<p>This is really helpful in helping me weigh different colleges.</p>
<p>Look at the thread titled "About Yale" a few pages back, maybe page 4.</p>
<p>I figured if Bush didn't flunk out, I was guaranteed at least a B.</p>
<p>Personally for me, Yale is one of my favorite colleges (besides the one I'll be attending). My sister went there and she had a great time. It's a bit more laid back (or at least the perception is as such) than other Ivies. But it's extremely humanities oriented, so majoring in the Hard Sciences and definitely Engineering at Yale is a bad idea (in the sense that you can get into schools that have much better engineering programs if you can get into Yale --- i.e. MIT, Princeton, Cornell, Columbia, Stanford-- to name a few among Yale's peers).</p>
<p>Personally, I liked the architecture. Junior year of HS, a couple of my friends pounded ceaselessly on the door of Skull & Bones. The door opened, and a guy walked out wearing a black robe and a hood. Has been, and will be, the ******* scariest moment of my life.</p>
<p>^ rofl. /**********/</p>
<p>Here are a couple reasons:
1. The residential college system: I love it, and it was one of the main reasons I chose Yale. Your residential college really is like a community, and it doesn't take long for every Yale student to develop a lot of loyalty to his or her college. The colleges all have their own dining halls, common areas, gyms, study libraries, laundry facilities, computer labs, and butteries (a late-night: 10PM - 1AM, student run, cheap place to get food) as well as a variety of amenities unique to each college. My college has its own theater, a game room with a ping-pong table, DDR machine, and pool table, and a couple of rooms that can be reserved for use by student groups. A residential college also provides you with a strong support system. When you have an a problem, you really can just walk into the office of your college's dean and get help. The master and dean of every college eat in their college's dining hall and are always interacting with students. College masters host "master's teas" which are events where a guest is brought in to talk to a group of students. This last year, my college (among many other guests) hosted Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, and former Presidential candidate (and governor of Vermont) Howard Dean. At the same time, though your college provides you with a lot, it is not at all limiting. Every student can eat in any college's dining hall, for instance, while almost every student group has members from across all 12 colleges. You have plenty of opportunities to meet people from other colleges in classes, extracurriculars, and social events, and the colleges are all close enough together that it's always easy to go see your friends in other colleges. I really believe it to be the perfect residential system.
2. People at Yale are amazing. The people were, along with the colleges, the principal reason I was drawn to Yale. Seemingly everyone is enthusiastic, friendly, and passionate about what they do, from political activism to scientific research. You can have a fascinating conversation with pretty much anyone, and I may have learned as much from my peers as I have in actual classes.</p>
<p>At the undergrad level, there isn't that much difference in academic quality among the top schools, regardless of what you're majoring in (that is, an undergrad can get just as good a physics education at Yale as at MIT, even though MIT is better for physics at the grad level, while a history major can get just as good a history education at Stanford as at Yale, even though Yale's history department is stronger at the grad level). I think the two things I mentioned first end up mattering more, as well as Yale's undergrad focus, which, regardless of reputation on CC, is really just as strong as Princeton's, making it one of the very best national universities in this regard.</p>
<p>To add to sval's post about the college system: people are assigned fairly randomly, with the aim to ensure a broad mix within each college. It's not like one college has mostly eastern prep school kids, another has nouvelle riche California kids, another has jocks, another has the artsy folks, another the science folks.</p>
<p>Every college has this broad mix -- and that's the strength of it. It's a main factor why the Greek system plays a very minor part of campus social life (unlike some other Ivies). People feel ingrained to an established social net practically from day one -- and it's very diverse too. I don't know many places that can claim that. </p>
<p>And this difference is striking. IMHO, heavy greek-dominated campuses fill a void -- but leads to quick differentiation once you pledge. Arrive on campus X, check out a few frats/sororities, pledge, have same group of homogeneous friends for next four years, never have to dine with someone outside your "group" ever. Not so at Yale. And because of this, I feel Yale ATTRACTS the outgoing types too who don't want to just remain in a single circle of acquaintances and friends.</p>
<p>My Yale friends run a broad spectrum of careers, ethnicities & backgrounds, political beliefs. I'm very proud that Yale's environment allowed me that.</p>
<p>Because you were rejected from Harvard, like Poster X....!</p>
<p>Just want to differ slightly with truazn about hard sciences and engineering. These are fine departments at Yale. I know several people who turned down or transferred from better engineering schools to attend Yale because they were after more than just the biggest name in their particular field. They all got into top engineering grad schools and were well prepared. They felt undergrad classes in their majors were small and excellent with great lab jobs and opportunities to publish research with professors. I agree that there is a difference between MIT and Yale, but if you like what Yale offers, like the residential colleges and the type of person who attends, then you aren't risking your future in engineering or the hard sciences by attending. It's not a bad choice.</p>
<p>Did Counting12001 seriously make that account JUST to say that? Wow. </p>
<p>I don't think posterX even attends Yale.</p>
<p>truazn,</p>
<p>While Yale used to primarily be a humanities-oriented school, they have now completely shifted their focus to improving their science and pre-medical programs. Funds as much as $3 billion were invested for the improvement of sciences. Plus, Yale's science has nearly a 1:1 faculty/student ratio...awesome for getting those LOCs!</p>
<p>But still...LACs are better...:)</p>
<p>-Amherst 2011!</p>
<p>I wanted to attend ever since I saw those nice, colored financial aid bar graphs and pies.</p>