<p>Harvard almost pulled off a deja vu comeback against yale last night. It was televised as well in the NYC area on YES, which was, to say the least, bizarre. </p>
<p>considering the comparative nature of this discussion, it should be noted that yale is ranked below harvard AND princeton, which ties the big H for no. 1. Yale is one of the top THREE universities in the country behind the crimson and princeton</p>
<p>...im sure you're all aware of the rankings, but it seemed to be overly neglected in this particular discussion</p>
<p>I take it you're talking about US News.</p>
<p>Yale does manage to surpass Princeton in the Revealed Preference study, THES, Shanghai and other rankings where more weight is given to research etc., such as "The Center", and in the Gallup poll, which is purely reputational.</p>
<p>In terms of rivalry, Princeton has been left out.</p>
<p>Ending the three-way</p>
<p>Regarding 'Rethinking the game of the year' (Thursday, Nov. 17):</p>
<pre><code>Thank you, for finally being the one to step up and publicly express the utter absurdity of our pathetic attempt to squirm our way into a Harvard-Yale rivalry that we really don't belong in. Big Three? More like a big mistake; everyone knows there's no emotional fulfillment in a three-way.
Harvard and Yale are the married couple, and Princeton is just that lonely, slutty girl they meet in a bar and bring home every now and then when they're bored with each other. Sure, we can pretend like they want us, but in reality, they'll use us if it amuses them, and beyond that, we're left yearning for anything more: a note, a phone call ... even awkward eye contact. The University of Pennsylvania, on the other hand, has a burning desire to be our committed rival. They'll do everything they possibly can to remind us of their presence, at the same time making outlandish and unfounded claims of superiority for us to laughably repudiate with ease. It's definitely time for us to change our ways and settle down with the school we belong with, allowing us to finally experience all the highs and lows (and chaotic fun) of a real college rivalry.
</code></pre>
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<p>and this one as well</p>
<p>... The contest versus Yale last Saturday was billed here as "the game of the year," but it was in no way, shape or form a "rivalry game." The Yalies who came down for the weekend made that fact painfully clear. Yale's traditional rival, they reminded us, is Harvard. And just in case we didn't quite get the message, our Eli guests sported t-shirts that spelled it out: "Harvard sucks. Princeton doesn't matter."</p>
<pre><code>Alas, there's no point in arguing. It's true: We can't count, year in and year out, on being the most important game on any of our opponents' schedules. We may matter if we happen to be leading in the standings, but we never matter just because we're Princeton. Harvard-Yale has no analogue in the contemporary traditions of Princetoniana. And maybe that's the key to understanding why student support for Princeton football has been so erratic.
An entire book "The Only Game That Matters" is devoted to the (audacious) thesis that Harvard-Yale is "the most important" rivalry in college football history. Ohio State and Michigan might stake a stronger claim to that title, but let's give our peers in New England their due. When the Crimson visit the Yale Bowl this weekend, the Harvard student body will relocate en masse to New Haven for "The Game." Wholesale migration. Busloads and busloads and busloads of undergrads. Tailgating on a scale otherwise unheard of in the Ivy League. And they do it every year, on the third Saturday of November, regardless of the win-loss records of their respective squads....
</code></pre>
<p>In addition to Penn, which is painfully pining for a "rivalry", Princeton might also explore a Columbia connection. The advantage of Columbia as an athletic rival is that they can be counted on to lose the game in most sports.</p>
<p>that's an interesting suggestion byerly...</p>
<p>i think dartmouth might be more fitting though since they'd offer a formidable challenge as far as athletics, and they kind of fit the princeton profile as a touted ivy in a small town environment</p>
<p>i do agree though that the illusion of a three-way rivalry is too complicated to really get worked up about...hence, princeton only has a bonfire when they beat both harvard and yale in football, which never happens, and there is little to celebrate if we beat only one of two....we need to find our own tradition...or maybe the idea of a "left-out heavyweight" fits us just right...the suspended state of constant rivalry mooching offers its own rewards</p>
<p>Might be a tough sell. Dartmouth sees itself as sort of an auxilliary Harvard rival these days, much as Brown does, and as Cornell does in Hockey.</p>
<p>Columbia is there for the taking, however.</p>
<p>See:</p>
<p>And especially see:</p>
<p>yeah, im starting to like the idea of columbia more and more...they'd easily be our *****es in practically any athletic contest, and they're only an hour train ride away...i'll have to take this discussion up with the administration and athletic department lol</p>
<p>Well note that the Spectator is already agitating at their end, which is something they do well.</p>
<p>I'd get right on the case before Penn get tired of waiting and goes after Columbia themselves.</p>
<p>good thinking</p>
<p>Yale was founded on the basis that "Harvard Sucks!" So, what can one expect?</p>
<p>for those that go to harvard and yale, what is the difference between the two? i'm not trying to get in the middle of the rivalry; i actually want to know.</p>
<p>About $10 billion.</p>
<p>Haha! Byerly are you currently attending Harvard?</p>
<p>the two are about equivalent financially in terms of money per student</p>
<p>Ah, yes: "money per student".</p>
<p>But consider the potential market value of all those super-talented additional students, Bulldog: an undergrad student body that is 20% larger yet has a higher SAT median, all of the doctors, lawyers, executives, financeers, scientists etc in the graduate and professional schools such as your alma mater HMS, HBS, HLS, HSE, HDS, KSG etc etc.!</p>
<p>Okay, here are some actual differences. As you can tell, most of them are pretty minor. It's a very incomplete list; probably the best way to compile one would be to talk to someone who transferred between the two schools, if you can find one, or put a room of Yalies and Harvard students in a room to discuss the minutae of the different universities.</p>
<p>Yale assigns you to a college/house freshman year, whereas Harvard does it sophomore year. The advantage of the Yale system is better college spirit; the advantage of the Harvard system is more choice in who you want to live with (because of the blocking group system).</p>
<p>Yale has a distribution requirement; Harvard has a core. This will probably change soon, as Harvard is likely to move to a distribution requirement in a year or two.</p>
<p>Yale is located in New Haven; Harvard is located in Cambridge. Harvard has better access to big city entertainments and nightlife, but Yale has better on-campus nightlife.</p>
<p>The different schools have different departmental strengths. Yale has and oustanding drama program; Harvard's physics and math departments are extremely strong. I'm sure there are other departmental comparisons one could make, but I don't know them.</p>
<p>The two schools have very different architecture and campuses. Harvard's more urban and red brick; Yale is less urban and faux-Gothic.</p>
<p>Yale has a directed studies option for freshmen; Harvard doesn't.</p>
<p>Yale has Eli Express. Harvard totally needs Eli Express (it's a library book-delivery system where you can order books from another on-campus library and they're delivered to one closer to you. This is really handy when you consider that the different schools of these universities can be very spread out geographically).</p>
<p>Harvard has final clubs; Yale has secret societies. The former are single-sex and many, though not all, host parties; the latter are coed and, obviously, don't host parties. </p>
<p>Harvard's football team is better.</p>
<p>I think that was a pretty good objective comparison.</p>
<p>except for the part about harvard having a better football program...</p>
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<blockquote> <p>except for the part about harvard having a better football program...<<</p> </blockquote>
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<p>No, that is pretty objective too. Harvard has defeated Yale in football for the last five years in a row.</p>