I can assure you, you won’t stand out at all. There are actually more grad students at Yale than undergrads, so more of the student population is 22+ (many of the PhD, law, and med students are closer to 30 or above).

I’m a grad student now, but I started at community college and I remember feeling a similar way when I was around 4-year college students. I tried to remind myself that going to CC didn’t mean I was any less intelligent or capable than anyone else, and in the end I transferred to a good undergrad and got the same degree as everyone else— I saved a lot of money in the process, too!

I freely tell people at Yale that I started at community college and I always say to this day it was the best educational experience I’ve had. No one has ever judged me for it. Try not to get in your head about it, you belong in those study spots as much as anyone else! You can even use Sterling or Bass library to study when they’re open to the public during the day, no one will ever bat an eye. Best of luck in your studies.

I usually take the 6 to 51st, then switch to the E at Lexington Ave/53rd St. The E ends up at Sutphin Blvd/JFK, so from there it’s a quick walk to the airtrain.

It is a long trip but ubers can be really expensive and nyc traffic can be unpredictable, so I just stick to the public transit.

As someone else said, if you book the amtrak ticket to Newark well ahead of time it can be a reasonable price; however if you don’t book enough ahead or you need to change the day/time last minute, be prepared to pay anywhere up to $80-110 for the 2 hour ride. On the other hand, the Metro-North only has two flat fee options: peak (commute times) or off-peak hours. You also can’t buy amtrak tickets while you’re on the train, whereas metro north tickets can be purchased on the app anytime and are not tied to a specific day or time.

To get to Newark, I’ve taken the amtrak once but I’ve also taken the metro-north to grand central and then the newark airport express bus straight to the airport. I had a good experience with the bus but I’ve heard it can be quite inconsistent.

I tend to fly out of JFK cause it usually has the cheapest direct flights to the west coast, but it does require taking the metro-north, two short subway rides, and the air train. It’s not the most convenient, but once you get it down it’s easy enough and the transit is always on time.

Bradley is super convenient if you take the train to Windsor Locks or catch a rideshare. You can even drive there if you’re going for a shorter trip cause you can get parking at BDL for like $6 a day.