<p>I know there have been several threads like this in the past, but I thought I'd start a fresh one since my situation might be a bit different. For starters, money is (thankfully) not a problem in either situation — I can attend both debt-free! I'm interested in all things humanities and art (photography, specifically) and dislike math and science. Weirdly enough, I felt more of a connection to Stanford upon visiting, but I think that might be because I live 30 minutes away. Perhaps that "home" feeling exists because I'm...well...pretty much at home. The things that bother me about Stanford are: the quarter system, the athletic/frat scene seems more pronounced than at Y, more math-sciencey than Y, the size of the campus, and the lack of cohesion when it comes to housing. You might think, "Well then, sounds like you have your mind made up!" The issue is that, on paper, Yale is a perfect fit for me. It just didn't feel perfect when I was physically there. I can't really articulate how I felt but it just didn't really... click? The whole campus was a bit eerie with that gothic architecture that perhaps I'll grow to love. Kids also seemed much happier at S than Y, though maybe I visited during a stressful week with finals coming. I'm just not sure. Thank you in advance for any and all advice you might be able to offer!</p>
<p>My son just got back from Yale and he loved it. He will be turning it down because it is not a science/engineering powerhouse but if he was doing liberal arts it would be a strong contender.</p>
<p>Congratulations on such fantastic choices!!
Go with your heart.College is not just about getting a degree.It’s about spending your next four years and loving it.Also it’s always nice to be near but not so near your home.As and when you feel like you can just pop in for an hour or two to visit family.You may not understand the importance of this now but believe me you will love the idea of being close to home when-feeling sick,feeling down and under,feeling overwhelmed or just feeling like a change.Best of luck.</p>
<p>Your gut is important. When I was a senior, I would have put “science-math focused” as one of my top priorities. Caltech, on paper, thereby seemed a logical choice. But I didn’t like my visit there, so I dropped them. Looking back, I am so very glad I did. </p>
<p>Anyways, maybe we can try to help. What about the quarter system don’t you like? Do you dislike taking math and science or do you dislike math-sciencey people? Are you willing to try “alternative” forms of housing (such as co-ops and themed houses) that offer more cohesion? </p>
<p>Stanford is big, but its centralized, which Yale is not. At Stanford, residences are on the periphery, classes are in the middle, and athletic areas are on the periphery not occupied by residences. Also, most people bike, making it’s easy to get across the entire campus in ten minutes. But you rarely need to cross the campus. Most of the time it’s just a 2-3 minute bike to class. I’ve never really had a problem with the size. </p>
<p>On paper, though, Yale does look better for you.</p>
<p>senior- does the quarter system make you feel like you have more work to do, always an exam coming up, do they try to cram in a semester of work into a quarter? or do you like having the classes over with quicker?</p>
<p>bluebird, I’ll chime in while I’m here to give my view of the quarter system. The quarter system does move fast, and there’s no room, or point really, in slacking. In some classes (mainly math, in my experience) I think they do cover the material that at some other schools may involve a semester, but the students here can typically handle it, and people tend to keep up, which makes for a great class environment. As I’m sure you know, there’s not much room for slacking at MIT either! But people here don’t tend to feel they’re drinking from a firehose, unless they take more than 20 units or something. Freshmen are usually encouraged to take a light first quarter (like 13 or 14 units) to get accustomed to the pace of the quarter system.</p>
<p>
For quarter system schools, you’ll generally take less classes per quarter. I think it strikes a good balance between focusing all attention on just one class (which can be boring) versus spreading attention thin between 5 to 6 classes, which can be stressful. As far as the workload goes, there’s always a week with work, with the exception of the academic breaks (sometimes Thanksgiving has work, other times it doesn’t). There’s no reading week (or dead week is basically a normal week, except most extracurriculars don’t meet) </p>
<p>Is there always an exam coming up? Maybe, it depends on the classes you take. Some classes have midterms at the halfway point, others at 1/3 and 2/3 points, and a small few have midterms every other week. So sometimes, you may just have a week in the middle of the quarter with 2 exams, followed by finals. Other times, you may have something that looks like this:
-Week 3 (exam 1 class 1)
-Week 4 (exam 1 class 2)
-Week 4 (paper 1 class 3)
-Week 5 (exam 1 class 4)
-Week 6 (exam 2 class 1)
-Week 7 (exam 2 class 2)
-Week 8 (paper 2 class 3)</p>
<p>That’s pretty rare, it requires a difficult schedule and an unlucky midterm/paper scheduling. But it happens. </p>
<p>For cramming a semester’s material into one quarter, they probably do that in some classes, but generally things do not feel crammed. The pace is fast. You probably have to turn in psets starting week 2 up until dead week. In classes with reading, they sometimes expect you to have read for the first class, which is a nuisance if you’re trying to shop classes. It’s not too bad, I don’t think about it on a daily basis, and most students here are up for the challenge. </p>
<p>I do like having classes that I do not like be over with quicker. I also like having a ton of freedom in scheduling, and the ability to customize quarters so to speak. Spring quarters are generally my most enjoyable, as I plan them that way by taking easier classes, less classes, etc. One does not have as much freedom to do that at a semester school. Going abroad I feel is also much easier on a quarter system (and most people think 10 weeks is enough abroad, anyways). </p>
<p>Is the quarter system perfect? No. But it has its strengths.</p>
<p>My D was in your shoes last year. Her final list consisted of Yale and Stanford. Before visiting either school, I thought that she’d select Yale. However her Yale visit on Bulldog Days was nice but not convincing. She then visited Stanford and just KNEW that was the school for her. So I think that much of it does come down to how you “feel” on campus. Both are great schools that D was honored to be admitted to. The first year has flown by. The quarter system moves quickly but D has enjoyed it. D is interested in the Social Sciences. The research opportunities are awesome; even for Freshmen. D will be spending 7 weeks in South American this summer on a Stanford funded research project. You really can’t go wrong with either school.</p>