Warning - any parents coming to graduation 2018 need to start booking now!! I got a panicked call from a parent who graduated with me that he was trying to get a room for graduation weekend and all of the ones in town were booked already. I was waiting for reunion weekend to be over to start looking - which meant I was going to start tomorrow. But after his texts, I went online and, true, most downtown hotels are already booked at astronomical prices. I found a room at the New Haven Village Suites which did not require pre-payment and had the usual cancellation policy. This is insane. So, for the parents who are not lucky enough to commute back and forth to events, get started now. The crazy part is that I cannot even begin to pin down relatives on who is making the trek to New Haven. I sure can’t book rooms for folk I can’t confirm are coming and would not expect people to be able to plan that far ahead. Arghhhh!!
Those folks get to stay on campus. My D said folks were making dinner reservations a year ahead too… We didn’t do any fancy dinners. There is a President’s reception Saturday after the first Baccalaureate service. We went to a Head of college reception Sunday after class day. We were at concerts Saturday and Sunday evenings. We had lunch in the residential college at 1:30 Monday which we paid for ahead of time for a small discount.
If anyone is interested in an AirB&B recommendation DM me. We had a wonderful stay this past spring and home can accomodate 6 people. I would highly recommend it.
For some reason@tonymom my attempts to DM you are failing. Perhaps you could DM me the link?
@tonymom Could you send me the info also? It would be nice to have another option for our trips to Yale.
Thanks.
Another option is that there are a few of the hotels in Milford that offered a shuttle to the train station in Milford. We have booked classes there before to attract students from NYC. You could do that and take the Yale shuttle to campus from the New Haven Station. Its a short train ride and a cheaper option for those that are either lasts min or don’t want to pay inflated prices.
@Casper999 @Community2605 sent DM 
Our DD will be entering Yale as a freshman in August. Was wondering when she will receive information on her residential college assignment. Anyone remember when Yale sent-out this information?
@PicoLA late June or early July IIRC. There should be a site set up for the incoming class with exact details, you could search on “Yale class of 2021” or something along those lines.
Looks like it’s June 28.
http://catalog.yale.edu/first-year-student-handbook/important-dates-deadlines/
My son is in the class of 2020. He found out June 22, 2016.
I just booked Graduation Weekend at La Quinta (Yes, I know it’s kind of a dump ) on Hotels.com for $99/per night.
I can cancel up until the day before if I find something nicer.
Hi. Looking for information from experienced parents. Does it make sense to purchase the supplemental Yale insurance. My daughter is covered in that area but she will be an athlete at Yale. Does she get on campus pt and sports medicine only if we purchase the specialty health. She just had surgery and will likely still need some pt and follow up when she gets to campus. Thanks for any help
@Flinnt12 You might want to check with your daughter’s team to see what kind of training/therapy is included in her sport, as there seems to be some variation on this by sport, but in general things the team trainers can handle won’t go to insurance, and the same for things covered under basic care at Yale Health (which all students have, regardless of whether they have the Yale specialty care insurance), such as a sore throat, flu, ear infection, etc.
Specialty care, such as orthopedics, is where insurance is likely to come into play, and for this varsity athletes are the same as any student. It will be more convenient to have the Yale specialty insurance if you expect your daughter to have considerable needs for specialty care, as then she can see the specialists onsite at Yale Health. With other insurance she might need to go to Yale New Haven or somewhere else in town as the Yale Health specialists don’t seem to accept other insurance, even PPO coverage that in theory works anywhere.
The trade-off is that the Yale specialty insurance is expensive - in our case, much more than insurance through my employer - and in my opinion, not very good as it can only be used on campus at Yale and, except for emergencies, provides no coverage for treatment anywhere else e.g. while home over breaks.
@Flinnt12
Great advice from @canoe2015
Have your student email the coach as well. My son’s coach was very helpful in determining if the extra coverage was necessary. Gauge what your athletes particular health needs are…were they fairly healthy during HS athletic career or did they have chronic issues?
We ended up opting for the extra coverage since our son is out of state and we have KP which is not in CT. Just gave us a sense of relief in the long run.
Has anybody received their FA award for continuing students yet? They are supposed to deliver today but nothing yet
I was wondering about that too and then discovered the website now says “Financial aid award notifications for continuing students begin” today.
I’m sure it originally suggested they would all be delivered by now!
http://finaid.yale.edu/event/financial-aid-award-notifications-continuing-students-begin
Does anybody have advice about incoming first-years applying for campus jobs in the fall? All advice welcome.
One specific issue is that many of the online postings ask for hours/ availability, but students don’t have their schedules.
^^ @LadyMeowMeow: if your child’s financial aid package says “Federal Work Study” Yale GUARANTEES them a job, as the Federal government is reimbursing Yale anywhere from 50% to 100% of the wages paid to the student. See: http://www2.ed.gov/programs/fws/index.html
If your child’s aid package just says “Term-time job”, Yale is not guaranteeing a job, but just hoping they will be able to find one, either off-campus or on-campus. The reality – at least from my son’s prospective (he graduated in 2015) – it’s almost impossible to find a term time job freshman year, as those jobs tend to go by seniority (seniors and juniors first, then sophomores, and finally freshman).
My son did not qualify for Federal Work Study, and was unable to find a term time job during his freshman year, but mid-way through his sophomore year, he found a job working for Yale ITS (http://its.yale.edu/) and made about $12K a year in his spare time for 2.5 years.
@gibby Thank you, that is incredibly helpful.