<p>I’d go with the ipod really. You really will have a lot of time during orientation and stuff to meet people. I think Bulldog days is best for if you don’t know if you want to go there. If you know…you know lol you don’t need to get drunk for a weekend to know so. I mean, i think it’s great, but if it’s obviously inconvenient for you, you should know that you won’t even realize you missed it once you step onto campus in august.</p>
<p>My Gawd, I can’t believe that two people actually recommended a flippin’ iPod over Bulldog Days. You only get the chance once, and maybe something interesting will come of it. When your Yalie grandkids go to Bulldog Days you can tell them you were there way back near the turn of the century and how it was different from their own experiences. I doubt they’ll give a flip about your old outdated iPod.</p>
<p>Stop listening to short-sighted fools and come home to Mother Yale! Maybe your only time on campus as an accepted-to-Yale-but-still-in-high-school student. :)</p>
<p>“way back near the turn of the century”</p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>Yale.edu, don’t buy into the hype. Bulldog Days and all other pre-college events are a waste of time and money, even if you don’t know where you want to go. These events are another marketing ploy that will not give you an accurate representation of the colleges and will simply having you pick your college based on who had the most fun activities planned. These pre-college events are like the college brochures brought to life. For those two days the admissions office transforms the college into the faultless product they have been selling you since you started looking at colleges. Your money and time would be much better spent getting an iPod and reading the college viewbook. While I can see the value of seeing the colleges in person, especially if you have never visited before, Bulldog Days is not the way to do it. Go visit on a non-Bulldog Days day (if you are an acceptee, the admissions offices are going to be more than happy to accomodate you). You can still stay in a dorm, but you can see what Yale or other colleges are actually like, you will be able to see both sides of the college instead of the flawless version the admissions office has been feeding you. Last year, I went to Bulldog Days and I visited my friend at Harvard on a non-admit weekend school day, I had a much better time at Harvard. I got to sit down and talk to students and see what they thought of the school and it was in those talks that I actually got to see that I would not enjoy Harvard. I was lucky in that Yale ended up being the right college for me, because I never got the chance to learn what its faults were until I started attending.</p>
<p>Mother Yale? Lol, that’s the most hilarious thing I’ve read all day.</p>
<p>Okay, chasgoose2. Going to Yale on a different weekend than Bulldog Days, would be a wonderful idea if she can arrange a weekend in a dorm (if possible). If not, then Bulldog Days it is!</p>
<p>It isn’t hard to arrange a weekend in a dorm. All it takes is e-mailing the admissions office. There are plenty of freshmen that have signed up to host pre-frosh. If that doesn’t work, I would just not go. It is really a waste of time and money to go to Bulldog Days especially if you have already made up your mind/already seen Yale. Nothing at Bulldog Days is going to convince you to come or not. It’s just a really expensive party that isn’t that good compared to regular Yale parties. If you are trying to make a decision, April gets very stressful (especially if you live far away). Last year I essentially was gone for two weeks (one time I didn’t even leave the airport when I got home, my mom just met me there with a new suitcase and sent me on my way). If there is any way to cut back on visits then you should take advantage of it. Going to Bulldog Days just for fun is not a good idea.</p>
<p>It isn’t hard to arrange a weekend in a dorm. All it takes is e-mailing the admissions office. There are plenty of freshmen that have signed up to host pre-frosh. If that doesn’t work…</p>
<p>Sounds like it should work!</p>
<p>Going to Bulldog Days just for fun is not a good idea.</p>
<p>Plenty of people have a lot of fun and establish memories at Bulldog Days. She’s not going to make up her mind, she’s going so that she can enjoy the experience. If it’s unlike her actual daily life at Yale, maybe that’s not so bad. She’ll have four years of that.</p>
<p>chasgoose2</p>
<p>I would suggest that a prospective student should attend Bulldog Days, keeping in mind all of the (very good) points that you raised in your post, so as to view what the two days involve, allowing the attendee to make a reasoned evalution of the institution. I would also suggest that an attendee talk to current students as much as possible, in an effort to judge hvpe v. reality.</p>
<p>Frankly, the Super Bowl is an incredibly over-hyped football game, but if invited, you still go for the experience. And that’s precisely what Bulldog Days is - an experience. Experience as much as you can, then allow yourself to make the judgement of hype v. reality.</p>
<p>Mother Yale? Lol, that’s the most hilarious thing I’ve read all day.</p>
<p>Lol, Yale.edu didn’t make her up. Inside the Cross Campus library (which was modeled after a church) is a painting of “Mother Yale”; it’s sort of a play on the Mother, the Virgin Mary. My tour guide made sure to point out that in the painting, Mother Yale stands–or wipes her feet–on a carpet that’s not red, but crimson. :)</p>