The Compass

Dear fellow graduate student,

Welcome to Yale! We’re glad to have you joining our community of scholars. The next few weeks and months will be an exciting time of transition and new beginnings as you work on getting settled here in New Haven. I encourage you to make the most of the many resources available to you at this time- from your colleagues in your program or department to your fellow incoming first year students to the various centers, offices, and organizations on campus. As you will learn, the Yale community is an exciting group made up of professors, administrators, postdocs, students, and staff committed to creating a space where knowledge and learning flourish.

Additionally, New Haven and the surrounding area is a vibrant place to live, with many excellent places to eat, things to do, and people to meet.

The Compass is a resource guide to life at Yale and New Haven that was written by graduate students of the Graduate Student Assembly (GSA) to help you navigate this transition (and beyond!). It contains helpful information on everything from shuttle routes to local bars to where to find resources for taxes and other financial questions to where you should go if an issue comes up.

As you begin your journey here at Yale and in New Haven, take some time to explore the environment around you- check out a book for fun at Sterling library, visit the Art Gallery, and meet graduate students from outside your department. Keep this website handy- it can be a great resource for many of your adventures here at Yale. And please reach out to the GSA if you have any questions, concerns, or just want to get to know your department’s representative(s) in our organization!

Sincerely,

Jo Machesky

GSA Chair

p.s. Download the 2022-23 edition of The Compass as a PDF below.