Life at Yale

<p>OK, I'm glad. I was kind of freaked out.</p>

<p>Hmmm, no movie theatre is too bad! (I am glad no wal mart, etc)</p>

<p>Do student groups have good venues to show movies on-campus? Not a big thing at all, just wondering since we're on the topic of movies.</p>

<p>Does anyone know what the sorority scene at Yale is like? I heard only 8% of Yale students participate in the Greek life, so it doesn't seem very prevalent but I could be totally wrong. Is it considered "bad" to rush, or do sororities actually have a presence on campus? And what kind of people rush? </p>

<p>As for parties--do the majority party a lot? I know someone mentioned 5 nights a week--are they like raging parties or smaller house party type things? My friend's cousin is a Yale football player, and he's constantly partying, but he's the only Yale person I've met who parties at all, which is a little off-putting in some ways. </p>

<p>Also, not to be shallow, but I saw some of the profile pictures of Yale people on facebook, and, sorry...this is sooo mean...people don't seem to be as attractive as at, say Cornell or UPenn. I don't know, maybe it was coincidental that I got a less-than-perfect impression of peoples' general appearance or the amount they care about looks and such, but I don't know. I'm hoping someone can confirm that there are quite a few cute Yalies. </p>

<p>Sorry for the numerous and stupid questions...I hope they didn't come off as mean or rude. I know I'm totally jumping the gun here, but the social aspect of Yale was the only thing that I was slightly less enamored with from the very superficial impression I got. Thanks</p>

<p>haha Koena, I can't say from firsthand experience.. but just from a common sense aspect, I'm SURE that Yale has many good-looking people! How many Facebook profiles did u look at anyway?</p>

<p>Well I searched all the Sarahs and Mikes (lol), and quickly glanced at the first 25 or so pics. I'm slightly pathetic...</p>

<p>There is a big movie theatre two blocks from old campus on Temple St - the Criterion theatre. It's literally a five minute walk from where the freshmen live. It's a really cool theatre, although matinees are only the first showing and the tickets cost $9.75 apiece thereafter (still a bargain compared to NY prices.) There's also a student discount of some sort, but I always forget to ask! The theatre has does fun midnight showings of classic movies... I've seen a couple of Kubricks and Blazing Saddles there. They do mimosa showings, which are showings of classics with, you guessed, mimosas. They also do Sunday brunch movies. Lots of quirky stuff actually - good theatre.</p>

<p>Last weekend, Yale subsidized one of the Borat opening day showings so that tickets only cost $3. I imagine this happens for many important releases (or at least important from the perspective of the students... I doubt Borat qualifies as earth-shattering cinema).</p>

<p>The Yale Medical School has a great film society that shows wonderful screenings weekly. Individual res colleges screen popular movies, too, usually for free. Last week was that Talladega one with Will Ferrell, I think, nothing that I was inclined to go to.</p>

<p>Yale also has its own cinema, called Cinema at the Whitney (as it is in the Whitney Humanities Center.) Regularly, the Yale Film Society brings in advance screenings with guest speakers/directors/producers to discuss their films. Very often these are Yale alumni, as Yale has an unbelievable presence in Hollywood.</p>

<p>For instance, just this week, here's what's going up in the Cinema at the Whitney:</p>

<p>Vertigo on 35mm (Hitchcock)
Jeanne Dielman on 35mm (imp't feministic work)
Carrie (De Palma's version)
Weekend (Jean-Luc Godard)
Barry Lyndon on 35mm (this movie should never be seen on anything but 35mm!)
Tobo Sobre Mi Madre (Almodovar)</p>

<p>...so, essentially, some of the most important works by the most important directors show in original formats. Just this week. Anyone who has trouble finding movie events at Yale is simply not trying.</p>

<p>As to the other points: Yale works on the same gradient vis-a-vis attractiveness as society at large: some people are good looking. Some are average. Some are ugly. Whoda thunk?</p>

<p>Greek life - big enough but not overwhelming. I don't know the actual %, but it's certainly not just 8%. My best guess is at 15%, or maybe more.</p>

<p>hahaha, josh? maybe if we stopped doing crazy things like chilling on cc at 1, we'd actually get work done :)
sorry guys - i live like, down the hall from apfreak, and i just found this out.
anyway - about greek life:
Frat life i definitely more prevalent than sorority life, but I think the demand fills the supply. I don't know anyone who wants to be in a fraternity/sorority but isn't in one. A really good friend of mine's in a sorority (and I was going to be in it but decided not to), and she loves it. I don't think anyone really makes judgements about people who choose to go greek, which is really nice. It's really just seen as another activity.
In terms of partying, I'd say there's definitely a high degree of partying at Yale. There's definitely a bunch of choices on any given weekend night, and a lot of times even weekdays (halloween, first day of the term, election night - yeah, that's how we roll at yale). So, the party scene's definitely vibrant. On any given weekend, a couple of frats are usually throwing parties, if that's your scene. There's also a lot of room parties and usually some dances going on (which is more my thing), and shows going on pretty much every night. What I think is great though, is that if you don't want to party, there's definitely not pressure to (two of my suitemates aren't big partiers, but they still have great social lives). There's a bunch to do besides go to parties, and there's not really a division between the "frat boys" and the hermits - it's all pretty well mixed. In our hall, everyone's REALLY tight, and we're a pretty good blend of personalities.
In terms of looks, I'd say there's definitely some good looking people at Yale. You might have found more hotties at Penn and Cornell because they're bigger student bodies over all.
...I can't believe I just analyzed that.
Anyway, Yale is definitely amazed. I had some great choices after April 1 last year, and I'll definitely admit that over the summer I had my doubts about whether or not I made the right choice, but I know I definitely did. It's AMAZING. just. wow.</p>

<p>

I can confirm that if I get accepted to Yale, then there will be at least one attractive Yalie on campus next year.;)</p>

<p>LOOOL</p>

<p>Well, I look forward to seeing you there then EAD ;)</p>

<p>Thank you guys so much for the descriptions of the Yale social life. You basically dispelled every single one of my fears about that type of thing. It's good to know that Yalies can be normal college kids in addition to brilliant all-around amazing people :)</p>

<p>As SimiGenu pointed out, there is a major movie theatre cineplex just a block from the Yale campus. It is one of the best movie theaters in the Northeast, and has seven large screens that show movies from 11am to past midnight. In addition to screening the big releases plus international or "art" films you can't find anywhere else except New York City and Los Angeles, the place goes so far as to rent the original prints, from the movie archives in L.A., when it screens older movies, which is somewhat unbelievable.</p>

<p>Since it is run by a smaller "luxury" movie theatre owner (which has a branch in Aspen, Colorado), the seats are much more comfortable than your average chain movie theatre, and the place also serves better food, even including beer, wine, and mimosas. See <a href="http://www.criterioncinemas.com/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.criterioncinemas.com/&lt;/a>. On weekends, ticket lines sometimes stretch down the street, and the 50 or so luxury apartments above it have rents starting at $1,600 per month.</p>

<p>As the poster also pointed out, beyond this place, you also have other movie theaters, several Yale film societies, and the like. It is one of the best campuses in the country to see film, if not the best. The University has massive funding in place to bring in producers, actors and directors during film screenings, subsidize them, and even occasionally show releases before they come out in any theater. If that's not enough, New Haven has one of the best live theater scenes in the country, with two Tony winning private repertory theaters (more than any other city except Chicago) that transfer at least one of their productions on to New York City each year. In this regard, New Haven is a significantly better city for cutting-edge live theater than any other city in the country except Chicago or New York City (although the reason for that, historically speaking, is because New Haven is so close to Manhattan). Then there are several others, to say nothing of the productions of the Yale Drama School or the undergraduate theater program. </p>

<p>Combining film and theater, there are probably about 40 different films and live theater productions on an average weekend - so many that the average student won't even know about a quarter of them.</p>

<p>posterx, who ARE you? you sell yale like crazy, but to be honest (and I say that as a student who LOVES it here), sometimes it's disengenious.</p>

<p>but, by the way, he's right, there's definitely a bunch of great films/shows on any given weekend. it's a little ridiculous.</p>

<p>i also just have to tell a story about tonight, because i'm still going crazy about it. every week, the YPU (yale political union) brings in a guest speaker to keynote on the debate resolution for the week. we've had william f. buckley and al sharpton in the past month or so. tonight, we have Supreme Court Justice Scalia (I know, it's ridiculous, I can't believe I was in the same room as a supreme court justice - who, by the way, was an AMAZING speaker even though I don't really align myself with his beliefs). One of the student debaters who was negative on the resoultion (he was aff) got up to give her speech, which was actually really great, and then the speaker opened up the floor for questions. and scalia actually asked a question. seriously, could you imagine being a junior in college who's going to apply to law school in a debate about con law with an actual supreme court justices. most lawyers dont even do that.
it like shakes me just thinking about it.</p>

<p>yale's just ridiculous like that.</p>

<p>Very cool guys, thanks for clarifying the movie-business there. I thought something was a bit amiss if new haven didn't have a theatre so close to so large a market. </p>

<p>And posterx, you're pretty much just scary. ; ) As someone interested in and excited about Yale myself, I appreciate the cheerleading, but the excessive enthusiasm brings into question the veracity of your statements... kinda undermines the whole promotion point sometimes. Still, you're very well informed and your contributions are very frequently quite valuable! So again, thanks.</p>

<p>I'm not really exaggerating. I've lived in major cities all over the U.S. (and in Europe and Asia), and worked in more than a couple of high-profile industries, so would say that I have a relatively well-developed taste for and knowledge of culture, food, etc. I have also visited hundreds of college campuses. I am simply presenting the basic facts to counter some of the misinformation out there.</p>

<p>Right, right. I'm just saying that if you temper your facts it might make the yale-is-super-awesome medicine go down a little easier and fewer people would think of you as a pseudo-troll. It's just hard for many people to understand why someone would (for no obvious reason, out of context) be promoting Yale so much and therefore some are suspicious towards your remarks. Which is again too bad since they are so often so very helpful.</p>

<p>You're probably right; I'm just speaking as an impartial observer, though, and encourage people here to take that perspective when they visit as well.</p>

<p>I for one like your enthusiasm; it really makes me excited about Yale to read your posts. You really seem to know everything there is to know, and it's definitely helpful. So thanks! </p>

<p>Has anyone taken advantage of the study abroad initiative? My interviewer didn't seem to think it was worth it, which was a bit surprising to me, so I wanted to get someone else's perspective.</p>

<p>When I went to the multicultural open house everyone was really excited about abroad initiatives and just gushed about how awesome they were. They might have been finely groomed for the task of selling Yale, but I was convinced of their enthusiasm.</p>

<p>Study abroad is available just about everywhere, it doesn't really attract me to Yale specifically...students at every college are excited about the abroad initiatives</p>

<p>A few things requiring further clarification:</p>

<p>1). The Toad's scene is not as far as apfreak as stated, but it still does not impact campus life.</p>

<p>2). The Borat screening was a one-time event because of its particular appeal to the college audience. I don't believe that there are any plans to expand this to other movies.</p>

<p>3). Many residential college student activities committees host their own movie nights. Stiles, right now, is having movie night every Thursday night.</p>

<p>4). There have also been other speakers such as Thomas Friedman, Hans Blix, and Mohammed El-Baredei so far.</p>

<p>Can anyone tell me how film studies is at yale in terms of both theory/criticism and production?</p>

<p>thanks</p>