<p>Yeah byerly, there's nothing really too anti-harvard there...and the yale calendar is definitely a plus heh</p>
<p>i don't see why you're so obssessed with harvard and proving it's better than every college</p>
<p>do you have any insight into who wins in the Yale vs. Princeton battle? I'm curious (cross-admit wise)</p>
<p>I don't see how my post could be concieved as "anti-Harvard" sniping. While I did point out the subtle differences between the two schools (when I said things about Harvard I was generally putting in responses from my friend at Harvard's answers to the question of how Harvard differs from Yale on those issues), I tried to show the positives and negatives of both and said that the choice really relied on personal preference. If there was any bias (which upon reading, I realize it sounds more anti-Harvard) it was because in my personal opinion, Yale's variations were better for me. At the same time, I know Harvard is a better place for my friend. I still stand by my claim that the only thing that is categorically better to my knowledge is Yale's calendar. I guess if I had to say something that was definitely better at Harvard it would be that, as far as I know, the labor situation is far less volatile (as I type this, I can hear cheers from Jesse Jackson's rally for the striking graduate students) and the dorms that I have seen (one of the houses in the quad, and rooms in Canaday, Weld, and Matthews) look bigger and slightly better kept up than most of the dorms that I have seen at Yale (the renovated colleges are still not as nice size-wise although they are beautiful).</p>
<p>Chas - I thought you did a pretty good job of keeping your Yale bias in check with your earlier post. It only peeked through a little. ;)</p>
<p>On the calendar question - my freshman year at Harvard I got myself so overcommitted with extracurriculars that having winter break and a three-week reading period before first semester exams was the only thing that saved me. :)</p>
<p>That said, I agree with you that its better to have exams before winter break. And so does Harvard. One of the curricular review recommendations, which they do plan to implement, is to conform the undergrad calendar to the rest of the University. This would mean first semester exams before winter break. They wont be able to make the change for the 2005-06 school year, but as I understand it, theyre aiming for 2006-07.</p>
<p>While I certainly wouldnt base my college decision on the calendar, I do think the change is a good idea.</p>
<p>[Edited: wrong thread... in any event, photos of Yale here: <a href="http://files.pubaf.yale.edu/.PortWeb?quickfind=&catalog=web&template=ComplexCollect%5B/url%5D">http://files.pubaf.yale.edu/.PortWeb?quickfind=&catalog=web&template=ComplexCollect</a>]</p>
<p>Chas, I agree that your post was fair. The OP asked for opinions, so it's totally appropriate to give a fair assessment that places one school slightly ahead of the other.</p>
<p>My perspective is that the location thing is Harvard's ace in the hole. It's basically the same school in a better location. I don't buy that having so many things to do off campus compromises campus life to any meaningful degree; even if you picked Harvard up and put it in a cornfield in Ohio, it's really hard to imagine that it could squeeze in more concerts/lectures/panels/plays/sporting events/dances etc. every day than it does now. Being in a major city with such great public transportation and so many other colleges (I got to know kids from Tufts, BU, BC, & MIT) was a very big plus for me.</p>
<p>Hanna, I was going to ask how close you got to "know" kids from MIT, but refrained from doing so as it may be inappropiate.</p>
<p>:) Hahaha! Nothing Biblical. I met kids from MIT (1) at frat parties and (2) when we sang together at a Boston a cappella event. (And (3) there were several in my transfer class, but that doesn't count.)</p>