Yale?? Hogwarts??

Before today, I have to say that I had no real interest at all in Yale University. During our stay in New Haven, Connecticut, my opinion definitely changed. 

To be completely honest, today was my favorite day of the trip so far. Yale has a truly beautiful campus, and the (unofficial) tour we took today was extremely personable and our guides were amazingly friendly and funny. As soon as we arrived in New Haven today, we met up with the Brown I cohort - which two of my good friends from school are members of, Duncan Tait and Niels Griedel. It was awesome spending the afternoon with them, and we swapped stories and opinions about schools and dinners and all that fun stuff. 

Duncan, Emily, me, Niels, and Simon briefly reunited!

Lunch was so much fun. I sat with Emily, Duncan, Niels, Simon and a super nice current Yale student. We all compared the Bay Area to New England and talked about things like natural disasters (not too many earthquakes here!), the kinds of people you find around town, and the climate. We also learned a lot about Yale through the eyes of the student, and she told us the ups and downs through her eyes. I really like talking to the current students of the schools we visit because they tell us their honest opinions of the school. It's easier to relate to them than to the alumni and admissions officers because we're current students like them who are going through the same process they did just a couple years ago. They know we don't just want to hear statistics and blind praise about the school, so I feel like when I speak to them I get a more accurate interpretation of their college. 

All serious things aside, lunch was also delicious and probably my favorite meal yet. We all shared the same 3-course meal family-style, which I thought as a great way to add to discussion. We started off with a fantastic beet salad and cheese board, and also some tacos which I could not for the life of me eat. But nobody else thought they were as unbearably spicy as I did so that's okay. The entrees were a Mac and cheese (super flossy seeing as the restaurant was also a fromagerie) and steak-frites (steak and fries). Desert was, not surprisingly, delicious. A chocolate brownie with some kind of goat cheese (baked in there some how) and whipped cream. 

When we finally walked around Yale I was blown away. I could definitely see myself walking around on campus and the location is very me and hits home - New Haven is a college town, much like the one where I'm from - it's not too urban and definitely not in the middle of nowhere. The architecture was amazing - the main dining hall looks like it could have been Hogwarts' very own Great Hall. 

I really enjoyed dinner as well - we ate Greek food with two Vassar graduates, a current Harvard student and a current Columbia student. They had a lot to say about their schools and I got a chance to talk to all of them about their opinions on their schools and applying in general.

It was my favorite day so far, everything was great, I can't wait for tomorrow.