<p>Any Yalies turn down the big H? I like both schools and I'm having trouble choosing. What makes Y special, different? Please, I do not want to be yelled at by rabid CCers...I'm just trying to get some informaiton. Thanks.</p>
<p>Read the reviews on both H and Y on different review-based websites, one example being uni go. It helps put it into context…kinda.
To me, H comes off as a preprofessional, competitive, and incredibly prestigious place. Y comes off as an artsy, social, non-competitive/happy, humanities focused, and somewhat lax place. H is for those chasing the degree with the good gpa. Y is for those focused more on the moment.
These are general trends I’ve noticed, though there could be uber-competitive folk at Yale or extremely social people at Harvard. It just seems like the latter two combinations are less likely than the trends displayed by the reviews.</p>
<p>My son is going to Yale. He didn’t look at harvard since it appeared to him to be more graduate school focused.</p>
<p>Totally agree with splatt , my son did the same thing. Never thought about applying to Harvard.</p>
<p>DD and I just got home from visiting colleges and spent some time at both Harvard and Yale. I loved Yale! The vibe was pretty laid back and everyone we talked to was friendly and helpful. There were lots of groups of kids hanging around, laughing and talking. We ate lunch in the Commons and felt quite comfortable. Harvard, on the other hand, felt very stuffy to me. The student population did not appear to be very diverse. The tour wasn’t great, we didn’t feel like we got much of a feel of the school. And the kids we saw all seemed to be rushing around and preoccupied. Definitely a very different vibe then we felt at Yale. YMMY</p>
<p>My son turned down H for Y. It was a tough decision, but in the end he preferred the Residential College system and the general vibe at Yale. He is extremely happy with his choice. Have you visited both schools? Soaking up the culture on each campus may help you choose. Either way, you can’t go wrong.</p>
<p>My son turned down H & P for Yale. During H’s Pre-Frosh Days, I asked our tour guide if he was happy at Harvard. His response: “Happy enough.” Enough said. And we could feel it. With all things being relatively equal academically, son felt that he would have to work too hard at Harvard to have fun. Just his opinion. He’s so happy at Yale.</p>
<p>I’m almost ready to turn down H & P for Yale. I’m going to Yale and Harvard’s prefrosh days just to be sure, though. I’ve been told by many people that it’s always a good idea to visit the schools you are choosing from before you decide (couldn’t make Princeton Preview unfortunately). To me, the most basic and primal deciding factor, after weighing undergraduate programs, research opportunities, architecture, social life, etc., is which school sweater can you see yourself wearing? I could not picture any name on my chest other than YALE.</p>
<p>I was sure this was going to be a link to the rock musical.</p>
<p>Haha @ Amhara. That’s the spirit! [url=<a href=“404 - Page Not Found”>Campus Customs]Yale</a> Bulldog Blue - Sweats<a href=“there%20is%20one%20far%20more%20classic%20looking%20than%20that%20with%20the%20full%20yale%20written%20across%20it,%20but%20that’s%20best%20I%20can%20find%20online”>/url</a></p>
<p>@ivy, I would say the three main factors that differentiated it for me were: 1) residential college system stronger than any other housing system (sense of “small community” w/ resources of large research university), 2) Genuine undergraduate focus and commitment to making students happy, 3) Students LOVE Yale. Additionally, the “laid back” feel made it more appealing to me. I, for instance, am actually a rather preprofessional/competitive person (competitive, at least with myself), but I do not think that it is healthy to be put into a preprofessional environment during my undergrad years. Yale seemed a perfect balance and a really happy place to get my education, and it has since been fannnttassstttiiicc.</p>
<p>I chose Y over H basically because of the reasons booyaksha listed. The residential college system at Yale is MUCH better than Harvard’s: a community of individuals that develops & grows together from freshman year on rather than a cluster of cliques that starts in sophomore year. I know a lot of Harvard people that really hate the housing system; clustering leaves for a lot of people to be just screwed by housing. You don’t ge that at Yale, because you’re in your residential college from the start. Plus, I do agree we’re a lot more laid back & less competitive.</p>
<p>I’m about to say “no” to Harvard for all the reasons listed above. </p>
<p>…and plus, that sweater’s pretty classy. : )</p>
<p>Oh gosh… That sweater just absolutely reeks of old-boy, prep-school-star-turned-Ivy-Leaguer pretentiousness that I’m not looking forward to encountering at Yale. I feel like I’ve seen that sweater in every movie in which the Ivy League stereotype is perpetuated. Definitely not for me haha</p>
<p>Is the title a reference to the recent Yale admissions video? It was the first thing that came to my mind upon reading this.</p>
<p>^ Haha, ditto</p>
<p>“Oh gosh… That sweater just absolutely reeks of old-boy, prep-school-star-turned-Ivy-Leaguer pretentiousness that I’m not looking forward to encountering at Yale. I feel like I’ve seen that sweater in every movie in which the Ivy League stereotype is perpetuated. Definitely not for me haha”</p>
<p>Haha my reaction was the exact opposite. I thought of the Weasley sweaters from Harry Potter and now I really want one because it’ll make me feel like Mrs. Weasley knitted one for me!</p>
<p>Ha what? Its a blue sweatshirt with a Y on it. I’ve seen far worse.</p>
<p>I don’t know, maybe it’s the whole sweater idea that gets to me. I’ve never been a big fan of sweaters myself. They seem too… stodgy.</p>
<p>I think if that had been just a nice, simple, cotton sweatshirt with a “Y” on it my reaction would’ve been different lol. But in the event that I do end up attending Yale this fall, I’ll surely get some attire with something Yale-related on the front… Just not a sweater ;)</p>
<p>^ I’m sure you won’t be the only sweater-less Yalie :)</p>