Madelyn Kumar

The highest-ever number of admitted students came to campus this week from all across the globe to participate in Bulldog Days, Yale’s annual three-day showcase for prospective first years.

Bulldog Days is Yale’s largest recruitment event and aims to showcase what the University has to offer to admitted students. This year, more than 1,200 admitted students and around 1,000 parents came to New Haven to participate in the program, which ran Monday to Wednesday. The prospective Yalies had the opportunity to attend a multitude of panels, master classes and shows put on by hundreds of departments and students groups.

“I feel like the campus did a great job in handling the larger number of students,” Dean of Undergraduate Admissions and Financial Aid Jeremiah Quinlan said. “The energy throughout campus has been incredible the past few days.”

To manage the high number of students and parents, Quinlan said, Yale added extra panels about residential college life, and student groups “more than stepped up to the plate,” hosting nearly 200 student events —  a record high. In addition, more than 600 current students signed up to host prefrosh, according to Director of Recruitment Hannah Mendlowitz ’12.

Bulldog Days is not the only recruitment program Yale has in place. For prospective undergraduates interested in STEM, the University also offers a Yale Engineering & Science Weekend, more commonly known as YES-Weekend. And for the second year in a row, Yale also hosted Bulldog Saturday — a condensed, one-day version of Bulldog Days first rolled out last year in an attempt to keep attendance at Bulldog Days manageable after the construction of the two new colleges on Prospect Street allowed for a larger class of admitted students.

Admitted students interviewed by the News praised the Bulldog Days programming.

Sara Grube, an admitted student from Ohio, said that while the three-day event was “overwhelming” at times, she enjoyed it and did not expect to see Yale students so involved with Bulldog Days programming.

“I feel like sometimes at schools like this all the students are always in classes, so it was nice to see that during Bulldog Days everyone was involved and out and about around campus,” Grube said.

She added that she particularly appreciated the opportunity to experience Yale’s dining and suite life.

Jenna Bao, another admitted student from Ohio, said it was great to connect with current students and prospective future classmates and to learn more about Yale, especially since she is still deciding which university she would like to attend.

Mudi Yang, an admitted student from Tennessee, also said he enjoyed mingling with other admitted students and “getting [a] sense of community.” He said he particularly enjoyed the extracurricular bazaar and a showcase featuring Yale’s performing arts groups.

Yang added that although he remains “technically uncommitted,” Bulldog Days has swayed him toward Yale.

“I basically just need to tell my parents that I’m committing and then I can commit,” Yang said, laughing. “I probably shouldn’t do it before telling them.”

Yale’s yield for the class of 2021 was 71.4 percent, among the highest in recent years.

Anastasiia Posnova | anastasiia.posnova@yale.edu

ANASTASIIA POSNOVA