@Community2605 - the stress is going to be there. You are leaving your baby. It is a whirlwind weekend. Try to enjoy it. The ride home was the worse for me. One of my D’s roommates is from Indiana. Everyone I knew from far off just bought everything while there. And, if you stay there in a hotel, you don’t have to be hovering on campus with your kid though I think mine secretly was glad I was still there. You must remember under all the bravado they are still our babies.
Hi I am a parent of Class 2019. I am posting a question about music opportunities for a string player. My son plays violin in high school. He is not a great player but he enjoys it and he wants to continue it in Yale. We have been searching all the posts but haven’t found anything about music in the forum. I know there is Yale Symphony Orchestra, which is probably super hard for a freshman to get in. He will audition for it but probably will not get in. We are under the impression that if you take violin lessons from music department or take the chamber music class (MUSI 220 or 221), it can be counted towards credits for distributional requirement for liberal arts/fine arts. Is that true? Can anyone comment on how hard to get into YSO or any music class that can be taken to fulfill distributional requirements? Thanks.
@happypiano This page lists other playing opportunities which your son might consider. I think most of them would be less competitive and require less time commitment if he does not make or chooses not to audition for the YSO. My D was one of the best on her instrument in our small public HS but the music required to audition for the YSO was more challenging and would have required more practice time for auditions. She is happily playing in one of the other ensembles listed below. She is a music major so I am not sure which of her classes count as distributional or major requirements. I know that those first few days there are many opportunities to get all those questions answered in person. They get a lot of help in course selection and shopping.
http://yso.commons.yale.edu/about-us/frequently-asked-questions/#q2
“What other musical opportunities are available to me if I don’t get into Symphony
(or, even if I do, what if I want to play in other ensembles, as well)?
Yale has many musical opportunities. There are several student-run residential college orchestras, including (in alphabetical order) the Berkeley College Orchestra, the Davenport Pops Orchestra, the Jonathan Edwards College Philharmonic, and the Saybrook College Orchestra. Wind players can also set their sights on the Yale Concert Band and the Yale Jazz Ensemble. If you’re interested in chamber music, musicians abound at Yale and most are extremely eager to start a small chamber group of their own. Students can even get credit for their chamber music and a school of music coach by taking MUSI 220, The Performance of Chamber Music. Additionally, you can play in the pit orchestra of a musical or an opera.”
I dont know if everyone has seen this yet, but it really is pretty good;
http://www.theonion.com/article/moms-fears-about-daughter-leaving-college-channele-51060
I’m looking for a particular list of bits of knowledge that a freshman will learn in their first year. Or maybe it was advice. It seemed to focus on how they might find that their classmates have lots of differences in background but will have a lot of fundamental sameness, too. I remember one bit was that some students will be wealthier than them and some will be poorer. Does anyone know this list? Or, for that matter, have any list of advice or “I wish I had known” items that are your favorite?
@wchatar2 Cute article. I can’t seem to wrangle my son along for dorm shopping. Unlike his sister who will want to pick out everything, he could care less. I have been his personal shopper, LOL! (He did actually order 2 posters on Amazon, though).
Yale Symphony Orchestra is perhaps one of the finest college orchestras in the country. Which is amazing since the music school at Yale is for graduate students. With that being said, there are additional playing ensembles that might be more accessible for your child and at their level.
A question for the experienced parents. With over a thousand families descending on New Haven on the move in day, I guess it is going to be hard to find seats at any decent restaurants around campus for dinner. Although I don’t mind fast food, but I want to make it nicer for the departing dinner with my son. How bad is it going to be? Any coping strategy?
A number of the good restaurants are on Open Table, so you could try to get a reservation that way.
I happened to be doing a round trip into NYC that day. Waze took me on small streets I didn’t know existed, and while it was a grueling trip, there was no point at which I got out of my car to toss around a football or sunbathe, as many others did as the Zen response to an epoxied Turnpike.
For warm clothing- I suggest layers and a really warm top jacket but they wont be living outdoors. It does get very cold in New Haven because it is on the water and the wind through the buildings can be rough if you are not used to it. Make sure it is somewhat waterproof. We are from CT and I still bought my daughter a down jacket that is long enough to cover her lower half. We also bought waterproof boots that are big enough that she can wear warm socks but she may not need the heavy socks. If they stay dry they should stay warm.
Great places to eat? Just try any or all of the pizza places that are incredibly famous. If you want Thai you can go to “Basil” which is right on the corner of campus, there is also a cute little french cafe across from the book store. We have been trying a new place each time we visit, which has totaled 8 times so far this summer. The one thing everyone agrees about when it comes to New Haven is the food.
As far as move in day goes- we are planning on coming back for the parents event on Saturday but its just a stop on my way to move my oldest into college in NYC. Big weekend here.
@hzhao2004 FWIW I was shocked when my son asked if we had dinner reservations for Friday night, I honestly thought that the last thing he would want is to be locked in to dinner with his parents-I was wrong. I called Morys and they didnt seem to have a problem fitting us in.
@Community2605 We live in Southwest Michigan near the Indiana border and made the long drive to New Haven last year, and will again this year for our D who is a rising sophomore. Using BBB is a great idea and made life much easier. I was also amazed at how quickly all of our D’s stuff was delivered to her room. We stopped, unloaded and a hoard of students helped us get all of her stuff to her room in one trip. My wife then helped our daughter unpack while I made the run to BBB. The whole move in was much easier than expected. Good luck and enjoy the time in New Haven.
Son took 3 college classes from Stanford Summer Quarter last summer as a rising high school senior, he received good grades (2 A’s and 1 A-) and a Stanford transcript. Stanford would recognize them as earned college credits if he attends S. I asked my son to check if Yale considers these credits, his reply was, based on what he read, Yale does not consider any college credits earned in high school - does anyone know what he read/assumed is true?
@Yaledad2019: Your son is correct. Yale – and other colleges like Harvard, Princeton and Stanford – do not recognize credits from another college UNLESS those credits have been pre-approved by the registrar’s office in advance or obtained directly at their college. See: http://catalog.yale.edu/ycps/academic-regulations/credit-from-other-universities.
Sadly that is true. We were pretty much told that Yale does not want you to graduate from Yale with anything but Yale credits. My daughter has 3 years of UCONN latin credits and even a school in the same state does not qualify. She has to start all over in a language even though she has legitimately collected credits that most other schools would gladly take. It is what it is.
@gibby Thank you very much! Good to know that he did the research, even better to know that he is correct! 
Just got a letter from the Yale Parents Annual Fund . . . I was thinking, fundraising already? It was just a nice card and sticker though.
@canoe2015 , just wait
My wife agreed to do fundraising for them last year, but forgot to tell them that we’re horrible at it. I don’t think we got anyone to donate who hadn’t decided to donate independently of our calls and cards. Maybe I creep out easily, but I found it mildly creepy to be calling (in some cases) the parents of DS’s friends, whom I didn’t know personally, asking for money.
IxnayBob oh yes, I believe that . . . I thought it was a nice touch to start with a nice card and small gift with no direct appeal for dollars, though of course raising money is the point of the Parents Fund.