This story needs an update. Has H learned from Y how to better enjoy campus life? Has New Haven become more cool and fun than Cambridge? I’m posting in both forums.
I read somewhere that the Cult of Yale article was written by students trying to goad the administration into making Harvard a more student-centric place. Harvard is a very bureaucratic institution, and change happens slowly. For the last six years, the administration debated the hows and whys of building a student center, and they’re just now getting around to it. Ditto with adding theater and dance to Harvard’s list of concentrations (Yale, Brown, Penn, Dartmouth, Columbia, and Cornell have all had theater and dance concentrations for years).
As the article was written in 2003, I have no idea what the school was like back then, and if significant changes have occurred in the last 12 years.
Don’t know whether I would call Yale’s students and alumni members of the “cult of Yale”, but I do know that they are very happy students for the most part and we alums love our alma mater to the moon and back. Yale tends to cater to its undergrads and the residential college system fosters a sense of belonging from day one when the upperclassmen are there to move in the freshmen to Old Campus. While I know many happy Harvard alums and current students, the vibes at the two schools are very different.
And, while Yale and Harvard students and alums will take jabs at each other good naturedly, it is always funny when outsiders try to pit one against the other. Bottom line, they are arguably two of the best schools in the country and have more in common than not.
Side note - my comments are no way directed at the OP or @gibby when I speak of those pitting one against the other.
Thank you. The article is so old I thought I’d give H a chance.
^^^ I am sure you will be happy whichever you choose. The article may be old, but the information we are giving you is about Yale of today.