<p>Just curious, why do any of you choose Yale or Harvard? What's better about Yale that Harvard doesn't have?</p>
<p>I really shouldn't be writing this because I'll only make myself fall more in love with Yale and set myself up for greater disappointment in April, but oh well:</p>
<ol>
<li>Residential colleges better. I like the whole random placement thing at Yale.</li>
<li>I like Yale's campus better.</li>
<li>I hear Yale pays more attention to undergrads.</li>
</ol>
<p>As you can see, these are mostly nonacademic reasons. That's what tips the scales for me since both schools are obviously academically excellent.</p>
<p>I made this choice last year and aside from the reasons stated above, I would say that I liked the general feel at Yale better. Harvard prides itself on encouraging extremely self-motivated students, Yale coddles its students a bit more. I personally like a little coddling. Another main reason which has since become probably the biggest and most important difference between Harvard and Yale. Yale's schedule is quite possibly the best schedule of the Ivy League colleges. At Thanksgiving we get 10 days off of school which believe me is quite necessary after a rather stressful first semester (this also gave us the ability to jeer at Harvard fans at The Game shouting "school on Monday" because after The Game we were all going home and they were going back to school). Also, right now I am completely done with my first semester and I don't have to go back to school for two weeks. Harvard students got off for winter break after me and they have to go back next week to the reading period before they take their exams. I get to go back in two weeks to shopping period for a new semester. Also, because my semester starts earlier than theirs does, I get out almost a month sooner, at the beginning of May instead of the beginning of June.</p>
<p>yea the harvard schedule is kind of abhorrent and ungodly. that alone should be enough to persuade anyone.</p>
<p>Yeah, Harvard was never really an option... (the only college my parents wouldn't pay for, lucky me) - but the biggest factor was the faculty ignoring undergrads at harvard thing. that, and cambridge and harvard struck me as kind of... soulless. all that abercrombie and the body shop. i know, i know, it's a very nice city, but new haven and yale have this... vibe. i'm feeling very quanatatative tonight.</p>
<p>Yale used to be much better than Harvard because it had its own distinctiveness (recall that Yale was originally founded, in part, as a more conservative school that trained ministers). Now, however, if you look at the statistics and the type of students who go there, it is the same as Harvard and it is for this reason that they are always ranked close to each other in rankings such as US News. The students who are accepted are similar to their Harvard counterparts and, consequently, the atmosphere of both schools is nearly the same. Of course there managerial and organizational differences (like the schedule) which may sway your favor, either way, it usually evens out. One feature that used to make Yale, in my opinion, a more prestigious university was the Yale Corporation. And though it still exists, it is not of the same caliber. It used to be composed of the most prominent leaders in the country, people who would give large donations to continually make Yale an outstanding university. It still has some eminent leaders, but it has greatly deteriorated and lost its respectability. And yes, the residential colleges are a unique system and they make Yale, a large research univeristy, seem much smaller to the students. However, the problem today is that it is overcrowded, and they have let in too many students. Though they are in the process of rennovating the colleges, many of the old dorms are far less impressive than some other schools that many kids would incorrectly consider less prestigious. Harvard has similar problems, and though its large endowment and attractive name keeps it ranked close to number one year after year, many of the undergraduates are forgotten, because the main concern is with the graduate schools. These schools are still outstanding and I applied to Yale early action because it is still my school of choice, despite some of its failings. I have been able to experience many of the good things Yale has to offer through my family because all of them have graduated from there. I have become very familiar with Yale, and, to a lesser degree, Harvard. I feel Yale has lost a large part of its character and has become a lot less unique.</p>
<p>I take it the previous post by "Laertes" is an attempt at satire.</p>
<p>Yale has the best political science dept.</p>
<p>responding to Byerly - no</p>
<p>In addition to everything everyone else has said, I'd like to say that most people at Harvard seem to be bent on upholding Harvard's prestige - hence the focus on graduate students, the emphasis on research and newsmaking, etc. - while those at Yale are there for the community and the love of the academics. This is, without question, a generalization - it certainly isn't true for everyone - but it was the feeling I got from the schools. Ultimately, it comes down to a gut reaction - most people who end up at Yale are there because they got a "feeling" from Yale (they felt the sense of community, the sense of tradition, etc. and knew instinctively, in a way, that it was "right").</p>
<p>Why is it that virtually every Yale booster - including, typically. Laertes and Vivaldi next above - find it impossible to sing Yales praises without putting down Harvard at the same time?</p>
<p>This is very revealing, in my opinion.</p>
<p>Yale, after all, had no reason for existing, when it was founded, except that it was "not Harvard."</p>
<p>Even today, Yale and Yalies seem utterly incapable of measuring themselves by any internal standard: its always Yale is "almost as good as" Harvard in one respect, or "equal to Harvard" in some other respect, or (blue breasts bursting with pride") "BETTER than Harvard!!!!!!!" in some other respect.</p>
<p>It is this "other-directedness" - revealing a persistent lack of self confidence and inferiority relative to Harvard - that others find so amusing in Yale bragging threads.</p>
<p>"most people at Harvard seem to be bent on upholding Harvard's prestige "</p>
<p>I would say this is the case for Yale. This thread is only here so that a few Yalemongers can prove Yale's worth.</p>
<p>The reason Yale's praises were sung in this thread and Harvard was put down is very, very clear to ANYONE who read the original post.</p>
<p>That being said, in my experience, its much more common for Harvard-supporters to be almost obsessed with comparing themselves to Yale and putting Yale down than for Yalies to do the same with regards to Harvard. It's unlikely that I'll be going to either. Simply my observation.</p>
<p>Yale, after all, had no reason for existing, when it was founded, except that it was "not Harvard."</p>
<p>Byerly, Yale was founded to train ministers, like Jonathan Edwards, because Harvard was focusing more on classical studies; keep in mind this was around the era of the Enlightenment and Scientific Revolution. Harvard wanted to explore new areas of study, while Yale wanted to focus more on religious teaching. In the past, Harvard was more liberal and Yale more conservative, but now they have become striking similar. Which is a better school you ask? That depends on your preferences. I also completely agree with Vivaldi's post.
Byerly - you seem to become overly sensitive when someone points out something they didn't like with Harvard. I like Yale - it is my number one choice school - but I still am capable of acknowledging some of its negatives.</p>
<p>You are kidding yourself, Laertes.</p>
<p>You, and particularly Vivaldi, seem sadly obsessed with trying to make Yale look better by knocking Harvard. Its a rather pathetic technique. A loser technique. You will almost NEVER see a Harvard student, applicant or graduate on this site doing the reverse.</p>
<p>I see Harvard students, applicants, and graduates doing that all over the internet, actually - much moreso than I see it occuring with Yale applicants, students, and graduates. </p>
<p>The ONLY reason why its occuring on this thread is because the OP asked: What's better about Yale that Harvard doesn't have?</p>
<p>It's pretty hard to answer the question without talking about specific areas in which Yale is better than Harvard.</p>
<p>I challenge you to find me even a single example of that, Lindsay. Harvard students, in truth spend very little time thinking about other schools, almost always stay to graduate, and almost never transfer. I myself may have knocked Yale's pathetic excuse for a football team, but have never said it was anything but a fine college.</p>
<p>As someone who was deferred EA from Wyoming, shouldn't you be looking into the merits of other schools rather thank knocking them?</p>
<p>Wow, Why Are U Guys Telling Her To Choose Yale... It's Just More Competition</p>
<p>Unfortunately, CC censors the address to the board I know of with an excess of Harvard Alumni trolls.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, I think that ranking of the two schools does come down to preference and that the Harvard/Yale rivalry is a silly one. I don't like trolls on either side. I was just noting my observation that I've seen more for Harvard than I have on the Yale side.</p>
<p>I have never seen ANY site, anywhere, where people affiliated with Harvard spend so much as a second running down Yale academically in order to make Yale look better. It just doesn't happen.</p>