| Ok EAD's comment is so full of inaccurate statements that I need to respond.
I'm a student at Y, but most of my HS friends go to our large state school. To be honest, I think our social scene (with size taken into account, of course...50k vs. 6k is a big difference) is almost as good! Probably better, if your definition of social scene goes past "wild frat parties."
New Haven is also unfairly bashed by non-residents. It actually has a lower crime rate than Cambridge, and just because *gasp* we have non-college students/professors living near campus does not make it a ghetto. It actually just makes Yale a little bit less of an ivory tower, because we actually have to recognize that not everyone is privileged and brilliant. New Haven isn't that dangerous, for the most part, if you're not stupid. It's actually been becoming livelier and more interesting than it was in the 1980s, not to mention a lot safer. Schools near big cities also tend to have poorer on-campus lives since students are distracted by the bustling city. New Haven's businesses tend to revolve around students (from Y, UNewHaven and SCSU), which is why it is a college town, in a way.
(Also, Boston is a very nice city. It is not one of the world's greatest/most vibrant!)
A friend of mine from MIT visited and commented that Yale students are much happier than kids at Harvard...the enthusiasm of Yalies actually surprised him, since he assumed they'd be much like Harvard students. Also check out the Pton Review's annual rankings of student happiness...Yale (and Pton, Stanford, and Brown) are pretty much always on it, while Harvard has yet to make an appearance. Coincidence? |