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Yale UniversityFacilities Facts & Statistics

Location
New Haven, CT
Undergrads
5,250
Tuition
$36,500
Admission Difficulty
Very Hard
More statistics . . .
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Facilities

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Facts & Statistics

Service & Maintenance Staff
770
Campus Size
260 acres
Student Centers
All of the 12 residential colleges act as student centers on campus.
Campus Library?
Yes
Main Libraries
  • 12 residential college libraries
  • Bass Library
  • Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
  • Divinity School Library
  • Law Library
  • Mudd Library
  • Music Library (Irving S. Gilmore Music Library)
  • Numerous special collections (ex: East Asian) and specialty libraries (ex: Classics or Geology)
  • Sterling Memorial Library
Popular Places to Chill
  • Cross Campus
  • Old Campus
  • Residential college facilities, like game rooms, butteries, movie theaters, TV rooms, etc.
  • Suite common rooms
Bar on Campus
  • GPSCY (Graduate & Professional Student Center at Yale, pronounced "gypsy") is the grad student bar
  • Hot Tomatoes
  • Keys to the City
  • Mory's, a Yale tradition!
  • Toad's Place
Bowling on Campus
Black Bear
Coffeehouse on Campus
  • Bass Library Café
  • Blue State Coffee
  • Publick Cup
  • Starbucks
  • Willoughby's Coffee and Tea
Movie Theater on Campus
  • Bow-Tie Cinemas
  • Residential college movie theaters, such as Davenport, Saybrook, and Silliman (and they're free!).
"Green" Initiatives
Student Taskforce for Environmental Partnership (STEP). Students in STEP lead the undergraduate campus in green initiatives such as recycling, energy reduction, and sustainable dining.
School Slang
  • Bass: Bass Library. This is the underground home of comfy armchairs and a great cafe (read: coffee). Frequented primarily by undergraduates. Open late into the evenings, and 24/7 during Reading Period!
  • Blue Book: Yale's "Bible" of class listings and descriptions. Your ultimate shopping period guide to academics. Note: Can also be used as a verb (ex: "I'm so tired, I've been bluebooking all night!").
  • D.S.: Directed Studies. Also known as Directed Suicide. This is a freshman program that comprises three of your classes every semester (philosophy, literature, and history/politics). Now when someone mentions Kant, you can say in all honesty, "Critique of Pure Reason? I hated Critique of Pure Reason!"
  • DUH: Acronym still used to refer to the old Department of University Health, even though they changed the name to University Health Services about 20 years ago. Have a stomach ache? According to these professionals, either you're pregnant or you're probably pregnant.
  • Durfee's run: A quick trip to Durfee Sweet Shoppe. This snack shop is located in the basement of Durfee on Old Campus. A great place to score late-night snacks, especially healthy or organic delicacies (as well as less-healthy alternatives).
  • Gut: An easy class that takes the stress out of a busy schedule. Beware, there are very few "gut" classes at Yale!
  • Legacy: A student who got into Yale because his or her parent or relative went here. (Now increasingly rare.)
  • Reading Period: A week with no classes during which students "prepare" for their finals. Usually a frantic combination of partying and paper writing.
  • Science Hill: The location of most science classes. A half-mile from Old Campus, this is God's way of punishing physics and bio-chemistry majors who would otherwise get no exercise.
  • Sexile: There are two people getting it on in your bedroom, and you are not one of them. Hope the couch is comfy.
  • Shopping Period: During the first two weeks of classes, Yale gives you the chance to preview potential classes without any commitment. Why do only four classes of reading when you can do fifteen? Still, it is a good opportunity to make sure your calculus teacher speaks English.
  • Spring Fling: During this campus-wide party the weekend before reading week, students blow off steam by basking in the sun and listening to famous bands like the Decemberists and Girl Talk.
  • The Stacks: Not only is this the dusty tower where you can get lost looking for books, it is also a choice location for romantic rendezvous.
  • Swing Space: Officially Boyd Hall. This relatively new dorm temporarily houses students while their colleges undergo renovations.
Traditions
  • A Cappella Rush: "Rush" is the term for the whirlwind of events that ultimately leads up to Tap Night. Through concerts at Woolsey and Dwight halls, Yale's a cappella groups advertise themselves to new freshmen (and some upperclassmen). "Rushees" go through a series of auditions, call-backs, "Rush Meals," and "Singing Desserts" before they are tapped by groups that want them as members.
  • A Cappella Tap Night: On an undisclosed evening in October, all the members of Yale's a cappella groups gather at High Street Gate for the annual Tap Night. After performances by Whim 'n Rhythm and the Wiffenpoofs (Yale's senior female and male groups) and the dropping of a broom, groups rush Old Campus to "tap" new members into their group. The chaos and singing (there's a LOT) are exciting and memorable, even if you didn't Rush a cappella.
  • Class Day : During Class Day, the ceremony the day before Commencement, it is tradition for students to smoke a special tobacco out of a clay pipe and to wave good-bye to Yale with a white handkerchief. Today, students do this while wearing the silliest hats imaginable, which is a new tradition building on an old one.
  • Screws: Social occasions/dances organized by colleges in which suitemates set each other up on blind dates. Students often meet their dates through embarrassing situations, such as standing shirtless on Old Campus in the freezing cold holding a sign reading, "screw me, Martha." Most infamous is Freshmen Screw, although most colleges also hold Screws, as well.
  • Spring Fling: A day-long series of concerts on Old Campus by both Yale students and big name artists. Groups in 2009 included the Decemberists, N.E.R.D., and Girl Talk.
  • YSO Halloween concert: A Yalie-made silent film accompanied by music by the Yale Symphony Orchestra. Filmed on campus, the film is approximately an hour in length and features hilarious cameos by YSO musicians and Yale staff and faculty. It's one of the most popular social events of the year. Come to Woolsey in costume!
Urban Legends
  • Many Yalies will quote, "All roads lead to Toad's." This is a reference to the popular concert and dance venue, Toad's Place, and may or may not be true. However, Toad's remains a cornerstone of the Yale party scene.
  • The basic idea for Federal Express was submitted as a term paper at Yale . . . and only got a C.
  • The Skull and Bones secret society boasts many members who later rose to power as part of the United States' political elite. Members have included William Howard Taft, John Kerry, Presidents Bush (father and son), and (fictionally) the Simpson's character Montgomery Burns. The society is reported to have the bones of Martin Van Buren, Geronimo, and Pancho Villa, although this has never been confirmed. The society was also the basis of the popular movies, "The Good Shepherd" and "The Skulls."
Favorite Things To Do
Art shows. If you want to experience a slightly more upscale evening, there are often art show openings where you can rub elbows with Yale's "artsy" crowd while drinking wine and looking at some amazing work. Theater and drama productions. With at least one show every weekend, Yale theater scene is fantastic. You might just see the up-and-coming future stars of theater. Remember, both Meryl Streep and Jodie Foster graduated from Yale.
Student Organizations Web Site
www.yale.edu/oldYaleInfo/studentorgs.html
Student Newspaper
Yale Daily News
www.yaledailynews.com
Clubs and Organizations on Campus
With more than 300 organizations on campus, Yale students are involved. Organizations exist based on academics, music, athletics, communications, culinary, cultural, GLBT, performance, political, dance, religious, service/outreach, and special interests. Most Yalies are involved in one (if not many more!) student groups.
Student Activities Offered
  • Choral groups
  • Concert band
  • Dance
  • Drama/theater
  • Jazz band
  • Literary magazine
  • Marching band
  • Music ensembles
  • Musical theater
  • Opera
  • Pep band
  • Radio station
  • Student government
  • Student newspaper
  • Student-run film society
  • Symphony orchestra
  • Television station
  • Yearbook
ROTC
Air Force ROTC: Yes
Navy ROTC: Yes
Army ROTC: Yes
Did You Know?
  • Don't see an organization you're interested in (unlikely as it is)? Register your own organization and apply for funding from Yale.
  • Yale is a leader in university sustainability. Visit www.yale.edu/sustainability/ to see what new "green" efforts are under way at Yale, including LEED certification, the Yale Sustainabile Food Project, and the Sustainability Leaders Program.
  • The Payne Whitney Gymnasium is the second largest gym in the world.
  • The Medical Historical Library has a collection of brains in jars!

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How do we get our information? Find out here or report an error here. The statistics on our site are from the National Center for Education Statistics IPEDS database.
We update this information twice annually, most recently in May 2012, but it may not be the most recent information available for a particular school.
For additional information we encourage you to visit school websites or contact the schools directly.

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