Please share "Campus Vibes" for Brown, Davidson, Duke, Vandy, Wake, Yale and/or GW

[123Mom123]

@BKSquared

S is a senior at Yale. Based on his and his friends’ personality and interests, they are the type of kids that want a diverse experience academically and socially but don’t want to be overwhelmed at Big U. S was a recruited athlete to half a dozen SLACs, but after visits, he felt the schools were too homogeneous. His suitemates have been STEM and humanities types, but I get the sense they like to hang and discuss any topic. I think a lot of kids pick Yale (and Harvard) because of the established residential college/house system that replicate a LAC social environment. I know other colleges have their version of residential colleges, but most are by application so the makeup tends to be less diverse. Many kids are work hard/play hard types, S included, but you can find a tribe of almost any stripe.

I think the kids that would not do well are ones that are very singularly focused on academics, primarily STEM. S was recruited by MIT and Caltech, and the time he spent on campus he described as being very STEM oriented. Even the beer chugging device he saw at MIT was a uniquely engineered device.

@BKSquared - The quote “he felt the schools were too homogeneous” (SLACS) resonates with me a bit. Okay, actually a lot. I appreciate you including that description. Diversity is huge to S. (After several years of private school, S asked us to let him leave his private school and transfer to that of a public school bc he was yearning for diversity and was not getting it where he was at.)

Thanks for the heads up about STEM. My S is actually a social sciences type (history/poli sci) who loves current events, being very involved on campus, and meeting new people, and trying new food (especially this) and new experiences. He always is seeking to improve and expand and not sit still too long with any one thing or person.

Many thanks for sharing some f/b. Yale has been a black hole of knowing much about it beyond that of “reading” or stereotypes so I yearn for real details from those who know it.
If you think of anything else to share, we are all ears!!!