<p>Assuming I somehow got into both Harvard and Yale (the probability of that is...well...diminutive haha), which is the better option?</p>
<p>Aside from the obvious aspect of location, what are their biggest core differences? I'd appreciate qualified alumni/faculty opinions only.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>lol, seeing as how you post this in the harvard forum before you did it in yale, you are leaning towards harvard
and duh, harvard is better. It's so much more bad*ss</p>
<p>I suppose I did, didn't I? Also, I put its name first in the title lol.
Just goes to show I'm thinking about it more, I guess. That's the problem, though, I don't necessarily know what I'm talking about, so I need professional advice.</p>
<p>Do you go to Harvard?</p>
<p>as someone who is looking at neither harvard nor yale (not good engineering schools) HARVARD. name recognition is everything. in most people's minds:
yale = very good school
harvard = all geniuses
thats just the way it is. people tend to think more of harvard than yale.
also, new haven sucks while boston is one of the best towns (cringes cuz i hate the sox and the celts)</p>
<p>Both Harvard and Yale are my top choices. But Harvard has my major...and Yale only has my major as a certificate within another major. </p>
<p>I'd choose Harvard over Yale...but I'd be happy to get into either of them.</p>
<p>Explorer, I disagree with you. While most "average" Americans, when asked what the "best" school is, may say Harvard, that doesn't have any bearing on the professional world. For instance, any law firm to which I apply in the future knows that Yale is basically just as good academically as Harvard. I'm not going to be working with the "average" Americans that you see on Jay-Walking lol</p>
<p>Harvard has somewhat more name recognition overseas. It's in Cambridge/Boston not New Haven, though I think New Haven is better than it's reputation. You may prefer Yale's system of assigning houses from the start vs. the random but with rooming block system at Harvard. Individually there are differences in the slants and quality of the departments.</p>
<p>Thanks, mathmom (although I don't plan on doing extensive overseas work)!</p>
<p>I see this problem as very similar to the Oxford vs. Cambridge problem. They're both excellent, but I really only want to apply to one.</p>
<p>what major?</p>
<p>Most likely either English or Liberal Arts</p>
<p>i mean a real major...lol</p>
<p>hey man, I plan on either being a professional writer or a lawyer (HUGE difference, I know. Don't make fun of me, I'm a bit indecisive at times haha)</p>
<p>1) Law schools don't care what your major is, as long as you get a solid GPA and the courses are tough.</p>
<p>2) In general, subjects that are the exact opposite of engineering interest me lol. This often includes abstract areas like Philosophy.</p>
<p>Btw, both English and "Liberal Arts" are bonafide majors at Harvard : )</p>
<br>
<blockquote> <p>Harvard vs. Yale<<</p> </blockquote>
<br>
<p>You mean football, right? It's been pretty much all Harvard in this century. The Crimson have won six out of the last seven.</p>
<p>As for the schools themselves:
Yale = a wonderful school located in a questionable* town.
Harvard = a wonderful school located in a wonderful town</p>
<p>*New Haven is not Hell on Earth with smoldering, bombed-out buildings, dead bodies in the gutters, and rabid dogs roaming the streets. But large chunks of it are what I would politely describe as Economically Depressed. Yalies will proclaim loudly and at great length about how magnificently the city is improving, gentrifying, and so forth. And no doubt they have made some progress, but they have a LONG way to go to bring New Haven up to the level of Cambridge as a desirable college town. I suggest you visit both and observe the contrast for yourself.</p>
<p>Haha I am a sports fan so that gives Harvard a tiny little kick.</p>
<p>Even though I said "aside from the location" in my original question, it seems that location really is everything. Most responses touch on how Cambridge/Boston is so much cooler than New Haven.</p>
<p>@you'lsee... What major is that? Curious...</p>
<p>And yeah Harvard is grossly overrated in many other nations, like immigrants at my school think that Harvard > rest of ivies combined....</p>
<p>But both are good schools, really.</p>
<br>
<blockquote> <p>Most responses touch on how Cambridge/Boston is so much cooler than New Haven.<<</p> </blockquote>
<br>
<p>That's because that's where the only really striking contrast exists. Partisans strain at gnats trying to debate whether Yale's residential system is superior to Harvard's House system, which has produced the most Nobel laureates and Rhodes scholars, or whether Harvard New England Colonial brick architecture is more appealing than Yale's faux Gothic. But the happy truth is that the schools themselves are far more similar than than they are different. Both are very old and very prestigious research universities - two of the very best universities in the world today. My elder daughter went to Harvard, but I'd be perfectly thrilled if my younger daughter got accepted by and chose Yale.</p>
<p>Thank you! That's the answer I've been hoping for (<em>ahem</em> the answer for which I've been hoping lol)</p>
<p>Although....I think I'd prefer Colonial over faux gothic....haha</p>
<p>I'm wondering for math + economics what would be the best uni out of the two?</p>
<p>It's really kind of funny. I ended up in Munich because my husband decided to do a post-doc there. Working overseas hadn't really been part of my plans either. I got hired purely on the basis of my Harvard degree even though there was no undergrad architecture major at the time and I'd gone elsewhere for grad school.</p>
<p>Wow, mathmom. I like what I'm hearing haha (even though I obviously already knew about the "prestige factor").</p>
<p>I plan on going to law school, so even if I don't receive admission for my undergrad, I'll definitely be applying to Harvard Law in a few years....:)</p>