<p>Tokenadult - </p>
<p>Do you have any specific questions?</p>
<p>Here are some more random thoughts.</p>
<p>Yale has plentiful funding for summer research projects. I was able to spend several summers abroad doing research as part of an international collaboration. I got funding through the Dean’s office for housing and travel expenses, and I was paid a stipend by host lab. I was certainly not alone - so many of my classmates remember their summer experiences funded by Yale as the most rewarding times of their college careers.</p>
<p>The undergrad advising in the sciences left something to be desired. Some of my friends and I who chose the path of grad schol often wish that someone had told us to take classes x, y, and z. They were suggested in the course catalogue, but no one took the time to explain to us why they would be so important. But overall, I arrived at grad school very well prepared and capable of quickly filling in any gaps from my “liberal education”.</p>
<p>I think a former Yale administrator summarized it best when she said to me (and I’m paraphrasing) “At Yale we want you to fight for your opportunities.” This is so true. Nothing will be handed to you. At Yale you have to “fight” for funding, access to a class, attention from professors, etc. The fight may be painful and stressful, but the rewards are tremendous. And perhaps the biggest payoff is learning how to “fight”.</p>