<p>Now that the college process is finally over and I've decided to go to Yale, all I seem to hear about are the constant arguments about which school has the better undergraduate experience: Harvard, Princeton, or Yale. </p>
<p>And honestly, I don't really care. I didn't choose Yale because I was comparing it to the other schools. I chose Yale because I simply love the school. Isn't that enough?</p>
<p>All three are awesome schools, as are the rest of the ivies and Stanford and MIT. I don't get why people constantly feel the need to throw around names and be so hostile about it. I don't think people really understand what "Harvard", "Yale", or "Princeton" really mean. It's not just a name. its an ENTIRE school. These are ENTIRE AMAZING INSTITUTIONS that we were all so incredibly lucky to have accepted to. If only all the MILLIONS of college-bound students in the US could have been so lucky to be able to leisurely debate about which of these WORLD RENOWNED institutions is the best! </p>
<p>Think about it: the only people who care which one is the "best" are the 6,000 or so students who have actually been admitted. 6,000 out of MILLIONS. </p>
<p>I think we need to keep this in perspective, or risk sounding incredibly obnoxious. I don't hate Harvard or Princeton or any of the other schools. I think they're amazing places, and I think Yale is an amazing place. I don't think Yale is better than them, and I don't think they are better than Yale. </p>
<p>I think we should all just take a moment to be grateful for the INCREDIBLE opportunity that we have each been blessed with, and no matter which institution you choose, you should enjoy the time that you have there and make the best of it that you possibly can.</p>
<p>Ya it is pointless most of the time. I hate when people take it seriously. I only bust it out for Harvard/Yale weekend. I’d love to go to alot of Yale’s graduate programs!</p>
<p>I mean, deep down, everyone knows that they’re all the three best schools in the country (at worst, three of the top five), so what does it matter that the proud few fortunate enough to get accepted to them argue about which one is better? It’s just kind of something you earn by getting accepted, I guess. For the rest of us, we just watch.</p>
<p>What I posted on the Yale thread: For me, and I think for a lot of people, it’s kind of a fun joke. We’re all smart enough to get into Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, so we all know that they’re basically equally amazing schools. It’s just fun to talk about why your school is the best, even just jokingly.</p>
<p>Here’s my take on the H-Y rivalry (I don’t have any perspective on P). I was in a sports bar in the Square on the weekend of fall move-in one year, sitting behind a rowdy group of guys watching a football game on TV. After I eavesdropped a little, it was apparent that they were the Harvard rugby club. The door opened, and two college-age guys walked in, one wearing a shirt that said “Yale Rugby.” The table in front of me erupted with a chorus of boos and cocktail napkins being hurled at the invaders, who smiled and ducked for cover on their way to take seats at the bar. After a few more taunts were called out, a couple of the H rugby players were sent to the bar as emissaries of the table in front of me. They introduced themselves, shook hands with the two Yalies, and invited them back to their table where the H team bought them drinks and they all launched into animated storytelling and laughter about mutual rugby acquaintances.</p>
<p>I’ve seen this pattern carried out over and over in the campus newspapers, in youtube comedy videos, and with a cappella groups. The rivalry thing is for fun and for show, and after the required ritual of antagonism, they’re brothers and sisters (and as you know, you’d better not lay a finger on my brother - only I get to beat up on my brother!). The week leading up to the H-Y football game is a real hoot in the campus newspapers, which compete to see who can produce the most erudite smack-talking. Then the students from the visiting school bus to the other school, and crash for the weekend in the rooms of host students there.</p>
<p>New Rule: If you’re not going to Harvard and you’re not applying to Harvard, get off of the Harvard forum and stop telling everyone you picked a different school.</p>
<p>I’m not on the Yale forum telling everyone I picked Harvard instead.</p>
<p>^What a dumb rule! You want the forum to be an echo chamber?</p>
<p>I turned Harvard down twice three decades ago, but I love Harvard. My grandmother was a 'Cliffie almost a century ago, my parents met at HLS, and I have dozens of relatives and friends whom I know pretty well who have been students or faculty members there. I have decent personal ties to two former Harvard presidents. I have seen “Harvardness” play out over entire careers and lifetimes, not just one admissions season. So, every now and then, I feel like I have something to say about Harvard. You don’t have to read it.</p>
<p>JHS - I am assuming that EHSs “rule” is not directed at individuals like you. I have certainly seen you around the forums during my year+ on CC and you have always added thoughtful comments to the discussions.</p>
<p>Wow. Another “yalie” *****ing on the harvard forum. Why am I not surprised? </p>
<p>There is no contest in comparing H to P to Y. H to M to S is the real battle, and that one’s just for lols. H/M/S is the only tier I’d recognize as “they’re all about the same”</p>
<p>Someone I know put it very nicely: You can pretend to hate each other all you want in college, but once you get out you have to get over it because more likely than not you’ll end up working together.</p>