Yale University Top Questions

There's so much to do on campus! On any given weekend, I am torn between seeing one of five plays, one of four dance performances, one of three a cappella concerts, one of ten sports games, or attending one of a dozen parties. There is something for everyone, and the problem is always narrowing down your activities rather than not finding enough to interest you.

It's overwhelming how many groups on campus. All the freshmen go to the activities bazaar and come back with a heavy bag of brochures from different organizations. It's hard for some of us to choose which groups to join at the beginning, but it also means that there are always causes to support or more groups to join if you want to switch. A lot of people are involved in political, community service or singing groups, but there are also random groups, like the "Anti-Gravity Society" or the Pundits, who play tricks and run around naked right before exams. Every weekend, there is something going on (a cappella concerts, Dramat shows, international dance parties, college-sponsored parties, guest speakers, debates, movies, etc.) Everyone goes all of these activities at some point- it's often hard to decide to go what to go to in a given week because there are so many cool or interesting things going on. Football is definitely the most attended sport. A lot of people play intramurals for their colleges (the college with the most points at the end of the year gets the Tyng Cup). On weekdays, people study or have meetings for various organizations. Some people go to Toad's (the most popular dance club) on Wednesdays, but Thursday, Friday and Saturday are when most people go out. There is definitely a big party scene, but the frats have a pretty small presence on campus and there are plenty of other options for people who don't like partying. Once or twice a semester, the undergraduate funding committee pays for a $5000 all-campus themed party, which can be awesome, and can be a big flop. The dating scene is a little disappointing since such a large proportion of the guys are either gay or only interested in hook-ups. My closest friends are from my residential college and my Christian fellowship. Yale has a lot of traditions. A cappella and secret society "tap nights" are tons of fun because people in crazy costumes are running around all over campus doing silly things. Silliman throws the annual "Safety Dance" (80's dance) in Commons, which is tons of fun. A newer tradition is the Branford "Crushes and Chaperones" 90's dance. At the end of first semester, every college has a holiday dinner and the freshmen have a huge, extravagant dinner, complete with a parade of lobster and gingerbread houses. During reading week of spring semester, we have "Spring Fling" when some musicians come to perform and we all hang out on Old Campus (this year we had Jimmy Eat World, Sean Kingston and The Roots). Also during reading week, every college celebrates their special day, which is different for each college. Every week, there are 6 or so master's teas, where the master of a residential college invites a distinguished speaker to come and you can go have tea, eat cookies, hear the speaker and ask questions. There are also some fun preorientation programs to do the week before coming to school as a freshman and meet other freshmen. I did Harvest, where you live on a farm for five days. I loved it and am still friends with most of my group. The Yale Farm is pretty awesome in general- every Friday, they cook homemade, fresh, brick oven pizza. 40{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of our food is organic and sustainable, which is pretty awesome (and very rare for college dining).

there is plenty to do at the school outside of the academic world

Only at Yale would the traditional Halloween activity be to get in costume, have a few drinks, and go to see the Yale Symphony Orchestra's midnight show in which they play a student-arranged soundtrack to a student-made movie in which the Yale Dean makes an appearance in a plaid skirt. Yale is AMAZING! I love that my a cappella group was all the brotherhood of a fraternity, but based around singing instead of drinking.

The suite rooming system allows for lots of parties, and there are lots of nightclubs and frats if you're into that. You can drink or not drink, not really an issue - the university is really lax about drinking and emphasizes safety before penalties (if you get your friend to the health center for alcohol poisoning and s/he leaves by the next morning, nothing is reported/ recorded). Students definitely leave suite doors open, despite security warnings from our house masters, and people tend to drop by just to say hi when passing by. Masters Teas with famous personalities (from heads of states to R.L Stine and Hanson) are also scattered throughout the week. People make friends through extracurriculars and clubs, which are almost as important, if not more, to some. After all, college is about networking, and you can't find more fertile ground for connections that matter than at Yale.

There are so many activities at Yale that if you don't find so many that it would ruin your schedule, then you're not looking. There is something for everyone, from entrepreneurship to juggling. Yalies seem to enjoy the party life, but are not obsessed with it. There are plenty of people who enjoy themselves every weekend without ever picking up an alcoholic beverage. In general, Yale has something for you to do, no matter what turns you on. Plus, frats are relatively unimportant, which many students will find appealing.

there is fun stuff to do every single night of the week if you look for it.

A capella is pretty big, and we think highly of ourselves :-) Frats exist, but they're pretty small. There's amazing theater, both undergrad and at the Yale School of Drama. I didn't date much at Yale.. It was okay. There are a decent amount of bars to go to, if you're into that sort of thing. Ping pong in the common room, yeah!! I met my closest friends through classes, a capella and theater.

Master's Teas are awesome - the Master of each residential college invites interesting/famous/cool people. Tuesday 2am - studying, writing, reading, procrastinating on facebook, reading and responding to emails. On a Saturday night - dance.

Yale is definitely a party school, though perhaps not in the traditional sense. There are several frats and a couple sororities, and they do throw parties, but they aren't necessarily the place to be on a Saturday night. The cultural associations tend to host good dance parties, as does student government, and individuals or groups of students throwing parties in their rooms make up a big portion of the weekend scene. There's at least one major dance/party every weekend (usually a couple), and there are always smaller parties, often on Thursday nights as well. A lot of people drink; not everyone does. There is drug use (ranging from pot to more serious substances, such as cocaine), but it doesn't define the culture, or even a single aspect of it, really. We have a lot of major events and traditions each year at Yale, including the Safety Dance (an 80s themed dance hosted by Silliman), the Yale Symphony Orchestra Halloween concert (people go crazy for Halloween around here), Sex Week, the Harvard/Yale football game, and a hundred others. People like to dress up, get drunk, and dance, and we seize every opportunity to do so. There is a scene in New Haven also, ranging from the popular and somewhat sketchy Toads (a nearby bar that often hosts good bands/musicians) to gay night clubs on Chapel Street. There is definitely enough going on on campus to keep people entertained, though. Dating can be difficult. Yale students are very busy people, and it's hard to find time to develop a relationship. It seems as though people often end up dating their friends, since they hang out with them a lot anyway. There is also the drunken-hook-up option, which is fairly popular. As I mentioned, politics and general activism are big on campus. Theater and a capella are also huge. The "rush" process for a capella is more intense than that of sororities or fraternities. Yale has very strong art and music programs, so there are always student art showings, orchestral concerts, and exhibits up at the University Art Gallery and the Center for British Art. In addition to all this, there is a constant stream of guest speakers, Masters' Teas (famous/cool people come to chat), and debates. I actually can hardly begin to talk about activities at Yale without exhausting myself... Oh, and on a Tuesday night, a student up at 2 am is probably doing homework. But she might be doing it with a group of friends, and they might have consumed a beer or two to loosen up before settling down to that p-set.