<p>ive noticed that yale is more selective than harvard, for both the scea and rd round. for the scea round, does yale have a lower acceptance rate because yale scea applicants are not as strong as harvard scea applicants? since you can only apply to one school, does yale want to compare with the harvard scea applicants when they apply rd?</p>
<p>thanks in advance for any input</p>
<p>Harvard is a bigger school</p>
<p>Not that it matters, but I thought historically Yale has generally always been more selective than any other Ivy League school. This doesn't necessarily mean Harvard students are less qualified (however slight the differences may be between these colleges).</p>
<p>a lot of it is statistical "noise." and maybe yale is more selective because more people want to go because yale has better student life.</p>
<p>...... 84.3% .....</p>
<p>I personally do think Yale is getting more selective, but would like to caution against purely using numbers. Just because more people are applying doesn't mean more GOOD people are applying; if people on the bottom end of the ladder apply, it's not going to affect the people on the top end who'll end up getting in.</p>
<p>It's good, therefore, to look at average SAT scores (imperfect indicators though they may be) and to see if these rise.</p>
<p>I agree with CautiousPessimism.</p>
<p>Yale has been slightly more selective in terms of acceptance rate the last couple of years, but this is largely a reflection of the fact that Harvard accepts many more students (since it has more spaces to fill).</p>
<p>so for the same person, which school would be harder to get into?</p>
<p>Yale probably draws a number of applicants because it does not require SAT IIs if one submits the ACT. Three people at my school applied to Yale, two of whom applied because Yale does not require SAT IIs (they had not taken them); neither applied any other Ivy or top 25 other than Michigan (instate).</p>
<p>Accepted at both-which would you choose?</p>
<p>The great majority of common admits choose Harvard over Yale.</p>
<p>...just like the majority of people voted for Bush a few years ago and for Clinton in the 90s. You should make your own decision to see which one you'd be happier at. They're both great schools.</p>
<p>(I posted this same reply on the related thread)</p>
<p>Just because Yale has the lowest admission rate, does not mean it is the most selective. Selectivity also reflects the quality of the applicants. As many know, Caltech is not among the most selective colleges according to percent admitted, but anyone who takes that as a sign that it is "easier" to get into Caltech is making a BIG mistake. My guess is that Harvard applicants include a larger number of the strongest candidates than the Yale pool.</p>
<p>Most kids with a choice opt for Harvard, and have for eons.</p>
<p>More than 3/4 of common admits to Harvard and to its chief "rivals" - Stanford, Yale, MIT and Princeton - choose Harvard for their undergraduate education. Top students, obviously, see a clear difference.</p>
<hr>
<p>"Last year, nearly 23,000 students applied for admission, and 80 percent of those admitted chose to attend, compared with 72 percent at Yale and 68 percent at Princeton. Given a choice between Bulldog and Crimson, most students put their chips on red: nearly three out of four students accepted to both Yale and Harvard find themselves in Cambridge come fall, says one veteran of the admissions game."
<a href="http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=509886%5B/url%5D">http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=509886</a></p>
<hr>
<p>"It used to be the case that of students who were admitted to Harvard and Princeton or Harvard and Yale, seven of 10 would choose to go to Harvard," Princeton professor Katz says. "It may be more now. There is a tendency for the academically best to skew even more to Harvard. We just get our socks beat off in those cases."
<a href="http://www.usatoday.com/money/2005-06-06-harvard-usat_x.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.usatoday.com/money/2005-06-06-harvard-usat_x.htm</a></p>
<hr>
<p>"The only reason Harvard stays competitive, according to Harvard football's recruiting director Westerfield, is that its Harvard. Three out of four students who get into Harvard and either Yale or Princeton choose Harvard, and its no different with high-scoring athletes. Typically, if I want a kid, I get him, Westerfield says. I didnt lose any kids last year."
<a href="http://www.thecrimson.harvard.edu/article.aspx?ref=349217%5B/url%5D">http://www.thecrimson.harvard.edu/article.aspx?ref=349217</a></p>
<hr>
<p>SEE ALSO:</p>
<p>The pecking order is well established; it is, essentially, a "winner-take-all" competition.</p>
<p>Okay, Byerly, thanks for the overwhelming and well-researched information. What I was telling the OP was that despite cross-admits' picking Harvard, the OP needs to decide for him/herself. Yes, we can infer whatever we want from most cross-admits' choosing Harvard--"Top students, obviously, see a clear difference," as you say, or "The only reason Harvard stays competitive, according to Harvard football's recruiting director Westerfield, is that its Harvard." But the fact is that when getting accepted to many of the top universities, people need to choose for themselves and see where they'd be happiest and most comfortable--not which university is the "best," as I'm sure you'd say, but where they feel they fit best.</p>
<p>I think, in a while, if Harvard isn't careful, MIT will win the cross-admit battle with Harvard. Princeton, Stanford, and Yale aren't worries, they split the pool in many ways.</p>
<p>There is no such trend apparent at the moment. MIT competes with Harvard based on its strong reputation in science and engineering. It is entirely possible that, if and when current plans bear fruit, and a mega-billion dollar expansion of Harvard's science and engineering facilities in Allston takes place, that Harvard's edge over MIT may widen rather than narrow. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.allston.harvard.edu/%5B/url%5D">http://www.allston.harvard.edu/</a></p>
<p>While many may choose Harvard over Yale...it is soley for the name and prestige that is associated with Harvard. Every day I find another article written by Harvard students/alumni talking about how most students there hate it and just stay there because of the name. I thought I wanted to go to Harvard and got waitlisted, but accepted to Yale. At first I was dissapointed, but after learning about the undergrad experience at both...Yale is by far the best!</p>
<p>It is fortunate that you have learned to love the school you ended up at by necessity, and to rationalize away your disappointment at not gaining admission to your first-choice school or schools.</p>
<p>99 times out of 100, students experience this epiphany, and it is a very healthy thing.</p>
<p>The best approach is to go to the best school to which you gain admission, and then just live with it. And rest easy: while Yale is certainly no Harvard, it does in fact enjoy a certain level of "name and prestige" as you put it, so that you can and should hold your head up high!</p>
<p>Last week, I thought you were still considering Columbia, after Harvard and MIT didn't work out. You have made a fine choice, in any event</p>