My son and I drove 1100 miles with gear in the car to make FOOT. I dropped him off, and stayed 4 days in a hotel while he was away. It gave me time to get to know the campus, and learn my way around. My wife flew out a day or two before move-in day. We moved him in while he was en route home. FOOT for him was wet, cold, and wet. He’s a tough kid and never complained. I thought that FOOT provided a good transition between the anxious days preceding move-in day, and the start of his Yale career.
I was also curious about the FOOT program. My daughter is very social (cheerleader) and does not have much issue making new friends. I am considering encouraging her to be with her friends for those last weeks instead as they are shipping out all over the country. In her case, she might feel that she missed out more on that precious time rather than spend it hiking with other kids from Yale that she will spend the next 4 years with. She would HATE arriving to move in day late. Or even worse, I get to unpack and decorate for her! 
That would be the WORST thing ever to happen. he he he
I think a lot depends on where her friends are going, where you live, etc. We live in NJ, so DS knew that coming home for a weekend or break would be easy. A great number of his friends (8!) were going to Penn, also not difficult to visit. Arriving late for move-in day is quite possible IME
http://yaledailynews.com/blog/2015/04/07/biden-to-speak-at-class-day/
I Imagine security will be very tight for this event, with long lines of students and parents and grandparents having to go through Secret Service metal detectors or pat downs.
We are planning to come to Bulldog days with daughter April 20 to 22. Please recommend hotels which are in safe areas. I see there is East, West, and North Haven. Are there better areas we should stay? What about towns close by, like Milford, Hamden? We’ll have a car, although not sure how difficult it is to park on campus? Thanks!
There are two very nice hotels about a 2 minute walk from Yale’s campus:
http://www.omnihotels.com/hotels/new-haven-yale
http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/hvndt-courtyard-new-haven-at-yale
The hotels next to campus are very expensive. We have always stayed at the Hampton Inn in Milford. It is about a 15 or 20 minute drive in the morning to get to Yale. There are always other Yale parents staying there, too, and it has been pleasant chatting with some of them at breakfast. Do a search here on the Yale parents thread - there are frequently hotel recommendations (search in April for bulldog days, August for move-in, September or October for parent’s day).
I booked already for BDD and move-in. How soon do we need to book rooms for parents weekend? Now?
If you want to book one of the near-campus hotels for a weekend with high demand, like parents’ weekend, the Game, or commencement, you need to book way in advance. Like now. But if you have a car, it’s a lot cheaper to stay further away, such as in Milford. It’s not difficult to park near campus–there are a number of pay garages that are convenient.
The hotels near campus that I’ve stayed in, and that are nice, are the Study, the Courtyard by Marriott, and the Omni. I have not heard good things about the Hotel Duncan. There is also the new New Haven Hotel, which I think is supposed to be nice, but I haven’t been there. As noted above, all these hotels jack up their prices outrageously during periods of high demand, and sometimes require multi-night stays, etc.
We always stayed at the Hampton in Milford. Very reasonably priced, and perfectly nice. There’s also a Fairfield Inn in Milford which I’ve stayed in, and is also nice. We stayed once at the La Quinta in New Haven down by Ikea. Don’t go there. Dirty, and sketchy. The “close to campus” hotels are VERY pricy.
I guess it depends on what direction you are driving in from. North Haven, West Haven, East Haven are all completely different towns. West Haven is near the beach so they do have motels there you will need to do research on the area. Personally I would prefer to stay in either Milford or North Haven over West Haven and East Haven. East Haven is across the bridge and that is a traffic nightmare. Most of West Haven is nice but if you don’t know the area you could end up in what I would consider the worst sections of New Haven as they are not far away from much of West Haven. Milford has a lot of commuter hotels right off of the highway that are very affordable and nice. In fact we are holding one of our classes for work at the Hyatt Place because its beautiful, new and very affordable. It also includes a nice hot breakfast. I used to live in Milford so I know that general area quite well. As for staying right in the city- I probably wouldn’t. Its not a very big city and most of the outside towns are really only 10-15 min away so I would just drive in. But that is me.
One more note on this: the hotels in town are not horribly expensive on weekends when there isn’t a major event at Yale. We were at the Courtyard Easter weekend, and the rate was (if I recall correctly) $134. Plus tax, and they charged for parking, too. But that’s a lot less than they charge for the Game or for commencement.
We stay at Hyatt place in Milford and drive in. But we are from california so used to driving all the time.
Thanks to everyone for their suggestions! They are very helpful. We booked the Hampton Inn at Milford, using HHonors points, only 20,000 points each night - very reasonable. Hope daughter will get a host so she’ll stay on campus and get immersed with all the activities. She is trying to decide between Yale and Case Western Reserve 8 year direct medical school program, a big decision for her! For any parents with experience helping their students make this type of selection in the past, I would love to hear your perspective!
Hello awesome Yale parents. I am a potential Yale mom - daughter has not decided yet but Yale is on the list of her final three schools.
She has already decided on taking a gap year, so will be the class of 2020.
My question is about the expected parental contribution. Yale has been very generous to us when it comes to financial aid. But I am curious if this is going to change next year, since we will be already “in” and committed to the college. Has anyone here been in that situation before (gap year) ?. Can I expect that the offer will be very similar for next year , provided our financial situation will stay about the same?
Also, how much (percentage wise) did your contribution rise after having only one child in college instead of two? I have a son who will be graduating in a couple of years. FA officer told us that is will basically double. Has this been your experience as well?
Thank you so much for any insight
I’m starting to get that graduation really is a multi-day event: Biden is speaking at Class Day on Sunday, degrees conferred on Monday. Can anyone comment on the “Boola Bash”?
@Kelowna Our parental contribution did not double when our older son graduated, though there are so many other factors that go into the calculation that it’s hard to tease out how an individual factor affects financial aid (job change,fall internship, etc). Overall, our parental contribution has remained surprisingly stable. Though I can’t speak to the gap year question, my understanding is that Yale doesn’t play games with financial aid decisions. Awards are calculated using their formula and don’t change once you’re “hooked.” We receive large financial aid and have found the financial aid office to be very helpful in answering our questions.
@Kelowna That’s a legitimate question. But I think given Yale’s ~96% four year grad rate with ~65% of kids on Fin Aid, I doubt Yale throws 2nd year surprises. My family saw a small and steady increase in EFC but it was reasonable given my family’s increase (albeit small) in income.
@scoutsmom, definitely commencement is a multi-day event. Lots going on. We attended Boola Bash and had a fun time. It’s basically a dance with lots of food and drinks.
speaking of Boola Bash, I asked my (85 yo) father whether he wanted to go, assuming he’d say no way, and said yeah sure! I want to do it all!
I’m not even sure Boola Bash is my kind of thing, but at $15 a ticket, what the hey.