KNightInBlue said:
Can someone, anyone (current students, applicants, alumni...) please tell me why Yale med is so great? What are its best aspects? Curriculum, students, faculty, residency match lists, financial aid, cafeteria food?
Thank You
I'm starting at Yale this year, so these are just my impressions from the interview and second look weekend. Current students can definitely tell you more.
The main draw is The Yale System, which is pretty special. The major assumption is, "You're all adults now, so we shouldn't have to force you to study." Everything is pass/fail in the first two years, exams are anonymous, and most are optional. Yes, this would allow you to slack off quite a bit, but current Yale students have assured me that a lot of people do study very hard. Yale was the only school I saw where people consistently said that they were focused on learning for their careers, versus passing the next exam or trying to get by learning as little as possible. Yale encourages students to keep up their interests outside of medicine, and I think this is why their students seem so happy and well adjusted. Also, while they don't hold students' hands through the coursework, they seem to offer a lot of support for their students, almost bending over backwards in some instances. Yale requires a thesis, which can be a plus for some and a drawback for others, but you should know about it.
The current students that I've met are great - laid back, helpful, often hilarious, apparently comfortable with one another. I haven't met that many faculty, but the professors I've met have been nice and a little quirky, but I like that. Their match list is unbelievable. I'm sure it's on here somewhere, just search for it. Financial aid is not as good as some other schools because they don't give merit based scholarships, but I'm happy with what they gave me. This part depends on your own financial situation, so it shouldn't influence your decision until you actually have an offer in hand. The cafeteria food is surprisingly good.
