The Yale Experience

Harkness Tower

I had a great day in New Haven touring Yale. I didn’t know much about Yale at all so I wasn’t sure what to expect at all. I figured that it would be impressive since it’s an Ivy League, but not much else. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised today! Yale has hands down the best campus of all the schools I’ve visited so far. We got off to a great start with the student forum. I thought that the student forum was a great way to reach out to students and let them know about the school. If you don’t know already, a student forum is when students from the school address high school students WITHOUT the parents in the room. I felt like the Yale students were able to be much more straightforward and honest about their experience at Yale. I got to ask them a lot of questions about the social life and course options at Yale, as opposed to questions like financial aid or administrative involvement. The two students were very friendly as well. The information session threw me off a little bit. I’ve visited so many colleges by now that all the information sessions are starting to sound similar. They’re just trying to convince each student that the school is the best, even if it’s not the right fit for a student. I was somewhat disappointed after the information session but I believe that the tour of the campus afterwards changed my opinion. We saw a library with granite in place of windows; our tour guide told us that it allows light to flow in, instead of UV rays.

Library

The dinner that we had afterwards allowed me to get to know the Yale students. I enjoyed the laid back feel of this dinner compared to the others. I spoke to Carie and Tony, two pre-med students, and Austin a chemistry/political science major. They were honest about Yale and its advantages and disadvantages. They spoke about the different departments and what they had to offer. They also talked about the social challenges that they experienced from high school and throughout college.

Monica and Carie

Duck and cheese quesadilla

Dulce de Leche Cheesecake

As you can see the food was delicious, as always. :) I definitely want to apply to Yale, it's one of the more artistic Ivy Leagues so far, which I value. I'm excited to go on more tours and see what else there is to offer.