<p>What we all knew anyhow, right?</p>
<p>If this is really based only on retention of freshmen, it’s a pretty silly list.</p>
<p>No, i think this might actually have some weight to it. I think Yale has some of the happiest graduates period! I know/have met 5+ Yale graduates, one of them being one of my teachers, and they are some of the most cheerful people i have met. I think it must be the residential colleges, its like High school football team pride…on a bigger scale.</p>
<p>Yes Hunt, silly is right. To equate retention with happiness is ridiculous.</p>
<p>Don’t get me wrong–I think students at Yale are quite happy–but you can’t measure this by whether they transfer or drop out.</p>
<p>Sure, most students at the high retention schools (HYPS, Caltech, etc.) are probably happy. But are they happier than the kids at ASU, U of Hawaii, or BYU? I doubt it.</p>
<p>Yeah, one can’t help but wonder if it’s more a matter of “Whew, I got into one of these great schools. I’d be a knucklehead to transfer to a less prestigous school (and transferring to another HYPS quality school is very hard)”</p>
<p>Yale is a fun place. My '07 grad wistfully remembers how quickly it all went and wishes she could do it all again. It’s a bit of a bubble, though, so that might explain the bliss.</p>
<p>Oh whoops, i didn’t notice that they based it all on retention rate. Yeah i don’t know if retention rate really means happiness, but i do think that for Yale to have a higher retention rate than Princeton or Harvard tells a lot about Yale as a school. Maybe it is because they are happier…who knows!</p>
<p>My Yale student is really, really happy to be there. Super happy. Deliriously happy. Almost weirdly happy.</p>
<p>My Yale sophomore is also really really happy. Not because it is a top ranked school but because it is a really good place for her to be.</p>
<p>Ok, everyone knew I was going to pipe in at some point. You are right, retention rate does not necessarily equate to happiness. But, Yale students and graduates are on the whole a happy happy bunch. My D just came home from her first semester and loved it. Said that if there wasn’t that pesky thing called schoolwork to interfere with her time, she would be in total heaven (wink, wink).</p>
<p>Other freshmen I know feel the same. In full disclosure, she does know a couple of freshmen who are not happy and are thinking about transferring (hence the less than 100% retention rate). I am a firm believer in “fit” and if a school is not right, the decision should be made sooner rather than later to move on. Yale cannot be a fit for everyone. Those who find that it is not should find somewhere that meets their needs. </p>
<p>I have also talked to her friends at some other top colleges over the breaks. Yale students are, on the whole, quite unique in their love for their school. And while the others do love where they are - Yale’s unique attributes - i.e. the residential college system, the dining halls - put them into a class of their own.</p>
<p>And, before anyone spends too much time trying to respond, I will say up front that we can agree to disagree but as a Yale alum, you will never change my mind.</p>
<p>My DS response to the news was: “of course.” On the ride home, he was sad that he was 1/8 finished at Yale, but brightened up when he realized that he should count internships also, and decided that he was no more than 1/10 done.</p>
<p>Good enough for me. </p>
<p>One metric I like is on the StudentsReview site: the percentage of students (former and current) who would choose to return to that school. For Yale, 87.5% would return–a very high satisfaction rate. This isn’t a random sample of students, but I still think this particular metric is worth paying attention to. Here’s the link to Yale’s page there–you can look up other schools and compare:</p>
<p><a href=“Yale University (StudentsReview) - College Reviews Summary, Student Opinion, Tuition, Application, Sports”>Yale University (StudentsReview) - College Reviews Summary, Student Opinion, Tuition, Application, Sports;
<p>Whoops–I guess citing an external site isn’t allowed. Sorry about that. But if you search for reviews of colleges, you should find it.</p>
<p>Another ranking:</p>
<p><a href=“The Alumni Factor: A Revolution in College Rankings (2013-2014 Edition) - The Alumni Factor - Google Books”>The Alumni Factor: A Revolution in College Rankings (2013-2014 Edition) - The Alumni Factor - Google Books;
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<p>I’m less certain about this ranking than I was, but it remains better than the other options. Based on surveys of about 200 Yale alumni.</p>
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<p>On studentsreview (which is drivel), 87.5% of Yalies would return, higher than all other schools I’ve seen except for Brown.</p>
<p>On Niche, 90%: behind Carleton, Stanford, Sewanee, Brown.</p>
<p>When DD visited H for the Yale-Harvard game, she said that the students there don’t seem to be as happy. They offered tons of complaints about everything! The vibe was different in Cambridge. DD equates Yale to “pure heaven”, so I guess she is pretty darned happy. And she is literally counting the days until she can return! </p>
<p>I know for a fact that Yale alumni are a happy bunch. Reunions are well attended and we keep in touch via various alumni activities both in New Haven and our own cities. I am sure alumni of other schools are just as happy, but I know people from other schools that have little, if anything, to do with their colleges once they leave.</p>
<p>My son has decided he loves Yale enough to stay after graduation - he has accepted a position at Yale (which, not surprisingly, shows up on “best places to work” lists as well). </p>
<p>The ratings from The Alumni Factor (link in post #15) are pretty interesting. Now those are from alumni surveys and some of those folks went to their college a while back when things could have been different. Still, Yale ranks #1 among national universities in alumni ratings of their college experience (including #1 in social development, one of the criteria in college experience) and #2 in overall assessment by alumni (including #1 in would personally choose again). So those results are consistent with a high level of satisfaction on campus.</p>