<p>Ditto on Humanities; I'd like to hear some insight from current students, if possible.</p>
<p>There really isn't any huge mystery to this. Cambridge >>> New Haven, Cambridge + the T >>>>>>> New Haven, real Georgian > faux Gothic, some Harvard departments (definitely including math & some, not all hard sciences) > equivalent Yale departments (and vice versa, of course). No. 1 > No. 2.</p>
<p>The reasons to pick Yale over Harvard are more subtle and subjective. It has always had a more friendly atmosphere, and somewhat more of an undergraduate orientation. It's artsier -- both in volume and participation. There are more parties. The housing system works a little better. Some departments > their Harvard equivalents, especially in the humanities (although I don't think it's true anymore in English Literature, where in my ancient day Yale was the Center of the World and Harvard the moral equivalent of Houston -- objectively important, but nowhere you would choose to be). And it doesn't attract the kind of people who choose Harvard precisely because it is #1 and then spend a lot of time and energy alternately trying to claw their way to the top or feeling horribly inadequate and oppressed because they are failing to claw their way to the top.</p>
<p>Harvard is sofa king awesome when it comes to engineering :D</p>
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It's just as silly as a liberal person not applying to evangelical-type schools. I wouldn't fault them at all. I fail to see how this is silly at all.
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<p>Very true. I'll shoot myself before I apply to BJU.</p>
<p>And a reason why someone might pick H over Y (surprised no one's mentioned it): the prestige. H is always the college that the smart kid in the books/movies/etc goes to. For the common American, H is the pinnacle of American post-secondary education</p>
<p>I think going to a school for its prestige is kind of ridiculous...I understand it and I know that it's common, but I don't think it's a legit reason to go to any institution. But I'd say that Yale is also a pretty impressive college to attend...is there really such a big difference between the two? And what about Princeton, and Stanford?</p>
<p>Would be nice to even have this choice....</p>
<p>@confused</p>
<p>lol i do too. sssshhhh... we're trying to be nice to the slower kids.</p>
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"Harvard the moral equivalent of Houston -- objectively important, but nowhere you would choose to be"
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<p>Hey, I live in Houston don't insult my city.</p>
<p>If I had the choice between Yale or Harvard, i would choose Yale because I really want to enjoy college and focus less on grades and things. Not to say that I would let my grades slip but grades are going to be less important to me than my life and my girl in college.</p>
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than my life and my girl in college.
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<p>Houston you said? really? </p>
<p>wouldn't have guessed...</p>
<p>Because the Boston area is full of college students and New Haven in comparison is dull.</p>
<p>I'm a freshman at Harvard planning on concentrating in English. I didn't apply to Yale for a few reasons. I visited the campus and it didn't feel friendly or inclusive to me. Maybe it was the architecture, I'm not sure, but something about the campus just felt oppressive. On the other hand, when I came to Harvard, I felt a connection to the campus, like I could feel comfortable here. It's true that we're a more traditional school, but I kind of like the idea that my school has traditions that date back for hundreds of years. The other kids here have always been engaging, outgoing and just downright friendly. I've yet to meet a person who just was not nice (which is disconcerting, let me tell you). I'm not saying Yale isn't a great, fantastic school, but for me Harvard was the better choice.
Also, the Glee Club is fantastic. :)</p>
<p>Hey fastrthanu...have you been impressed by Harvard's English department? I'm interested in pursuing the Humanities, but everyone keeps praising Harvard in the maths and sciences...</p>
<p>It's hard to have been impressed after only taking two English courses, but with my plethora of experience, haha, I'd say that the English department is respectable. There are courses you want to stay away from, like most schools, but the TF's tend to be approachable and willing to help, and there are some spectacular courses to take if you know where to look. There are poetry seminars, as well as screen-writing and novels and short stories and others, where the enrollment is limited to 15 and is by application only. Those are awesome. The most important thing to know about the English department is that it's undergoing some changes regarding the English concentration. Whereas you would have to take a really boring set of classes on British literature, there are now four broad subjects that must have requirements met. At least that's my understanding... One of the more awesome things about Harvard is the massive library system we have at our disposal. Widener is impressive from the outside, but it descends stories beneath the ground and all of it is books. Glorious books.</p>
<p>I wish I had applied to harvard... although I would go to yale over harvard, my chances at either are slim...</p>
<p>Thanks for the insight, fastrthanu...the changes you mentioned sound like something I'd really appreciate. And it also looks like I'll be spending all day browsing the library if I'm lucky enough to be accepted x]</p>
<p>I'm not sure that I'll want to be an English major...at the moment, I'm still going back and forth between a lot of different Humanities areas...but it's nice to finally talk to someone who didn't go to Harvard because of its math/science programs! lol.</p>
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"Houston you said? really? </p>
<p>wouldn't have guessed..."
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<p>Of course it would be hard to guess, the south is a vast region so there is no reason to assume you would have guessed Houston.</p>
<p>Oh and I was talking about a girlfriend not a daughter if that is what you are thinking.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Harvard English Department: In terms of sheer professorial firepower, it's really unequalled today. Yale still often comes out on top in surveys, but if you do the position-by-position matchup Harvard wins, I fear. The Yale English department may be a nicer, more student-friendly place, I don't really have current information. I would worry that so many of the Harvard professors spend so much time running around being public intellectuals that something has to give, and that something may well be undergraduate education. But, as always, Harvard (or Yale) is only an opportunity, not a guarantee, and it's up to the students to take advantage of it. With the English Department at Harvard, the sky's the limit on that opportunity.</p></li>
<li><p>Houston: I was trying to be (a little) sensitive to East Texan sensibilities. Reversing my simile, it's hardly a gigantic insult to compare Houston to Harvard, and to acknowledge that it is "objectively important". On the other hand, I doubt even the biggest Houston boosters would argue that it is more the center of the world than, say, New York City or London. It may be more livable, better values, etc., but in the end it's an important provincial city (like mine), not a world cultural capital. If you don't care about being Where It's At, Houston may be fine; if you do, probably not. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>Anyway, 30 years ago in literary studies Yale was Where It's At on a global scale, and Harvard wasn't. Today, they're both important, but Harvard is a little more glittery.</p>
<p>"When people say that a school is liberal, does it mean that the school intentionally promotes liberal ideals and opinions? Like if I am blessed to get accepted to either, will there be alot of pro-choice and gay rights demonstrations? I hope not."</p>
<p>If the STUDENTS of a school engage in pro-choice / gay rights demonstrations, does that mean that the SCHOOL intentionally promotes those ideals and opinions? Think carefully now!</p>
<p>When the students at Kent State protested Vietnam, did that mean that the institution of Kent State was protesting Vietnam?</p>
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It's just as silly as a liberal person not applying to evangelical-type schools. I wouldn't fault them at all. I fail to see how this is silly at all.
[/quote]
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<p>Come on Baelor, you're really going to try to tell me that the magnitude of Yale's liberalness is tantamount to an evangelical school's conservativeness? Now THAT is silly. In case you're forgetting, some of the world's biggest conservative leaders (there are two I can think of right off the top of my head) graduated from Yale. While some of the world's more liberal-minded leaders (again, I can immediately recall two) graduated from Harvard.</p>
<p>If I so happen to be have the problem of deciding between Harvard and Yale, then I will honestly take into consideration the number and quality of their Democratic leadership graduates. I want connections!!!</p>