<p>While visiting with prospie at BDD one nagging hitch to an otherwise terrific time was the observation of worn out and horrible bathrooms and facilities in just about every old building they had us moving about in. </p>
<p>Woolsey Hall is beautiful - breathtaking! But the restrooms are like from the dark ages! Admissions - lovely carpeted home with dark woods. The restrooms had peeling paint and rusted pipes and broken baseboard heaters falling off the wall! No green faucets and paper dispensers and motion sensing equip found at state unis - lighting, fixtures, etc. were found anywhere on campus we roamed. The classrooms are horribly outdated with chalkboards in an age where public high schools have smartboards! The gymnasium where the activities & academic fair were held had bleachers and railings that must be as old as the university itself!</p>
<p>Look, the outside of all the buildings are beautiful. But we were shocked by how worn down everything appeared. </p>
<p>The worst - housing on old campus! Filthy hallway and the most disgusting bathroom for student spending overnight. Could not get over how grossly kept the freshmen residences were. A contrast from the res colleges which looked to be spruced up a bit more. Are the students responsible for cleaning their own bathrooms and they just don't do it? Who is responsible for hallways?</p>
<p>Look not trying to bash, but just wondering why a world renowned uni with a HUGE endowment is not spending to upkeep its' facilities for students. Is it just b/c the freshmen party & puke all over anyway and are going to get the dorms all rundown anyhow? Or is there a plan to spruce these horrid spaces?</p>
<p>Genuinely wondering if students just don't care b/c they have to be hyper-happy and rah-rah-rah about the place?</p>
<p>If you think the housing is filthy at Yale, don’t look too closely at Harvard’s upperclass housing, which hasn’t been renovated in over 30 years. My daughter, who is at junior at Harvard, thinks her brother, who is a sophomore at Yale, lives in a palace by comparison! From what I have seen of both schools, my daughter is correct!</p>
<p>yes agreed that the res colleges were quite habitable…just that old campus was not at all appealing.</p>
<p>State schools have spanking brand new dorms with wireless everything. Northeastern has fabulous suite dorms and amazing honors dorms.</p>
<p>Just don’t understand why Yale is just sitting on its endowment. Not like they don’t have money, access to money, or the ability to raise money over state facilities or other colleges out there!</p>
<p>I was actually reading something the other day about how Ivy Leagues don’t really feel the need to expand or renovate because everyone is already so satisfied with their product. Why waste money that won’t make a significant difference to prestige or acceptance rates etc…</p>
<p>To be fair I don’t know how much truth there actually was too it, but it seemed logical haha :D</p>
<p>“By the end of the century, when even the youngest colleges began to show wear and tear, Yale decided to embark on the ambitious renovation of all of its residential colleges. The construction process would cost Yale University about $1 billion and take over a decade to complete.”</p>
<p>“In September 2006, Yale announced an ongoing capital campaign that seeks to fund improvements across the university, including renovations to its residential colleges. The campaign, known as “Yale Tomorrow,” aims to raise $3.5 billion by July 1, 2011.”</p>
<p>yes, yes, I get the res colleges were renovated!</p>
<p>I know that they are also building two brand new res colleges closer to science hill which will not be completed by the time this year’s class enrolls and graduates in four years. So…what’s with Old Campus? Freshmen initiation to what exactly?</p>
<p>My son lived on Old Campus last year in Vanderbilt Hall, “F” entryway. I used the bathrooms and they were NOT at all disgusting, but I wasn’t on campus for BBD.</p>
<p>On the other hand, my son’s common area and bedroom were disgusting – it was his first time living away from home, and I guess he and his roommates were either overwhelmed with schoolwork, didn’t care, or didn’t know where to begin to clean-up their own mess. I’m glad to see that he, and his roommates, are much better at picking-up after themselves this year, but it’s still a long way from neat.</p>
<p>Freshman housing on Old Campus has in-suite bathrooms that are cleaned (or not) by the students. It is my understanding that in the residential colleges the bathrooms are shared by adjoining suites and are therefore cleaned by staff. I think part of the problem is taking a group of randomly selected people, putting them in a suite together, and asking them to come up with a reasonable cleaning schedule (in addition to all of their other responsibilities) may be too much for some freshman. I always thought it would be better for the freshman housing to be in the RCs where they have access dining halls, butteries, laundry facilities, and 24-hour libraries all in their living space. Just my 2 cents.</p>
<p>If the bathroom is in the hallway by the stair landing, it is cleaned by Yale weekly. If it is located within a suite, it is cleaned by Yale only once over winter break. I lived in one of those suites as a freshman and the bathroom was not cleaned by us and was filthy enough for a female visitor of mine to go in to take a shower and turn around changing her mind. I did not clean the bathroom at home with a stay at home mom and just didn’t know better at the time.</p>
<p>I never bemoaned the state of the facilities as a student and things are much better now. No doubt other schools with less money have nicer dorms but the hordes of applicants suggests that Yale is spending its money on things that matter like research buildings, faculty recruitment and financial aid.</p>
<p>Or the hordes are just the blind following the blind until they arrive and actually realize what they’re getting into. Not like they give tours of the dorm facilities before applications are submitted - those campus visits show you the outside of these lovely buildings and the stunning Sterling library.</p>
<p>BTW - Beineke Library will be closed for reno work for all incoming freshmen’s first year on campus. Nice for us to read that in YDN today with not a mention during BDD!!</p>
<p>Wow, sahp2kids, you are really in a negative place tonight with all of your posts. I’m sorry you didn’t have a favorable experience visiting Yale. You’re going to find kids who like to drink and party, restrooms and dorm rooms in need of cleaning, facilities not updated the way you’d like, and at times renovations going on at any campus you go to. I was kind of stunned at your bitterness over what to most of us seems pretty insignificant compared to the amazing education and experience Yale has offered our kids. But, we were looking for much much more than clean restrooms and modern facilities…</p>
<p>@sahp2kids: My son had the same choice two years ago. After attending both school’s invited events, he still could not make up his mind. So, we went back for another visit without all the hoopla. We walked both campus’, ate in the dining halls, spoke with professors and students. Without all the noise, he was able to figure things out. Not sure if that is an option for your family, but if you can, I would recommend going back and getting another look without the dog-and-pony shows.</p>
<p>Clarimom - agree with you regarding the focus of my posts tonight as we’re trying to flesh out the perceived “negatives” of some of the school’s after our visits. Certainly the positives are there or else our child would not have applied </p>
<p>So sorry again if seems we’re nitpicking with the questions - just what is on our minds after having spent several days for the special events.</p>
<p>And we’re just trying to gather which school out of the many out there that “offer an amazing education and experience” will be the best fit for our student.</p>
<p>I really am grateful for all of the responses here tonight. Very helpful.</p>
<p>Glad to hear I’m not the only parent to despair over the state of their kid’s bathroom ;). At least your S had the excuse of being a fr, my kid was a froco on Old Campus and I was amazed to see the example they set. Her graduation present was me cleaning up the bathroom so that we’d be able to catch our flight on time after all of the ceremonies.</p>
<p>Gibby - I like your suggestion, though not sure if it will be possible with timeframe ahead. Perhaps the rush of events was the overwhelming factor, or perhaps just an awful host situation? Not sure which played the greater role to current confusion.</p>
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