Deciding Between Harvard and Yale

My daughter was accepted to both Yale (SCEA) and Harvard (RD). Her preference is so far leaning towards Yale due to their strong music scene, atmosphere, and overall undergraduate focus. However, hearing back from Harvard has made the decision much tougher, especially since there was a substantial difference between the two financial aid packages. From what I have been reading on the boards, it appears that the cultures of the two schools are different, Yale being more laid-back and collaborative than Harvard. We will be revisiting both schools and she will be attending both Admitted Students’ Days. We have forwarded a copy of Harvard’s Financial Aid award to Yale, hoping that they will match it, but we have not heard back yet. My daughter has been reaching out to students at both schools, in hopes of making an informed decision. Any opinions, thoughts, and experiences will be greatly appreciated as she makes her decision.

If you do a search of the forums, there have been literally hundreds of threads on this very topic… I don’t think anything new could be said.

Visit both. Try to see if Yale can match the financial aid… if Yale doesn’t, go to Harvard… if Yale does match the aid, let your daughter pick after the visits.

What made her apply to Yale SCEA but not Harvard?

You are considering Yale? The school of salutatorians, second-chair musicians, and vice-presidents?

The nerve.

I have zero experience with Yale but I did not find Harvard to be competitive (except when people pushed themselves, competing against themselves). It was also friendly and collaborative.

You can’t go wrong either way.

How much is the money difference?

I would think Yale would match it if you are really interested in Yale more than Harvard and let them know you have to choose Harvard for the money and that is where your daughter wants to go.

@texaspg: ^^ Depending upon a family’s circumstances, Yale may NOT be able to match Harvard’s financial aid, as home equity is part of Yale’s institutional financial aid policy, while home equity is not part of Harvard’s. By ivy league rules, Yale cannot treat one student differently (an athlete, for example) than any other student. So, even if Yale is really interested in a student, they just may not be able to do it. See: http://www.thecollegesolution.com/will-your-home-equity-hurt-financial-aid-chances/

I went to both schools back in the day (Harvard undergrad, Yale grad) and have more recent experience with family members at each school. For all the friendly rivalry, these schools are quite similar to one another - and they are both fantastic schools. I cannot imagine someone who would thrive at one of them and would not thrive at the other. You should definitely not pay substantially more to go to Yale over Harvard, nor should you pay substantially more to go to Harvard over Yale. So I agree with harvardandberkeley’s advice: see if Yale will match on the financial aid and, if not, go to Harvard.

The idea that Harvard is not focused on undergrads is outdated. That may have been true 20 years ago, I have no idea, but it isn’t true now. Generalities about school culture are not that useful. We found Harvard collaborative and friendly. The music scene at Harvard is very active. The Yale School of Music is a grad school and there isn’t that much crossover with undergrads, though grad students are available to teach. Some Harvard musicians study, formally through double degree or privately, with NEC teachers.

Look at course requirements and offererings. Yale has more distribution requirements and more courses/semester. One of my kids chose Harvard because it seemed more laid back than Yale. She loved it.