The Admissions Brochure
In many ways, I am the Yale student from the admissions brochure. I take classes with famous and well-connected professors, go to office hours, am in an improv comedy group, have an engaging and well-paid student job at the Writing Center, am in a senior society – basically, I’ve been living “the Yale experience,” that is, the experience I was sold on as a pre-frosh.
But I’ve noticed that in all these activities, my peers look a lot like me: white and well-off. This is true in my “famous Yale classes” (Anne Fadiman, Public Schools, etc.), in my improv group, at my job, and in my society. For example, my junior year, I was the only member of my improv group without a second home; we even assumed that members would have vacation homes as potential places to stay when the group is on tour.
In fact, this is the one way in which my Yale experience hasn’t matched the brochures: the ubiquitous diversity Yale advertises, in which everywhere you go, you meet people from all walks of life, is just not here. Yale’s policies make wealthier students my peers. Meanwhile, the student work requirement puts my friends from low-income families into positions of service, making them work long hours at Bass cafe while I study there, or ring up snacks for me at Durfee’s when I’m on my way to rehearsal or office hours. I want the student income contribution to be eliminated because it will allow students to choose how and when they work.
But I’ve noticed that in all these activities, my peers look a lot like me: white and well-off. This is true in my “famous Yale classes” (Anne Fadiman, Public Schools, etc.), in my improv group, at my job, and in my society. For example, my junior year, I was the only member of my improv group without a second home; we even assumed that members would have vacation homes as potential places to stay when the group is on tour.
In fact, this is the one way in which my Yale experience hasn’t matched the brochures: the ubiquitous diversity Yale advertises, in which everywhere you go, you meet people from all walks of life, is just not here. Yale’s policies make wealthier students my peers. Meanwhile, the student work requirement puts my friends from low-income families into positions of service, making them work long hours at Bass cafe while I study there, or ring up snacks for me at Durfee’s when I’m on my way to rehearsal or office hours. I want the student income contribution to be eliminated because it will allow students to choose how and when they work.
