<p>We're doing a last-minute East Coast spring break college visit trip - it's a whirlwind trip for a bunch of reasons and our time on each campus is limited. So in visiting:</p>
<p>Yale
Brown
Vassar
University of Pittsburgh</p>
<p>...any advice on "must-sees" or any other commentary/comparisons would be greatly appreciated! </p>
<p>Our daughter is a senior, planning on majoring in cognitive/neuro-science or something similar, and won't know if she's in at Yale, Brown, or Vassar until we're on the trip. She's got great stats etc., etc. so hopefully she'll have the opportunity to choose from some of the schools above plus some others closer to home (Midwest).</p>
<p>I was there for six hours, and my car was broken into.</p>
<p>You are not going to like it.</p>
<p>If she goes to Yale, it will be because of the prestige/ranking of Yale, so in that sense, it is almost not worth visiting, in my opinion.</p>
<p>If she goes to Yale, she will be going despite what it looks like, not because of it.</p>
<p>So in that sense, a visit cannot really do that much good.</p>
<p>In my opinion, the only purpose of the visit is to see whether it is worth going to Yale even though you have to live in New Haven for four years.</p>
<p>"I was there for six hours, and my car was broken into. You are not going to like it " </p>
<p>florida: Are you a mind reader? It’s obvious that many people don’t share that thought. Why do you even lurk in the Yale forum? Your kid didn’t apply right? He’s waiting for other places, I believe. What connection do you have with the doggone place besides your vitriol? What advice can you give to people about Yale beyond your decidedly single, nasty encounter?</p>
<p>I feel bad for your broken car window. I really do. It would suck.</p>
<p>But this is about the 20th time you’ve replayed that record. Every time someone asks about visiting New Haven, out trots the old tune.</p>
<p>Yale and New Haven and its world is more than the sum of your broken window glass.</p>
<p>Yes floridadad, you really need to get over it. The area around New Haven is very nice, and my freshman daughter absolutely loves it. Hopefully you’ll have great weather for your visits. Yale is a beautiful campus, as are Brown and Vassar. Have a great time.</p>
<p>Will this be your first visit to Yale? A couple of weeks ago, we revisited in order to get a better feel for the campus and area. </p>
<p>We walked around the streets of New Haven adjoining Yale, stopped in some stores and had lunch. This area is clearly student-centered and not sketchy in the least. I know that getting farther away from campus things get grittier, but Yale life seems to be centered around campus.</p>
<p>We then walked around campus a little on our own, then retook the tour (not info session). I was glad we did, as this second tour guide touched on different things than the first one we had last year.</p>
<p>The revisit was very helpful. I suggest walking the nearby New Haven streets and campus on your own a little, as well as retaking the tour. Incidentally, there is plenty of secure parking in NH near the Green and Old Campus and our car was just fine. ; )</p>
<p>All it takes is a little common sense to not have your car broken into. I lived in one of the top 5 crime cities in America for over 40 years and never had my car broken into. If you are looking to save a few bucks on parking make sure you park in a high traffic, well lit area and don’t leave any valuables in plain sight (hint use trunk, glove box, under seat or take with you). Thieves are not going to take a chance on being seen when there are many other opportunities available. If you park on some secluded street you are asking for trouble. If I had to hazard a guess, I would say someone didn’t want to pay a few bucks to park in the myriad of parking structures on campus and there was probably a reason the spot they chose was available.</p>
<p>Jakeami,
Keep in mind that Bulldog Days is Apr 16-18. Will your daughter be able to go to Bulldog Days if she is accepted? I think Brown’s A Day on College Hill is around the same time. Don’t listen to Floridadad. The area around Yale is fine and has some nice shops, restaurants, etc. Try some of the local pizza places- Bar, Sally’s Pepe’s. Louis Hamburgers. You might want to see if there are any shows of interest at the Yale Rep, for example.</p>
<p>@floridadad55. You had a bad personal experience and it is totally unfair to generalize about the wonderful city where I live. One of the things you might learn at Yale is about the fallacy of anecdotal reasoning. I have my own biases against Florida–having to had to visit the state many times to visit my father. I hated it, and wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy. But that’s just as biased as your view of New Haven. And if you look at the news from Sanford, I wouldn’t feel safe in any part of that state. I used to live in Northampton MA, right near Smith, classic New England, and my home was twice burglarized. </p>
<p>To the original poster: if you are at all into art, I rcommend the Yale Gallery for British Art and the Yale Gallery. Beinecke has some amazing books and document, including a Gutenberg and the Vinland Map. </p>
<p>Don’t forget the arguably best pizza (actually apizza) in the world. Sally’s and Pepe’s in little Italy on Worcester Street or the locals’ fave, Modern on State. </p>
<p>If you are there at night, and take a walk–particularly on the weekend–around Broadway, York, Chapel, and Temple, you will see a very vibrant night life unlike what you would find in Princeton, for example.</p>
<p>Plus it is a world center of theater–Yale Rep and Long Wharf. The Yale Music School–on par with Juilliard–presents enough music so you would drop out because you didn’t have time to hit the books.</p>
<p>We just got back from a visit to New England similar to yours. Our visit to Yale was very nice. I had heard that New Haven is a dump, and it is - compared to Westwood, Cambridge, Providence, etc. But not all areas right off campus are bad, and our car was never broken into.</p>
<p>The Yale campus was beautiful - very gothic, with lots of old looking buildings and courtyards, etc. My daughter has been accepted but wanted to visit first “just to be sure.” After our day at Yale, she was sure. </p>
<p>We ate lunch at Pepe’s Pizza - it is a bit of a walk, so don’t carry a really heavy purse/backpack. The pizza was good, but I don’t really go for thin crust so it wasn’t what I’d call the best in the world. But there are obviously lots of other pizza places around.</p>
<p>The Yale bookstore was nice, and it is right next to an Apple store, in case that is important to you. My daughter stayed overnight in the dorms and her host took her all over campus. Besides the look and feel of the campus, she liked that it was not too spread out. She attended a 9am class, and enjoyed it - and said most of the students were using Macs (probably why that Apple store is right there). Anyway, a trip to Yale is worth the visit. You may like it, even if New Haven isn’t the best city in the world.</p>