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Sorry for hi-jacking your thread, Jules, but here's my take:
dress - don't worry about it. It's your average campus. Lots of Yale clothing, a J.Crew kid here and there, some colorful characters.
competition - it's a very, very friendly and cooperative campus. I'd say as long as you steer clear from the obligatory know-it-all section aholes, you'll see your classmates as good inspiration, resource and collaboration more than a threat. I've never felt any tension, but I've experienced a lot of constructive and engaging back and forth type of discussion. I think EVERYBODY here gets that occasional sting of "oh good lord, I don't belong with these genius kids", but you have to remember that you ARE one of those kids.
Also, frankly, there are a lot of duds. Not just athletes (many of our athletes are all-around bright kids), but also kids that excelled at following instructions to the dot in high school, then got to college and can't grapple with more complex thinking independently. You'll recognize them by their incessant word-for-word quoting of reading in section and constant "umm":ing, nodding, and "I agree with talker Y, X is a really good point".
Don't worry about it. Honestly.
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