@T26E4 That’s correct but a lot of Ivy recruits (and D3 recruits, and D1/D2 non-scholarship athletes at scholarship schools) still participate in signing day events at their high schools just as a fun event, even though they’re not signing an NLI . . . and why not, it’s just some well earned recognition. They just sign a blank piece of paper or a certificate the high school provides. 
I’m not trying to toss cold water on the party – it was just a heads up. My own kiddo took part of her school’s “signing day” events even though she was a D2 athlete. The local papers were there and they snapped pics of all the kids & coaches and then kids, coaches and parents. By all means, soak it up! As parents who stood fast by our athlete kids, we deserve a little limelight too! Congrats!
Hi there’s some great companies that you can get swag from before arriving. I’ve never been disappointed by YaleBulldogBlue.com. BUT when you actually get to Yale you’ll find better swag. AND I think it was in the acceptance package that there was a car sticker that you can’t get at the bookstore or online i.e. a priceless sticker! so treat it special. (okay I know not exactly WOW but we like treats in our house - it doesn’t take much to amuse us) congrats
We will proudly stick that sticker on our car 
Ordered from YaleBulldogsBlue last night. Had to put the breaks on my son…whoa! Easy there; we need to pace ourselves.
Thanks for the swag alert.
And @T26E4 no offense taken about the signing day. My son’s school loves any excuse to snap pictures and put out baloons
Funny thing, tonymom. We had proudly put our kids’ high school stickers and travel hockey team stickers on the car. Some of the reactions to DS’s entering Yale were not comfortable for us, and we currently have no stickers on the car. Maybe it’s time, and when I get my new car I’ll put decals on there again.
[snark]and maybe, I’ll put the Yale one right on the Gull Wing Door’s window where it can’t be ignored, and dare anyone to say something snotty 
[/snark]
@IxnayBob I’m conscious of the sticker on the back of my car and I make extra sure to not be a jerk on the road (not that I tend to be anyway!) so that I don’t feed any stereotypes!
@donnaleighg , I try to be a courteous driver also, regardless of the decals. On NJ roads, it stands out. You’re a hero if you acquiesce to an alternate merge without threatening looks and jockeying within inches of a collision.
Ps. I realized that I said Gull Wing doors. I keep doing that. They are properly referred to as Falcon Wing doors. Something about how they’re hinged that makes the difference. After 2 years on the waiting list, I guess I get to call them whatever I want
Wow!!! Didn’t realize those stickers were “fighting words”!!!
We are near Stanford so I think a Cal sticker would cause a bigger response. I do have relatives in NJ so my kiddo might have to sneak across the boarder in the dark of night if he’s wearing his Yale swag!
@tonymom, Nah, I’m just overly sensitive The reactions I responded to were mainly on the kids’ travel hockey teams, where the academic aspirations were lower (although one kid on another team did wind up playing for Harvard). The kids no longer play hockey, so I’m free to put decals on.
First of all IxnayBob, congrats on the Model X, those doors are the coolest thing Ive ever seen. My younger son is still in high school an he came up to me one day and said “Dad, there is no way to not seem like a jerk when you tell people that my brother goes to Yale. You cant say “oh, X is such a great school!” without looking like a pompous braggart”. I realize that he is wrong, particularly because X usually IS a great school, but I also notice in social situations when someone tells me that the DS is at X and then asks where my son is that there is a slightly crestfallen look. There are a lot of Ivy kids where I live but still. Thats a long way of saying that I dont have a sticker on my car. Not exactly hiding my light under a bushel but there is no reason to rub it in. Just what I feel comfortable with personally.
It’s funny,. I’m not even a Yale parent yet but my daughter has applied SCEA and I’ve already evaluated the bumper sticker issue. I’d proudly display a sticker from a school a notch or two lower in “prestige,” but I don’t think I’d do so for Yale - or buy the sweatshirt, etc. To me it would seem like bragging. I don’t judge others when I see their stickers or swag, but I still wouldn’t do it.
Hopefully I’ll be in a position to see if these thoughts evolve after Dec 15.
Its funny, I have a Yale sweatshirt but never wear it for that reason. Maybe Ill go as a “Yale parent” for Halloween just to get over it. Yeah no.
After suffering from some hurtful crap with the kids’ hockey families, I went very low-key re Yale. When asked, I’d mumble something about lucky, hitting the lottery, but over time, I treat it as natural because, well, it is. Someone has to be accepted, and in this case, it was DS.
I also reflected on the fact that these same parents would have no qualms about bragging on their kids for a hat trick, a shutout, an exceptionally beautiful goal, etc.; well, that entitles me, not to brag, but to answer a direct question about where DS was accepted without feeling awkward.
@wchatar2, those doors are pretty cool, but being honest, if you gave me a choice between the X with “normal” doors 2 years earlier (and possibly less expensive), or with them 2 years (and counting) later, I’d have chosen the earlier car. Elon Musk is undoubtedly not a mere mortal, but sometimes he’s a bit too stubborn for his (and my) own good.
@IxnayBob I agree with all that you say but I guess my issue is that it is all a little fresh in everyones experience. I know how fraught the process was, how much anxiety it produced and, honestly, how much money was spent in test prep etc. There is a kid who was a Yale double legacy in my sons grade who not only didnt get into Yale but I think was disappointed with where he eventually went. Having said that, I think that student is now happy as a clam and doesnt miss being at Yale one bit. Maybe one day I will put a discreet “Y” on my car (my mother already has-shes the one who is without shame) but its just too soon now. A relative whose child went to Harvard was wearing that schools sweat shirt at a very public event recently and I called him out on it. He said “I paid $250k for this shirt, Id wear it to work if they would let me”. Im not there yet.
The problem with all gull wing (falcon?) type doors is that you cant get out in the event of a roll over. I assume that the brilliant Mr. Musk has solved this issue. No, he is not a mere mortal.
I’ve struggled with the bumper sticker thing too. Yale was my son’s dream, and he got in! Why can others be so proud but we can’t be? Our kids worked so hard for this. Other friends post about their kids colleges on FB all the time. I’m usually quiet. I certainly don’t want to make anyone feel bad but the double standard is annoying. I think the sticker will go on the car soon. And I occasionally wear my Yale t-shirt. Most people are really happy for him and us. I guess it’s just around parents of his classmates where it seems weird somehow. But, in the scheme of things, I guess this isn’t the worst problem to have!
I wear Yale gear often. Fanatics.com has great values. Recently I worked in a refinery where the rules required 100% cotton long-sleeve shirts, I bought four “Yale” and one “Michigan” (my alma mater). They get a little bit obscured under a safety-vest, respirator, hard-hat and computer backpack. No one has ever given me a hard time.
Neither our son nor we felt comfortable with the Yale sticker on the car. But we happily applied the decal of his residential college. He has a lot of pride in his RC, and we know what it represents!
He is a senior now and we (his parents) still mainly wear the Yale gear just at home and not out in the world. Proud of our kid, but just not wanting to start that conversation around here where those acceptances are not common.
Another Yale mom I know said she didn’t want the car sticker because a lot of people wrongly assume all Ivy families are wealthy and she didn’t want people making that assumption should she ever be in a fender bender!
Excellent idea @bookmobile
I haven’t put our decal on the car either for all of the reasons mentioned above…but this conversation is making me think I should. From the other side of the fence, growing up 30 minutes from Harvard, I remember finding it infuriating when people going to Harvard would answer “Cambridge” when I’d ask them where they went to school. I used to think, If it’s that embarrassing, why work so hard to go there in the first place? I get it now…but IRL, admitting that my kid goes to Yale leads to just a minute of discomfort, followed by a great opportunity to talk about how affordable many great colleges are, as well as the quirkiness of the admissions process.
My Yale sticker is still in the drawer, and it will remain there for the foreseeable future. But I wear my Yale hat whenever I can. I feel a hat is not as loud as a sticker or a sweater.