<p>What is really going on?</p>
<p>Science</a> recruits invited to Yale | Yale Daily News</p>
<p>Some of the comments are quite disturbing.</p>
<p>Insights?</p>
<p>wow, funny thing, I just posted the same link in another thread!</p>
<p>And I agree, the comments are very, very negative O.O I wonder what it is about it that they don’t like?</p>
<p>I actually worked for this program. I think most people find the idea of a special weekend only semi-objectionable (myself included). The more disconcerting implication is that the university is, as one commenter put it, pretty desperate to augment its science program.</p>
<p>To be perfectly fair, however, I feel like the science department itself isn’t terrible (with the exception of labs, which are absolute hell). Actually, the science classes I’ve taken so far (I’m pre-med) have all been really good with very engaging and accommodating professors. Research opportunities are ample, and science-related extracurricular groups play a prominent role in connecting students to otherwise daunting departments.</p>
<p>The issue, I feel, is simply the status of science majors. The culture is just very humanities-oriented. English majors, polisci majors, econ majors, etc. abound and usually elicit a certain level of interest when speaking to other students. When others find out someone’s a science major, on the other hand, the reaction is usually either grim admiration for someone willing to take such an arduous path or complete indifference/lack of interest – you know, the whole “oh, that’s cool; Anyway…” sentiment.</p>
<p>Wow</p>
<p>I don’t like those comments.</p>
<p>I really really hope that there is a HEAVY self selection bias in the responders</p>
<p>I feel like Yale is reaching too high in inviting those very top-notch students who would probably end up matriculating at Harvard/Princeton/Stanford/MIT if any choose to accept them come April. Yale’s Science and Engineering program is great, but the other schools are simply bigger, better and richer.</p>
<p>So at Yale, engineering majors are looked down upon? That would be quite different from most schools.</p>
<p>^D would be a science/engineering student at Yale (if she gets in). One of the reasons she considered it is because we actually thought it might be an advantage to be involved in a relatively new program. After reading this, however,… not so sure. I also hope that there is responder bias to the articles.</p>
<p>actually, i thought that, in the YDN article, there were as many positive comments about the sciences as negative ones. </p>
<p>also a couple of the negative comments posted under the article are from posters who are notorious on the YDN site for making negative comments. in fact, as someone who checks in on a number of school news sites on a regular basis, i’ll say this about those 2 YDN posters: i’ve never seen them post a positive comment about anything, and they seem to post pretty often.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t take the negative comments to seriously. While it’s true that I’m still in my first year, my experience with science at Yale has been phenomenal. Currently, I’m enrolled in a course known for its strenuous pace and workload. That said, the faculty really wants students to succeed. In addition to office hours, Monday night tutoring, and weekly (optional) discussion sections with TAs, my professor has been kind enough to hold Q&A sessions on Friday mornings. Looking ahead, I’m in the process of applying to do research in a molecular biology lab this summer, and my boyfriend has already secured a position in a chemistry lab. Several of my sophomore friends did research last summer in departments ranging from physics to cognitive science.</p>
<p>Were any students applying for mathematics invited to this?</p>
<p>Take the comments to the YDN article with a large grain of salt. ■■■■■■ abound, and I’m pretty sure I recognize at least one professional Yale-hater among the commenters. </p>
<p>Re science at Yale: My son has a foot in both the humanities and the math/science worlds at Yale. I have never, ever heard him say that science/engineering majors are second class citizens. He does observe that in comparison to several of its peer schools, Yale has a larger percentage of undergrads who are humanities/social science majors than math/science majors. He sees that as a plus: Whether you’re a humanities type or a math/science type, being on a campus that is more heavily weighted towards the humanities side just makes for a more stimulating general experience. As he puts it, organic chemistry, while wonderful if you love it (and he took it as a freshman and loved it) doesn’t naturally generate interesting breakfast table conversation. Philosophy and economics and history do.</p>
<p>I’ve never had any problems being looked down upon as a science major, that’s just silly. My science classes have been great.</p>
<p>I think it’s good that they are trying to improve their science/engineering reputation, but I’m not sure this is the best way to do it. And I also don’t think it’s fair for people to assume that those accepted before this science/engineering expansion are not good enough; many of them got accepted to “more sciencey schools” as well.</p>
<p>Perhaps my perspective is skewed as a science major who also loves music, art history, literature, etc. but I’ve never had any problems. I do think there is a huge response bias in the comments; I know tons and tons of science majors and they seem to be pretty happy with the experience.</p>
<p>I like coming back here to get reassured by you nice Yale people 
You must spend half your life telling people that Yale is not all arts and humanities… I know you spent enough time telling me a few months ago 
</p>
<p>Poster above made an good point: While I do want to study something in the sciences, there is only so much science one can take, and I would much rather talk about music, philosophy, history than particle physics… I think the important thing about science majors attending Yale is that you need to have some interest in the humanities. If you are a 100% math, computer, physics, chemistry person, then I don’t think the atmosphere at yale would be for you. The classes I am sure would be great, but the environment not perfect.</p>
<p>All in the opinion of someone who has never set foot on Yale campus, so take with a grain of salt too :)</p>
<p>While Yale has a competitive science and engineering program, employers are much more likely to overlook a Yale Engineer than say… someone who went to Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, or MIT. Hence, if one were to look at the potential job market after graduation, Yale would not be a good choice. But for someone who is more committed to receiving a liberal arts education, Yale would be a good investment.</p>
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<p>Sorry, but that is just incorrect. </p>
<p>First of all, recruiters don’t look at a Yale Engineer and compare him with a Harvard Engineer or an MIT Engineer. Most firms look at candidates in the context of their
school, so you’d be compared to other Yale Engineers. </p>
<p>Furthermore, job placement is ridiculously good for engineering/comp sci at Yale. I can’t speak for the engineering as much, but I’m a comp sci major, and I’ve spoken with many juniors/seniors, and people all agree that placement is terrific. This year, 13 people have been hired by Microsoft for a job/internship already, and our comp sci department graduates about 20 majors a year. This is simply an anecdote, but the point is that people get really good jobs.</p>
<p>Lastly, I’d say that engineering/comp sci here is just as good as a lot of other places, but the culture is different. A lot of the people I know love their major, but they also take a lot of cool classes outside their major and have broad interests. This fact is true at all the top schools. What we lack is department size [we don’t graduate hundreds of engineers like MIT does], and I’d say that overall we have less resources. If you look at it on a per student basis though, I’ve never heard of a person saying they couldn’t get money for some project because they just support you with tons of stuff.</p>
<p>Completely agree. I also don’t know specifically about engineering, but have heard similar anecdotes about Yale comp sci grads placing extremely well in the job market. It is not as well-known as Stanford or MIT for this major, but as mentioned above, this is largely due to small department size and not incapability of the students … for instance, one of my friends at Yale is a nationally-recognized programmer and chose to come to Yale (because he’s also a nationally-recognized musician).</p>
<p>After seeing the responses, I do agree that Yale’s science environment might not be right for everyone. I think most of the science majors are not focused completely on science and have many interests in the humanities and social sciences. There aren’t many science discussions at dinner that I imagine might happen at MIT, but rather discussions about music, art, literature, philosophy, etc. I suppose this just never came to my attention since it seemed pretty normal to me.</p>
<p>Just to throw in my two cents, though I am only a freshman…
So far, I have enjoyed even introductory general chemistry w/ lab and am currently enjoying intro molecular biology as well, even though intro courses (here and at other schools) often get a bad rap. In addition, I recently cold-contacted a professor in the Biomedical Engineering dept. who has already received some very prestigious grants for his work, despite being relatively young and new to his professor-ship, and I now have a position in his lab. I will be working with nano/microtechnology studying T-cell multifunctionality. </p>
<p>So basically, I don’t have any complaints yet about the Yale science programs based on personal experience.</p>
<p>the comments on the YDN article from current and former science/engineering students are very positive. the same is true for the comments here from current students. the ■■■■■■ must be sad about that! ;-)</p>
<p>Does anyone know if Columbia, Cornell, Penn, Dartmouth, or Brown have similar special recruitment effort for science and/or engineering students?</p>
<p>^I hope not. o_O</p>