I’d love to hear first hand about extra-curriculars at Yale?
Before I introduce these activities I’d like to convey how significant extracurriculars are at US colleges. For example, students at Australian universities tend to be less engaged with campus culture. While societies and clubs exist, many Australian students simply attend campus for lectures and tutorials. At Yale, and at American colleges in general, students are far more involved with campus culture. They join clubs, they attend performances, and they do it all because they’re genuinely interested–these activities aren’t just résumé padding. This said, here are list of famous extracurriculars at Yale.
A Capella (or “Acapella”) groups: I totally underestimated how prevalent these groups would be at Yale. In the same way that one could refer to an “athlete social scene,” one could also refer to an “acapella social scene”. While groups like the Whiffenpoofs are world-famous and full of gifted singers, plenty of amateurs join less serious groups. Acapella groups are always giving performances, and students keenly attend them. In addition to acapella groups, Yale also has a lot of orchestras and bands.
Improv Comedy/Theatre: Again, these groups have a significant place in Yale’s culture. While neither social scene is exclusionary, they tend to host their own parties and events. It is also pertinent to note that students actually attend performances. Many events “sell out” (they’re often free), and this can be attributed to students’ high quality performances.
Intramural Sports: For non-varsity athletes, intramural sports (“IMs”) are a chance to get competitive and meet other people from the same residential college. There are multiple grades of each sport (e.g. B Grade Basketball), so a lot of students take part.