I would like my child to participate in the Sr ring ceremony but would have to stretch to pay for the ring in time for the fall event. Does anyone know whether this is actually a cherished and well attended event at Yale? Guess I’m trying to decide whether so many participate that he will feel left out. We’ve never been able to attend a parents weekend or see his events but would love to give him this Yale experience, especially if it is a key one. Thank you.
I graduated and never even heard of it until many years later here on CC. Maybe parents of more recent grads can chime in. I got a signet ring but simply ordered it myself. There was no ceremony.
Neither my son nor his suitemates had any interest in class rings. But I got the impression that the “ceremony” was a sales/marketing event put on by the ring company rather than an actual Yale event. Rings can be ordered any time. I wouldn’t worry that you are missing anything super special if you or your son pass on the ring event; you and your student will experience lots of wonderful pomp and circumstances over graduation weekend.
I think it’s a sales/marketing thing but my son loves his senior ring, wears it proudly, and thoroughly enjoyed the ceremony. It meant a lot to him even though others may think it was a waste, it wasn’t to him and his father and I were very proud watching him take part in it.
** Not Yale but still a ring ceremony.
FWIW: My son, nor any of his roommates, suitemates, or classmates in Saybrook purchased a ring – that’s about half of the seniors at Saybrook! Me thinks it’s all a marketing ploy from the ring company to take your hard earned money upon graduation!
I am not aware of a single friend from Yale purchasing a class ring, although I do remember being solicited to buy one. No one in my suite of 7 seniors did, none of my other close friends did, and my wife certainly didn’t, or any of her friends. (For context, “my friends” and “my wife’s friends” were almost mutually exclusive categories back then. We weren’t part of the same social set at all. One of my suitemates had a girlfriend who was friendly with her, and I introduced another woman I liked to her when that woman wanted to move off campus and there was space in the house where my [future] wife lived. That was it.) If there was some kind of ring ceremony back then, it was not something more than an handful of people cared about.
I bought a ring, and bought one for both of my kids, and we like having them. However, my daughter, who just graduated, never even heard of a ring ceremony. It is certainly not a long Yale tradition, or a tradition at all, as far as I know. You can buy a ring at the Yale bookstore (really a Barnes and Noble), but you can also buy a ring at Campus Custom down the street. Nobody will ever care which one you buy–get the one you like best, or the one that has the best price.
Thanks everyone. This really helped.
I bought a ring when I graduated in 1982, I am not sure my D will want one when she graduates in 18. She’s not one to like a lot of jewelry.
My daughter wants one and chosen not to get one from high school because she wants one from college instead. She said that its something kids do when they declare a major. She had not heard of any ceremony though.
It’s a nice memento. I think I got my first one late in my Junior year. Subsequently, I’ve had it and its replacement nicked however 
I have a 2nd replacement but now rarely wear it. Still nice to have.