Yale University
StudentsReview ::
Yale University - How to Get into Yale (Undergraduate) | |||||||||||||||||||
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1. The weather here is horrible. Blazing hot at the very beginning of the year and at end of the year exams, freezing cold from Nov.-March and the other months are so dreary/filled with rain that they too are awful. I read a study that indicates people's happiness are influenced by weather (i.e. better weather, happier person). No wonder everyone at Yale is rude/unhappy/unapproachable/etc.
2. The about 9/1 student teacher ratio in all the college books is basically a lie. While there may be that many teachers, I most of my class have been 40-60 students, just big enough so the teacher doesn't know your name or care if you're there. a close second for most common class size was 60+ students, and I hardly had any less than 30-40 kids. so, the stats they present about class size are misleading, and all the classes are much bigger than you may anticipate.
3. The TAs were very bad. Their English was bad (meaning difficult to understand) and made little effort in getting to know you personally or help you. The assignments that they grade (most assignments) are unfairly and seemingly arbitrarily graded.
4. Professors are too wrapped up in their own work to care about undergrads. Many are arrogant and unhelpful and all are self-absorbed. THERE IS NOT AN UNDERGRADUATE FOCUS IN THIS SCHOOL!! If you attempt to talk to them, they'll end up promoting their research and how 'awesome' they are and never get around to your question. many aren't that smart, as you find out when you take a class from a prof who just reads off notes from his computer...every class for the entire thing.
5. Grading here is often ridiculous. Classes may be graded by only a exam or two, both of which have a majority of questions as topics that were never covered. you don't have anywhere to turn for help. The comptetive (actually cut-throat) enviroment really wears you down. One kid I knew actually had all his notes and books stolen on time, several days before an exam. Despite his frantic attempts to borrow notes from others, nobody let him. He ending up failing the final and getting a D in the class. TAs can't grade, because they often don't even grasp English, and seemingly slap down a grade with no explanation (for written stuff). even if you go to them they won't explain it.
6. Despite so many libraries/books, good luck finding one because right after any assigned project several kids will just take out all books on the topic so other can't get them.
7. The social scene here is sad. EVERYONE is social-inept. people will stare at you wordlessly if you say hi to them for a minute before muttering (everyone here mumbles) something, because nobody speaks to each other here, especially to people they don't initially know. The girls here are the ugliest out of any college...period. But besides, everyone is too busy studying to ever relax or drink, or get with someone of the opposite gender. I know of several kids personally that graduated that have never even kissed a girl. Everyone here is unkempt (Yale sweatshirts are worn by everypne 24/7 and nobody bothers washing theirs), smells bad (nobody has heard of deodorant), is unattractive, and mumbles incoherently.
8. PEOPLE HERE ARE DUMB! You may be thinking, what? How can that be? But here, people have books smarts but literally no street smarts or social skills, which are more important kids of smarts, at least by me.
9. New Haven is awful. New Haven is dirty, too expensive, unfriendly, and worst of all, downright dangerous. About 3 out of 5 kids here get mugged. My roomate was robbed at knife-point. I was fortunate enough to not get mugged (my closest time was when I knew this guy right behind me was about to try so I started sprinting...not stopping until I got back to my room and locked the door. No wonder you don't see fat people in the college catologue). Plus, you can't leave New Haven for any decent city that's close. harvard has cambridge plus boston right nearly. Yale doesn't have that.
10. The food is tastless and cyclic, meaning that places won't really vary their serving day by day. Food is expensive, but has really bad quality. Sadly, nowhere in New Haven is there a decent place to eat that isn't too expensive, sketchy, or in a dangerous section (while every section is dangerous, several places are deadly).
11. The campus is overrated. While is may initially impress you, throughout the year parts of it aren't kept up, and parts tours will see are given lavish attention. The building don't have AC and their heating system are very bad.
12. You have to take 36 credits, unlike most colleges which have 30-32. Another reason why you never sleep. The core curriculum is often cumbersome and forced me to take classes I didn't want to take. The foreign language requirement, 4 semesters worth, was deadly to me especially. How I hate that.... Somewhere in Sophmore years you'll have a similar realization about how the glossy life at Yale isn't real, and that in reality it stinks.
13. 'Yale' on your resume doesn't help much. People who succeeded didn't do it because of Yale (i.e. the Bushs, Kerry, some Rockefellers, etc.) but because of who they were. Many of my peers had difficultly landing jobs (which i was rather happy about though, because most of them were self-absorbed and had never tasted failure). I couldn't land a job for over a year, and it wasn't even related to my major. at graduation, some of my friends and a bunch of other people were handing out their business cards like some students do...only it said their name and that they were unemployed. I was handed 4 of those cards for every real one, meaning that perhaps only 1 of 5 kids can immediately land a job.
14. Sporting events are sparsely attending except for several football and hockey games. Girls sports basically don't exist, to the common student. There is little school spirit generally. Its better to go to games to laugh at the cheerleaders, who are a joke, than to watch our sad teams be perptually defeated.
14. The housing system (residential colleges) is highly overrated at over-touted. Nobody even hangs out in the common rooms, so what's the purpose? plus, instead of being stuck with only 1 roomate who may or not be normal, you're stuck with several, and at least 1-3 of them aren't. So instead of taking you chances, you loses everytime. The rooms are small and stuffy to.
16. The price. What else needs to be said about this highly expensive, overrated education? I wasted my parent's money, period. Because of that waste, they have to work until they're 60 and then get by on what little they've saved.
17. Most people here are conformists to Yale, but claim they are liberal. Most people are liberal because their conforming to the majority of students than because they truly are liberal. ironic, isn't it?
So, please make your own decision about Yale. this is info I wish I had known as a high school student! I was once in your shoes, and so excited about attending Yale. I was proud and happy. Oh how life has changed...
ACT: 20 SAT: 600 Male
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Are you a student and about to sign the very first lease in your li... more→
it!
I did good on the ACT, had a high g.p.a., president of a few clubs. Do not apply here, save yourself and go to a college where you can actually be taught.
ACT: 34 SAT: 1560 Male