<p>hey,
my names mike, yale '07, im home for august and in the mood to shoot the breeze about yale for a while. as i can tell from these posts, im sure there are plenty of questions out there, and id like to help out...about me: im a double-major in biology and film studies, in je college, born and raised in the sf bay area...so whatevers on your mind, let me know. im really enthusiastic about yale and cant wait for the school year to begin again. ask away.</p>
<p>Thanks for being willing to answer questions. Here's mine: do you know anyone who does crew at Yale and if you do, what has the experience been like?</p>
<p>Ooh! I have lots of questions. Ok!
1. What is the best thing about Yale?
2. What is the worst thing about Yale?
3. What is it like doing a double major in such different areas? Is it really difficult? I want to do a double major in biology or physics and religious studies, or I might do the physics and philsophy major.
4. How are your professors?
5. What are some things I can do to stand out in the admissions process (I'll be a senior this year)?</p>
<p>1) Are all rommates chosen at random or are students given a preference sheet?</p>
<p>2) How many papers do you typically write per term? Is the work overbearing?</p>
<p>3) What's the latest Harvard prank you guys are planning? I can't wait to participate in one!</p>
<p>4) Do students actually have great philosophical debates for fun, like they hype up in the viewbook? lol</p>
<p>5) What's typically served at the dining hall?</p>
<p>6) How do you live without a McDonald's near campus?</p>
<p>Can you tell me how you feel about JE? What do you like/dislike about JE? What about the rooms, courtyard, food and social atmosphere?</p>
<p>How's the weather?</p>
<p>yes, a little about JE please!! also, in terms of the bio major, do you have room to take other interesting courses that are not for your major? what's more important - the class or the professor? also for IM sports, is it ok to join if you have little to no experience, you will everybody get angry at you if you can't play well? thanx</p>
<p>is it possible to double major in mb&b and something else?</p>
<p>to the OP:</p>
<p>
[quote]
Location: Yale University/Palo Alto, CA
[/quote]
</p>
<p>... gunn, paly, or a private school? i'm just curious, since i'm from the area too...</p>
<p>hey all,
ok, lets see what i can do about your questions:
coldcomfort: i had a friend who did crew for a few years. as far as i know, he liked it. i dont know why he stopped, probably time committment, as it is a varsity sport and is just as intense as any other sport. thats about all i know on that topic.</p>
<p>gorbachev_sez: 1. everything! honestly, there are so many good things, id just wear out my fingers typing if i tried to tell you all of them.
2. hmm...the weather. new haven also kind of sucks. but thats not important during the school year because you dont really interact with the town. and i do have friends that really like the city, i guess they got to know it better than me.
3. yes, it is pretty difficult to double major in two subjects like bio and film. also, i got started late on both majors, so im playing catch up now. if you plan things out its possible and doable, and even if you dont its possible if you want it enough. your ideas for a major will probably change also.
4. thats a broad question. some are awesome, some are ok, some suck. just like any other school.
5. hmm...id say the essay is more important than people give it credit for. its really one of the only parts of your application that speaks to who you are as an individual, not just your statistics. i thought my essay was the best part of my app, even though i was still pretty shocked to get into yale.</p>
<p>BANANAS: 1. for freshman year you are given something like a preference sheet. it dont know how scientific it is or anything, but it worked for me since im still living with the people i lived with freshman year.
2. it all depends on the classes you take. i did ds freshman year so i was churning them out like clockwork. of course i had friends that took mostly science classes, so they didnt write any papers, and friends that took other english classes and stuff...it totally depends.
3. haha i wish i knew. did you know theyre making a major hollywood movie of last years prank? but you didnt hear it from me...
4. haha again. but yes! sometimes. i remember this one debate or talk or whatever we had on politics that lasted well past 3 am. usually we just talk about random stuff though. i mean, anyone can be philosophical, right?
5. depends on the dining hall. in je...crap, generally. berkeley is obviously the gold standard of college food. other dining halls are somewhere in between. but i dont really mind it. you can pretty much eat anywhere you want, though they do have issues with restrictions that are kind of annoying.
6. i dont go to mcdonalds, but i have a friend who does...he drives there though, i dont know how far it is.</p>
<p>nala: je is pretty good, i have to say. the people are chill and the architecture and courtyard are absolutely gorgeous. its also a really rich college so they'll give you money for random projects and stuff. the food sucks, though, and the rooms are small but nice.</p>
<p>tkm: horrible! coming from california its like a freezing cold slap on the face during winter, and a boiling hot slap on the face during summer (ive done summer school so i can attest). but no different than anywhere in the northeast, i guess. just NOT california, thats for sure.</p>
<p>conwoman: see above for my je comments. if you have any specific questions ill answer them. as for bio major, because i am double majoring i am pretty short on space for other classes, but i dont mind because i love both my majors. other people i know just doing one or the other have plenty of space to take other classes. as for class vs. professor--i dont really know. ive taken classes where i liked the subject matter enough to get past a sub-par professor, and ones where a really amazing professor made the subject matter so much more interesting. its a balance. for im sports, i dont play any but i know lots of people who do and arent that good. its more of a social/competition thing than a skill thing.</p>
<p>wrathofgod: yes, its possible to double major in just about anything. i think they wont let you major in mb&b and straight up biology because theres too much overlap. aside from that, its up to you.</p>
<p>athena: paly. what about you?</p>
<p>any more questions?</p>
<p>Thanks, goldoro, it's really nice of you to take the time for this -- coldcomfort</p>
<p>What's the film studies program like? How are the course selections?</p>
<p>Did the Directed Studies program live up to your expectations? How challenging/time consuming was it? Do students enrolled in DS typically have time to pursue their extracurricular interests? Would a varsity athlete (cross country & track) have enough time to do well in DS?</p>
<p>goldoro - gunn...</p>
<p>... but now i'm a yalie through and through :p</p>
<p>Do Yale admissions officers tend to choose applicants that are "well-rounded" or "well-lopsided" (i.e. they are especially dedicated to one area of study)? I fall into the former group, but the latter seems to be the trend with college admissions.</p>
<p>well-lopsided is better. most guidance counselors coldn't aspire to such success and as such, they like to screw a ton of kids over.</p>
<p>filmxoxo: the film studies program is great, mostly if youre into film theory and criticism. "close analysis" is fantastic--totally changes your way of viewing a film. the production classes are a bit more mixed--i am doing the screenwriting concentration and its wonderful, but ive heard the actual filmmaking track isnt so hot. overall the program is very strong but depends what youre into.</p>
<p>justin: i had no idea what to expect coming in, really, except a lot of reading and writing, which it did live up to. generally, what i tell people is that if they <em>know</em> for sure they want to major in a humanities-related discipline (english, history, poli sci, philo, psych, etc.), then they should do ds. it is a good introduction to many foundational texts and fulfills requirements for a lot of majors (i can even count one credit toward film studies). BUT if they have <em>any</em> inkling to major in a science or something else, they shouldnt do it. it is quite time consuming and takes up 6 credits of your whole freshman year. yes you have time to pursue ecs, and i even knew a few varsity athletes who were doing it and came out alive.</p>
<p>gorbachev: i dont know, im not a yale admissions officer. honestly, i only know from personal experience, and i guess i would fall into the "well-rounded" group also. in high school i did sports and drama and the college newspaper, but i guess my biggest strength was writing. i dont think i should generalize about admissions, though. its a very mysterious thing.</p>
<p>by college newspaper i meant high school newspaper. my bad.</p>
<ol>
<li>How competitive are the students? Are they willing to help each other out?</li>
<li>Is the course load extremely difficult? Will professors pick on you?</li>
<li>Which college do you go to? My sister goes to Morse and hates it.<br></li>
<li>What were your SAT scores? Any tips for those aspiring to attend Yale?</li>
</ol>
<p>Hi, I'm going to apply under Psychology major and I was wondering if it would be better for me to take AP Chem. or AP Psychology in my senior year. I already took General Psychology at a community college in the summer. Last year I took AP Bio...</p>