This is a post in progress…I decided to post it anyways to motivate myself to finish it.
I get this question often – how does EPFL compare to Yale? It’s quite similar, yet different if you look closely. Yesterday was the last day of my first year at EPFL, and I’ve gathered some observations to wrtie this article.
General
geography and my experience
Yale – I did my bachelor’s here. It is a private uni located New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
EPFL – I am doing my Master’s here. It is a public uni located near Lausanne, Switzerland.
Tutition
Yale – tuition for 2022-2023 academic year is 62,250 USD. Over 70% students receive financial aid of some sort.
EPFL – 1460 CHF (around 1460 USD)
Admission
Yale – for the bachelor’s degree, it is notoriously difficult to get in. 6.5% acceptance rate of 2022. EPFL – if you are Swiss, guaranteened entry. Otherwise you need to take an entry exam, which is not too hard (math level equivalent to AP Calculus BC)
Demographics
Yale – ~ 4700 undergraduates (even less when I was there). Around 12% of international students (non American).
EPFL – ~ 6500 undergraduates. More than 50% of the students are international (that is, non Suisse)
Yale – M/F ratio 1:1
EPFL – M/F ratio 7:3
Okay, the above information is to give you a general idea, now on to the more interesting parts.
Environmental concerns
Compared to Yale, I think EPFL cares a lot more about the environment and takes more practical steps towards eliminating wastes.
Air conditioning
I still remembered the summer days in New Haven where I needed to bring a jacket with me everywhere I went, despite the fact that it was 36 degrees celsius outside – the indoor air conditioning was just too much. EPFL, like most Europeen buildings, has no AC at all, as the temperature rarely gets above 32 degrees in the Summer, and if so, only for a few days.
Vegetarian Day
At EPFL, one day per week, all the cafeterias and food trucks serve only vegetarian food. This is a rather stringent rule that’s unimaginable at Yale. I can almost see how Yalies would protest in front of the dean’s office if their “chicken tender Thursdays” were cancelled.
Food containers
During Covid, Yale Dining would deliver food in single-use plastic and paper containers. It hurt my eyes see paper boxes flowing out of the trash cans and dumpster.
At EPFL (and lots of other Unis in Europe), single-use containers are eliminated. Instead, if you need takeout at a dining hall, 10 CHF is taken from your student card for a reusable food container. You can hold on to the container however long you want. When you return it, wash or unwashed, the 10 CHF is given back to you. It’s a little more work, but the amount of waste reduced is so worth it.
Solar panels
EPFL has more solar panels on the top of buildings than Yale. Yale has more LEED certified buildings though. Not sure which one is actually more energy efficient.
Academics
Course choice
Yale has so much freedom. The wonderful strength and priviledge of American universities is the the freedom to explore. Yale is truly a place for intellectual exploration and truth seeking, if you can resist the lure of the Wall Street. Students are free to change their major any time, take any course, go to any professor’s office hours. How would a 18-year old know what he/she wants to dedicate himself to?
In my opinion, the purpose of a liberal arts univeristy experience is two-fold: 1) to learn to communicate well, in both writing and speaking. 2) to be exposed to a diverse range of subjects. Yale does both jobs wonderfully.
EPFL is a polytechnique, not a full university with all the majors, so the curriculum is very strict, loaded with math proofs and electromagnetism. Bachelor’s students have almost no freedom in what they want to take. In return, they have a very good quantitative foundation, a must-have for engineers.
Scheduling
At Yale, courses fit into pre-deteremined slots to help students and faculties organize their schedules and final exam time. For example, a student would never have conflicts between two exams, because the corresponding lectures happen at the same time. (All MWF 9-10AM courses would have final exams on May 4th 1pm, and a student cannot sign up for 2 MWF courses at the same time). Most lectures finish by 3pm, occassionaly by 5pm, to leave enough daytim for students to engage in extracurricular activities.
It’s not the case at EPFL. Exam period can last as long as 3 weeks, which leave ample time for students to cram if they didn’t study at all during the semester. This is both a good thing and a bad thing. It can be both a bless and a annoyance that your two exams are two weeks apart.
Yale generally starts on Sept 1st and finishes by May 15th. EPFL starts on Sept 20th and finishes in July. There is indeed a winter break during Christmas, but it’s more of a study period as the exams are administered in late Janurary.
Course Format & Grading
I think Yale courses are a lot better taught, and slightly more intense than the courses at EPFL. It’s partially because professors care more, partially because the peers are more competitive.
However, grading is harsher at EPFL. With the same amount effort, I usually get A or A- at Yale, but often 5.25 or 5.5 at EPFL (equivalent to a A- or B+). But I am not sure about this point. Maybe my effort has decreased because I am now a jaded student.
Quite a lot of students fail their exams at EPFL. It’s partially because the selection bias of Yale admission, and partially because exams often count for 80% or even 100% of the grade. When I tell EPFL students that I only know one Yalie who had failed an exam, they were always surprised.
Student Organizations
Work Mindset
Culture
I can’t say too much about the culture here, because everyone inevitably lives in his/her own friends group and experiences a different subculture.
Drinking culture
Cooking