<p>what’s the verdict, bookworm? I chose Harvard :)</p>
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<p>I have a copy of “The Students’ Guide to Colleges.” In it, actual students at 100 top colleges are interviewed and asked to come up with five-word descriptions for their schools. The Harvard students’ description: “This ain’t college - it’s Harvard!” The Yale students’: “So much better than Harvard.”</p>
<p>I spent a VERY long time at the admitted student days, (protracted my stay at both universities beyond the regulation 3).</p>
<p>And in regards to the Harvard/Yale who-bashes-who-more issue, I did NOT think that Yalies have an inferiority complex.</p>
<p>Yale:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>SOME students (definitely a minority overall) mentioned “Harvard sucks” or “Yale is better” but only ever in a light-hearted way. I also saw my host’s guidelines - bashing is DEFINITELY not allowed and this was an explicit instruction from Yale admin.</p></li>
<li><p>Yale authorities themselves did not say a word about Harvard. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>Harvard:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>SOME students (again, a minority) bashed Yale. Saying things like “Yale has an inferiority complex” or “Safety school” or when I mentioned I was struggling between the two “You’re even considering Yale?!”. </p></li>
<li><p>I was suprised by the overt bashing though. There were T-SHIRTS being sold to pre-frosh near the EC fair with Yale-bashing slogans. Something along the lines of “Save the World, Recycle Yale”. People were also wearing “Fale” shirts around campus. (I definitely didn’t see the same at Yale). </p></li>
<li><p>Drew Faust mentioned Yale in her speech (in response to a Yale/Harvard question), and I thought she was a tad hypocritical and snarky about it. (Snidely talking about the Game, and alluding to Yale’s inferiority - I don’t know, maybe she wasn’t bashing at all, but I felt the tone was very unnecessary, and I was a bit offended by it).</p></li>
</ul>
<p>In summary:</p>
<p>I felt that the bashing goes BOTH WAYS. Bizarrely, I say Yale bashing occur more at Harvard than the converse Harvard-bashing at Yale. It was certainly more overt, what with the T-shirts etc.</p>
<p>To the OP:</p>
<p>I chose Harvard in the end, but by the slimmest of margins. I didn’t choose Harvard for the name, or because it was on the UNSWR as No 1. My reasons were very particular to how I saw myself and my future, about my personal values and what I was looking for in a college and life in general. </p>
<p>If you want, I can PM my personal decisionmaking process, but my general advice is - choose what is right for YOU and for reasons that mean something to YOU. Only then can you say that you’ve chosen something for yourself, and it will be a decision you can live by. 
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<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>That’s weird they had the T-shirts. Still, is it that surprising? Harvard hates Yale. Yale hates Harvard. They’re rivals. My guess is that the students from both bash each other, and your perspective on who bashes more just depends who you meet.</p>
<p>Where did bookworm end up choosing? Does anyone know?</p>
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<p>But not really - it’s just for show.</p>
<p>Here’s an illustration of what I think is the essence of the H-Y rivalry. I was watching a football game in a sports bar in the Square one time, sitting next to a table that was obviously and loudly manned by the Harvard rugby team. A couple of college-aged guys walked in the door; one had on a Yale Rugby t-shirt. The rugby guys exploded in a chorus of catcalls and boos, and showered the invaders with cocktail napkins and peanuts. The Yalies ducked and smiled and made their way past the table to the bar.</p>
<p>A minute later, two of the Harvard rugby players walked over to the Yale players seated at the bar, introduced themselves and shook hands. They brought the two back to the Harvard table where the Harvard guys bought them drinks and launched into an animated conversation about friends and rugby acquaintances they had in common. It looked like a fun scene.</p>
<p>Consider that on the weekend of The Game, most of the undergrads of the visiting team crash on the floors and sofas of hosts from the other school. That doesn’t happen when, for example, Ohio State students travel to Michigan.</p>
<p>You make good points gadad; but dont forget; “Bull dog, dull dog, bow wow wow”!</p>
<p>Thank you to everyone’s opinion and help! I ended up choosing Yale because of some intangible feeling I had there that I didn’t have at Harvard.</p>