Did any prospective CS students attend YES-W this weekend? If so, what were your impressions of the department—positive and negative—and the opportunities for undergrads? If you can make comparisons with CS programs at any other top schools you’re considering and familiar with, that would be helpful too. Thanks!
DD reported only very very positive impressions of the school and CS department. She was very impressed with the faculty she met with (very approachable, easy to understand and easy to talk to) and the other students (just fabulously smart, supermotivated kids, many astounded at how lucky they are to be there). While they were of course trying to sell all these students on how great a program they have, she felt Yale’s Yes-W perhaps oversold their science departments - especially overselling on the engineering. Yale does well when they stress the whole package, their resources are practically unmatched.
She is still researching her other options (still hoping she gets in to Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, or UPenn) as the terribly cold weather chilled her overall opinion of CT (was it record wind chill?). She has eliminated the tech schools (MIT/CalTech) as she found she personally wants strong humanities programs as well. Her impression of Princeton was not at all favorable - she did not get a good personal vibe there and didn’t apply).
Despite the fact that she has always been the very top student, perfect SATS, etc. and the fact that she was invited to YES-W, she was still somewhat humbled by this experience. She met people who she felt were so MUCH smarter than she is, who don’t have to work nearly as hard as she does. But she said some of the other prospective students also said they felt awestruck by the whole experience. She felt that she could “hang with” some of the classes, but not all of them. A very new experience for her.
Thanks, @3puppies—this is very helpful! We’ve heard some very positive things but also read quite a few worrisome ones, especially relating to the number of CS faculty. Did your daughter hear anything from the current CS students about course availability and class size? Are students generally getting the CS education and experiences they need in order to get into top graduate programs or move into good jobs?
Interesting about Princeton, too—was there anything in particular that struck your daughter negatively?
As for the extreme cold, I think it’s a bit unusual this year—with any luck, there won’t be a repeat of that in years to come. But clearly your daughter could avoid that completely by going to Stanford!
Our kids are very similar; DS dropped MIT/CalTech because he wanted a broader school over a narrower one. Turned off by Princeton. Happy as a clam at Yale.
Regarding the weather, if it is less chilly at Harvard, UPenn, or Columbia than in New Haven, that’s an artifact of which days one goes to those schools. We live closer to Columbia and UPenn than Yale, and it’s been quite a cold winter. Can’t disagree that the weather is better at Stanford.
Re the humbling part of the experience. DS did the FOOT (freshman outdoor orientation trip). Every night, one hiker would describe their background, their interests, etc. He told me that every night he wondered how he could have been accepted into such an accomplished group, who were so obviously smarter than DS. When it was his turn, he discovered that the other campers felt the same way about him. There are exceptions, but in his experience, Yale students don’t trumpet their accomplishments.
Anyway, DS is also considering CS, so I am very interested in this thread.
Same with my son, @IxnayBob—he wasn’t interested in strictly tech schools. He loves everything he’s heard about Yale so far and can’t wait for Bulldog Days, but we do want to get a better sense of CS there. Assuming Yale is his final choice, he’s planning to do a FOOT too—they sound like a great way to get to know a few other students before moving in.
I attended YES-W last year, and while I loved Yale, and its social environment, I felt that certain things, like for CS, Stanford still held the upper hand (if we have to make any distinctions). If Stanford is on the table, I’d suggest you take a look into that school, and weigh the two together.
But if Stanford isn’t - you still definitely can’t go wrong with Yale!
Thanks, @terminatorp—we’ll keep that in mind!
My daughter is still waiting to hear from H,S,C and Penn (any of which she would be thrilled to get into), and she insists she will be keeping an open mind to any and all of them. I don’t know if that means she wants to wait for the financial aid letters, or additional campus visits (she hated the fact that accepted students visits are treated way better than potential applicant visits)
Part of her problem with Princeton was the admissions info session basically giving them the vibe that most of them were unwelcome. While the admin counselor addressing to our group of 100 or so people, “if you all apply, maybe a couple of you will get in, maybe none, probably not ten” was perhaps accurate, it was also condescending and disrespectful. Why go out of your way to try to make the crowd feel awkward - did they want to stifle questions? I told DD not to put too much emphasis on the tour guide who perhaps wasn’t having his best day, either. But my daughter pointed out that even the shuttle driver from the parking lot was not smiling, nor was the lady in the snack shop where we bought a couple of cookies and drinks. She said the students we ran into were not greeting each other with smiles, everyone was in their own little world walking with headphones on looking down at their cell phones. Some people will be happy in that kind of environment, but my daughter said it was too sterile, too uptight for her. Their loss.
if she gets in, I would be very happy visiting my daughter at Stanford any time of the year. I am terrified, though, that it might mean she would be moving out of the house for good. Yale, at 3-4 hours away, is easily driveable.
Thanks, @IxnayBob, @terminatorp, and @Planner for your thoughts. She is looking forward to Bulldog days, as she felt the better parts of the YES-W were when the admissions folks went away and she got to talk to other actual students - they were real people, all of them were interesting when she asked what they were studying. Not just the CS majors, but those who were double majoring in CS and art history, or both engineering and 17th century philosophy - because they WANT to, and Yale encourages them to do so.
Like all parents, I have always thought of my child as special. But hearing her talk about these other students made me understand more about why she felt out of her league compared to some of them. She hasn’t been blessed to run in that crowd yet, but she is still young.
Thanks, @3puppies—it’s interesting how much negative or so-so presenters at these schools can sway students’ (and parents’) opinions. I think the schools should spend more time making sure their presenters, even if they’re just volunteers, are conveying what the schools want them to convey. We actually had very good experiences at Princeton—went in skeptical and came out enthusiastic. The presenters we had weren’t discouraging or condescending, and the campus and town seemed bustling with activity and people intermingling. But although other schools also did good to excellent jobs in this respect (with a couple of exceptions), Yale’s was the best and won our son’s heart.
We have the opposite problem location-wise, since we’re on the West Coast. Stanford would definitely be much more convenient! But we don’t want our son’s choice to be driven by location—unless it relates to other important factors. In Stanford’s case it does, since the Silicon Valley location is a big plus for aspiring CS students.
I have a feeling many admitted students are going to feel out of their league, at least for a while, especially if they’re used to being at the top of the heap. But I think we (and they) have to trust that Yale and its peer institutions know what they’re doing when they admit students—they don’t admit them if they don’t think they’re special in some way and can do the work.
We’re really looking forward to Bulldog Days!