<p>What is it like majoring in science at Yale? I know they have tried to improve their STEM programs, but are you separated from the student body on Science Hill? Does engineering/pre-med make it difficult to have a social life and participate in EC’s?</p>
<p>Yale’s campus is very compact compared to others. The fact that Sci Hill is at one end and freshman housing (Old Campus) is at another makes it an easy target to complain – I think it’s less than one mile. But you’ll appreciate the walk to stem the freshman-fifteen!</p>
<p>STEM/premeds are fully integrated with the rest of the student body – in all aspects</p>
<p>With the req to take WR/SO/SC/FL etc etc…you will be with many of your class.
Additionally the res college aspect connects everyone so being in a STEM major and up on science hill does not adversely impact your social life.</p>
<p>My son can walk to all his classes and to all of Yale’s colleges in a short ten-minute walk. On the other hand, my daughter who lives in Mather House at Harvard takes the shuttle bus to visit her friends who live in the Quad. Distance is really relative!</p>
<p>The walk up Science hill is a little more pleasant now with food carts on the way:</p>
<p>[Food</a> Carts at Yale | Yale College Admissions](<a href=“Bulldogs’ Blogs: #Meet the Blogger | Yale College Undergraduate Admissions”>Bulldogs’ Blogs: #Meet the Blogger | Yale College Undergraduate Admissions)</p>
<p>^^YES. I have put on waaay more calories at those carts than I could ever hope to burn off walking up science hill. But yeah, from the top of the hill to the very back of old campus is almost exactly a mile-not that far at all!</p>
<p>You won’t live on Science Hill, although you might “live” up there.</p>
<p>Personally, I have always believed that the physical remoteness of Science Hill from the center of campus has produced some level of marginalization of the sciences in Yale’s “persona”, if you will. I remember many mad dashes up Hillhouse or Prospect from a lecture at Linsley-Chit – 15 minutes or so to do a mile up hill. It makes it tough for humanities majors to explore science classes if they have to sandwich them between courses in the center of the campus.</p>
<p>Compare that to Harvard, where the main Science Center practically towers over Harvard Yard.</p>
<p>^ same in reverse for STEM majors who have to get to Linsley-Chit… :)</p>
<p>(the mad dash)</p>
<p>I seem to recall our science tour guide - albeit a year ago - mentioning a shuttle that takes students up to the science buildings. Yes?</p>
<p>Yes but I’m not sure one could regularly use it depending on your schedule i.e. I don’t recall its frequency and if it would match many students’ needs much. In 4 yrs, I never rode it.</p>
<p>all these are very useful responses. additionally, what about yale’s rigor as a science program? i’ve heard with many stem majors, it’s difficult to be involved in extracurriculars, more so than at other top institutions. true?</p>
<p>My son graduated last year as a science major and is now at a top med school. Yale’s science program is indeed quite rigorous, but then again the same can be said at many other schools…its an inherent aspect of that field of study. </p>
<p>Though my son’s experience is anecdotal, I can only tell you he was DEEPLY involved with several time-consuming extracurricular activities, including a varsity sport. We often wondered (and worried a little) about how he managed to juggle it all while getting enough sleep and also having time to hang out with friends. While his schedule was incredibly full with all that he pursued, he says it was his passionate interests…the pleasure he derived in pursuing them…and the people…that collectively motivated him to become a very disciplined time manager. And he says this is not uncommon at Yale. And he LOVED every minute of it! His grades did not suffer, and more importantly, he made the most of his undergrad years at Yale. He took full advantage of what Yale has to offer in ways that were truly meaningful to him. Hard to believe, but there was plenty he wanted to do but couldn’t because there simply weren’t enough hours in the day. He now looks back upon his Yale years with a great sense of self-achievement, personal growth, gratitude for having had the opportunity to attend, a continued passion that he is now applying to his future career, and friendships that will likely last a lifetime. One couldn’t ask for more out of a college experience!</p>
<p>RE: The shuttles- they do run quite regularly all throughout campus, so if you happen to catch one, the walks will certainly not be bad. There is even an iPhone app that shows the locations of the buses that several of my friends use to try to catch them at the right times.</p>
<p>The main reason why science students can be segregated at Yale is because of the nature of the workload. Science classes everywhere have problem sets, and people generally get together to work on those (and you need to do a pset every week). I’m taking four upper division science credits this semester, and I can testify that 1) Yale is rigorous and 2) I do spend a lot of time with other science majors because I need to get my work done. Science majors who want to go to graduate school may also tend to spend a lot of time on science hill doing research during the semester - I have most of my lunches at KBT. All of this said, this hasn’t been a bad thing for me, as I’ve made a lot of very close friendships in Yale’s science community. However, I don’t think I’d do four 300-400 level quantitative science classes again in the same semester as well as research…</p>