Oh the benefits of being a Yale student!
The Yale community offers many resources and benefits to its students – so many that it can be overwhelming to learn about everything that exists to help you survive and flourish during your time here.
This post attempts a categorical overview of some of these resources, with the understanding that there are so many, I can’t keep track of them all! You will learn more during BTFO and your first few weeks at Yale so don’t worry about digesting and understanding all of this right now; you will receive lots of support and guidance in the weeks to come.
Health and Wellness:
Yale Student Health: your go-to for all things health, including Acute Care (available 24/7), Mental Health & Counseling and the Pharmacy. Make sure to set up an account on MyChart, so you can manage appointments, prescriptions and communicate with your doctors.
Yale Well: Here you’ll find links for on-campus, off-campus and online resources around physical wellness, mental health, nutritional health, financial health and more!
Payne Whitney Gym: The biggest gym-that-looks-like-a-cathedral that I’m sure you’ve ever seen! This 14-story gothic style building is free for all students and has 12 acres of indoor space housing numerous exercise rooms, dance studios, swimming pools, men’s and women’s locker rooms, saunas, a jogging track, free weight & strength training equipment and a wide variety of cardio exercise equipment.Note: Some things, like fitness classes, do cost extra.
Scholarship and Learning:
The Yale Library:There’s a whole blog post coming up that’s solely about the Library, so stay tuned!
Yale Center for Teaching and Learning: CTL offers a wide swath of resources to graduate students including the Grad Writing Lab, peer writing groups and one-on-one writing help. There’s also lots of resources for graduate teaching. Note: there’s also a writing tutor that is made available for YDS students, with office hours up at the Div school during the semester. You will likely receive an email about this in September.
Community Engagement and Fun:
Community Life at YDS: There’s a whole post coming up about community life at YDS, so stay tuned!
Grad and Professional Students’ Senate: GPSS supports and advocates for graduate and professional students through funding events, advocacy work and sponsoring many different affinity groups. They also have lots of events throughout the year, including at…
GPSCY at Gryphon’s Pub: Overseen by GPSS, GPSCY (pronounced “Gypsy”) is the on-campus bar at 204 York Street for graduate and professional students only. It’s a great place for grad student events, karaoke and great dance parties!
Technology:
IT at Yale: IT services provides many things, the best of which is free software! Their handy incoming students guide can likely answer many of your technology questions.
The Arts and Culture:
Yale Arts Calendar is the clearinghouse for all of the free and not-so-free arts events on campus including visual art, music, drama – you name it, it’s on there!
The Rep: Yale Repertory Theatre offers a 5-play season each year. Best part is students can buy a season pass for $50! (photo: the 2016-2017 production of Assassins, by Stephen Sondheim)
The Cab: See the next Meryl Streep or Angela Bassett onstage at Yale Cabaret, a showcase for School of Drama student work. Plus they serve drinks and food!
Yale University Art Galleryand Yale Center for British Art: both free! All the time! For everyone!
The Peabody Museum of Natural Historyis free for anyone with a Yale ID as well.
FREE TV: through Yale Television, offering (different) selections for on-campus and off-campus students (including HBO!).
Academic subscriptions for as little as $5/month are available for the NYTimes, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and surely many more. Just register with your Yale email address!
Area Discounts:
Honestly, I could write a whole blog just about all the discounts you can get as a Yale student at the shops and restaurants in New Haven. I will just highlight The Shops at Yale website, which details many, but surely not all, of the discounts available to Yale students.
I can hear the voices of my fellow students saying “How could you forget to tell them about this??” so rest assured, there are even more benefits, resources and discounts out there than this blog describes. That’s what you’ll learn about during BTFO and as you get acclimated here. You’ll never be able to say there’s nothing fun to do!
Up next is your New Haven essentials: grocery stores and more!