Part 1: Yale SOM Welcome Weekend

Wow, SOMers definitely know how to have fun! After flying in on Thursday Night, we started our evening at "Bar" on College/Crown. The place was packed with cuties, and the beer and pizza were really good ($1 beers after 10:00). Afterwards, I headed over to a house party on Mansfield St hosted by a first year. The second person I met was flatpoint and he did a great job selling Yale. I met people with interesting backgrounds and got a nice sample of the diversity of Yale SOM students.

Skull and Bones Society
Chinese President Hu protestors
One of Yale's Singing Groups
Yale SOM at Night
Yale SOM (very small school)

My Overall Impressions of Yale:

The Good:
-Very small class size (180 students), get to know everyone
-Great Faculty:Student Ratio (60 faculty for 180 students)
-CDO (career develop office), big full time staff for small class size provides a great personal resource to find my dream job
-VERY diverse. I visited MIT and Wharton, and Yale had the least percentage of "traditional" MBA's (aka consulting/banking). Of the 160 Welcome Weekend Attendees, there was a chef, Senator's press secretary, Entrepreneur, Certified professional Negotiator (Navy), diverse industries represented...
-faculty extremely accessible, attributed to small class size
-"Yale" brand
-Close to NY, only $14 by train (1.5 hrs)
-Int'l Trip in Jan: China, Brazil, Africa, England?
-Every Friday no class, focus on recruiting/interviewing
-Pass/Fail makes classes truly team oriented
-Easy to take any Yale class (ie: corporate tax class in Law school)

The Bad:
-Housing options. I checked out all areas: Grad Ghetto, Mansfield, Downtown, high rises, and I didn't find a single place I liked. I'm not very picky but I just want a place with a decent bathroom.
-Weak West Coast recruiting
-untested new curriculum changes

*more details about NY, MIT Sloan, and Wharton to come soon