<p>Basically, I just got accepted SCEA to Yale and more and more I'm becoming convinced that I should just forget about all my other pending apps and accept. That being said, the people who have been doing the convincing are mostly people who are at or will be attending Yale. So, my question to all of you is: How would you convince me to do otherwise? What, in your minds, do you feel makes Harvard worth waiting until April before I make my decision?</p>
<p>You'll probably hear this a lot, but Cambridge is pretty damn sweet. And not sketchy. I honestly couldn't imagine not having Harvard Square right there along with all the fun Boston has to offer. It also depends on relative strengths of departments you're looking at. I would leave in the app at Harvard and then visit both when the time comes.</p>
<p>I was in the same position as you last year. I ended up withdrawing all my apps except the one to Harvard. I eventually decided to attend Harvard, to mixed results because I was a different person in April than what I was in December. My advice is to apply anyway and see where you're at in April. You'd be surprised how much people and their priorities and desires can change over the course of four months.</p>
<p>Well, we have no idea why you are so firm on choosing Yale. Let us know and maybe we can give you better advice.</p>
<p>Not knowing any more info., I would wait until you hear back from Harvard. I'm not sure what Yale has to offer that Harvard can't match. If you get into Harvard, you can do the pre-freshman overnight visit, meet other students, sit in classes, etc. That's the best way to make up your mind. There's no point in locking yourself down right now. Who knows what will happen in the next couple of months.</p>
<p>Harvard has proximity to a major city (if it matters to you) and more than three and a half black students*? It kind of comes down to what you want to major in, because they're pretty equally matched in a lot of departments, but if there's one where Harvard or Yale is clearly superior and you want to major in that you should go with that school.</p>
<ul>
<li>Just kidding Yale people (but not really kidding)</li>
</ul>
<br>
<blockquote> <p>What, in your minds, do you feel makes Harvard worth waiting until April before I make my decision?<<</p> </blockquote>
<br>
<p>Just one word: Football.</p>
<p>The academics are great at both schools, so you might as well choose to be on the winning side when it comes time for The Game. Victories in The Game since 2001: Harvard 6, Yale 1.</p>
<p>I'm in the same situation as you (admitted Yale SCEA, considering Harvard RD). Maybe you should just submit your app to Harvard and see if you get in in the spring. What do you have to lose?</p>
<p>By the way, some of the Harvard departments are definitely better than the Yale departments. If you are into math or engineering, Harvard is probably a better fit in terms of the kind of science students it attracts than Yale. And, unlike MIT or caltech, Harvard boasts amazing (obviously) humanities/social sciences departments as well as strong sciences. So it depends on what you are interested in.</p>
<p>I'm doing a science program with an aim to possibly go through med school afterwards, but at this point I'm not really concerned about the academics. I mean honestly, I can't see either school having any academic department be anything less than absolutely stellar, and to say that one is going to be that much better than the other is probably nitpicking to the extreme in my opinion. I'm more just looking at where I'll have the most fun, honestly. I've heard that Yale has a better social life than Harvard (people-wise, not location-wise), and everyone is more friendly and less cutthroat academically. So yeah, that's the angle I'm coming from, I really don't care that much which one has better research opportunities in freshman year or whatever because I'm pretty confident that both schools will be able to fulfill my needs academically.</p>
<p>Roughly,</p>
<p>H=Y in humanities and social sciences</p>
<p>H>Y in science
H>Y in engineering
H>Y in business school
H>Y in medical school
H>Y in school of education</p>
<p>H<Y in law school</p>
<p>I don't think you read my post, I couldn't care less about who has the better _______ program. I want to know where I'll have a better time during the next four years of my life.</p>
<p>Have you considered Duke?</p>
<p>I'd definitely try applying for one of the scholarships at Duke. From what I hear, Duke is a much more social campus than either Harvard or Yale. I know, for a fact, that Duke is an incredibly social campus.</p>
<p>if you like yale a lot better, you should just go to yale. after all you did apply early</p>
<p>I'm asking because, as I stated previously, I don't know enough about either campus to like either of them a lot more. And yes, I did apply early, but in all honesty, only because Princeton and Harvard both didn't have early admission and I didn't want to get into another school ED and then regret not applying to HYP (yes, I know that most of you look down on this sort of decision-making, but that's the truth so I'm not going to spin in any other way).</p>
<p>Edit: Btw, I'm a Canadian and my school rarely send kids to the states, hence the lack of information about these schools.</p>
<p>Uh, it pains me to say this, but Yale is known for having a better social life as far as parties go... people wise, I honestly don't know. I mean, I've liked Harvard people I've met and no one has seemed really academically cut throat - no one talks about grades. At all. And if you're into partying, there are definitely plenty of outlets, though there are definitely some small, exclusive circles like the Pudding and finals clubs (which you can get into as a freshman girl, but not as a guy). What other aspects of social life are you thinking of?</p>
<p>Well, one thing I find really alluring about Yale is the residential colleges. I know that there is a college system at Harvard, but is there as much college pride at Harvard as there seems to be at Yale? It just seems to me that being in a college as a freshman while still sharing Old Campus with all the other freshmen is a really good balance, and the lack of college affiliations for freshmen at Harvard might take away from the whole experience. Is this the case, or am I mistaken?</p>
<p>^^I think the difference between a system where you are assigned to your College at the beginning of your freshman year and actually move into it in your sophomore year (Yale system) vs. one where you are assigned to your House in March of your freshman year and similarly actually move into it in your sophomore year (Harvard system) is way overblown.</p>
<p>My daughter (Harvard senior) has a great deal of House pride. She is far more likely to wear t-shirts or her hoodie with her House name on it than the ones with Harvard on it. There is plenty of House pride at Harvard.</p>
<p>If Yale is right for you, go to Yale and don't worry about Harvard. Likewise, if Harvard is where you want to go, choose Harvard if you get the choice. But in either case you probably shouldn't base your choice on something as trivial as knowing your College affiliation a few months longer at Yale than you would at Harvard.</p>
<p>As someone who chose Harvard "over" Yale... a few things to look out for:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>The Yale inferiority complex. <strong>Definitely</strong> not present in everyone who goes to Yale, but most definitely evident in my Yale interviewer (and various Yale kids I've met while in New Haven for "The Game." And I'd be the first to say that Yale is by no means inferior!)</p></li>
<li><p>The classes. Yale and Harvard are top-notch academically, but read through their course catalogs online, and see if the classes actually seem interesting! Who has more choices for college calculus? Who has the better-sounding introduction to Anthropology?</p></li>
<li><p>The location. I've been to New Haven... and while it's no Boston, it does revolve around Yale students, while Cambridge is much less of a college town. That said, Cambridge + Boston are an incredible resource in their own right – they're just designed for a larger audience than just the Harvard student.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Feel free to PM me if you have any more specific questions. I'm currently a Junior at Harvard.</p>
<p>Is this going to sound career oriented, but which school gets more students into wall street firms, ie. McKinsey, Goldman, Lazard, etc.</p>
<p>I would guess there's no significant difference. I could provide the number of first round interview slots firms have at Harvard - but I don't know how many students end up getting hired, or how many students are interviewed at Yale.</p>