Welcome

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Announcements

► Environmental Humanities Course Listings for Spring 2024

The Spring 2024 Yale Environmental Humanities guide to undergraduate and graduate course offerings will be posted in late summer.

Yale offers dozens of courses each semester approaching environmental issues from diverse humanities perspectives. Some courses are entirely focused on the environment and the humanities; others approach the environmental humanities as one of several integrated themes.

Undergraduate students interested in exploring the intersection of environment and culture— including literature, history, anthropology, philosophy, religion, the arts, and other humanities disciplines— are encouraged to sign up for the Yale Environmental Humanities newsletter that circulates every Monday morning during the semester. During the last semester, the newsletter and calendar publicized more than 100 different events across the campus.

Questions about environmental humanities? Contact Prof. Paul Sabin, faculty director of Yale Environmental Humanities.

► Yale College Writing Center Spring 2024

Questions? Email Paula Rawlins, the Yale College Writing Center’s assistant director.

The Writing Center offers one-on-one consultations to Yale College students at any stage of the writing process. Students are welcome to bring drafts to sessions, though they are not required to do so. Tutors and Writing Partners can help writers brainstorm, provide feedback on drafts, and assist students in building their editing and proofreading skills. Sessions are offered in a variety of formats:

  • Residential College Writing Tutors:   Make an appointment with a professional writing tutor. 
  • Writing Partner Drop-In Hours: Writing Partners (Yale undergrads and graduate students who are talented writers who love helping others) meet with Yale College students to talk through ideas or give feedback on drafts on a first-come, first-served basis. They may be found upstairs in the Poorvu Center (301 York St.), seven days a week, at a variety of morning, afternoon, and evening times.
  • Writing Partner Online Appointments:  sign-up to meet with a Writing Partner via Zoom. Online appointments will be available 7:00-10:00 pm Sunday, Monday, and Thursday evenings. Students may also “drop-in” for help during these hours by using the Zoom link provided once signed into WConline.
  • Fellowship Writing Partners: Fellowship Writing Partners offer feedback on proposals and essays written by students applying to scholarships or fellowship programs over a course of approximately three appointments. Request a Fellowship Writing Partner here
  • Weekly Writing Partners: Designed for students taking a writing intensive course or working on a long-term writing project who seek to meet with the same Writing Partner each week. Request a Weekly Writing Partner for the Fall 2023 semester.
  • Study Halls: Poorvu 121 is the location for weekly study ahlls on Wednesdays (evenings) and Sundays (afternoons). Writing Partners are on hand to offer feedback and share snacks. A Writing Partner familiar with Directed Studies in on hand on Wednesdays.

► Resources for Math Courses and the Math Major

Information about mathematics courses, including calculus and the math major introductory sequence, is available on the Mathematics Department’s first-year student resources site.

The website features sections on placement, advice for choosing your first math course at Yale, links to other resources, and contact information for further inquiries.

► Meet with Your Personal Librarian

For individual support for coursework and research assignments, reach out to a librarian! Find the name and contact information for your Personal Librarian at this link.

► Health Professions and STEM Advising for First-Years

First-year students interested in health professions or STEM fields related to health professions are invited to watch Health Professions & STEM Advising for First-Years, a summer 2023 webinar with Kristin McJunkins, Director of Health Professions & STEM Advising, and Sandy Chang, M.D., Associate Dean of Science.

► Health Professions “Quick Questions” Advising for First-year Students

First-year students: interested in the health professions, but unsure where  to start at Yale, are invited to meet with the Office of Career Strategy’s health professions quick questions adviser, Helen Cai. Helen is a Yale College graduate and, currently, a Yale Med student.  Possible topics:

  • Med school process
  • Exploring the medical professions
  • Preparation timeline for applying to med school
  • Pursuing research and clinical experience (including STARS) at Yale

Log in to Yale Career Link  to make an appointment.

► Education Studies Weekly Tea and Cookies

The Education Studies multidisciplinary academic program invites all students interested in connecting with other EDST students and meeting the DUS, Prof. Mira Debs, to a Weekly Tea and Cookies on Fridays. Fall 2023 information TBA.

Students interested in Education Studies are also invited to sign up for the EDST mailing list, for information about gatherings and education-related opportunities.

Academic Strategies Program Individual Peer and Staff Consultations

Meet with an Academic Strategies peer mentor! Mentors can help you create a weekly schedule, work through academic challenges, and identify goals for the semester. Mentors are availible via request by emailing academicstrategies@yale.edu.

►Women in Economics Study Halls

Women in Economics (WiE) holds reguar, twice-monthly evening study halls in the HQ Undergraduate Students’ Lounge. The fall 2023 start date will be announced in September. Study halls are held every other week.

►Major Roadmaps

The Yale College Deans Office in consultation with the Directors of Undergraduate Studies has undertaken a project to create a series of “roadmaps,” or visual representations, indicating

  • how students go through that major
  • a typical course sequence, in some cases

AFST, AMST, ANTH, BENG, CHEM, CGSC, LITR, CPSC, EAST, E&EB, ECON, ENGL, EVST, EP&E, ER&M, GMAN, GLBL, HIST, HSAR, HSHM, HUMS, ITAL, LING, MATH, MENG, MB&B, MCDB, NSCI, PHYS, PLSC, PSYC, SOCY, SPAN, and S&DS currently have roadmaps. More are on the way.

Many majors offer multiple paths, and the maps are designed to facilitate comparison. The roadmaps and typical course sequences are visually uniform so that students may easily compare one major with another at a glance.

More detailed descriptions of the requirements for each major can be found under Subjects of Instruction in the Yale College Programs of Study.

► Graduate-Undergraduate Mentorship Initiative

The  Yale Graduate-Undergraduate Mentorship Initiative maintains a database that pairs Yale undergraduate  mentees with postdoctoral and graduate and professional student mentors from a wide range of fields. An experienced mentor can make all the difference, and GUMI aims to provide mentors who can impart valuable advice to undergraduates considering graduate or professional school.

Energy@Yale Handbook

Yale’s Energy Liason, Sena Sugiono ‘25, and the director of Energy Studies, Prof. Michael Oristaglio, have produced a comprehensive handbook on all things Yale energy-related. The link to the handbook can be found here.

► Peer Mentorship Program for Leave of Absence Students

The Yale College Council has launched a peer mentorship program for students considering a leave of absence or currently on a leave of absence. Information is available at this link.

► Economics Department Resources

Economics Course Consultations with Departmental Faculty

Students considering taking an economics course this spring will be interested to know that, in addition to Yale Course Search and the economics course description and course schedule websites, they may also gather course information by speaking with the course professor.

Introductory microeconomics is taught in two formats, depending on the semester:

  • Econ 115 is a large lecture class. All students may pre-register for Econ 115
  • Econ 108 is a smaller course intended for students with limited or no experience in calculus. It places greater emphasis on quantitative methods and examples
Introductory macroeconomics (116) and introductory data analysis and econometrics (117) are large lecture courses that all students may pre-register to take.

► Computer Science Advising Resources 

The Department of Computer Science has resources to advise students wanting to take a course in computer science and/or considering one of our majors (CS, CS + Econ, CS + Math, CS + Psych, or EECS).  Visit the Advice for First-Year Students Interested in Computer Science page for advice on course selection, descriptions of our majors, contacts who can answer your questions, and more.
 

►Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry “Quick Facts”

All students who desire information about the MB&B major, including faculty advising, the curriculum, working in a research lab, and MB&B activities are invited to click here for the MB&B “Quick Facts about Majoring in Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry.”

►Peer Mentoring and Peer Advising

Information about peer mentoring and peer advising, and links to some campus offices, departments, and majors that offer such resources, is available on the Peer Mentoring and Peer Advising page (under Your Adviser and Advising).

►Yale IEEE Big Sib/Little Sib Program

Concerned about student diversity in SEAS majors and eager to provide advising to first-years and sophomores, the Yale IEEE student group has started a Big Sib/Little Sib group to help address both issues and welcome students of all backgrounds into the SEAS family.

https://forms.gle/sWHesPhCwcy99JrcA

►Yale Undergraduate Research Association Database

The Yale Undergraduate Research Association (YURA)  released a new version of the Research Database (RDB), a cross-disciplinary, searchable, integrated database of 1400+ professors across all undergraduate departments and fields of study. It was built to help fellow undergraduates find potential mentors for research and beyond, and learn more about their professors.

The database can be found at https://yura.yale.edu/database.

Questions or inquiries can be addressed to yura@yale.edu.

► As a First-year, You Can’t Avoid Reinvention

Meera Navlakha writes in her The New York Times Opinion piece, “Before I went to college, I thought of change as something I could control.” As a Freshman, You Can’t Avoid Reinvention

►What Influences International STEM Students’ Decisions? 

British Council survey of 1,348 international undergraduate and graduate students studying in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States asked about factors affecting their decision making in choosing a country and course of study. The report found that undergraduates tend to choose U.S. universities with the goal of increasing their career prospects globally. Graduate students are drawn by perceptions of rigorous education and high-quality research, and affordability.

“The U.S. perhaps has the most well-rounded value proposition to international STEM students: it is a country where students perceive they can engage in high-quality education and gain skills and research experience to apply to work either there or in their home countries; post-study work experience in the U.S. has expanded and STEM students can now spend 29 months working – though there remains debate about the future sustainability of this policy,” the survey report states.

The survey found that while significant numbers of international students hope to stay in their destination countries to work after graduation, a comparatively small proportion (15 percent) hope to migrate permanently.

Inside Higher Ed Quick Take.

►Goals for All Yale College Majors

The Yale College Dean’s Office launched the “Intensive Majors Project” with, as its top priority, the goal of helping to advise students about their courses of study.  Other goals centered on the faculty, the departments, and Yale’s national accreditation requirements.

It is expected that roughly fifteen majors will conduct self-reviews each year, allowing all majors to undergo review in a four- to five-year cycle, at which point — because major requirements and goals change over time — the self-reviews will begin anew.

You can now read the goals for each Yale College major, as approved by undergraduate departments and programs. 

Sophomores on Sophomore Year

“Sophomore year, and especially the summer after that, should be a time to explore different fields.”

“Look ahead to junior and senior years because there are some provisions like studying abroad and class load in senior year that should be taken into account.”

“You can still join extracurricular groups in sophomore year. It’s a great time to try something new.”

“It’s OK if you don’t have your entire life planned by now. Most will change their minds anyway.”

“The best advice I can give about ‘sophomore slump’ is just to stick it out. Don’t drop anything you’ve previously liked just because you’re feeling down. Chances are, when your situation improves, you’ll appreciate it even more. Be careful about making major decisions (changing a major, quitting an activity, etc.) when you know you’re not really at your best.”

“Don’t be afraid to have fun! People get stressed out, but you should have a few nights when you just stay up watching movies with your friends. Make sure that you leave time for yourself in addition to all of your commitments. Also, sleep is good.”