<p>
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What I'm having trouble believing is that someone who was confident in his choices would spontaneously decide to write a piece that is ten times longer than most admissions essays vigorously defending his choice to people who weren't asking.
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The nerve of some people...</p>
<p>"What I'm having trouble believing is that someone who was confident in his choices would spontaneously decide to write a piece that is ten times longer than most admissions essays vigorously defending his choice to people who weren't asking."</p>
<p>Except that this is copied from the Yale admits boards from '05 and the poster here did not actually write this message. Perhaps the original thread was Yale v. Harvard or something.</p>
<p>This is a repost that I had hoped would stimulate a discussion about the merits of the argument, rather than to indulge in amateur psychological analysis of why the original poster wrote such a lengthy message. </p>
<p>Here are two other books worth reading:</p>
<p>Privilege (Harvard and The Education of The Ruling Class) by Ross Gregory Douthat
The Power of Privilege (Yale and America's Elite Colleges) by Joseph A. Soares</p>
<p>As the parent of a student who chose not to apply to Yale, I want to say that different people have different reasons for choosing one school over another; it does not make one school better than the other, merely different and merely a better fit for specific people and less so for others.</p>
<p>Some of the things that the OP thought were negatives about Harvard were considered by my S as positives, such as the ability to choose one's blockmates after spending a year at Harvard; he happened to prefer Harvard's architecture to Yale's. He liked Harvard's location better. He could not care less for Yale's less strict alcohol policies. He wishes, however, that the food at Harvard was as good as it is rumored to be at Yale. But the reasons for his choosing Harvard over Yale had to do more with his choice of major, and these were entirely logical as well as very specific to his major. Had he wanted to study something else, Yale might have been the better choice.</p>
<p>The Harvard-Yale rivalry is usually very good humored. When it is taken seriously it gets very tiresome.</p>
<br>
<blockquote> <p>This is a repost that I had hoped would stimulate a discussion about the merits of the argument, rather than to indulge in amateur psychological analysis of why the original poster wrote such a lengthy message.<<</p> </blockquote>
<br>
<p>It's clear from your posting history that you are a Yale admit who posts mostly on the Yale board but likes to come over here from time to time to trash Harvard. The other recent thread you started here was this one:
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/harvard-university/621460-yale-vs-harvard-comparison-social-life.html%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/harvard-university/621460-yale-vs-harvard-comparison-social-life.html</a>
... a link to another another tiresome pro-Yale and anti-Harvard screed. </p>
<p>Yalies bashing Harvard - what a novel concept. Give it a rest. Save it for the football game.</p>
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[quote]
He likely has a sneaking suspicion that he made the wrong choice and so will tell and retell to anyone who will listen all the reasons why he chose as he did.
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</p>
<p>^ I think it's a rash assumption to make. Even though I did post above that he might be blindly putting faith in one school based on what he's heard, at least he knows he's throwing himself into that and satisfied based on those assumptions. You can make your own world and believe in it as much as you want -- and there's nothing that implies he ever regretted thinking of such about Yale.</p>
<p>If I can agree with you on one point though, it would be that there are more open pro-Yale than there are pro-Harvard. It seems like nobody knows anything about Harvard besides its prestige. Yale gets a lot of hype for being more undergraduate focused.</p>
<p>I <3 this conversation.
coureur...you're pretty much my hero.
You're a parent checking out college confidential and looking up posters' posting records to discredit them. I really wish I could BE you.
And before you check my posting records, I'll save you the time. I'm a yale scea admit whos applying to harvard. I haven't decided which is better, and will most likely decide in april after I visit the two schools again (provided I even get into Harvard), but the point here being:
I enjoyed the OP's post. I thought it was informative and definitely something I'll keep in mind if I should have to make the choice. But what I don't understand, and what is quite frankly ridiculous, is the cynicism you show throughout the thread.</p>
<p>The post was helpful (thanks to OP and toomuchtime), and that should be the end of that. Who cares what the OP's reasonings were for posting that helpful information? </p>
<p>(It can't just be to help future students like me make that decision can it? No, of course not, your view of humankind is too bleak to support that possibility)</p>
<p>I hope your daughter gets into a college she loves! and that you don't question her choice.</p>
<p>toodles!</p>
<p>I personally think the OP would have sounded a lot more credible without those unnecessary and personal jabs at Harvard and Harvard students. Certain parts sound alarmingly like an angry rant against Harvard people in general on the basis of personal prejudice. Even if Harvard people really aren't as fun or laid-back as Yalies, the OP's repeated potshots and 'whatever' attitude towards Harvard is simply immature. His post is not without merit, but his overwhelmingly one-sided view and inability or refusal to acknowledge any Yale weakness suggest that he began with his conclusion in mind.</p>
<p>Nobody in the Harvard-Yale dilemma should rely solely on this when making the decision.</p>
<p>Touche, regular_bob. Like you, I am a Yale SCEA who is still applying to Harvard. I genuinely want a reasonable discussion from posters who are capable of rational contributions.</p>
<p>The OP clearly was trying to prove something with his post. I dont know what but.......okay. I mean theres nothing wrong with picking ANY school over Harvard if its a better fit for you. I think maybe OP got sick of hearing " you got into harvard and didnt go???WHA" and felt the need to explain himself. Its a very good assessment by and for him, but i've heard the exact opposite from other people. Its all based on the individual person. And yes, he failed to mention one negative thing about Yale. Come on, im sure even jesus can find something wrong in heaven.</p>
<p>
Oh, yes. Very informative. Like this lovely tidbit:</p>
<p>
[quote]
Plus, I feel like many people choose Harvard over other schools because it’s Harvard. How could you resist, right? (Oh, the na</p>
<p>People keep on about how this is one-sided, well guess what, it's called "Why I chose Yale over Harvard". His point isn't to compare the schools, it's to show why he liked Yale better than Harvard. You guys are pathetically defensive, all it is is a different view on the situation. I'll laugh come March when some people who have been defending Harvard get rejected from it, accepted to Yale, and then make their own why yale is better than harvard thread.</p>
<p>
Foreman, Harvard and Yale are the only colleges on this site whose posters continuously compare their preferred school to its rival, particularly so vehemently (think Byerly and PosterX). Would you see a 4000-word essay on "Why I chose Johns Hopkins over Swarthmore" on the Johns Hopkins forum? </p>
<p>As I said earlier in the thread, I think the two are much more alike than different. It puzzles me why some posters go to lengths to twist facts or add jabs to justify their choice.</p>
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Foreman, Harvard and Yale are the only colleges on this site whose posters continuously compare their preferred school to its rival, particularly so vehemently (think Byerly and PosterX).
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Thank you for answering a question no one's asking</p>
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[quote]
Would you see a 4000-word essay on "Why I chose Johns Hopkins over Swarthmore" on the Johns Hopkins forum? </p>
<p>As I said earlier in the thread, I think the two are much more alike than different. It puzzles me why some posters go to lengths to twist facts or add jabs to justify their choice.
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They aren't justifying choices , they're adding perspectives. Maybe someone will gain a little insight as to why they like school y better than school x, because they have common interests with the OP</p>
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<blockquote> <p>I genuinely want a reasonable discussion from posters who are capable of rational contributions.<<</p> </blockquote>
<br>
<p>Yeah, right. If you genuinely wanted reasonable discussion you'd be asking reasonable questions and making reasonable points. But what you are clearly doing is peppering the Harvard board with every Anti-Harvard/pro-Yale piece of literature you can get your hands on. And then you couple that with comments like that confirms what all your friends have been telling you. That's not the mark of someone seeking reasonable discussion. That's the mark of someone with a pretty firm agenda already in place.</p>
<p>I've got no problem with someone choosing Yale over Harvard. There might be plenty of personal preference reasons to do so. But I do object to people pushing an anti-Harvard crusade under the pretense of pondering questions or asking for discussion. I similarly object to people pushing a dishonest anti-Yale agenda or anti-Any School agenda.</p>
<p>
No need to thank me. I'm just "adding perspective."</p>
<p>TL;DR</p>
<p>How about a more succinct explanation: Yale is a better school than Harvard.</p>
<p>As a person who very likely might have to make the Harvard/Yale decision VERY soon (assuming I even get into Harvard), let me just say that these threads comparing my two top choices are extremely helpful. Even though I realize there are some strong biases within such posts as these, I think that the posters try to give genuine reasons for why they made their choice (especially when said posters were cross admits to the institutions they're comparing).</p>
<p>I will also say that it strikes me as odd that no one is on CC saying why they picked Harvard over Yale. Ok, perhaps it may be that Harvard people feel no need to "explain" themselves because they don't lack confidence in the decision they made to matriculate. However, I feel like anyone who truly takes pride in their institution/truly LOVES their institution would take advantage of every opportunity they could to tell others (especially kids in similar positions as myself) WHY.</p>
<p>The fact that no one on this thread has provided non-sarcastic/snarky/elitist/indirect responses to any of the points the OOP (original original poster - heh heh) asserted alarms me. It's showing me that no one at Harvard cares enough about their school to reply. It's showing me that even if they DO care enough about their school to reply, they feel as if they don't have to... which to me seems elitist and ridiculous. (I'm not saying that the Harvard kids don't care, or that they're elitist, I'm just saying what their ACTIONS are telling me.)</p>
<p><3</p>
<p>Perhaps a lot of Harvard students prefer not wasting their time on this site and have better things to do.</p>
<p>************** reports 88% of Yale students would attend Yale again if they could do things over while 77% of Harvard students would attend Harvard again. I think the consensus is that Yale is a better undergrad experience than Harvard, and that the Harvard name carries more weight after graduation. Interestingly, though, Dartmouth takes the cake at 91%</p>