<p>mariela86, what are you leaning towards? Doesn't the pressure just confuse you!! Are you going up to visit either campus?</p>
<p>hey chilanga, confusing is good... it is actually killing me... unfortunately I cannot visit because I am from Europe. This is really bad because I am sure that if I could visit I would make the right decision...although a friend of mine visited Harvard during the summer, and then we talked on the phone, and she said to me: " I really don't get what the big fuss about Harvard is, except the NAME. This campus is absolutely dead. There is no vibe, no soul. You just see people running to classes and you immdeately sense that nothing connects them. There is no community spirit, no common bond. As I already said nothing special except the name..."
Right now as if I am leaning towards Yale, but I don't know. As you said this pressure is so confusing. I get advices from all sides, and I don't know whom to listen to. I am totally lost...
What about you? Will you visit? To which school are you leaning?</p>
<p>I've also heard the same thing, that the main thing Harvard has going for it is its name...I'm also leaning towards Yale, I just have this gut feeling that it's the place for me and I've been obsessed with it for so long...i live in mexico so it's easier for me to visit- my parents are making me go up next weekend and while i really want to see both schools, i have IB examinations coming up in a few weeks and am losing so much studying time so i'm freaking out about that....i'll let you know all about both schools when i get back if you want because i'll be spending 2 nights at each school and going to classes and seeing weekend events and parties and going to the libraries and eating there and everything so i will definitely let you know!! where in europe are you from?</p>
<p>The one thing to remember about Harvard is that it is full of people who couldn't resist the "name"; they choose to go there not because of any particular passion or even a gut feeling about the place, but because the name is irresistible. Do you really want to go to a school full of people like this?</p>
<p>I visited Harvard this past weekened....again.. and I've gotta say, I'm just not impressed with Harvard at all. When you walk on campus, there are TONS of people that look about your parents' age (2:1 graduate to undergrad ratio) and there are just SO many people around. It feels really messy, not to mention it feels like the people are more separated from each other. </p>
<p>currently, i'm about 95% sure I will be going to Yale. Unless bulldog days sucks..</p>
<p>"I just have this gut feeling that it's the place for me and I've been obsessed with it for so long..."</p>
<p>Chilanga, I FEEL ABSOLUTELY THE SAME.</p>
<p>I would be extremely grateful to you if you share your impressions from both schools. I hope that this will be one of the things that will help me finalize my decision. I am still leaning towards yale, and as I ponder about it I realize that the only think that pushes me towards Harvard are the big name and Boston...So, yeah, I am curious to hear about your experiences at both Y and H.</p>
<p>BTW, I am from Bulgaria...</p>
<p>Hey, if people could tell post impressions of both schools from visits, it would be helpful for me also. I'm in the Philippines, so like mariela86, I won't be able to attend Bulldog Days or visit Harvard.</p>
<p>I think Yale has the better undergrad experience. Like most of you, I'm leaning Yale. I have two (possibly erroneous) perceptions about the two schools that are keeping me from matriculating at Yale right now: a) Yale is more homogeneous and preppy than Harvard and b) Harvard is a better place to study science than Yale. Anybody have comments/thoughts about these perceptions? Can you back them up with experiences on campus or evidence from a friend or relative who goes to either school? Thanks!</p>
<p>hey tallyrand...I cant say I know the answer to those doubts for sure but from what i've heard yale is just as diverse as harvard...re science, i cant say i know...i'll ask around this weekend...btw where in the philippines do you go to school? do you by any chance know andrea marchowsky, she just moved to my school this year from a christian school (i just forgot the name) in the philippines...</p>
<p>and just as proof of how diverse yale is...look at this discussion forum, i'm from mexico, you're from the philippines and mariela86 is from bulgaria...that's not a bad start!!</p>
<p>For those of you still wrestling with this question, there is an interesting thread over on the Harvard board:</p>
<p>No Yale bashing. Just some interesting perspectives on Harvard.</p>
<p>Harvard = slightly more prestige, slighlty better professors, Cambridge but plenty seem to go and not enjoy it.</p>
<p>Yale = sense of community, very enjoyable, but.. it's in New Haven.</p>
<p>tallyrand:</p>
<p>If I remember correctly, Harvard said 8% of its undergrads were international, while Yale had 9%. There's basically no difference there. As for diversity, I've never really had the impression that H or Y has a diversity problem. It seems to me both universities make a good effort.</p>
<p>Internationally, Harvard is slightly better known I guess (then again, would you not consider say.. Oxford because Harvard is better known?), but at the undergrad level the general consensus does not seem to be that H professors are better (I've heard more of the contrary?).</p>
<p>Anyways, I'm from Mexico also and leaning towards Yale. Tally, I would recommend sending an e-mail to students who are studying the major you selected. The names of a few should appear each time you log on to your prospective Yalie account. Perhaps you can do the same for H and then you can determine which has the science department you're looking for. </p>
<p>From what I've seen and read, it seems to me that all of Yale's schools are pretty top-notch except for the engineering, which is still quite good nonetheless. At both U's the most popular majors are in the social sciences.</p>
<p>New Haven isn't terrible. It was hard adjusting from a ginormous metropolitan area wracked with urban sprawl where you had to get everywhere by car to a small city with not much public transportation. I felt limited in how far I could go at first and I felt a little caged in until about November. There is plenty to do here, and that was finally what helped me to accustom myself to New Haven. It's not Boston by any means, but it is just about equivalent to Cambridge if you don't go into Boston (and some of my friends at Harvard go into Boston about as often as I go into New York. Granted it is a 5 minute subway ride to Boston from H and a 2 hour commuter train ride into New York from Y, but you find there is enough to do in your surrounding area.)</p>
<p>hey, tallyrand, to address some of your concerns:</p>
<p>a)although both schools are very diverse, Harvard has a slightly more diverse student body; about being preppy...this is also true... Yale and as far as I know Princeton are two of the most preppiest ivies. I can tell you for sure that H is less preppier than Yale (I know this from college guides and from my counselor).</p>
<p>b)Definitely true. I talked on the phone to a Yale friend on Monday. He said that H is a much better place to study sciences because there are more research options and the science profs are better/more renown at H than at Y. Then we started talking about the international recognition of both schools, and he said that H is world known for his strong science programs, and Y mainly for its humanities and social sciences. Hope this helps.</p>
<p>Chilanga, I can't wait to hear your impressions from both schools...I only hope that I won't get more confused.</p>
<p>Approx 70% of Harvard students are on financial aid whereas only 60% at Yale and 50% at Princeton are on finaid. So in that respect, Harvard definitely has more socioeconomic diversity. But I think in terms of racial diversity...both these schools are equal.</p>
<p>yale is not one of the preppiest ivies. That is a major misnomer. Because of the large focus on arts and music, yale is much more artsy/laid back than you think. And there is no way that harvard is less preppy than yale. I've been to both extensively.</p>
<p>Your comment is not unexpected, but neverthless quite wrong.</p>
<p>I define "preppies" most purely as those who are graduates of New England prep schools.</p>
<p>Others may define them as all graduates of non-public schools.</p>
<p>Other may define them as those wearling certain "approved" clothing labels.</p>
<p>On ALL counts, Yale is the Ivies' "preppiest" address - and there is no close second. </p>
<p>I make this claim based both only on frequent observation of the flora and fauna in Ivy towns, but on the hard numbers reported by USNews and Princeton Review. Yale has the lowest fraction of public school graduates of any school in the Ivy League.</p>
<p>your definition of preppy as anyone who didn't go to a public school is what is really silly. Where did you pull that definition out of? Its wrong.<br>
My use of preppy was more of the style of clothing kind, but I would accept number of students from prep schools. I think its a fallible leap to argue this on the numbers of non-public student. I guess then home schoolers are the most preppy students out there. Or better yet, those parochial high school students, they are the essence of preppy. Try again... </p>
<p>What's even more silly is actually spending time arguing this at all. Shouldn't you be wasting time on griffin instead?</p>
<p>I guess your definition of "preppie" defies definition, and you therefore take the position that it is meaningless except as a fuzzy way to put down people you don't like? </p>
<p>I presume so, since YOU are the one who seized on the term, and escallated its importance, in order to put down Harvard, as is your wont. Odd that you now decide discussion of the "issue" is a "waste of time."</p>
<p>Fact remains - Yale (your alma mater) has, for what it is worth, a smaller percentage of public school students than any other school in the Ivy League.</p>
<p>You said in your first post that preppy means having graduated from New England Prep schools:
"I define "preppies" most purely as those who are graduates of New England prep schools." </p>
<p>Then, for some reason, you made the absurd and really indefensible statement that preppy means not having gone to public school. </p>
<p>I agreed more with your third definition. </p>
<p>How was I putting anyone down? What's that about? stop flaming this into an argument.</p>
<p>I was just saying that Yale has a big artsy-trendy scene due to its 4 schools of art, so there's a heavy influence away from preppy at yale. And by preppy, I guess I mean the students who wear blazers and JCREW everyday. But that's about as vague as the proof you gave that Yale is more preppy according to your definition of preppy (are there stats on % of students from New England Prep schools?)</p>