I recently committed to Yale for the class of 2025 and I’m considering applying to the Directed Studies (DS) Program.
For context, I’m a prospective eng major but I’m not really set on any path yet. I really want to use my first two years at Yale to further explore my interests, and I expect that my major will change or that I’ll (maybe?) end up double majoring. I realize that the DS program consists of three (!) year-long courses and I’m concerned that this will limit my opportunities to branch out.
I’m also a bit off-put by the intensity of DS. I’ll be graduating from a boarding prep school (Peddie) that (I think) gave me strong foundations in seminar-style classes, philosophy, and the classics, but even then I don’t think I’ll be prepared to read the usual (according to a Reddit user) three books a week.
I’ve looked over the curriculum and I’m genuinely excited at the thought of getting to discuss philosophy and seminal texts with a small group of driven students. I took and really loved a similar class in high school that, while a lot less rigorous, touched on similar ideas. I love the humanities and I’ve never shied away from hard work but based on internet searches, this program seems impossible.
Honestly though, the intersection of ideas across subject areas is something that I’ve always been interested in, but is the class worth it?
My parents don’t really have experience in these kinds of college-related areas, so I appreciate any input/opinions! Thank you for your time. :))
My daughter did the DS program a few years ago and loved it. It is intense but it is coordinated. That means the assignments don’t come on top of each other-you have 3 classes but one paper is due every 3rd week in each class—the classes take turns
The opportunity to engage with top professors who love to engage with first year students is really special. Since you are interested in the topics I would not hesitate.
I would add that the “Directed Suicide” meme you may have seen is an exaggeration to say the least. The vast majority who start stay for the second semester. The few who didn’t left because they got interested in a different course of study
The kids who’ve taken DS, generally love DS. Small seminars with talented, motivated professors is the great college dream that often gets lost in a haze of very large intro level lecture classes where the professor is a tiny little figure down at the front of a huge hall, and the only personal interaction is with a TA.
Yes, it is definitely worth it.
That being said, it isn’t a great fit for kids who are leaning STEM and need to take a large number of classes in a major sequence to stay on plan or for those who want to use their first year to explore a wide range of subjects.
Hi, it’s not clear from the website whether student can take additional course besides the three courses from DS. Or DS workload will be too much for a student to take on any additional courses. Thanks.
