<p>I'm going to schedule an overnight stay at Yale in the beginning of October, and I was wondering what day of the week it would be best to schedule the visit. Going on October 1st and leaving October 2nd, a Monday, is good for me because I won't miss any school (we have Yom Kippur off) and my dad won't have to miss work. But the admissions officer I talked to said that I probably wouldn't get as much out of the visit as I would if I went on a Wednesday or Thursday, since there would be a wide range of social activities, etc. on those nights. Is everything just really slow on a Sunday night?</p>
<p>definitely thursday night. you'll get a much more accurate picture of social life at yale. monday nights at most schools are pretty dull</p>
<p>It all depends on how important the social life is to your overnight experience. If you are doing an overnight mainly for the parties, then go on Thursday. If you are more interested in exploring academics, then go on Monday.</p>
<p>How is the social life/party scene at yale?</p>
<p>From what I've seen, Yale has easily the best campus social scene of any of the top 20 universities. The streets are buzzing with students 24/7; every weekend, there are at least 50 free events right on the center of campus (about 10 or 20 theater productions, plus a bunch of free concerts, dance parties, operas, ballet and modern dance performances, cultural parties, special dinners, etc., sometimes these charge $2 or so). The "scene" is also very accessible and unlike other schools, it is not exclusive.</p>
<p>The main reason for the fact Yale has so much more social activity than its peers, from what I can gather, is that Yale is an exceptionally compact campus, as the entire undergraduate dormitory area is accessible within a 2-3 minute walk. Also many of the social spaces and community centers are actually physically located within the dormitories, which are set up as "residential colleges" -- a system totally unique to Yale despite the fact that a few other colleges (like Princeton) have recently changed a few of the names of their dormitories to that, in order to copy Yale. At other universities, such as Harvard or Cornell, things are much, much, much more spread out than that. So, basically students run into their friends, classmates, old roommates, friends of friends, etc., at random all day and all night long, whereever they go (and if they hear about something going on, it's usually across the street or something). </p>
<p>The other reason is that Yale, more specifically its residential colleges, indirectly sponsor (via some secret endowments that go towards junior or senior "suites") huge campus parties that everyone is invited to. So basically, nothing at Yale is exclusive. The exception being the secret societies, but unlike the private clubs at Harvard or Princeton, where exclusivity dominates the social scene and most freshmen - especially freshmen males - are excluded, participation in Yale's secret societies is completely limited to a tiny fraction of seniors, and they only hold events (basically dinner parties) on Thursday and Sunday nights. Also, the area around Yale is easily the best college town in the Ivy League. There are hundreds of restaurants and bars just within a two block radius, many open 24/7, because it's in the city center. So, the fact students generally aren't sucked far off campus (and in fact, the tens of thousands of college students from other local universities flock to the area) also adds to the sense of a "scene."</p>
<p>i was driving thru downtown new haven last night (saturday) at about 2am, and the streets were packed with students!</p>
<p>Sometimes on weekends, streets there have to be closed off because the sidewalks can't accommodate the number of pedestrians. That's what happens when you concentrate such a huge number of restaurants, bars, and nightclubs, plus theaters and massive movie cineplexes in a small area around a college campus. </p>
<p>It's interesting because a few years ago, it wasn't like that at all. Some of the streets were almost totally empty.</p>
<p>I'd go Thursday, if you can. See if you can use Yom Kippur to get ahead on your week's work, if you're not observing. Tons more stuff is going on on Thursdays, from room parties to Yale Political Union stuff to activist meetings to gosh knows what else.</p>
<p>The extracurriculars at Yale are great. I've got to hit the books now, but only so that I have time later to run out so I can stop by a lot of Yale Political Union stuff (something I want to get involved in). The Independent Party is debating "Yale Admissions Should Be an Intellectual Meritocracy," the Party of the Left is debating "The Left Needs Lamont," and the Conservative Party is debating "Principled Leaders Must Eschew Greatness."</p>
<p>And if you want to go to regular parties / frats, there are always those as well. Last weekend the Jewish fraternity hosted "Gin and Jews," another frat hosted another party simultaenously. Frat row is often packed with students. I'm not sure if it's my scene really - it's pretty grimy, to be honest - but if that's what you're up for, it's there for you. Then there are usually parties going on in some of the party suites, like the Saybrook 12-pack, the Branford God Quad, or Calhoun's Bookworld. And then of course there are organizational get togethers (the Yale Precision Marching Band held a toga party last weekend), private parties, and residential college social events. Last week my college held a s'mores barbecue in the courtyard so we freshman could meet our Big Sibs, and this weekend the college is renting popcorn machines and a 2 1/2 story inflatable movie screen so everyone in the college who feels like it can grab blankets and lay in the college courtyard and watch a movie together (the movie will either be The Princess Bride or the Big Lewbowski).</p>
<p>Oh gosh. Got to run. This homework isn't doing itself.</p>
<p>Best,
DMW</p>
<p>Wow, thanks for the replies - Yale is my first choice, and this just confirmed everything that I expect from Yale. I think I'll definitely be visiting on a Thursday.</p>