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Posted

I figured I'd start a topic for Yale, since I haven't heard a lot of talk about it. Did anyone else apply this year? If so, what are your research interests, and who were your POI's?

The stats from previous years make me think we might hear back by the end of this week or the beginning of this week, which is good, because I don't know if I can wait any longer! I keep fluctuating between solid self-confidence and total self-doubt. Either way, it will be good to just have a decision in my hand, so I can stop wondering. How are you all feeling?

Posted

i didn't apply there, though several of the people i know did. how large/small is their program? i hear their funding is good.

Posted

From what I read on their website, they accept 6-10 people a year, which sounds small to me, but might be average for a graduate program at a school like Yale. And yes, their funding is supposed to be excellent, which would definitely be a plus :)

Posted

I remember reading on their website that the stipend was $25,000 last year. Which if you compare cost of living for New Haven is CRAZY MONEY haha. $38,000 in Berkeley, $51,000 in Palo Alto... I spend too much time on this site http://www.bestplaces.net/col/

I applied there and my interest are stratification, social movement, race, gender. Haven't heard anyyyything yet! I have some offers already so I'm not panicking but it would be nice to have everything out on the table so I can finish the wondering (and constantly refreshing my email) and start working on deciding.

Posted (edited)

haha whoops crazy good. it's super cheap to live there so with an offer of $25,000 from Yale, your money would take you as far as a $50,000 offer from Stanford (where it's super expensive to live). But, uh, that might be a less positive sign of how desirable it is to live in NH..

Edited: This is a wild exaggeration, but the idea behind cost of living is still important.

Edited by jenjenjen
Posted

Well, you are living in New Haven... hahaha! Actually, I also spent some time on that site @jenjenjen mentioned and I don't think their control variables make sense for a graduate student, as on-campus housing would equalize to some degree (Stanford guarantees somewhat on campus housing, and many of their dorms are below $1000). Books cost the same, food is not going to be 100% more expensive at trader joes and the grocery store than in Palo Alto than in New Haven (in fact, produce might be cheaper)... travel to conferences depending would be basically the same depending on location of conference.. unless you have children and you are raising a family, I don't think the calculator is actually the greatest measure. The $13,000 difference between Berkeley and Palo Alto is most likely a direct result of a median home price/income calculation figured in somewhere. Highly doubtful that it will cost $13,000 more for a graduate student in Palo Alto vs. berkeley. Basically, I love you to death @jenjenjen, but common sense dictates bestplaces.net isn't the greatest way to figure out the differences in cost. (I'd be more concerned with the cost of their on-campus housing, and other things such as transportation costs etc).

Posted

hmmm sciencegirl that's a great point! I think the vast majority of the cost difference is due to rent and utilities (though transportation would matter some places) which wouldn't matter so much if you can get cheap on campus housing. I actually had no idea Stanford dorms were that cheap! Which I'm guessing means you could get a decent apartment for a couple hundred more a month. I think I start undervaluing any offer out of self-doubt and the general disbelief of any good news haha. Also my cousin got what looked like a great stipend at NYU and is now taking out loan in the second year and it's pretty much all housing costs, and I think her experience probably greatly skewed my perspective.

Posted

I was under the same impression. I did a rough comparison of housing costs in New Haven with housing costs near the other school I was accepted to, and it looks like New Haven would be a much cheaper place to live, at least housing-wise. I can't say about any other costs, but that was a good sign!

And I'm actually in the same boat. I've gotten funding at a Master's program, so I'm not totally out of the game, but this was my big shot at a PhD program, so I'm really excited to hear back. Hopefully things will work out well for both of us!

I remember reading on their website that the stipend was $25,000 last year. Which if you compare cost of living for New Haven is CRAZY MONEY haha. $38,000 in Berkeley, $51,000 in Palo Alto... I spend too much time on this site http://www.bestplaces.net/col/

I applied there and my interest are stratification, social movement, race, gender. Haven't heard anyyyything yet! I have some offers already so I'm not panicking but it would be nice to have everything out on the table so I can finish the wondering (and constantly refreshing my email) and start working on deciding.

Posted (edited)

The other thing to think about when you compare housing costs is the neighborhood that you are comparing... there are some college towns where online you will see really inexpensive housing, but say if you are a more concerned about safety, might not want to live in that specific area alone. The way I'm doing it is mostly by just comparing on-campus housing... a friend of mine said that if the school offers it, you should really look into it.. there is something to be said about the convenience of being right next to your classes, the library.. even if you are just saving an 45 minutes-an hour each day, that's almost 5 hours during the week that will come in handy when buried in research...

Edited by sciencegirl
Posted

Congrats Yale acceptees!! If you have any info on method of contact, if all acceptances have gone out, if they are having a visiting weekend, that kind of stuff - I'd love to hear it! Basically give those of us facing silence a little more insight haha

Posted

Damn someone got 27,300/year, full tuition and health care, in New Haven!!! Going to live large while in grad school I guess haha.

Posted

Congrats to the new Yalies!

Yale's Graduate School is newly requiring all departments to conduct phone interviews before they will formally admit candidates. It's a ballsy move that a lot of departments disagree with - on both functional and logistical grounds. I think a lot of DGS's are going through the motions with these phone calls. This is probably what Andy334 experienced.

Yes, Yale's stipend is ridiculous for New Haven. I would only caution that you will be living in New Haven, and life saving Metro North tickets to New York will add up $$$ quickly. Also, the sometimes inevitable life saving move to New York in your dissertation years will also be quite expensive.

Posted

Yale's Graduate School is newly requiring all departments to conduct phone interviews before they will formally admit candidates. It's a ballsy move that a lot of departments disagree with - on both functional and logistical grounds. I think a lot of DGS's are going through the motions with these phone calls. This is probably what Andy334 experienced.

very interesting. i wonder why no one has posted about this until now.

Posted

Congratulations to everyone who was accepted! I wasn't one of the lucky ones, unfortunately, but I AM truly happy for everyone who made the cut.

Now to find a large bottle of rum and copious amounts of chocolate...

Posted

Congratulations to everyone who was accepted! I wasn't one of the lucky ones, unfortunately, but I AM truly happy for everyone who made the cut.

Now to find a large bottle of rum and copious amounts of chocolate...

don't give up just yet. i'm one of the pessimists in this forum, but even i think that, with only 2 acceptance posts and nothing else, it's hard to tell they're done accepting people.

with that said, rum and chocolate sound tempting.

Posted

don't give up just yet. i'm one of the pessimists in this forum, but even i think that, with only 2 acceptance posts and nothing else, it's hard to tell they're done accepting people.

with that said, rum and chocolate sound tempting.

Yeah, I know you're right, I should at least hold out hope. On the other hand, I didn't get a phone interview, and I'm assuming not everyone who gets accepted comes on GradCafe. Also, I started the morning with a nice helping of rejection from UNC-Chapel Hill, so I've been feeling pretty pessimistic all day. Not the best attitude, but it's a hard one to fight :-/

Posted

I'd highly recommend having some good heart-to-heart's with current grad students.

LOL what do you mean by that?

Posted

Just that, while it is certainly possible to get a wonderful education at Yale, it is really not the place for everyone. Prospective students tend to get so intoxicated by those magic 4 letters that they are blind to a lot of the negatives. And (as with any school) there are a lot of negatives. So just a word of advice to keep your head on as you head into the selection process. I'm not going to expand on this further. As with any school you'd consider spending 5-9 years of your life at, I'd just hope that everyone is doing their due diligence. That's all!

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