<p>Don’t hijack the thread, nespresso. add to the conversation or start your own thread</p>
<p>MODERATOR NOTE:</p>
<p>Please stay on topic and address the questions posed by the original poster. If you have a different program, school, etc. to ask about, please use the New Thread button to start your own thread. </p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>OP, </p>
<p>I hope you are able to visit all the schools so you can compare/contrast and get a feel for the students, professors, and environment at each school. I know admit days may only show you a slice of things, but speak with students of all ages and ranges of experience. Sit in some classes, talk with professors, and explore departments of interest to you. Then, you’ll be able to choose what is right for you.</p>
<p>Best wishes!</p>
<p>There is a general misconception that if you go to the “best” school in a discipline (as an undergrad) then you get to work with the best professors in that discipline. Here’s a bit of reality check. One of the science kids I know is at one of the best (if not the best) schools in his discipline and he’s finding out that the professors at his school are not excited about taking on undergrads unless they’re near the top of the class and unless they already have a lot of experience. This kid is no slacker. He is looking elsewhere for research opportunities. </p>
<p>It’s really important not to confuse grad school discipline/research rankings with undergrad research possibilities. They’re not neatly tied together.</p>
<p>Comment removed</p>
<p>Harvard is intense on all fronts–not exactly a nurturing place. If you’re the independent, pro-active, competitive type, go there: it’s the place to be a leader among leaders. But if you’re looking for some more friendly and/or common college types, go to Yale or Stanford.</p>
<p>I don’t know enough about Stanford, but I think if you’re having a hard time deciding between Harvard and Yale, you should go to Yale. Harvard is mostly full of people who think that the choice is obvious, and wouldn’t understand why you had to decide.</p>
<p>I’m a senior at Harvard and have absolutely loved it here–the house communities are incredibly nurturing, and there is the best advising I could ever ask for. To choose Yale over Harvard for arbitrary things like there is no break in the Fall, the food here, the food there (by the way–our food is just as good, there are 13 undergraduate dining halls, 1 per house + Annenberg), is an absurd idea. For example, we can get full funding for every summer and winter break to travel abroad, do research or public service or even purposeful travel–at Yale, that’s much, much more limited. For someone who would have never had the chance to do that otherwise, it changed my life. I do not relate at all to gibby’s perception of Harvard, and I would also assume you’ll get a lot of bias by posting in the Yale forum. You have to visit and speak to incoming and current students to decide for yourself–don’t let the opportunity slip by.</p>
<p>rb3, don’t forget the other arbitrary thing—that Harvard exams are after Christmas break.</p>
<p>^^ Harvard amended their academic schedule years ago, and now exams end before the Christmas/New Year’s break.</p>
<p>Is that right? Well, that’s a point in Harvard’s favor.</p>
<p>gibby, I believed you without checking, but it appears that Harvard’s exams are in fact, before Christmas:</p>
<p>[Events</a> | FAS Registrar’s Office](<a href=“http://www.registrar.fas.harvard.edu/calendar/2012-12]Events”>http://www.registrar.fas.harvard.edu/calendar/2012-12)</p>
<p>They used to be after Christmas, a subject of great delight to Yale students. The thing that has taken its place is the reminder that after the Harvard-Yale football game, Yale students have a week off, while Harvard students have class on Monday.</p>
<p>You may have cross-posted with my editing of my confused post. I believed you, checked, at first thought you were wrong, realized I was unable to read and that you were right, and quickly edited my message.</p>
<p>^^ And I deleted my post because of your amended one. I think we are now on the same page.</p>