<p>newt, I'll be there</p>
<p>My D got into Yale, Stanford, Pomona, and Notre Dame. She wants to study English, Psychology, with a little Spanish thrown in. Wants to do a semester or year in Spain, work on school newspaper or news magazine, and likes creative writing a lot, which she is very good at.
With this background I would appreciate any thoughts anyone has about the respective merits of these schools, especially from current students or people who know students at any of these schools. I know about the weather differences, and have heard the debate about the safety issues, so most interested in pros and cons of these depts, and other academic issues.
Thanks.</p>
<p>Yale: great residential college system - develops communities and lifelong friendships. Colleges with tradition
Stanford: patchwork residence halls - confusion. </p>
<p>Yale: Lead the country intellectually from the beginining till about 50 years ago. The cotton gin, planned cities, amercian gothic, Cole porter
Stanford leads NOW: Google, Yahoo, SUN, Apple, hard disks, ink jet printers, HP, recombinant DNA, genetic revolution.</p>
<p>Yale: great academics - Great Music & Theater departments, architecture, art history, and good in most others.
Stanford: phenomenal departments - in the top 5 in the world in just about every field - from economics to engineering</p>
<p>Yale: east coast - some diversity - 25% diversity
Stanford: west coast - awesome diversity - >50% diversity. </p>
<p>Yale: New Haven - reasonable town (no, the crime is not rampant) , fall colors, 2 hours from New York, 3 hours from Vermont Skiing
Stanford: California. enough said. (take it the way you want)</p>
<p>Yale: Julia Childs
Stanford: Iron Chef</p>
<p>Stanford/Berkeley: Big Game & Rose Bowl
Yale: Tail Gate party at Yale Bowl</p>
<p>unm, stanford might look diverse by the numbers, but....lets just say the reality is different</p>
<p>Tupacalipse - please, you're giving credit to U.S. News?</p>
<p>Okay, my suggestion for all of you torn people: Don't listen to CC people. (Yes, I realize ironically that includes me). Go where you think you fit best, not where a college guide tells you to go, not where some CC'ers best friend who goes there tells you to go - don't listen to the pros and cons on either side because people will skew the facts towards their university. I think you have to make visits and tour both, but beyond that, it's up to the feel you get and I think trying to make a mental pro/con list will just muddle your decision. There may be 50 better things about one school than another, but one factor might outweigh all of those. Regardless, that's two great options!</p>
<p>Thank you everyone for your replies. After serious consideration, I didn't make up my mind. Then, I had an epiphany. I don't know exactly what it was, but I have decided to go to Yale. I mean, come on, it's YALE. How could I possibly turn down Yale for Stanford, or that matter, for anything? Now that I have made up my mind I am really excited. Unfortunately, I can't make it to Bulldog Days but I know that this is the "right" choice, and Stanford was just the safer, more comfortable option. Yale will be an adventure, I am sure, and particularly as a west coaster, a very broadening experience. Regardless, thanks again for your input, and to my future classmates, see you in New Haven!</p>
<p>good to hear you made a decision! I still can't decide between Yale and Stanford.......and that's without thinking about MIT and dartmouth, it's so easy to change my mind everytime i talk to people, because they all have strong opinions about their schools and manage to convince me that i should go there. And these cc boards just make the decision harder!</p>
<p>I'm very excited that you've chosen Yale. If you haven't read The Gatekeepers by Jacques Steinberg, one of the students the author followed made the same decision for the same reasons and had an amazing experience at Yale.</p>
<p>See you in late August!</p>
<p>Yes, Makisupa, how could you turn down Yale for any other school? You might end up living on a box on the side of the highway, along with the rest of the Stanford and Princeton grads.</p>
<p>Congratulations, Makisupa--Yale is wonderful. Not that Stanford isn't: In terms of academics, prestige, opportunity, everything, you could just as easily have said: "I mean, come on, it's STANFORD." But I believe in following your instincts, especially when you've got such terrific choices. And speaking as one who turned down a safer, more comfortable school for the adventure of Yale many years ago, it's the best thing I ever did.</p>
<p>Good choice! Yale is a great school.</p>
<p>Both are great schools, but you are wise to follow the Chelsea Clinton Rule: If you live on the east coast go to college on the west coast and vice versa. Life is a collection of experiences. Go experience a different part of the country.</p>
<p>Actually, Jellybean, I thought they ended up in tents. No?</p>