<p>Why didn't you like Yale (yes, I'm a Yalie). It has great diversity, passionate students, great arts pogram, lots of restaurants, etc around (so you can easily get off campus) and NY is an easy train ride away for the weekends.
Okay, if you don't like it, don't bother, but why not compromise with your dad and apply to maybe two of the really top schools on his list - not all of them. You may feel very differently when your acceptances come in and you actually go and do overnights at all these schools. Visiting them in the summer is the worst - I took my D to visit Tufts and there was no one on the campus but our tour group.</p>