<p>I'm trying to make my final college decision, and Yale is one of my biggest considerations. However, I have some questions.</p>
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<li><p>How difficult is it to get research opportunities in the sciences(chemistry/biology/biochemistry)? Is it possible to start researching freshman year?</p></li>
<li><p>How good/thorough are the sciences at Yale? It is possible to minor in a science at Yale and still get into a med school?</p></li>
<li><p>How is arabic at yale? Can anybody speak as to the study abroad programs in the middle east/north africa?</p></li>
<li><p>Does Yale help you to get internships/research opportunities during the summer (and potentially make some money?</p></li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li><p>No problem starting research Freshman year. In fact many faculty will welcome someone who can put in a multi-year committment.</p></li>
<li><p>There are no “minors” at Yale although you can certainly meet minimal pre-med requirements and major in anything else you like.</p></li>
<li><p>There is institutional support logistically and financially to find summer research or internships but they won’t fall in your lap. You will need to seek these out during your Fall semester since many have application deadlines earlier than you might suspect. If you wait until Spring break to worry about your summer plans, you will miss some good opportunities.</p></li>
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<p>Well you can’t minor in science or any other subject at Yale as they don’t have minors. Your only option is to double major. As far as research opportunities go, you can definitely find something freshman year (at least in the summer). My son found a summer position through his advisor that pays a stipend each week he is involved. He is a bio major.</p>
<p>If you’re interested in research in science you should look into applying for PSE (Perspectives in Science and Engineering). They guarantee you $$ for summer research after Freshman year (but you do still need to search out a mentor on your own). It’s a year-long half credit course where you read and discuss current research in a variety of areas. My frosh daughter is doing it. My understanding is that, in general, there is quite a lot of money floating around for summer research, but you do need to be proactive. My daughter got a lot of “no’s” and “no answers” before finding her mentor, but maybe she started a bit late.</p>
<p>One thing I’ve heard about Yale quit a bit that I’m worried about is that its “no good in the sciences” and that students who are interested in the sciences are better off going to other schools. I don’t know how true this is, but perhaps someone who is currently a science student at yale can speak about this?</p>
<p>And does anyone know anything about Arabic at yale?</p>
<p>I would say it depends on the science. For Biology, they are one of the top UG’s and have some great professors. My son is a MCDB major (pre-med) and there is a wealth of bio courses to choose from. Don’t know about Arabic but my son plans on taking a semester or two himself either Junior or Senior year.</p>
<p>It is nonsense that Yale is no good in the sciences. Just within MB&B you have Joan Steitz who actively teaches undergraduates and made seminal discoveries on how the ribosome interacts with mRNA. Her husband Tom just won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry a couple of years back. I see that Yale recently posted a video on-line course in Freshman Organic Chemistry by Professor McBride who taught my Freshman Organic class so long ago as to now make me a Yale parent. These are well known full professors teaching and these courses are not being delegated to junior faculty.</p>
<p>I wish you could visit and then this question wouldn’t even enter your mind. The friendliness of the students was the main reason that drew me when I was a visiting Senior. In Feb of that year, I was visiting the East Coast schools I had applied to and overnighted at Yale. The freshmen there didn’t know me from Adam but invariably, they were genuinely excited that I had applied (I could have been a zero-chancer) and expressed sincere hopes that I would get in. There was no aloofness or diffidence. They were loving their time there and hoped I could partake. No other campus I visited was so ebullient in this manner. On the train ride back to NYC, I recall firmly placing Yale as my first choice.</p>
<p>Never regretted that decision.</p>
<p>BTW: at Yale, many pre-meds had extremely interesting areas of study (such as your Bio and Arabic desire). Sure there were the science major premeds but there were also super musicians, a starting Football lineman, actors and history majors that I knew who went on to become MDs.</p>
<p>One recommendation I would make if you do matriculate is to consider signing up for FOOT (Freshman Outdoor Orientation Trip). My son loved it and formed some great friendships prior to starting classes. FYI, two other great Biology professors are Thomas Pollard and Stephen Stearns although I heard Stearns mighy not be teaching Principles of Evolution, Ecology and Behavior after this term.</p>
<p>My roommate is taking Arabic and it seems to be going okay, but I’ve heard the professors in the department vary in quality - some good, some bad. At any rate, the language is increasingly a popular choice here, and there is a weekly “Arabic table” at lunch. I wouldn’t consider the Arabic dept. to necessarily be a draw, but it also shouldn’t scare you away if you like everything else about Yale. Also, Yale definitely has study-abroad options for the Middle East, including some fellowships specifically designated for work in that region. </p>
<p>Also, I am a bio major and my roommate is a chem major, and both of us can attest to the fact that bio/chem/biochem are very strong at Yale. Definitely no problem finding interesting research opportunities (including funded ones) if you seek them out.</p>
<p>Since OP said (s)he in interested in being a premed and has a question about “how strong the science is at Yale”:</p>
<p>If a student is good enough among the pool of premed students at Yale, he or she is good enough to get into a top med school. (DS was a living example for this.)</p>
<p>BTW, DS was in PSE (it was called Perspective on Sciences back then.) He had a paid research job in the summer between freshman and sophomore. (Guess what, he voluntarily gave up this opportunity right before that summer as he was not sure whether he would be committed to sciences in freshman year. But he came back to do science research in later years.)</p>
<p>livorneo, how easy is it for people to switch majors? I’m not sure how committed I will be to the sciences if I choose to attend Yale because I know its other offerings in the humanities are amazing.</p>
<p>Well you don’t have to declare a major until sophomore year at the earliest so it’s a moot point. Also, one of my son’s favorite parts of Yale is “bluebooking” so you can shop multiple classes and decide on what you want to take each semester.</p>
<p>One other note, for pre-med you will require about 12 credits to complete prereq’s (14 if you want to take a year of calc or semester of calc and semester of stats). Thar leaves 22-24 credits to fulfill any major outside of science and obviously much less with a major in science as there will be some overlap.</p>
you cleared up a lot of my concerns. I’m trying to visit for bulldog days so i’ll see about visiting yale