<p>I want to revive this very old thread to ask the same questions as the OP. It seems like the thread died out in a few petty arguments of Harvard vs. Yale, so... </p>
<p>Can any current Yalies can provide more insight on the undergraduate focus at YALE? (How is the advising, are professors accessible, etc.)</p>
<p>Without reading through all the pages here are superior items that indicate Yale's undergraduate resources:</p>
<p>1) many layers of easy access advising (departmental, college dean, college master, Freshman counselors, minority counselors, career counselling)
2) Profs genuinely enjoy interacting w/undergrads -- many are fellows in the residential colleges and partake in some events. Everyone has office hours: that's standard.
3) Scheduling: Shopping Period allows you to carefully craft a fantastic courseload; the one week Thnxgivng break and Spring break are well placed in the overall schedule; Reading Period when no classes take place but you just catch up and prepare for finals; 1st semester finals done before Christmas; 2nd semeser finals done by early May. All these are HUGE points -- I quickly realized how good I had it compared to students at other schools.
4) Residential Colleges: single most unifying factor of the Yale College undergraduate experience. Unmatched -- outsiders are just incredulous at how fanatical we become for our colleges and for Yale. Generates the rabid devotion you catch whiffs of here and elsewhere. If you were to ask 100 alums, 98 of them will tell you the Residential College system was the best feature of being a Yalie. Period
5) Intangibles: You're surrounded by 1000s of the the best scholars and leaders for four years. And the atmosphere is very, well... collegial and not competitive. It's a huge incubator for arts, culture, politics, community service.</p>
<p>Reading Period sounds really cool. I've never heard of that before...</p>
<p>I like that some professors are fellows in residential colleges. That's one of the biggest factors for me in determining where I want to go: the student/professor interaction .</p>
<p>If you want the best faculty student interaction, you will have to go outside the research universities, to one of the colleges where teaching is emphasized. </p>
<p>Yale is pretty good for a research university, though.</p>
<p>Are you saying Yale is strictly a research university? I thought the whole point of this thread was to say how Yale is not.</p>
<p>Yes, without question, Yale is a research university. In fact, it is in the category of a research university that sees its peers at an international level. There are very few such universities in the US.</p>
<p>It is also true that Yale also puts more emphasis on being excellent at undergraduate education than most other research universities.</p>
<p>Some people think Yale has a good balance. But those who are looking for the best student faculty relations should still carefully consider if they need a research university environment.</p>
<p>ivyalumni...what exactly is the environment of a research university?</p>
<p>When I spoke of the research university "environment" I meant the overall social ambience of the institution. Obviously, research universities place much more emphasis on research. Professors are expected to not just do research and publishing, but to do this at a high level (usually the level of international recognition by their peers). They can be mediocre teachers without much criticism. They face lower expectations of the amount of time they put into advising college students. They are likely to take more breaks from teaching, for a semester or a year (or two) to pursue their research careers. This can happen with little notice. </p>
<p>Still a research university offers students a better chance to have "contact" with prominent scholars, though this contact may be limited.</p>
<p>what's so special about the reading period. i thought every school has it.</p>
<p>Reading period was a solid five to seven days between the end of the last classes and the beginning of Finals. No classes took place, some projects and papers would be due. </p>
<p>Many schools just end classes and one or two days later, finals begin.</p>
<p>ivyalumni...thank you!</p>
<p>All of the universities on this list would be considered research universities. It is kind of a meaningless designation, because within the research universities, there are many fine colleges - chief among them being Yale College and Harvard College, the two greatest liberal arts colleges in the world.</p>
<p>These rankings are published by THES = Times Higher Education Supplement. The Times, of London, is the world's greatest newspaper.</p>
<p>QS</a> Top Universities: Top 100 universities in the THES - QS World University Rankings 2007</p>
<p>You can also see them here: Times</a> Higher Education</p>