<p>I turned in my reply card to Yale but I still have the option of trying to get off the waitlist at Harvard. I applied EA to Yale and wasn't that excited about applying to Harvard. </p>
<p>I want to study math and econ. Is there really that humongous of a difference in the quality of the econ and math departments between H and Y that I should try to get into Harvard. I turned down schools with proverbially better econ departments such as Williams, Penn, Princeton, and Berkeley because I liked the environment at Yale better. I like Cambridge better than New Haven though.</p>
<p>p.s. Please no comments about me being a prestige whore. I'm interested in why people say Harvard's econ and math departments are better than Yale's. That's all.</p>
<p>if you know anything about the world of economics, you know that nearly every prominent economist is at Harvard (barro, cooper, etc etc), Columbia (sachs, stiglitz), Chicago (friedman), Berkeley (powers, too many to name to be honest), Stanford, MIT, UCLA, with a few at Princeton (krugman). i'm sure yale would have good professors in economics that would give you what you need to know, but to be honest, their departments just aren't as strong in terms of faculty ability. i don't think i've ever read of anything coming out of yale on economics. that doesn't necessarily mean that your experience will be worse--in fact you may get to have more time with your professors. however, it does mean that you are not actually being taught by the leaders and trendsetters in the field. sachs and krugman, for instance, shift public opinion every time they speak, and if you want that, then yale's not a good idea.</p>
<p>To be honest, in my opinion, Yale doesn't have that great a reputation in the sciences as compared to Harvard, though it is probably better than most other schools in the top 25. If you want the earth-shaking economists, and mathematicians, Harvard is a much better draw. Apparently they just got Yau, who is a Field's Medalist, from Stanford, and have drawing crazy mathematicians left and right (some topologist left MIT for just down the street). Harvard has always had alot of momentum in mathematics, and I would say it shares the economic title with the University of Chicago and perhaps MIT. I personally think that going to Yale for the humanistic bent is a great idea, or perhaps a great one for those pre-professionals, but if you want to feel like you're keeping the pulse on truly earth-shaking results, I think that Yale is a pretty poor choice. If I had to pick the top 5 universities in science/engineering/mathematics, it certainly wouldn't make the list.</p>
<p>Yeah, but consider that at Harvard you hardly ever have personal contact with those amazing faculty and researchers. (Not saying that this is vastly different from Yale or any other institution.) You're basically going to only meet with your TF during the whole time, at least that's what my brother, an econ major at Harvard, tells me. </p>
<p>To be fair, my brother had a uber-famous (can't remember his name, one of the heads of Reagan's economic team) professor for his freshman Ec class...that's something that you will find at Harvard and probably not Yale.</p>
<p>obviously harvard does have a sick econ department, but it's surprising that nobody here would mention robert shiller or william nordhaus--both of whom are hugely respected yale economists. also, paul krugman, now at princeton, went to yale. yale's econ might not be one or two in the country, but it's very, very strong, and has a number of highly regarded people.</p>
<p>Recruiting for econ-related jobs (finance, investment banking, etc.) is definitely equal between Harvard and Yale. Remember, an econ degree won't be all that useful in the context of an investment banking career since the econ departments at both are very theoretical and academic. There is some kind of myth going around that if you want to go into i-banking or the world of finance, you must be an econ major. As far as I have seen, those companies really don't care what you major in (well as long as it isn't a foofy major like gender studies) as long as you have potential. Not to mention that you have to eventually get an MBA sometime. I got an internship at Merril Lynch this summer and practically all it took was saying I went to Yale, he didn't care that I took nary a math or econ course my whole freshman year.</p>
<p>Without challenging your anecdotal evidence that you were hired for a summer job at ML despite minimal qualifications, I do wonder about the accuracy of your sweeping claim that "recruiting for econ-related jobs (finance, investment banking, etc.) is definitely equal between Harvard and Yale." </p>
<p>Is there any statistical basis for this assertion to which you can provide a supporting link?</p>
<p>The most important thing, ultimately, is the feeling you get from a certain college. If you felt like Yale was right for you, then it still is. It's an unbelievable place to go to school in every respect, from the people you'll meet to the extracurriculars to the surroundings. Everybody wonders at times, "what would it be like to go to school X?" but the vast majority of people here love it (and no, it's not some conspiracy cooked up by the Yale admissions office; you can read the Crimson if you want to here about Harvard's special social scene). Yale is awesome. Feel thrilled about having the opportunity to come here and get ready for Camp Yale in August. Second-guessing yourself over subjects in which the university is very strong is a waste of time.</p>
<p>"To be fair, my brother had a uber-famous (can't remember his name, one of the heads of Reagan's economic team) professor for his freshman Ec class...that's something that you will find at Harvard and probably not Yale."</p>
<p>I think he's referring to Martin Feldstein.</p>
<p>Also keep in mind that the Harvard undergrad experience is not always considered to be enjoyable. I recommend going to Yale, and then going to Harvard for business school.</p>
<p>Most people who have a choice pick Harvard for an undergrad education. In the case of SYPM, 75% of common admits traditionally opt for Harvard undergrad.</p>
<p>They find it "enjoyable" enough to stick around and graduate at a rate higher than that at any other college or university in the United States of America.</p>
<p>I meant to use the word "apply". The point that I was trying to make was that Harvard undergrads are sometimes disatisfied by their experience because more focus is often placed on grad students. If Praguer were to apply to Harvard for grad school, and then be accepted, he might enjoy his experience more than if he had gone there for undergrad. Yale is (obviously) a highly-regarded educational institution. If Praguer prefers the atmosphere there, he will probably be happier there.</p>
<p>A better word, Byerly, would be "tolerable." It is "tolerable" enough. This applies to other Ivies, too. It doesn't necessarily mean that the experience was "enjoyable," as I'm sure some stuck around because they wanted a particular name on their diploma. </p>
<p>In any case, it seems that Princeton graduates found their experience most enjoyable since they have the highest alumni giving rank (#1 with 61%). Harvard (#3 with 48%), Yale (#6 with 45%), Penn (#8 with 39%), and Brown (#9 with 38%) are pretty close. Cornell (#15 with 34%) and Columbia (#18 with 33%) are not far behind.</p>