The Directed Studies program is the main issue that makes him want Yale a bit more, I think.
1 Like
Regarding housing at Harvard: renovations of upperclass houses has been going on for several years. For freshman, not everyone is in the yard. (My kid was in Hurlbut with a single), but most are.
Directed Studies looks great. Harvard has this Freshman Seminar Program (harvard.edu) but not selective like DS (I mean anything at these schools is selective!).
Most of the freshmen are in the Yard, and some of them are in quads where the smaller of the two tiny rooms are less than 44 sq ft for 2 people to share, the other one only slightly larger. We’re talking less than HALF of the space that is mandated as the minimum space for a foster family to allot for ONE child’s sleeping space (100 sq ft), and it’s for TWO people to share! Yeah, they all four of them share in addition the middle room, stuffed with 4 desks, and 4 dressers, and the belongings of 4 students. But less than 44 sq ft for TWO people to sleep in? Disgraceful, and frankly, illegal in MA. If the health department were called in, some of the housing in the Yard would be condemned for both overcrowding and for the rats/mice/roaches situation. Two students sharing the room that was allotted over 250 years ago for ONE manservant (or slave). Those quads were obviously designed as sleeping space for one student in his tiny bedroom, one servant in the other even tinier bedroom, and a central living room. They were never intended, even back then, to house four human beings.
The singles are all taken by students who have health (both physical and mental) reasons that mandate having a single, so the odds of getting one without a mandate are nonexistent. Yes, upper classmen housing has been being renovated, and is a lot better, but the freshman housing is incredibly overcrowded, a problem that renovation won’t fix. Socially though it is fantastic being in the Yard, for freshmen, so the kids put up with it.
This is the class, Humanities 10a and 10b, that is a similar writing class to what Yale has. Humanities 10a: A Humanities Colloquium: From Homer to Valeria Luiselli | Department of English
However, enrollment is limited, so some who want it don’t get into it.
The food is so bad that some parents complained that their kids couldn’t maintain their weight, got sick from it. My kid said that they could always manage to find something that they could eat, but my kid eats everything and doesn’t have any special dietary restrictions. Those who had dietary restrictions had a very rough time with the food.
But despite all this, most of the kids are extremely happy there, because of all the opportunities there. I am sure that there is dirty linen to be aired about Yale, too.
I would advise the OP not to just go to an accepted student day, but to try to spend several days at each school, sleep in the dorms with students, sit in on some classes, walk all over campus, attend religious services if that is important to them, try to really connect with people there and get a feel for actual life there, more than what is simply shown at an accepted students program.
2 Likes
My kid has type 1 diabetes and celiac and was well-accommodated at Harvard. I don’t recall rats and roaches.
I have lived fairly recently in a studio apartment in Harvard Square so I guess I am used to small spaces! I love the old historic brick buildings. Yale’s Gothic architecture is also beautiful.
I sent a PM with similar advice on accepted student days as given by @parentologist. If possible, also attend on a regular day, go to class, go to the dining hall, soak up the vibe at both schools.
1 Like
This varies a lot by dorm. My son had a nice single his freshmen year. Agree that the food is pretty awful.
Very true. With so many colleges, Boston is the one of the very best places for college students. But I hear Yale has a better community.
1 Like
You hear similar about Gtown. It blows my mind that these elite, top shelf schools can’t adequately feeds these minds that need an adequate diet.
2 Likes
We were just there for a parent’s weekend, and they didn’t serve special food for us, so we got to eat what the students eat.
Strictly speaking, the food is nutritious. There was salmon and chicken and some veggie options. But it was tasteless and usually overcooked.
1 Like
My son had the same dilemma a few years back.
Between Y and H, the deciding point was that it was much easier to get into advanced/grad level classes outside your declared major at Y. During Visitas and Bulldog days, we spent a lot of time visiting different department and talking to professors asking questions like “can a freshman math major (with x,y,z pre reqs) get into the grad/senior seminar that Prof So-and-So is teaching in pick-a-subject this fall?” At Yale, the answer was “sure, talk to the prof and if he OKs it you are in…” At H, the answer was “well, no frosh allowed, for sophomores and juniors - unlikely, as seniors in the major and grad students have priority.”
Picked Y and was able to take a very wide range of courses.
Would suggest you attend Bulldog Days and Visitas. Visit the departments he’s interested in. Walk around the campus and towns and decide where he’d rather spend 4 years.
Another benefit is that New Haven is pretty much a Yale company town. The Yale PD is primary responder on campus, and the New Haven PD treats Yale kids with kid gloves. That is very much not the case in Cambridge. Harvard Dean Khurana was very open about this issue during a Parent’s welcome at Visitas a number of years back. Said that an inebriated Yale student needing emergency transport to an ER get’s treated as a medical issue in New Haven while it can easily become a police issue for a Harvard student in Cambridge.
1 Like
Would pick Yale. Students are amazing, kind, collaborative. The entire campus culture is happy, intellectual, creative and cool. My oldest is at Yale and she is thankful at being rejected from other top choices (so as to be directed towards this amazing school). She also did the DS program and loved it. However, Boston>New Haven and that’s the one reason I would consider Harvard. Please try to visit both campuses for the Admitted Students days if you can, and attend as many online events as possible before making your decision. Good luck and congrats on those acceptances!!
1 Like
Thank you so much for the detailed response 
We appreciate the insight.
Thank you so much! DS seems to be an unparalleled opportunity. We will follow all advice here and try to visit both schools during and outside Visitas and Bulldog Days.
1 Like
As a parent and knowing my child, I am really concerned about the quality of freshman dorms. My son never lived away from home, and I am not sure if he could cope with the poor conditions you mention. Really concerning, and frankly, it is quite shocking that Harvard offers such poor conditions and awful food to the students.
1 Like
Perhaps it wouldn’t be too bad if he learns to live like most other American college students for just one year? After his freshman year, he could move to a fancier place (there’re more of them near Harvard, BTW) if he can’t get used to living in a substandard dorm with substandard food.
1 Like
There are PLENTY of beautiful places to live at Yale after freshman year. Some of the colleges have gorgeous libraries, common areas, dining halls, suites, etc. And many of the oldest ones have done extensive renovations so they are both charming AND up to date.
2 Likes
I guess you’re right. Some places near Yale are beautiful. There’re still more, and even fancier, places near Harvard though, to live and to dine in. 
Another difference. Yale students are required to live on campus for an extra year, compared to Harvard, if that matters.
You are all being so helpful! I had so many insights I shared with my son. He thinks he can cope with one year of lousy housing but still believes DS offered by Yale is too good to pass on. Living in Boston and the stronger brand name that Harvard has in our country are the pros for Harvard. He says this reminds him of the famous poem “Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost 
2 Likes
Yes indeed, if we could all live all our parallel lives and find out how things went, especially when the choices are so good!
2 Likes
I imagine the sense of community at Yale would be fostered, in no small part, by the residential colleges.
OP, Harvard and Yale are both top-of-the-pile. He can’t make a wrong choice if he chooses based on his interests.
Yale has the DS opportunity, and I think places a little bit more emphasis on the Humanities, in general, than Harvard. That being said, there isn’t a program/major at either school that won’t have quality professors, TAs, support…
Based on what you’ve said, I’d lean slightly toward Yale. The visit should confirm which he prefers. But do look into Harvard’s catalog and curriculum, to see if he could forge a path similar to what he can do with DS at Yale.
1 Like
Harvard and Yale are both exceptionally strong in the humanities. Unless a student is interested in studying something offered at one but not the other – Celtic studies at Harvard, for instance – most of the differences in academic offerings in the humanities are relatively minor and of concern only to prospective PhD students.
I’ve always been a fan of programs like Yale’s Directed Studies and Reed’s humanities core, but one should keep in mind that DS is only for one year out of four. I’m not sure I’d make it the deciding factor.
I suspect one will appeal to him much more than the other after campus visits. Choosing between such excellent options is a highly subjective matter of fit.
1 Like
https://humanities.yale.edu/pathways-students/humanities-major
It’s unbelievable. An extension of DS and little known. I had a Rhodes, 2 Fulbrights, a Marshall finalist and multiple PhD acceptances in my cohort of 16.
2 Likes