<p>You don’t think H, Y, and P each have – artsy-fartsy students and students determined to head to Wall Street? Philosophers who want to debate the meaning of life and math / science types who love nothing more than to spend their time in the lab? I think this is a little too reductionist. I think it’s been said repeatedly that at the margin, H is a bit more about leading-the-world, Y a bit more artsy and P a bit more social but those are at the margin. But there isn’t one uniform “type.”</p>
<p>HYP are not only filled with future IBers though I think the percentage is higher than when I was there. I majored in art/architectural history, my husband in biology and physics, my best friends majored in music, comparative religion,English and government. My freshman year roommate majored in Econ, but she ended up doing green non-profit stuff. The whole point of getting a well-rounded class is that there is a clique for almost anybody.</p>
<p>To take an extreme, though, I think that a student who did not fit the prevailing culture at the U.S. Military Academy would have a very hard time of it.</p>
<p>I think that there is a rather intense focus on Accomplishment at Harvard. That doesn’t have to mean monetary success, so it allows for philosophers, math/science types, and poets, as long as they are highly accomplished. Similarly, it allows for non-profit work that is highly goal-oriented, and all majors.</p>
<p>In a post on the Harvard admissions web site, about taking a gap year, William Fitzsimmons, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid, Harvard College, Marlyn E. McGrath, Director of Admissions, Harvard College, and Charles Ducey, Adjunct Lecturer in Psychology, Harvard Graduate School of Education collectively remark
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<p>This can be found at the site [Harvard</a> College Admissions § Applying: Taking Time Off](<a href=“http://www.admissions.college.harvard.edu/apply/time_off/index.html]Harvard”>http://www.admissions.college.harvard.edu/apply/time_off/index.html)</p>
<p>Now, on the one hand, it is unlikely that a student would be admitted to H, Y, or P, if the student did not have some orientation toward achievement. Yet, do you think the folks are Harvard are simply exaggerating for effect? And do you think the same is true at Y and P?</p>
<p>Vis a vis mathmom’s post, Fitzsimmons, McGrath, and Ducey also remark that they have been able to observe the change of students’ experiences over time–so I am guessing that the situation they mention is a bit post-mathmom-era at Harvard.</p>
<p>In the second half of the 19th Century, going into the 20th Century, the universities to emulate were those in Germany, not England. It was only after World War I that the fashion swung back to trying to look more like Oxford and Cambridge and less like Konigsberg or Heidelberg. Famously, the Harkness family – Yale alumni through and through – offered Yale a huge grant to create residential colleges. When Yale dithered about accepting it, they offered it to Harvard instead, which snapped it up. Then they gave Yale the same grant anyway.</p>
<p>A little-known fact is that the University of Chicago put a very similar “house” system in place from its very earliest years in the 1890s, three decades before Harvard or Yale. But Chicago never put the money into it that Harvard and Yale did, thanks to the Harknesses, in the 1930s, and so the system has never been anywhere near as meaningful there as it is at Harvard and Yale. I believe John D. Rockefeller also funded development of a house system at Vassar at the same time.</p>
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Yes, engineering is one area with significant differences between the 3 schools that can impact admissions. When I was looking at schools, Harvard only offered a general engineering degree without specialty majors like EE, ME, CE, etc. The program was quite small and didn’t cover the key areas that interested me at the time. For similar reasons, my techy classmates and I didn’t consider applying. If I had applied and had been accepted, I would almost certainly have chosen to go to an alternative college instead. As mentioned above, now they have more of a “real” engineering school with more majors. Prior to 2007, 1-2% of students enrolled in engineering. In contrast, 13% of the current admitted class says they plan to study engineering. Growing to a ~10x larger engineering student body in a short time likely involves recent admissions decisions. I’ve read that the program is more liberal arts focused than is common for engineering schools. I understand that Yale also increased engineering staffing, facilities, and portion and student body at a similar time to H, but to a small extent; making it the smallest of the 3. This change likely also impacted recent admissions to Yale. In contrast Princeton has a larger engineering program with a longer history. For decades, a good portion of students at Princeton have studied engineering. Like the others, the number has grown recently. ~22% of the current class says they plan to study engineering. USNWR ranks P as #17, H as #23, and Y as #34 (grad rankings since only top 10 listings available for undergrad). This is far below many common cross admit schools, like MIT and Stanford, which are ranked #1 and #2.</p>