Each year, thousands of high-school students make pilgrimages to Yale, nursing dreams of attending the country's third-oldest university, which boasts such notable alums as Noah Webster, Naomi Wolf and Hillary Clinton, and presidents William H Taft and George W Bush. You don't need to share the students' ambitions in order to take a stroll around the campus – just pick up a map at the visitor center or join a free, one-hour guided tour.

　　Although the tour overflows with tidbits about life at Yale, the guides refrain from mentioning the various secret societies and their buildings scattered around the campus, but feel free to ask them!