I am a junior at Yale.
1.) You do not have to have connections or be a legacy to get into Yale. Legacy students make up about 13%-15% of each incoming class:
ABC News: Top Colleges Mum on Legacy Admissions.
I myself am not a legacy student -- I graduated from a public high school in the midwest. In my experience, however, the average legacy students is just as qualified as every other student at Yale.
2.) I don't know if there can be a blanket explanation about why "Yale classes are different from other classes." At a certain point, a class is a class is a class. I'm pretty sure that the Intro Microecon class at Yale is nearly identical to the Intro Micro class taught at any other selective institution. (In fact, I went to Hong Kong on a Yale fellowship recently, and a university student there told me that he had used the same textbook for Intro Micro.) As with any other academic opportunity, class is generally "what you make of it." If you take the time to get to know the professor and pick their brains, if you do the readings, if you listen to your classmates' interesting comments instead of zoning out -- that's when you really benefit from Yale's academic opportunities.
Personally, I think most of the differences come from AFTER class. The Yale difference comes from having to go to four different singing desserts in one week (during a cappella rush week), so that you can see all of your friends perform in their respective a cappella groups (with the ulterior motive of eating some great hor d'oeuvres to supplement your college dining hall diet.) It comes from sitting in Bass library until 1:00am during reading week; supposedly reading that chapter you skipped in October, but actually talking with two of your close girlfriends -- who you just happened to bump into -- about their ridiculously complex boy problems. It comes seeing a group of masked, chanting students processing across Old Campus at 9:00pm on a Wednesday, as a part of some society's initiation. It comes from having friends from all over the world, and gaining new perspectives on almost everything.
3.) There is greek life at Yale. While the fraternity scene is pretty developed, the sororities are small (though growing!) I am in one of the sororities. For me, joining a sorority was one of the best decisions at Yale. Although the college system is a great way to meet ~100 classmates, there may come a time when you will want to branch out into other social groups. In a sorority, you will meet people who have all different sorts of interests -- people who are in modern dance, people who are in theater, people who are in the Tory party as well as people who are in the Independent party (two of the Yale Political Union organizations). Since most other groups at Yale are formed around a specific CAUSE (to make music, to encourage microfinancing, to gather people of a particular ethnic group), you will end up meeting a pretty homogenous group of people. Greek life is a great way to meet a wider variety of people. Also, as a social organization, you know that if you ever need to "get away," there will always be girls there to chill with you at the house, dance with you at "Wednesday Night Toads," or socialize at "Thursday Viva's."
4.) I don't know what income range you define as "middle class" -- it's used pretty loosely sometimes. Most people seem to come from families with well-educated parents, or households with a strong emphasis on education. Most people also seem come from families where the college tuition, with or without financial aid, is a pretty heavy burden. Of course there are people on either extreme, but family income doesn't tend to come up in conversation very much. Additionally, a lot on-campus events cost nothing (including Improv shows, a cappella shows, dance exhibitions, and School of Music concerts,) so you can live a very full life without spending very much.
5.) In response to the blog link above:
There is no university or academic institution with uniformly stellar faculty and a completely satisfied student body. There are people here that are very stressed out because they feel they have to be the best of the best. There are professors here that can be a little distant. That being said, Yale is a wonderful school.
Yale's professors are all EXTREMELY qualified people. Oftentimes they are leaders in their fields, and they all KNOW A LOT about what they are teaching. Except for with my two biggest lecture classes (Micro and Macroecon), my professors have always been very willing to talk to their students -- either by e-mail or face-to-face.
Furthermore, when I was a senior in high school, my college decision came down to either a top LAC or Yale. Ultimately I chose Yale because of the diversity and size of its student body. This larger student body means that whatever your interests, there WILL be a place at Yale for you. However, this also means that there are ALL DIFFERENT KINDS of people at Yale. Yes, there are people at Yale who are obsessed with making all A's, and will be the most stressed out people you will have ever met. But then again, there are groups of people who have trust funds, and don't care about A's at all (thank God for those people, they help the curve.) You get to choose your friends -- so choose the people that make you happy at college. Almost everybody here is an overachiever. Everybody is capable. This does not have to mean that everybody is stressed out. In fact, one of my friends recently won a very prestigious fellowship to study in England, and he is one of the most relaxed people I have ever met. Smart and hardworking, but relaxed.
Finally, there are some people who can be happy in almost any environment, and there are some people who can be dissatisfied with almost every environment. Yale comes with all the tools you need to create a happy, fulfilling environment for yourself. There are plenty of nice people here that are willing to study with you before midterms, come see your musical ensemble's show, or debate ethical issues with you. On top of that Yale has great resources, great traditions, great fellowships and grants, and great connections. If you get in, I think you should seriously consider it.
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