<p>onecircuit, it’s great that you think that you know everything, but I think you will find that the universal experience of Harvard and Yale graduates out in the world is that they loved their undergraduate experience but so did other people, and that Harvard and Yale did not provide a meaningfully better education than other smart, hardworking people got at other quality institutions (and even that some people got at non-quality institutions).</p>
<p>For example, and it’s just one example, I happen to know a lot about my cohort at Harvard Law School, although I didn’t go there. Harvard Law School was (and still is) full of people from HYPS. But my year, the people who were the clear intellectual leaders, the ones other students really looked up to, came from Albion College, Northwestern, Williams, and Rice. The person who was first in my class at Stanford Law School came from the University of Missouri, and the top five law review positions were held by people from Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Vassar, and Kansas. The next year, the top two positions went to students from the Universities of Texas and Arizona, who were sensationally impressive. Of course, this doesn’t mean that everyone who goes to Albion College or the University of Texas is more impressive than everyone who goes to Harvard, but it does mean that when you put everyone together, there are good people everywhere.</p>
<p>The biggest advantage to going to a HYPS level school is the people. The classes will not be much better (as you say) than a good number of other places, but the connections that are made at these schools are invaluable…</p>
<p>While there are very impressive people elsewhere, there is a far greater concentration of them at HYPS…</p>
<p>^ I agree. There are many, many factors that make HYPS much better than other colleges for most top students.</p>
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<p>Another way to look at it is that HYPS has a much lower concentration of very unimpressive people. Which makes life a little bit easier for faculty and students.</p>
<p>I think the point that I and others are trying to make is that HYPS aren’t at the top of a mountain with all the other colleges in the valley below–rather, there is a gentle slope, with these (and a few others) at the top, but many more just a little further down.</p>
<p>By the way, I knew two very smart guys at Harvard Law School who had graduated from Bob Jones University.</p>
<p>^ Nice analogy, Hunt. And extending that analogy to come back to the title of the thread, Harvard may be perched on the topmost boulder at the peak of the mountain, but the folks at Yale are having a nice time at the picnic table just below :)</p>
<p>I am so curious about your various backgrounds. I see that JHS went to Stanford Law, and it looks like Hunt went to Harvard Law. If you don’t mind posting, where did you go for undergraduate and grad/professional schools? And what year? What do you do currently?</p>
<p>LOL, I know! I saw that too and was so very excited. Now not only can I tell people like you that you’re wrong, I can actually somewhat prove it :p!</p>
<p>I went to Yale undergrad, and Harvard Law School (one reason I feel qualified to opine on some of the Y vs. H threads). I don’t want to reveal the years, because I’m vain about my age–but it was back when giants bestrode the Earth.</p>
<p>So spot on!!! Funny, I was thinking about this the other day, too. It seems like the YDN is fascinated with all things Harvard, while the Crimson barely makes mention of Yale. You will find countless articles about Harvard, etc., which looks pathetic. I actually thought about posting something to this effect, as well. </p>
<p>I think it is a form of inferiority or insecurity complex… either way, it is quite noticeable and rather funny.</p>
<p>Depends on how you look at it. As has been said earlier, Yale is a lot more rah-rah and spirited about their school. That translates into a lot of Harvard comments. You could think of it as an inferiority complex, but it’s also an indication of how much Yalies love their school. And if you really think Harvard doesn’t care about the rivalry, please wait until you’ve been to a Harvard-Yale game before you comment. Or notice that the Crimson also has articles about Yale. Or realize that they made a “Why Did I Choose Yale?” video. You know, no biggie.</p>
<p>All in all, I think it’s pretty interesting how so many of you are annoyed by this so-called inferiority complex. It seems like you guys took it a completely different way than I did. Suit yourself. You’re welcome to go to Harvard instead if you would like ;)</p>
<p>I don’t buy that argument. I can see that being the case at say the football game, etc. but not comparing one’s school ad nauseum about Harvard throughout the year. There is also a difference between being incredibly passionate about your school (and believing it is the best thing since sliced bread) as opposed to constantly questioning one’s status (and self worth) based on perceptions of students from another school (Harvard) or the world at large (how do we compare to Harvard). ALso, I think that skit about not choosing Yale was the result of that notorious Yale Admissions Video that went viral.</p>
<p>Also, take a look at this old article in the Yale Herald about how there was significant concern about Stanford replacing Yale as Harvard’s rival (oh man, what would a Yalie do if that were to happen–OMG, the thought sends shutters through New Haven) Pretty lame and funny…</p>
<p>Again, here lies the difference: you’re spinning the comments in a different way. You think Yalies making comments about Harvard = questioning their self-worth. Not everyone thinks of it in those terms - in fact, I would say most people consider the comments light-hearted and the result of a playful rivalry. Not many people at Yale really think that Yale is worse than Harvard.</p>
<p>Also, how does being more spirited not translate into being a bigger participant in a rivalry? Yale is one of the most spirited schools out there (for instance, when Bulldog Days arrive, Yale has a surplus of students willing to host pre-frosh, whereas other schools are always struggling to find people; also, the most competitive campus job at Yale is being a campus tour guide) and I fail to see how that does not translate into more anti-Harvard comments.</p>
<p>I don’t think you should read too much into YDN. Yale is often too caught up in its traditions for its own good. Almost all of the students I met here are rather indifferent towards Harvard (or at least no more repulsed by it than they are by other schools). However, I do think that when someone comes across writer’s block or fails to find a nice little witticism, it’s easy to fall back on and appeal to the age-old rivalry that every student on campus knows about. If you want to read that as a passive, subconscious inferiority complex, then, by all means, go ahead, but I think most Yalies would say that you’re trying too hard to find something that’s probably not there.</p>
<p>Sure, this may not have always been the case, and maybe H and Y were big rivals in the past, but the campus attitude now is generally devoid of any real animosity (unless it’s around the time of The Game, of course). Almost everyone here is pretty secure about who they are and which school they chose. Don’t lend too much credence to apparent YDN trends or false positives.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for your responses. I’ve come to realize that it’s quite a derogatory stretch to call Yale’s school spirit an inferiority complex, and I kind of regret posting this thread. I doubt it’d be better if Yale stopped mentioning Harvard or vice-versa – it’d be a shame for the oldest collegiate rivalry in the US to stop looking like one.</p>
<p>Having read nothing in this thread but the first post, I have to say that the two newspapers give an inaccurate impression of the colleges themselves. </p>
<p>The YDN specifically does not write actual articles about Harvard, it writes blog posts. As a staff reporter at the newspaper, I sometimes have trouble telling the difference myself, but I have to tell you that the paper is trying to increase its online presence by offering more content in its blogs. Part of this has involved (unintentionally) playing up the rivalry, though I know that the editors are aware of this and are working to change it.</p>
<p>As well, I think Yale students are just proud to go to Yale. Harvard students may not be so enthusiastic about arguing that Harvard is better, but they also won’t be as enthusiastic about actually liking Harvard. Most of the Harvard-rivalry stuff only really comes out when Yalies try to convince pre-frosh to come to Yale. Many of us turned down Harvard ourselves, so we just want to help others with the decision.</p>
<p>And also, in the spirit of rivalry, I have anecdotal evidence that Yale is better: During the Harvard-Yale weekend, my friends and I were wandering around Harvard’s campus looking for parties. We were unable to find any, and one of my friends said something along the lines of “why does Harvard suck balls?” A Harvard student passing by heard, and he approached us to apologize. (He literally said something like “are you guys Yale students? I’m so sorry… Harvard is just… like this… all the time…”) He said that at least year’s H-Y game, which was held at Yale, he had one of his best social experiences in his time at college. While I hope he was exaggerating, I wouldn’t be entirely surprised if he wasn’t. I mean, everyone does say that the biggest social event of the year at Harvard is when the Game is held at Yale…</p>
<p>^ Yeah, to be honest, Yale would probably win the cross-admit battle if Harvard didn’t have a slight edge in reputation.</p>
<p>It says something about Yale when it still manages to win ~40% of the cross-admits when most people just think of Harvard as a better version of Yale.</p>