Students at Yale have access to a wide range of activities within the School of Architecture and elsewhere in the University or the community. These focus on academic, cultural, political, and community-based interests. At the School, one may join the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) and the National Organization of Minority Architecture Students (NOMAS). A student also has the opportunity to be elected to one of several committees, including the Admissions Committee and the Curriculum Advisory Committee. Grassroots initiatives, such as the Leadership, Education, and Athletics in Partnership program (LEAP), the Neighborhood Discovery Program (NDP), the Summer Teen Empowerment Program (STEP), and the Yale Urban Design Workshop (YUDW), invite active participation in community development.

Students have founded many organizations at the School of Architecture including Paprika!, the weekly independent student publication; Outlines, the LGBTQ+ student group; Equality in Design (EID); YSOA Christian Fellowship; Green Action in Architecture (GAIA); Latin YSOA; YSOA East; the Indigenous Scholars of Architecture, Planning and Design (ISAPD); and the YSOA Badminton League; among others.

Outside the School of Architecture, there are many student organizations, including the Black Graduate Student Network (BGN), the Graduate-Professional Student Center at Yale (The Gryphon), the Yale Law School Housing and Community Development Clinic (integrating pro bono legal and architectural services to the New Haven community), and the Women’s Center, as well as the many Yale cultural centers. Countless groups offer membership in other endeavors. Among these are the Yale Cabaret, the Yale Daily News, the Yale Gospel Choir, and the Yale Russian Chorus. Students may also apply for grants, through Yale University, to support local summer public service internships that already exist or are of a student’s own design.