I always wonder why I turned down Harvard...

Applying to College
1

<p>So before any gets up in arms about 'YOU'RE GOING TO YALE, YOU CAN'T COMPLAIN,' I fully realize this. But still...Everyone knows that Harvard is THE school. When you're 5, you always say you want to go to Harvard, not Yale (unless you're a legacy, most likely). </p>

<p>But I know that Yale is the right school for me. I know it. I was so so so so so excited about being accepted to Yale early action. During Bulldog Days, I L-O-V-E-D Yale. It was amazing. I had a great time with the people I hung out with. I loved aaaalways having something to do. I loved how enthusiastic the students were about the school. I love how enthusiastic the school was about having us there. I LOVED Yale. </p>

<p>Harvard's Admit Weekend was...meh. Believe me, I WANTED to love it, I really did, but I didn't. The activities at Yale were great, but the ones at Harvard were sooo...lame (mock Harvard/MIT math competition? "Come sit in on the Financial Analysts Club meeting" ?? Please...) And on the second night, sooo many of the prefrosh were wandering around the Yard wondering what there was to do. That NEVER happened at Yale. And so many of the students I talked to said they chose Harvard "because it's Harvard" or "why would you choose anywhere else."</p>

<p>And sadly, it's a real reason to choose Harvard. I mean who wouldn't want to go to the best school just because it's the best? It was SO hard for me to turn down Harvard, even though I knew it wasn't the place for me. Don't get me wrong, I met a lot of people who loved the admit weekend, probably as much as I loved Yale's Bulldog Days. I bet they'll have the time of their lives at Harvard. But I wasn't one of them. I wasn't even that excited when I got into Harvard. Definitely not as excited as I was when I got into Yale a few months prior. It was just like, ohh cool. Maybe Yale had numbed me to any future acceptances.</p>

<p>But still, everytime someone asks me where I'm going to school next year, I want to say Harvard. It's my ego, I know. And I know it's great that I can say "Yale" but what if...what if I had chosen Harvard. I probably wouldn't have hated it. In fact I might have loved it. I dunno, it's just that every time I see some ranking of Harvard/Yale/Princeton/Stanford here on CC, Yale is last a frightening amount of times. It doesn't help that I want to go into the SCIENCES. Every time I see some ranking about which school has published the most papers in a scientific journal or which school has the most faculty in the (insert national science academy of something or another here), Yale is always last among those four.</p>

<p>Of course I always try to justify my decision by saying that Yale will offer the best undergraduate EXPERIENCE of any of the colleges I was seriously considering. And I feel this is 100% true, but still I could've made myself happy at Harvard. And why do I always have to justify my decision to go to Yale? </p>

<p>I always wonder if I made the wrong choice. Surely choosing Yale over Harvard (and Stanford, btw--another science all-star) won't have any significant impact on my career</p>

<p>...right?</p>

<p>Sigh, I don't know why I ranted, but I've been holding it back for so long, because I don't feel like I can talk to anyone I know about this. Everyone would laugh at me and call me ridiculous, but maybe I am. Maybe other CCers can empathize...</p>

2

<p>I actually really liked this post. You made the right decision FOR YOU. Yale may not be as strong as, say, Stanford in the sciences, but no one scoffs at it. Plus, you'll be able to go into whatever graduate program you desire. The social aspect was important. You have yours set at Yale, and you might have needed to carve one out at Harvard (but it might have worked out).</p>

<p>To be honest, I'm a rising senior and I already am starting to feel what you're saying. I haven't been accepted anywhere, so I can't know exactly, but I always wonder if I'll be able to turn down a more prestigious university for one that may "fit" me better. In fact, having seen two of my friends struggle with this issue for a long time, I totally understand where you're coming from. BOTH of them made difficult choices between HYPS and one of AWS for one and another top LAC for the other. They both chose the LACs, but there is definitely a little twinge of...not regret, exactly, but...something that pulls at them. I guess you have to feel it to put it in words exactly. Anyway, I worry about the same thing, and I'm not convinced at all that I'll be as strong as you or my friends. Pat yourself on the back.</p>

3

<p>Just let go. You're going to be at YALE in fall, which can't hurt your future too much.... No need to dwell on past choices. From what you wrote, it's the right place for you.</p>

<p>Now, have fun. Seriously.</p>

4

<p>Yeah, at some point you've just got to get over it. You'll probably like Yale.</p>

5

<p>Just wait until you step foot at Yale during the first day. You'll forget all about Harvard.</p>

6

<p>Heyyou, are you a JT fan?</p>

7

<p>To be frank, who cares that you chose yale over harvard. You made the choice because you know you will enjoy. Even if its in the last of the top 4 its still a particular awesome school. Think of it like this, you have a clump of 24k gold with a volume of 30 inches that represents the top college. Saying "well Yale is the last of the top 4" is like taking off 3 centimeters of volume off that clump of gold, doesn't change much.</p>

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<p><em>throws up arms</em>
"you got into YALE!, thats why!"</p>

<p>:p</p>

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<p>haha....i would think about it this way...how many people can say they turned down harvard!!?? not many at all
it has a really high yield so you are one of a very very very select groups of people.
I would def chose yale too if i were in your shoes. It just seems like a happier much more friendly laid back place in general.
best of luck to you!!
cheer up man....YOUR GOING TO YALE!
plus yale has all the cool secret societies and stuff...ide say thats pretty freaking sweet too!~</p>

10

<p>I think you made the right choice! If you like Yale, then Yale is ranked no.1 for you. Going to Yale is increadible ofcourse it won't hurt your career in the future... many would dream of going to yale...</p>

<p>this is ofcourse, assuming you didn't write all that to brag you got in harvard, yale and stanford.</p>

11

<p>oh heavens no...i didnt write that to brag. eek, i hope i didnt come across that way :-&lt;/p>

<p>anyway, yeah i definitely know i made the right choice :) </p>

<p>i mean i'm not depressed or anything haha, it's just sometimes you wonder, you know? </p>

<p>i think baelor definitely described the sentiment perfectly. it's not regret (i was careful not to use regret to describe how i feel), it's just a "what if..."</p>

<p>airupthere: haha what a bizarre question...by JT do you mean justin timberlake? if so, um...i guess? i mean sexyback is pretty catchy :-P</p>

<p>rararachit: such a funny analogy hahaha</p>

<p>anyway, thanks everyone :D</p>

12

<p>To be clear, I totally agree with all of the other posters. :D You are about to embark on a great journey at a great school. I have a friend who turned down MIT for Yale (math/comp sci person), so going to Yale for sciences/math is obviously not a bad decision. You will have a great time, and it sounds like you picked the right school. Social fit is perhaps the most important for those who don't know exactly what they want to do (of course, general academic strength in areas of interest is important too). </p>

<p>The other stuff was just about the feeling, because I know people who are going through EXACTLY what you are. But as someone said, you will have forgotten about it by the time you reach campus, but if not, by the end of the first semester probably. Yale will not close any doors for you, and you will have fun, and have opportunities. THAT is what matters.</p>

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<p>Hey, cheer up! I think you're gonna LOVE your experience in Yale. Heard that they have a fantastic school spirit that you can find no where else, though I haven't been there before (I'm still a HS senior). Anyway, I don't think quality of academics vary to any significant extent among HYSP. You can brag about turning down Harvard, just to be evil...</p>

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<p>I'll kill to be able to choose between Harvard and Yale (as would most CCers IMO)</p>

<p>Great choice btw...Harvard is overrated IMO</p>

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<p>First of all, I'm insanely jealous of you, lol.</p>

<p>But I do understand the feeling. I wasn't nearly as successful as you in the whole college admissions thing, but I definitely have also been thinking "what if..." I chose Dartmouth over Duke and UChicago because I loved the campus and thought it would be a good choice for undergrad but a part of me is like why didn't I choose one of the other two, which both have have stronger grad programs and more prestigous faculty. And the fact that I'm visiting relatives in Asia hasn't helped. They're obsessed with rankings here and all looked at the US News rankings and were like you could have gone to #8 or #9 but you picked #11???</p>

<p>But as you said in your post you know you made the right decisions. Hopefully this is just a pre-college phase and once we start school it'll all be good.</p>

16

<p>heyyou,</p>

<p>The only released cross-admit data is 50-50 for YS. Very likely the ratio is the same for HY this year. H lost more cross-admits to all the other three this year than before, I believe. And very likely the trend will continue next year. The rating or ranking on sciences is mainly for graduate school, so you will always have a chance to come back to HS for your graduate study.</p>

17

<p>Yeah I second the person above. You chose Yale over Harvard. And all that should matter is your own college ranking in which Yale is placed well above Harvard. </p>

<p>Also Harvard is over-rated. Think of how you'd be at really cut-throat environment.</p>

18

<p>I really think you made the right decision. One of my close friends got into the honors program at Northwestern, but turned it down for NYU because he absolutely loved NYU and knew it was the right "fit" for him. Obviously these schools are less elite than the ones your talking about, but I really do think that fit is more important than prestige, period.</p>

19

<p>heyyou, as far as your concern about CC rankings and whatnot, Yale would only come in last if such rankings were about science/engineering. But Yale's not even bad in science, it's better in some basic sciences like biology and chemistry than Princeton is. </p>

<p>Plus, Yale is investing $1 billion into the sciences, and has bought the new West Campus, which will be used mainly to boost science reputation through research. It'll be catching up pretty fast.</p>

20

<p>Frame your Harvard acceptance letter, and put it up in your Dorm. Yalies will love you.</p>