Yale University | Student Reviews | Best College

Student Profile

Steve

Class: Alum
Major: Theatre
Gender: M

High School: Timberline High School / Charles Wright Academy
Transfer Student: N

Big Picture

Jesus, you've asked way too much here. I know i can answer what parts of it I want to, but still it's overwhelming. The big picture with yale is that I guess i'm glad I went there. I have fond memories of it now, although I think i spent way too much of my time there unhappy. I met the people who remain my very best friends in the world there, but I also almost never hear from the people who were my very best friends while I was there anymore. I learned how to learn, how to think in totally new and dynamic ways while I was there, but I don't think the yale name or "network" or even its reputation for excellence has helped me once in getting work in the real world.

Academic Life

Profs at Yale generally know their students if the student takes the time get to know the professor. Almost all of them keep great visiting hours and many of them were once smart, cool kids themselves. Many Yalies work way harder than they need to once they're at the school, due to their competitive nature. But it's easy to get by on very little as well. My trick was to go to every class, and to take meticulous notes. That way you rarely had to do any of the reading at all, and to someone who reads a little slower than other smarties, there was always WAY too much reading.

Student Body

I'd say that the Yale student body definitely takes all kinds ... There's an awful lot of interest group/race/religious cross-pollination unless you choose to stay specifically within your clique (I'm talking about YOU, overachieving Asians, Orthodox Jews and "political" Black kids.) But because Yalies are so driven and self-absorbed, no one really takes a huge amount of trouble being "social." People wear their pajamas and worse to class, and campus is so spread out that it's easy to fall into just hanging out with your roommates and their closest friends. Most Yale students are pretty liberal, which makes the conservatives who do go there react by being awfully loud and obnoxious.