<p>madrigal, when you say you took courses at Yale, what do you mean? Were they regular university classes, or a summer program, or what?</p>
<p>Note: since this is the Yale forum, you can expect that Yale people are going to respond if they think somebody has gotten a skewed impression of Yale. You have to take what we say with a grain of salt, too, but a lot of people may read this thread as they think about where to apply and where to go.</p>
<p>Madrigal: my D is probably going to turn town Yale, Stanford, and Brown for U Chicago (unless something major happens at Bulldog Days). At this point, it’s all about fit and where she thinks she will be happy.</p>
<p>Not that I would ever trash New Haven. Modern Apizza and Lucibello’s pastries are fond memories from grad school days.</p>
<p>Sounds like Madrigal will have company if both meet at bulldog days and decide to go to Chicago!</p>
<p>For those saying “My S/D will choose X over Yale unless something happens during Bulldog days” - odds are something will happen during BDD and your S/D will choose Yale. Everyone I’ve meet seems to love it here.</p>
<p>For some people, Chicago/Caltech/LAC/etc is a better fit than Yale. It makes sense to turn down Yale if you’re one of those. For most admitted people though, I think Yale is a really good fit. Personally, I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else.</p>
<p>if you aren’t completely committed to yale, turn it down! you guessed it–i’m a waitlister! seriously: i would love to go to yale and would, at the drop of a dime, matriculate if given the chance! i congratulate you on your acceptances but please don’t play games especially when there are so many of us who would do anything to go to the school that chose you. if there is a voice in the back of your head urging you to attend uchicago, berkeley, caltech, harvard, dartmouth, williams–wherever!–perhaps, consider it!</p>
<p>i hope that we can all be satisfied with the schools we ultimately choose to attend!</p>
<p>(I’m a Yale parent, not a student, so take my opinion for what its worth.) I’ve visited the campus about 6 times over the past two years and have met quite a few of my D’s friends. </p>
<p>Regarding the nose-in-the-air/arrogance concern: My impression of the students is that they are incredibly friendly and outgoing, and very self-confident. Considering the level of achievement these students have had to attain to get to Yale, it does not surprise me. They are light-years ahead of where I was at the same age, in terms of maturity and understanding of the world. Perhaps this self-confidence may be interpreted as arrogance, but I did not get that impression. The students seem genuinely interested in meeting me and in what I have to say. I don’t think arrogant people generally treat others this way.</p>
<p>@smiles: D is not playing games, just trying to research best fit among her options. I don’t have an agenda here; I only weighed in because so many people in our community are shocked that anyone would consider any non-Ivy school when Ivies are an option. And UChicago seems to elicit particularly strong feelings. As a lifelong LAC booster, I am already in foreign territory and not trying to tell anyone what to do.</p>
<p>@HighHead, it’s good to know that I’m not the only one. I also get a lot of comments on how I’m turning down a top Ivy for something without as much renown.</p>
<p>I took legitimate college classes at Yale, something that local high school students have the opportunity to do, and I have sat in on classes at UChicago. I enjoyed the ones at UChicago a lot more. </p>
<p>Although, I do have to say - if Bulldog Days has taught me anything, it’s that I don’t know everything about Yale and esp. as someone who’s not in the college, I cannot even begin to enumerate the opportunities and options available there. That being said, going off of feel and where I think will work best for me. I think UChicago still wins out. I also want to say for people considering applying and/or on the waitlist - really, if you try hard you can to extremely well with whatever college you go to and become successful. There are great opportunities everywhere and not getting in/going to Yale, in the long run won’t matter as much as what you will do with your life and education after that.</p>
<p>After going to Bulldog Days…Yale impressed me but I don’t think I could attend a school where so much energy is devoted to bashing another school. Harvard was mentioned far too many times, in far too many programs (and during the dean of admissions’ speech, to boot).</p>
<p>Basajaun:</p>
<p>I’m glad you attended BDD and got a clear sense of the right school for you. I’m sure you understand that the only school that typically “wins” against Y in cross admits is H and there is some competition at BDD to get the cross admitted applicants. To think that Yale students expend energy during the typical school year mentioning or even thinking about H is an incorrect assumption based on what you may have seen at BDD. The only time I ever thought about H was during The Game and when I applied for graduate school and that was the norm amongst the students when I was there. Both schools are great and although I hope we successfully recruit admitted students, I think its best for students to feel strongly about their choice so they don’t go around thinking What if …?</p>
<p>Yeah, I’m somewhat afraid of the “what if?” feeling because I dont think I’ll feel very strongly about picking Harvard, either. I’ve heard so many stories from people who go there or went there who regret choosing it for its name and feel that it otherwise doesn’t measure up to places like Yale…</p>
<p>Basajaun - honestly, the “bashing” of Harvard was a joke. It was meant to be humorous, so stop looking into things that aren’t there. Dean Brenzel’s speech was meant to be light-hearted. I know, I was there.</p>
<p>Madrigal and Highhead - do you have any feedback from BDD?</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/yale-university/1095878-yale-inferiority-complex-toward-harvard.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/yale-university/1095878-yale-inferiority-complex-toward-harvard.html</a></p>
<p>You can’t say it “isn’t there.” I’m not the only one who feels this way. I’m not just talking about his speech, either. And I feel as if most Harvard-bashing appears “humorous”, but in most instances it came off as kind of sad. YaleGradandDad’s insight is valuable though.</p>
<p>As the thread you linked to makes clear, the rivalry goes both ways. </p>
<p>There are good reasons to choose another school (including Harvard) over Yale. That you think Yale students suffer from a collective inferiority complex is not one of them. Yale students do not go around perpetually bemoaning their inferiority to Harvard. They really don’t.</p>
<p>It’s okay to pick Harvard simply because it’s No. 1. Many students do it. And the vast majority of kids who say “no” to Harvard don’t do it lightly. It’s a hard decision. </p>
<p>But make the decision based on academic programs, social culture, location, your learning style – something legitimate. It’s misguided to turn down Yale because you think its students suffer from a pervasive inferiority complex vis-a-vis Harvard.</p>
<p>I haven’t really communicated my other qualms with Yale, namely New Haven and the whole divided campus (into residential colleges) thing. If I choose Harvard or another school over Yale it won’t all be because of the complex I just mentioned.</p>
<p>@texaspg: Bulldog Days were a big hit with D. Yale has definitely become a major contender, but there is one more school to visit. However, she did not apply to Harvard (she hangs out there with her high school friends, it’s too close to home) so the whole rivalry thing didn’t matter to her. In fact, she said that almost nobody she met was being vocal about “I’m deciding between X and Yale.”</p>
<p>@texaspg
BDD were impressive, and Yale definitely has a lot to offer - but I still have the same qualms as before, if not magnified. The students there were very nice and helpful, but then again the amount everyone tried to sell the school to me was a little bit overwhelming. Some people immediately gave me a cold shoulder when I mentioned that I was considering other schools which was a little bit disconcerting, and a lot of people began bashing UChicago when I mentioned that I was looking at that school too which bothered me a bit. Also, Yale has a huge endownment, something that one can’t even begin to comprehend until they see all the programs and things the college funds; not that this has much to do with anything, but it’s just something I noticed.</p>
<p>Gotta say, that’s a first. </p>
<p>I’d say there’s pretty much universal agreement that big university endowments are a good thing: They provide financial support for academic and extracurricular programs, faculty, and facilities, and they also let schools like Yale meet the financial need of admitted students. madrigal93, if you think that its large endowment is a liability, by all means don’t go to Yale.</p>
<p>I don’t recall bashing of any sort. The closest I heard to bashing was when one of the a cappella groups sang fight songs for their performance. People seemed to understand that Yale won’t necessarily be the most perfect fit for every one and that the peer institutions are also great universities. From the conversations I heard,if a prefrosh mentioned that they were deciding between certain schools, the current students were totally and didn’t say negative things about the others. Maybe I went to a different Bulldog Days.</p>