<p>I never thought this could happen, but I got into Stanford, and Yale! I don't know where to go! I plan to visit Yale during bulldog days and then Stanford sometime in April. Which one is stronger in what? Which is better overall? I know there is no answer to this, and it depends on the person, but what about your opinion??</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Depends on your opinion:
Reaction to degrees...
"I went to Stanford..."
..."Wow" (impressed)
"I went to Yale..."
"ohh...(intimidation)
In my opinion, the Stanford name carries more prestige with it, has nice weather and a good athletic programs, and study abroad programs in Beijing, Santiago, Australia, Berlin,...</p>
<p>hey
i'm in the same situation as you.
what do you plan to major in?</p>
<p>I'm joining this club. Tough decision!</p>
<p>Well it really depends what you want to go into. If you're into the sciences and engineering, then Stanford is definitely the school to go. Yale is stronger in the humanities, like history, politics, english, law, but also carries a strong science department. In my mind, both schools are great!</p>
<p>Yes I would like to agree with pdef. Stanford's name does carry more prestige around the world.</p>
<p>Is it logical to make a decision based on major? I mean, for most people, at least. People usually end up changing their majors at least once during college. Whether or not it is a large change (i.e. biochem to African studies) or small (biochem to microbio) I do not know, though.</p>
<p>If there is a good chance that you will pursue, say, engineering or computer science, it might make sense to choose Stanford over Yale based on your major. For most other majors it makes a lot less sense. I was deciding between the two schools for SCEA (eventually chose Stanford, got in, and decided to go to Stanford) and was leaning toward Stanford in part because I wanted to study physics. Then again, the reasons I love Stanford and the reasons I chose Stanford are entirely different. I'm not sure if the differences in the humanities departments of the two schools are as pronounced as the differences in the science departments. (When I think Yale, I don't think of engineering for example... at all)</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice!</p>
<p>I'm undeclared as of now, and have almost no idea of what I'd like to do. What college is better to explore my options? I like music, english, and am good at these subjects, but as a first-generation student, I feel pressured to go into the sciences and what not. If I'm undeclared, and have absolutely no idea about my major, what can I base my decision on then?</p>
<p>If you're undecided on what you want to pursue, you really can not go wrong with Stanford. Stanford is top-ranked in a spectrum of fields that no other school can match. It is good at everything; Yale has weaknesses outside of the humanities.</p>
<p>But your decision shouldn't boil down to academics. Visit the campuses and see what you like best.</p>
<p>I'm ecstatic about Stanford!</p>
<p>However, I disagree with the prestige--I don't think that you can make the general statement that Stanford > Yale. Even back in Seoul, the name "Yale" does not initiate intimidation, but respect. Same with Stanford. But both are equally prestigious--in really rural areas of Korea, I found that "Yale" is more known than Stanford.</p>
<p>I'm not worried about prestige too much. How can you beat STANFORD and YALE???? lol</p>
<p>^True! I think we're both blessed to be deciding between such awesome schools. :)</p>
<p>I just get frustrated when people speak of worldwide prestige with so much confidence, especially when they've overheard stuff from gossip or have never left the states!</p>
<p>lol....at least in China, Yale is more known than Stanford...</p>
<p>lol....at least in China, Yale is more known than Stanford...</p>
<p>This can NOT be more wrong! In China, Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Berkeley, and Caltech are best-known. Yale is less known because of its relative weekness in science, especially in engineering. if you don't believe this, check the world university ranking by Shang Hi Jiao Tong University:
<a href="http://ed.sjtu.edu.cn/rank/2005/ARWU2005TOP500list.htm%5B/url%5D">http://ed.sjtu.edu.cn/rank/2005/ARWU2005TOP500list.htm</a></p>
<p>Yale's strength is in humanities. But a very small portion of chinese students who come to USA will study humanities. Chinese students come to USA usually major in science, engineering, social science, or go to professional schools. Among these fields, Yale is better than Stanford only in law, perhaps by an inch. but Yale is a clear loser in all the other fields.</p>
<p>^</p>
<p>lol......well, but the thing is ranking is not ALWAYS a very accurate reflection of how well a school is known internationally.</p>
<p>even though a chinese school ranked S before Y, it doesn't neccessarily mean S is better known than Y in China. Just like, in some sort of rankings, Princeton is before Harvard, but it doesn't mean Princeton is more prestigious.</p>
<p>As a chinese who lived in China for 16 years, I should say that the two schools a normal Chinese person would mention most frequently are Harvard and Yale. And I even can say they know very few schools other than these two.....At least when i was in China, I only knew HYM.thats funny, but true.</p>
<p>But anyways.......STANFORD IS ALWAYS MY # 1!!!!!! and I am not saying S is any worse than any schools in the world!lol</p>
<p>CMU is better at engineering than yale (maybe science too) but clearly yale is more famous than CMU</p>
<p>Dinna,</p>
<p>Yale has no way to match Stanford's fame in China. I know that for sure. I spent more time in China than you did. In Beijing and Shanghi, Harvard, Stanford, MIT, and Berkeley are the big 4.</p>
<p>Nice job on Stanford and Yale! :D</p>
<p>Since you say that you are undecided, I would advise you to visit both campuses if you can, and find out which one you have a better feeling towards. </p>
<p>Stanford is slightly better in the sciences, and Yale is slightly better in the humanities.. however, you really can't go wrong with either school (as I'm sure you know, :)!)</p>
<p>Good luck with your decision!</p>
<p>Gah! The darn battle of prestige again!</p>
<p>S and Y are both awesome choices.</p>
<p>But datalook:
My mother has lived in China for 52 years. She said she most often hears about Harvard and Yale. She's heard UCLA just as much as Berkeley and Stanford.</p>