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Inside Scoop

Quick Stats

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.
Things I Wish I Knew Before Coming To School
  • Don’t pack too much. You do not need your entire ballerina figurine collection! But you will need lots of lamps (some buildings at Yale have very bad overhead lighting), a shower basket, rugs, posters, and lots of underwear (no one wants to do laundry).
  • During the winter, New Haven can get colder than you think.
  • No matter how much you like a class, odds are you won’t go if it is before 9:30 a.m.
  • Not everyone is a genius. But yeah, some people are.
  • Yale students aren’t that intimidating.
  • You can do anything you want at Yale. If you want a class that is restricted to juniors and seniors, plead and beg if you have to. Your enthusiasm will win you a spot. If you want to travel abroad but you do not have the money, just apply for grants or ask for financial aid. If you’re creative enough, there is a possibility they could cave and let you go.
Tips to Succeed
  • Don’t party too much. Freedom is great, but just because you can go out and get wasted every night does not mean you should.
  • Don’t study all the time. Yale is a strong academic school, but it is also so much more. What you can learn about life is often just as valuable as what you can learn about astronomy. Remember, there is only so much information your brain can retain at once.
  • Don’t take on too much. As a freshman, there’s a temptation to do everything, because everything seems so cool. But in the end, no matter how cool all 15 of your extracurricular activities are, they will seem like the bane of your existence when you get too busy.
  • Explore different majors before committing to your (parents’) dream of becoming a doctor, lawyer, or engineer. There are so many options out there, and Yale is a great place to discover some of them.
  • Get involved! The student activities fair during Camp Yale allows students to browse possible activities: theatre, volunteer work, belly dancing, bagpiping, a cappella, mock combat groups, orchestras, political parties, student publications, etc. Yale has almost everything, and if there's not an organization to suit you, start up you own (Yale will give you money!).
  • Go to Masters’ Teas. These opportunities to spend the afternoon drinking tea and eating little sandwiches while listening to great people speak is invaluable. Some recent guests include singer and songwriter Carole King, Actor Bronson Pinchot, Writer Tobias Wolff, and political commentator Arianna Huffington.
  • See your freshman counselor as the resource he or she is. This senior knows the ins and outs of Yale and can give you advice on everything from picking good classes to taking your parents out when they visit. They also remember what it is like to be a freshman, and they truly want to help you through it.
  • Try to learn what type of class structure suits you best. Do you like large lectures, or do you crave personal interaction with your professors? Do you want to talk or listen? Do you like to take tests or write papers?
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Inside Scoop at Yale University

blindmoonrise

International Studies and Government '14

5.0
A+

Yale Is Terrific

You're surrounded by students and professors who are ridiculously brilliant and talented, and yet never fail to be friendly. Things can get super stressful, but what do you expect with some of the best academics around? And as a bonus, there's a gorgeous campus with surprisingly good cafeteria food.

May 23, 2011

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Inside Scoop at Yale University

mrglblah

Arts '10

4.6
A

It's Yale.

We're smart. Each of us is a little bit of a geek. But we're diverse geeks. There are history geeks and theater geeks and drunkard geeks and Greek geeks and math geeks and jock geeks etc etc etc. The nice part about that is that even though you can factor out the geek part and find people with your interests, everyone here has at least that in common. We're incredibly driven, passionate people, and that doesn't have to be about schoolwork or politics or saving the environment. There are people who are incredibly passionate about producing plays, or charting the climate conditions in Ecuador, or traveling book salesmen in Victorian America, or playing football, or playing Halo.

I think the clincher is that we feel at home in this environment, with these people. I go to my hometown and find that I'm not nearly as comfortable as I am here. I like who I've become here. It really is a surreal, magical place, and I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Dec 03, 2009

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Inside Scoop at Yale University

brobbins

Social Sciences '12

4.6
A

Residential College System

The residential college system vs regular dorm housing is great. It really helps to break the larger Yale community into smaller chunks of people that you will live near for all 4 years.

Dec 02, 2009

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User rating for Yale University - Inside Scoop is 4.6 out of 5 based on 8 user reviews.

Facts

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."
Did You Know? Master's Teas are offered by all of the residential colleges during the academic year. The college brings in an influential, famous, or just downright interesting person for students to listen to and ask questions of. Past Master's Tea guests have included Alec Baldwin, Jodie Foster, Denzel Washington, and Judy Blume, as well as world leaders in sustainability, international relations, journalism, and politics.

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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.
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