and know you by name - yes, they memorize your ID picture and study your personal information. In addition the Dean will have grouped you in your suite with your particulars in mind - it is not random. As long as you have an open mind and take advantage of the support that is available you will do just fine. In addition, Questbridge has a built-in mentoring system that you can rely on.</p>
<p>Enjoy the rest of year school year and have a great summer and don’t worry!</p>
<p>Thank you everyone! I was wondering how you knew that I was accepted through Questbridge until I realized that QB applicants are admitted to Yale earlier than others. :)</p>
<p>bethelka: Yes… your freshman class will grow by 600-700 on Monday at 5pm EST (12/16).</p>
<p>T26E4, I read your link, and it gave me some measure of relief. Is there any way I can prepare myself becoming a “minnow”? I think I disappoint myself too easily when I am not the best in class…</p>
<p>You will be surrounded by students who had once been the best in the class. They adapt. Congratulations; I hope my son becomes a classmate.</p>
<p>"I think I disappoint myself too easily when I am not the best in class… "</p>
<p>LOL: you have unrealistic expectations then! Humility is something that everyone quickly adopts. It’s likely that you won’t be the best in most scenarios. That goofball at the breakfast table? She’s probably AMAZING at something. Your nervous roomie from Montana? Same thing. That person who speaks knowingly about Spanish art? He’s not showing off – it’s really his passion. The pressure to be the best is off. Isn’t that a great thing? To be among people who are sparkling? Isn’t that why you want to be at Yale? Certainly not so fawning groupies can bow to your greatness.</p>
<p>Don’t worry about being a minnow. You’re there to learn, share YOUR amazing abilities/experiences with others, and draw theirs from them.</p>
<p>read a lot of books and just have fun with the rest of your senior year. there’s nothing else you need to do. everyone is smart here yes but everyone is also human. you’ll be fine.</p>
<p>Chose a balanced course load until you have a chance to test the waters. Maybe find some gut classes to mix in. Read this oft cited hilarious post to make yourself feel better (note these change, don’t rely)
[What</a> Are The Gut Classes At Yale?](<a href=“http://gawker.com/297435/what-are-the-gut-classes-at-yale]What”>What Are The Gut Classes At Yale?)</p>
<p>@ Brownparent: funny article!</p>
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<p>My Senior year, there was a visiting lecturer from Canada to the PoliSci dept. His course: “Politics and Goverment of Canada” I swear, the entire Hockey team was there – basically a 7th grade civics course for them. It started with about 10 people, by the next week 70. Absolute truth!</p>
<p>@BrownParent - Thanks for my morning chuckle! </p>
<p>Quote: “Don’t worry about being a minnow. You’re there to learn, share YOUR amazing abilities/experiences with others, and draw theirs from them.”</p>
<p>^^ Those are my son’s sentiments exactly. He said that you meet all these incredibly nice, down-to-earth people and then you have a class with them and realize how brilliant they are. My son was chatting with someone from his RC about playing the piano and auditioning for piano lessons and this student just told him her audition repetoire. He later found out that the student was the youngest American ever to win an International Piano Competition. His roommate is an academic whiz kid. He delights in all their debates even though he doesn’t feel as if he has had the honor of winning one yet. 
I know this sounds fairly ‘pollyannaish’, but if you view your college education as a journey versus a competition, you will get so much more out of the entire experience.</p>
<p>Quote: “Chose a balanced course load until you have a chance to test the waters. Maybe find some gut classes to mix in.”</p>
<p>^^This may be the way to go. Or, just decide that your goal is to take challenging and interesting classes and possibly not get all A’s your first semester. My son is probably going to get his first ‘B’ ever (gasp :D). He chose to take all difficult classes his first semester and the road was a little bumpy at the beginnning of the semester between auditioning,shopping for classes and adjusting to life at university. There is no regret on his part about taking more challenging classes as he has enjoyed all of them. </p>
<p>I don’t think there is any wrong path. If you are doubtful already, it may be easier to ease the transition by taking one class that you know that you can ace. I will echo everyone else in stating that you were accepted and you belong. Sit back, relax and enjoy your last semester. It truly does fly by!</p>
<p>Welcome to the Yale community Bethelka! Now that you’re a member, I’ll let you in on a dirty secret - the hardest thing about Yale is getting in. You’ll have no problems - relax and get psyched for the next four transformative years. </p>
<p>T26E4: Endowed professorship at Yale from the Government of Canada was a bicentennial gift to the US intended to promote greater understanding between our two countries - I also remember it being packed with Canadian hockey players!</p>
<p>Congratulations, bethelka! Mom of a junior QB admit chiming in to agree that Yale provides the support and opportunities for everyone to be successful. You should have been contacted by a current QB student by now; share your concerns with him/her and I’m sure he/she can give you lots of helpful information. </p>
<p>You’ve no doubt overcome a lot in your life to be given this opportunity and you can do this - good luck!</p>