MIT vs. Yale?

<p>I really don't know what to do between these two schools. Does anyone have some insight into this? I'm thinking pre-med also. Is anyone else in this same boat?</p>

<p>go to Yale</p>

<p>What do you base that on? I know yale has great EC's and a more balanced social life, Residential Colleges, etc. But I can't help but feel that everyone that the research at MIT is unparalled.</p>

<p>think about it this way</p>

<p>at MIT you will be surrounded by techies... ie, no diversity of ambitions/learning styles/ goals</p>

<p>Med schools want to see that you are not just one of the pack. Remeber that u dont need to take a science degree to get into med school(though it might help for the mcats :))</p>

<p>At yale you'll have a lot of fun with lots of other diverse ambitious people. At Mit, you'll be one of the pack</p>

<p>GO TO YALE</p>

<p>i cant help but feel that MIT is a place where the majority of the kids are like those nerds in high school (though they are usually brilliant).</p>

<p>If youre not going for a science degree and if you want to pursue med school after college, i would pick yale simply because youll have more fun while getting an amazing education, and MIT's technological prestige gives you just about nothing if you go on to Grad/Med school. Since socially i do not think they're comparable, Yale is what i'd go with though i applied to neither.</p>

<p>good luck</p>

<p>Yale will give you a well-rounded education, which med/grad schools will appreciate, and a well-established pre-med track. MIT is a wonderful school, but I feel it places too much emphasis on being "indoors" in a way (both literally and figuratively) - cooped up in a research lab or focusing entirely on academics. Yale emphasizes extracurricular activities in addition to fantastic academics.</p>

<p>Besides...
1. Yale's Gothic architecture > MIT's postwar boxes (I have to throw this into every post :))
2. MIT has one of the highest (it may be the highest) suicide rates among colleges.</p>

<p>Come to Yale!</p>

<p>oh, bluto, i feel for you... this was exactly the tough decision that I faced last year!</p>

<p>Ultimately, my decision to come to Yale was based off the fact that I really wanted a well-rounded, well-balanced education (read: lots of humanities courses) even though I'm a die-hard science geek. Science at MIT does have a better reputation, but science at Yale is definitely not something to sneeze at (especially in the traditional pre-med areas), and in the end, even though I'm going to major in chemistry, it was Yale's humanities offerings (esp. in history and foreign language :-P) that convinced me I would be much happier at Yale.</p>

<p>There's another reason that's a little sillier and has nothing to do with academics, so I won't go into that, but I just thought I'd share taht with you. Really, you shouldn't worry too much about the quality of your education at the two schools - you'll get an excellent education at either one - but you should definitely take into consideration whether or not you'd be happy at a school with much more limited humanities offerings. If you're really not into the humanities, MIT might be a wonderful school for you. But if you can't live without your amazing history and etc. classes, you might want to think seriously about coming to Yale.</p>

<p>I guess we can see a consensus emerging :)</p>

<p>Don't forget, at MIT you can take humanities classes and stuff at Harvard for credit. The Med schools would see that(especially Harvard Med). Personnally I would probably still choose Yale, but I thought I might as well let you know that.</p>

<p>I am aware of the ability to take classes at Harvard, but I think it seems impractical to take the T to too many classes. Also, I wouldn't get a Harvard degree, they would only fufill general electives at MIT.</p>

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<p>One per semester wouldn't be too much of a hassle, but more than that would probably be a pain.</p>

<p>... obviously, as a non-MIT student, I have no authority on the issue of taking classes at Harvard, but according to one of my really good friends (who did choose MIT), taking classes at Harvard can be somewhat difficult because of scheduling constraints (both day-to-day and with exams/because MIT's term schedule is different than Harvards). This is definitely something you might want to ask a current MIT student about, if the admissions office has put you in contact with one (and if they haven't, call the admit office and tell them you want to talk with a current student).</p>

<p>I was facing the same decision a couple of days ago and just yesterday I finally decided Yale. I also want to do sciencey stuff, so I'm in the same boat. (Well, cognitive science. Both schools seem equally good at it - MIT from the AI aspect, Yale from the psych aspect) Two points people haven't brought up yet that could very well be very wrong:</p>

<p>1) Because MIT is a school of people highly concentrated in analytical intelligence, it'll be verrryyy hard to be at the top without being an insane genius. But at Yale, people have very different talents, so if you're smart and ahead of the game, you could be one of the best in your major.</p>

<p>2) If you don't like either school the first year, wouldn't it be easier to transfer from Yale to MIT than from MIT to Yale? Just the impression I got. But my high school had a huge imbalance of acceptances (18 to MIT, 2 to Yale) so maybe I have a misconception about the ease of admission.</p>

<p>Good luck with your decision!</p>

<p>I have had the exact same dilemma. This whole month, I've agonized over this decision, visited both schools, loved both of them, and ultimately chose Yale. Although I love science (genetics, microbiology), I also like philosphy, languages, international relations, and other humanities. I am excited by the variety of ECs that Yale offers (although MIT has many as well). Something else to think about - Yale has just invested one billion dollars in the sciences, which means its science program, already strong, is only getting stronger. If I knew for sure that I wanted to major in hard sciences, mathematics, or computer science, I would have picked MIT. However, since I am not sure of my major and enjoy humanities, I went with Yale.</p>

<p>I've heard that MIT is kind of bad for pre-med</p>

<p>
[quote]
Don't forget, at MIT you can take humanities classes and stuff at Harvard for credit. The Med schools would see that(especially Harvard Med).

[/quote]

Ewww - watch your mouth. There's no need for the H-word in here. :p</p>

<p>Oh dear god this is a no-brainer... Yale Yale Yale Yale. </p>

<p>Then again I am very biased against MIT's campus which is the most icky thing ever.</p>

<p>yeah MIT campus is ugly and the dorms are not as nice as yale's, except for that one crazy colourful really awesome building. I still have trouble picking yale over mit, because Boston!!! and i love the whole hacking culture at MIT, something lacking at yale</p>

<p>The hacking culture at MIT is so cool. I have a huge crush on MIT; one of the reasons I considered attending Harvard was that Harvard is near MIT! MIT seems like an awesome school, and I think I'd get along quite well with its semi-geeky inhabitants. I plan to major in science, too. I want to do biochemistry or chemistry. Maybe chemical engineering. </p>

<p>But I'm going to Yale, and I never even applied to MIT. MIT's too focused on the sciences, and even though I love the sciences, I want to have a more well balenced undergraduate experience. Yale's great for science, and I think at Yale I will have greater access to professors and research oppertunities thant I would have at a larger, more science oriented school. So that's my $0.02. Make a choice soon, both are excellent. It feels so nice when your matriculation cards are in!</p>

<p>There are a lot of science-oriented Yalies here, it seems. Go us!</p>

<p>something to consider if you are plan on applying to medical school is that MIT's pre-med classes are known to be ultracompetetive and getting A's is almost impossible - while at Yale, the gentle curving of classes (A/B) + grade inflation + very supportive environment + prestige factor (Yale places better than MIT into professional schools) will likely result in you having an easier time getting into the medical school of your choice, or at least a competetive medical school (i.e. top 20).</p>