re @Tperry1982 my daughter was veg for 3 or 4 years before going to Yale. She became an omnivore about 9 months in because the variety of veg options was very limited (though certainly tasty as I can verify from my limited exposure).
Finding the discussion of Cornell’s chocolate milk amusing! My older son (19) is about to graduate from Cornell and start at Yale for graduate school. I thought I might find some useful info here. He’s been vegetarian since he was 8 and severely lactose-intolerant for many years. He never took advantage of all the good dairy treats at Cornell. He recently became vegan. He told me he found a nice veg. cafe during his recent visit to Yale. He also enjoyed the meals he had in the campus dining halls (with friends who are current undergraduates). Glad to have your thread for more info about campus. I visited a friend at Yale once back in the late 80’s! It’s been a while.
I hadn’t heard about the Yale case of men. B. Glad that both of my kids got vaccinated last fall. Our insurance covered it fully. After the case(s) at Princeton a year or two ago, I figured it was worth doing. We had been on campus there in the time frame that there was concern. It seems to have a much longer incubation period that the more common form of meningitis. If the school is asking a lot for the vaccine, you might check with your family coverage when the kids are at home (if they’re still covered at home).
@donnaleighg - my D is okay with the vegetarian options but she is always glad to be home where she can eat mommy’s cooking.
@NJCornellMom - the name of the vegan café is Claire’s Cornucopia, right outside of Old Campus. My D eats there a lot, especially when she wants some variety or a treat.
Thanks, @Tperry1982 - yeah, he did grow weary of the choices at Cornell dining, too. At least they have them. He probably texted me about Claire’s. He was really happy to find it on his free day on campus prior to the open house. He found nice people to chat with while eating there, too.
I’m hoping he gets a room in Helen Hadley Hall for his first year so that he can eat where he chooses (dining halls or elsewhere). Grad students in the Hall of Graduate Studies pay for an expensive meal plan in that building (which is overdue for renovation). He isn’t excited about setting up a kitchen and wouldn’t want to do it unless his roommate was also vegetarian or vegan. He lived in a program house dorm all four years at Cornell, so he’s never had an apartment. Since he started college at 16, that worked well for him. One more year in a dorm will help him get started, meet people, and find where he wants to live.
^^My D is an undergrad so I don’t know anything about their dining options. There are quite a few places to eat vegan. If my memory is correct, the Hall of Graduate Studies is close to Morse and Stiles Residential colleges. There is a Thai place in one of the walkways near Barnes and Nobles and Stiles that has good vegan options.
^ Yes, right by bookstore and Stiles – Indian though; “Talia Too.” http://www.thalitoo.com/
Thanks, @bookmobile - it’s nice that they clearly label non-vegan foods. Most of the local places around us in NJ are very heavy on the dairy. I’m sure he’ll be happy to have convenient Indian food, as he’s been enjoying one of the local Ithaca places. I ordered Yale t-shirts for all of us as well as stickers to add to the cars. I hope he’ll be happy to see them when he gets home for Spring break in a couple weeks! Sort of funny that none of the schools that we (parents) attended are on our cars. Only the kids’ schools! Limited space and we aren’t as excited about our own degrees/schools anymore.
Welcome @NJCornellMom
You must be very proud! Can’t imagine my 16 yr old going off to college as sending my soon to be 18 yr old is stressful enough.
Exciting times for these kids 
@tonymom - proud, but I did miss having him home those years. His younger brother also left for college at 16. He stayed in high school five years so that he wouldn’t leave at 15. He ended up closer to home at Rutgers (and we see him a lot), but he started there with over 50 credits. He had been taking some classes there as interested since he was 10. Not during the school year except for his senior year. Between those classes, some local community college classes and APs, the credits added up. We’re proud of both of them, but it really is hard to send them away at a young age (or any age). It would have been harder (and wrong) to hold them back. Good luck as you prepare to send yours off, too!
Ok…another newbie question…
What are local New Haven must do’s or sees at drop off time? Or are there any? Any in the surrounding areas?
(And yes this mom is avoiding the topic of senioritis by focusing on dropping kiddo off) 
@bookmobile - thanks for the clarification!! You’re absolutely right. I’ve eaten there and I do know the food is good. I’m getting old and senile.
The Peabody museum is always a favorite. Its right on the Yale campus. There are so many things to see in CT in general that you have to decide what kinds of things interest you. You can cross the entire state within 2 hours. New Haven as a whole is really only good for great food, Ikea and Yale as far as I am concerned. That and they have great law offices. Otherwise I would personally look to the other areas of the state to sight see.
If you have time- we have Mystic seaport and Aquarium. It is a gorgeous area and on the shore but is about an hour from New Haven. We have the Mark Twain House and lots of older places to visit across the state. The Goodspeed Opera house and Gillettes castle are almost next to each other and about 35 min from New Haven. Any drive down RT 9 is beautiful. If you are looking for excitement we have two casino’s and both are in rural areas of the state and not in big cities so they become more of a resort environment than a city stop.
Our family is just in the first year of experiencing Yale and the New Haven area, so I’m not going to pretend to be an expert, but I can tell you some things I enjoyed. On drop-off weekend, there are actually nice things planned for families throughout the weekend. The freshman assembly was meaningful. The masters of each RC host a reception in their lovely residence and garden of which we enjoyed at Davenport. There are tours scheduled periodically. We also attended a forum for parents with Dean Holloway and various muckety-mucks from Yale that has provided fodder for lots of discussion among us ever since.
In visits since move-in weekend, we have enjoyed the variety of eateries that aren’t available to us in our more rural area. They were offering tours of Harkness bell tower during Family Weekend and I loved that. So fascinating. And there was an amazing view of the surrounding area from the tippy top. (I did feel, however, that they should alert all comers of the fitness level required to climb all those stairs.) Yale has some nice galleries and museums of their own. We’ve seen and enjoyed the art museum and have heard good things about the natural history museum, but haven’t gotten there yet. Many of them charge an entrance fee but even those seem to offer free admission at certain times.
Having a kid at Yale is pretty special and will surely enhance YOUR next four years, too. There’s nothing I love ,more than discussing all the minutiae. Feel free to DM me for all the Yale navel-gazing that you want or we will surely hijack this thread.
@tonymom, one of the memorable things for me was watching the upperclassmen unload the freshman cars. It doesn’t sound like much, but I dare you to watch it without feeling something. They swarm.
I’m sure that your child has been raised much better than mine, and is much better at expressing thoughts without resorting to cursing, but a memorable moment for me was when I received the text from my freshman that read: “I f___ing love Yale.” The sentiment has become more specific and informative since, but it was a great way to feel good about where I had dropped him off for four years.
I’m with @Community2605 on this: Yale is special. That’s not to say that there aren’t other special places in the world, but without a doubt, Yale is special.
In terms of things to do on or near campus, I would recommend the Yale Art Gallery (which is really terrific since its renovation), the Peabody Museum, and pizza at Wooster Square.
If you have a car, I have to confess that we really enjoyed the Pez visitor center: http://www.pez.com/visit_us/
Pez is cool- its not far either. The Barnum museum used to be cool when I was growing up but I am not certain of the condition of the neighborhood. It had been declining at a fast pace. If I could truly recommend anything it would be to find an upperclassman to take you on an in depth tour of Yale. Every time I visit I see something new. From the different butteries and rooms available to use to the many libraries. The music library is awesome. My kid works at the medical library and she raves about it. All of the different stages and places to see performances. There is always something new to see. I am certain if you could find someone that knows the school well that you could see a lot of amazing things at Yale alone.
Ah yes. Yale is indeed special.
I have a question- I am curious how many parents have heard anything about this basketball player/team and the protests. I am only asking because it has directly affected my daughter who is a cheerleader and is dealing with ramifications of social media posts that others have posted on the subject. It makes me sad because an entire team has worked hard to earn this spot in the big games and yet there is a dark cloud hovering over them. Just curious what other parents have heard and what their kids feelings are.