<p>Nothing glaring, it seems. If this was a thread on what people loved about Yale, it would probably have a thousand posts!</p>
<p>i'm not a student at Yale, but when I visited, it seemed like a bummer that the Yale Bowl was so far removed from campus. we waited for the bus by the gym for probably 20 minutes to go to a soccer game (we couldn't walk because it was dark and the neighborhood surrounding the Yale Bowl is kind of seedy). when the soccer game ended, the crowds rushed to the buses, and we had to let several buses come and go before there was actually room in one for us.</p>
<p>"Just a vibe I get... it seems that Yale students aren't as obsessed with academic performance as Harvard and Princeton students are."</p>
<p>I really don't think so, but it is true that at Harvard at least everyone is at each other's throats for grades, whereas Yale seems to be more about cooperation and finding good/interesting classes in which to learn.</p>
<p>Financial aid is not so great. Yale has been reputably known to lag behind both Harvard and Princeton in that respect for many years now. Although it's true that Yale is making more efforts to attract low-income students, it is certainly not making it in any sense as affordable as other top schools. In fact, I turned Yale down for Princeton last year solely because of financial aid--Yale's package required me to pay $20,000 more than Princeton's, and a large fraction of that money was in loans, whereas Princeton's package replaced all loans with grants.</p>
<p>@ famisheternity</p>
<p>Yale has reformed their finaid to catch up with Harvard's this year, and they stopped with giving loans. I've also heard that when you go talk to Yale about your low finaid packages as in "hey, X school gave me 5000$ more than you, but I really love your school so could you catch up with their offer?" they'll give you like 6000$ more in finaid or so :D
So I guess that con's resolved, too :)</p>
<p>Yale does not improve financial aid packages based on other school's packages--the financial aid office simply "recalculates" a package and determines whether a student is eligible for more need-based aid. </p>
<p>Also, Yale has yet to "catch up" with Harvard's financial aid reforms. Yale's reforms will be disclosed next month. </p>
<p>In a recent article on the Yale Daily News site:
"Even before Harvard's announcement, Levin found himself under fire for not acting quickly enough on further financial-aid reform. At a series of University-sponsored open forums this fall that focused on the proposal to build two new residential colleges, students wondered aloud how the University could justify spending close to $600 million on a construction project while students still were dissatisfied with Yale's aid offerings." (Yale</a> Daily News - Again, Yale plays catchup to Crimson)</p>
<p>The financial aid problem is, until further notice, still ongoing.</p>
<p>Hm, good to know it, then!</p>
<p>There are some things that I don't like about Yale. Some people may love the urban feel of Yale, but sometimes it can get too much. I hate waiting for cars to pass when I'm late to class and it's cold. Also, New Haven isn't the nicest place to be, compared to other college locations like Princeton or Stanford. The weather is also bad, but that could be said for any school in New England.</p>
<p>In response to the OP: I actually LOVE that Yale has less of a competitive vibe than its academic peers. It's not that Yale students don't care about academics...it's that there's more of an emphasis on learning for the sake of learning rather than an emphasis on getting that tidy little "A" on your transcript. </p>
<p>Yale is verrry rigorous...you will never have a shortage of work, haha, but people at Yale also highly value extracurricular, community and social life as much as academics. </p>
<p>I think Yale thus far has taught me WAY more than just facts and how to write a good paper...Yale has taught me how to really think...intense discussions carry past the classroom and into everyday conversations! I'm beginning to see the world in a way I never knew I could! </p>
<p>So maybe students aren't as competitive or intense about letter grades...but that doesn't mean that Yale is lacking in terms of academics. Rather, I think the collaborative spirit among students and the focus on learning for a greater purpose than just a good grade enhances intellectual life here!</p>
<p>That's kind of what I was thinking. I really don't want college to be a hellhole of lies, backstabbing, all-nighters, and distrust with classmates. I want an education, not just a degree. I think collaboration is essential, and I'm glad you have vindicated that idea with the above statement.</p>
<p>Dislike about Yale: The campus. While the architecture is nice (certainly better than Harvard's FUGLY campus), it's scattered. Old Campus is basically a square with grass in the middle and beyond that, there's nothing centralized. And I went there for JSA for a month... honestly going outside after 11pm is really really sketchy.</p>
<p>Like about Yale: School spirit. Perhaps it's a function of it being in the middle of nowhere/unsafe (New Haven), but Yale kids tend to stick on campus and hang out on weekends as opposed to say Columbia where come thursday nights, kids scatter into the city (which has its pros and cons).</p>
<p>Ok, change of pace...</p>
<p>Current Yalies, on a scale of 1-10, how much do you love Yale?</p>
<p>12.5</p>
<p>(10 char)</p>
<p>Truazn, are you a student here?? Science Hill is the only part of campus that's "spread out," and even then I can walk from my dorm on (literally) the very southernmost part of campus to the top of Science Hill in 20 minutes. The vast majority of my classes, though, are within a five-minute walk from my room. For upperclassmen living in the residential colleges (which are generally more central than Old Campus) classes are even closer. </p>
<p>And seriously, New Haven is NOT that sketchy when college is in session. I have experienced Yale both during the academic year and in the summer. When school's in session, there is such a buzz of activity every night of the week that I would say I don't feel the "sketchiness" until maybe 1 or 2 on weekdays and 3 or 4 am on weekends. There are lots of students and police officers on the streets...I hardly ever feel unsafe. </p>
<p>I think the campus is a lot more unsafe during the summer simply because there aren't nearly as many people around...all Yalies get email messages from the NHPD whenever a crime occurs on or near the Yale campus. During the academic year, these emails pop up like once, maybe twice a month. During the summer, it's more like once or twice a week. Basically...you're more or less safe during daytime; at night walk with someone else and don't stray too far off campus. If you do happen to be far away from your room at a sketchy time of night, Yale operates a minibus service that will pick you up anywhere and drop you off anywhere within the general Yale area. Sooo basically...personal safety won't really be a problem as long as you use common sense!!</p>
<p>P.S. While New Haven is not a big, bustling city, I would hardly call it the middle of nowhere (as compared to Oberlin, Williams, even Princeton)
Actually, there exists:
1. a pretty good nightlife for those with IDs
2. an hour-and-a-half train ride to NYC that costs $15, which makes weekend trips into "the city" pretty simple</p>
<p>But yeah, the campus life is AMAZING...I'm never at a loss for speakers to hear, plays to see or parties to attend on campus!!! But there are definitely alternatives for those who want to escape the "Yale bubble," and people definitely take advantage of them :-)</p>
<p>I WANT TO GO TO YALE RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!</p>
<p>Seriously, how much is a one-way ticket from WI to CT??? Hahaha.</p>
<p>The ambulance/fire truck/police sirens can get old every ten minutes. It's not so much the crime rate as the fact that we're just a few minutes away from Yale New Haven Hospital which is a huge regional hospital/trauma center.
Also, New Haven isn't sketchy if you know where/when to walk places. If you ever feel unsafe, they have a fleet of minibuses to drive you around at all hours of the night.</p>