<p>This question gets play year in and year out.</p>
<p>My sister, who is three years older than me went to Yale, and I fell madly in love with the school when I used to visit her. I loved the architecture, the gritty urban feel outside the campus, and, most of all, her classmates. I applied SCEA two years ago and got deferred, then rejected. I thought I was a very strong candidate, and probably was. Harvard saw something in my application and made me an offer in April. I was relieved and extremely happy.</p>
<p>Two years later, I am a happy, productive sophomore at Harvard, and give no thought to how life might be different at Yale. Suffice it to say, Harvard is a mind-bogglingly impressive institution. I have met great friends and have had all the emotional highs and lows typical of adjustment to college life.</p>
<p>Having said that, here are a few thoughts on the two schools from somewhat intimate experience:</p>
<ul>
<li>You can find pockets of warmth and openness at Harvard, for sure, but on the whole, Yale is a friendlier, warmer place. Maybe it has to do with the size of the schools, or the relative compactness of the yale campus, or that in the past Yalies turned inward against a seemingly hostile New Haven environment. The atmosphere seems more like a big family; Harvard has a somewhat more individualistic culture and an impersonal feel.</li>
</ul>
<p>-For whatever reason, Yalies tend to cultivate a laid-back intellectualism. You feel it in the dining hall conversation. There is a larger strain of anti-intellectualism at Harvard at the undergraduate level, perhaps as a reaction to the pressure of being in the country's number 1 "genius" pool. I think students at Harvard are more openly competitive than Yalies.</p>
<p>-There are more big-name profs at Harvard, particularly in the sciences than at Yale. I think profs are somewhat less accessible at Harvard, thought that varies widely by prof.</p>
<p>-Harvard is almost twice the size of Yale, there is more of almost everything around. That's good in terms of potential opportunity, bad in terms of making you feel like a tiny, insignificant fish in a very big and intimidating pond.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Boston vs. New Haven, what's to say that's not obvious? In the immediate vicinity of campus, however, I actually think Yale has a wider variety of eating and drinking options that are affordable to students and accessible in a 2 minute walk and have a fun atmosphere.</p></li>
<li><p>Yale's administration has done a much better job of providing on-campus entertainment. I have been to many parties at both schools, and Yale's tend to be more buoyant and creative.</p></li>
</ul>