<p>There obviously are people who worry about whether New Haven is safe, whether the school is in a ghetto, etc. I think it makes sense to give an honest, balanced answer. First, the Yale campus and the area around the campus is quite safe, especially when compared to other urban campuses. Because it is an urban campus, there is a higher risk of certain kinds of crime, particularly property crime, than at schools in other types of locations. In other words, you need to lock up your bike. But there are few violent crimes, and the victims are usually people who have made unwise choices. New Haven is not the richest city, and although its offerings of restaurants, theaters, etc., have improved, it honestly can't compare in that regard to New York or Boston. That makes the Yale campus more inward-looking with respect to the arts and activities than some other schools, which in my opinion is a strength. Others may feel differently.
As for first impressions: when I took my kids to visit Princeton a few years a go, a carjacking occurred right in front of us on Nassau Street. As a result, my kids think that Princeton is a morass of crime. If somebody is from a small town or a rich suburb, I suppose they may never have seen homeless people begging on the street before, and they might make some generalizations based on inadequate information.</p>
<p>"DocT: You are a Harvard parent who has posted frequently about Harvards alleged pre-eminence. I certainly agree with you that Harvard is a great school. So is Yale. I really dont understand why Harvard proponents feel the need to come over to the Yale board to talk trash, either directly or, in this instance, by citing an outdated news piece that portrays the Yale campus in a bad light." - really? This isn't about Harvard or Yale (by the way, I have never cited the pre-eminence of Harvard except as far as prestige which means nothing), this discussion is primarily about New Haven not about how great or lousy Yale is, which other than right around Yale is not an appealing city. It shares this feature with all CT cities and for that matter all New England cities of comparable size. If New haven is so great, do us all a favor, go to city hall, tell DeStefano to stop asking Rell and the state for more money to fix its problems.</p>
<p>There are some Harvard trolls in these threads. It worries me because they have nothing better to do than sit in front of a computer and convince young teenagers that Yale is horrible. They may argue that I am wasting my time, but I am just here to offer some advice, because I didn't have this when I was applying to college.</p>
<p>Anyways, New Haven isn't really a ghetto, it is just a little more impoverished than inside Yale. It is not too bad. I enjoy it. Just don't be alone at night or anything.</p>
<p>"Anyways, New Haven isn't really a ghetto, it is just a little more impoverished than inside Yale." - is this a joke??? Yale is one of the wealthiest universities in the world. New Haven is one of the poorest cities. The contrast between cities and suburbs in CT is one of the greatest in the US. The contrast between the wealth of Yale and the poor in New Haven is huge. Again this discussion has nothing to do with Yale being horrible - its fantastic. I've frequently used its libraries that are far better than anything in the state. Yale and New Haven are not the same entity.</p>