<p>So I've found myself in the enviable position of having to choose between my three top colleges: Harvard, Yale, and Stanford. Honestly, even after being accepted EA to Stanford, I didn't expect to be admitted to Yale and Harvard as well. I'm thrilled, but also totally lost!</p>
<p>I'm primarily interested in humanities and social sciences-- maybe International Studies, Linguistics, Anthropology, or Comparative Literature. I also want to study languages like Spanish, Hindi, and Turkish. </p>
<p>I am really looking for an academically rigorous school with an INTELLECTUAL, not pre-professional, student body. I want to be surrounded with interesting, not overly competitive people who are smart but don't take themselves too seriously. </p>
<p>I know there are similar threads, but I haven't found a lot that aren't science/math/tech so I thought I'd give it a shot. Obviously, I'm visiting all three again so hopefully that will help me decide. But what kind of things should I be looking for at each college? Any known issues that I should look for? Which do you think I should pick?</p>
<p>Congratulations on your excellent choices. Academically you can’t really distinguish between those schools which all have top departments in humanites and social sciences. You mention that you are visiting all three “again”. The campus feel at Stanford is so very different from Harvard or Yale that I would think that would be a major deciding factor for or against that one. As you know, Stanford is huge - I believe they claim to be the largest campus in the country when you add up all their owned acreage. You will zip by your classmates on bicycles between classes and the Stanford equivalence of Harvard Square or Yale’s Broadway/Chapel street districts is a strip mall. The housing at Stanford is much more varied with language houses, residential frats, cultural houses and other themed houses in contrast to Yale’s RC system or H’s houses. Stanford also has a much stronger athletics culture than does the Ivy’s. I suspect that most would have a stronger feeling about these schools after visiting and seeing the differing campus dynamics.</p>
<p>Thanks for your input! I guess I’ll just have to see when I visit. I just got back from an overnight at Yale, and I am a little bit in love with the school. But then I read over the Admit Weekend packet from Stanford, and I’m torn again…</p>
<p>Personally, I’d choose Yale, at least over Stanford. This said as a Stanford alum (though I was a Ph.D. student). I think that Yale (and presumably Harvard, though I can’t speak to that) has much more of a focus on undergraduates. I really felt that Stanford loves it’s grad students, and that undergrads are not <em>as high</em> a priority as they are at LA colleges and the ivy league. Just my opinion. Certainly those Stanford undergrads looked very happy and fit and tanned compared to us grad students!</p>
<p>Sorry, Yale and Stanford fans. This is my blatant opinion, and please, don’t waste your time arguing with it. You will never convince me otherwise.</p>
<p>Would I choose Harvard just because of its prestige? Yes!
Do I think that prestige is the most important factor when it comes to choosing a school? Yes, I certainly do think so.</p>
<p>Already prepared for the rotten tomatoes flying at my side.</p>
<p>I think 8790’s post shows that, for some, trivial discrepancies in prestige can mean a lot. You seem to care more about the experience, etc., which I think is wise. As YaleGradandDad (bless this man for his posts) said, the academic caliber of the three schools is highly comparable. Yale and Stanford may be a little more known for their undergraduate focus, which can really make a difference (although donnaleighg seems to think Stanford is still grad-focused). You also said you were looking for a “laid-back intellectual” feel: Stanford and Yale seem to both really embody that. You’re visiting again, which is good. They are both very difference in campus style, coast culture, etc. Try to get a feel for which you like more. If things still don’t seem clear, try to look at some objective facts and think which might also seem the best on paper; of course as 17/18 year olds everything at these schools will probably be dazzling.</p>
<p>I’m in a similar dilemma, but I also spent some nights at Yale (this past week) and it’s hard not to love it!</p>
<p>It would help if 8790 was actually a HY admit. He/She is just an outsider it seems – unaware of the true strengths of H or Y or S but rather caught up in the larger society’s stereotypes of HYS and their peers. Too bad.</p>
<p>The stanford equivalent to harvard square or chapel st is the main st in palo alto AND the Stanford Shopping Center–a very elegant outdoor mall on the edge of campus I am not a shopper, but both downtown palo alto and the shopping center are nothing close to a strip mall; instead, both are charming and quite elegant and much safer, cleaner and cheerful than Cambridge or New Haven</p>
<p>Congratulations! At this level, toss aside rankings, etc. You’ll get a great education at any of them. If weather is a big factor (e.g., you want some snow!), then it should narrow it down a bit. Beyond that, pick one where you think you’ll have the most enjoyable undergrad life!</p>
Just one data point: DS’s roommate for multiple years is the most a “laid-back intellectual” person he has ever met. We are very happy that he was so lucky to have such a roommate, who had influenced DS positively over four years.</p>
<p>If you wanted a laid back, but intellectual community, I would immediately refute Harvard as a choice. Between Yale and Stanford, I would lean towards Stanford, though it’d be hard for me to pick between the two.</p>
<p>Anyway, no, Harvard is not the most laid back of places, but I’m skeptical that Stanford or Yale students are any less intense about their interests and activities.</p>
<p>I’ve been a student at all three (Yale UG, Stanford and Harvard Grad but had contact with UG). My sense is that until you visit the places there’s really no way to give you an answer, as you can find what you are seeking at all three.</p>
<p>The schools differences:</p>
<p>Harvard: No one can dispute that it is at the center of the academic cosmos. It also has an incredible location, Cambridge/Boston being in some ways the greatest “college” town environment in the USA. There’s also the synergy with MIT and the huge number of schools that make Boston the greatest “college town”. H. has strength across all disciplines, meaning there’s virtually no dept. that is not stellar. Weakness is it does not give as much attention to undergrads, leaving them more to their own resources to create their experience. Some H. students find this alienating but most love the place. Finally, it has to be acknowledged that most cross admits choose H. over Y. and S. because of its unique prestige (“number one”).</p>
<p>Yale: two main edges are the greater emphasis on undergrads (most of the the three) which has created for some the “cult of Yale”. The Yale residential college system seems to me more successful than Harvard’s in creating connections between students. Y. also has particular strength in arts and humanities. In science, it does more with less, which can mean more attention to UG but also fewer “star” professors. New Haven is not a great college town, but the campus is great and Y. can end up being a nicer UG social experience compared to H. NYC is an hour away by train so most students spend time there. </p>
<p>Stanford: it’s edge is that it is mellower than either of the other two while still being academically strong across the disciplines. Housing is based on diversity (theme houses are common after the freshman year) but lacks the tradition of the residential house/college system of Y. and H. Quality of life is best of the three–in part because of the weather and beautiful landscape, but mainly because of more balance between academics and other things. Anyone who likes year long outdoor access might consider carefully the advantages of S. (you can be skiing or climbing in the Sierras, playing in the Pacific, etc within a few hours or less; in a few minutes from your dorm, you can take a hike in the hills or swim in a lake). Undergrads get more attention than at H. but less than at Y. Bay Area is great but it’s not that easy to get to the SF (only a little closer than Y is to NYC).</p>
<p>I’ve never been to Standford so I don’t have a say for it. But from what I hear, it’s a mellow college (kind of similar to Columbia).</p>
<p>In a decision between Harvard and Yale, I would go with Yale if you’re not into the uptight strictly educational environment (not to say that Harvard students don’t have fun occasionally). I find Yale more calming.</p>