<p>nice point worknprogress. You're right!</p>
<p>
What basis do you have for making a statement like that? Have you met every person that has gone to Yale and can testify that "You do not hear Yalies saying things like that"? I believe you're just talking about cross admits between Harvard and Yale. If a student is choosing between Yale and the University of Michigan, a lot of the student's friends/acquaintances will be saying "OF COURSE YALE, it's Yale". Is that not a "superior statement"? This notion that the Yale student body is a lot mor "down to earth" and "friendly" than its Harvard counterpart is ridiculous. Both schools select students from the same academic mold so there's no reason why there would be such a disparity. One thing's for sure, if constant threads like this on the Yale forum is any indication, there is a definite Harvard inferiority complex at Yale.</p>
<p>And EAD, as a student at neither school, you have an even weaker basis for comparison! I've never heard the "Yale is Yale" argument, and I think a lot of people here think that such a statement is ridiculous, "even" with regards to a comparison with Mich. Yale students really do seem more down-to-earth...mostly because there isn't as much of a spirit of competition between students. I hear this a lot, from prefrosh and students from other schools who come to visit. I think a lot of people would agree that while HYPSM are choosing from the "same pool" of applicants, each school has its own unique character...I know that Stanford and Yale feel very different...S is even more laid-back! </p>
<p>Also note that most of these Harvard-bashing threads are started by prefrosh rather than current students. People here don't care that much about Harvard...it's a half-joking rivalry, like OSU/Michigan.</p>
<p>What is up with your weird dislike of Yale?</p>
<p>In defense of pacific, about 90% of what she says is "Yale is X, Y and Z." Others (Harvard students/fan club members) are making an assumption that she is therefore saying, "And Harvard is NOT X, Y and Z." Most of the time, pacific, and most others on this thread have expressed enthusiasm for Yale (it's the Yale Forum, after all) without saying anything negative about H. </p>
<p>It seems to be part of human nature to pick a side (usually the most familiar side, or the side we happen to be on :)) and defend it passionately, even in the absence of data about the other side. This phenomenon can be seen in international relations as well as college rivalries.</p>
<p>H and Y aren't opposites. They are distinct, but have many more similarities than differences, compared to the thousands of other colleges and universities in the world.</p>
<p>Truce!</p>
<p>Eloquently stated, riverrunner. I second the motion.</p>
<p>I third, and concur, and hit Post.</p>
<p>I had the choice between yale and harvard, and although i had my many personal reasons for choosing harvard, one of the observations i made at yale was that whenever i told someone that i was deciding between yale and harvard, they would say how much harvard sucks, etc. </p>
<p>it sort of turned me off especially when someone would go as far as to say new haven was a better city to be in than cambridge/boston :D. i found that harvard kids were much more objective and even though they would have many great things to say about their school and why they chose it, they would never go about bashing other schools and other people's opinions regarding those schools.</p>
<p>Wait, I thought we were working on a truce. "they would never..." is a pretty bold statement.</p>
<p>We back Harvard to pre-frosh because we want them to come, and we know the choice between the two schools can be tough - to our mind, they should come because WE think Yale is awesome, whereas Harvard lures "our" pre-frosh away because they think everyone ELSE in wider society thinks Harvard is awesome.</p>
<p>It's sad that our school sentiment should be negatively defined against Harvard, but I suppose we feel we need to counteract the idea that the only difference between Y and H is that the latter is of higher prestige - when you bash Harvard, you bash "stuffy" academia and try and differentiate Yale from traditional ivy stuffiness.</p>
<p>Obviously most of us have never gone to Harvard, and there is nothing to say that "our" pre-frosh won't be equally or perhaps more happy there. Still, we feel posessive, and we feel sad that people don't acknowledge just how great Yale is, not because, but DESPITE being in the same theoretical league as Harvard.</p>
<p>/Rambling over</p>
<p>Sorry, "bash", not "back"</p>
<p>When my son learned he was accepted to Yale, (among the other Ivies as well)my son, as well as my wife and I were simply overwhelmed with joy. And after attending the BDD events, It definitely sealed the deal. He loved everything about it. He was amazed how gregarious every student was and how enthusiastic and passionate theyw ere about being students at Yale. I truly believe that enthusiasm is pervasive through out the yale community.My only concern will always be the community outside the immediate area of Yale.But if you are smart, shouldnt be a problem. My son attends HS about 5 minutes away from Yale and knows the areas to avoid.
He can't wait to get started. Congrats to the Class of 2012..see you in September!</p>
<p>
[quote]
why are there threads on Yale's board about how Y>H when there are no "H>Y" threads on H's board?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Those who speak the loudest are the most insecure.</p>
<p>first post here. Tainted 4 life!</p>
<p>lucky792, I actually had the opposite experience from you. At yale when i told people i was deciding between yale and harvard, they made jokes about why yale was better but weren't serious at all. They were mostly like "you can't go wrong either way". or "personally i love yale and think you should choose it for these reasons" or "you'll have a great experience at either school."
at harvard i got the "why are you even considering yale" or "yale sucks" and that kind of sentiment. I think this all depends on what kind of students you run into.</p>
<p>Also, this is probably not reliable data considering i was at yale on weeknights and harvard on the weekend, but at yale it seemed like every night people were going to concerts or hanging out and everyone i ran into at harvard was going to get drunk somewhere and assumed that me and the other prefrosh i was with wanted to get drunk too. It seemed like yallies wanted more than just to drink. again, weekday v weeknight means that i can't completely compare
but i chose yale</p>
<p>I too am a prefrosh who chose Yale over Harvard for a lot of the reasons mentioned here. I just got more of that "warm, fuzzy" feeling at Yale, more of that sense of school pride and community. And I appreciated the fact also that the administration itself, not just the students, seemed significantly more "connected" to the students at Yale. This was clearest to me when I went to the welcome address for both schools--Yale's was lighthearted, welcoming, and funny, while Harvard's was much stiffer and dull. Don't get me wrong, I don't harbor any particular negative feelings against Harvard, but I definitely agree that I found the overall environment (rather than just the students) more down-to-earth and comfortable at Yale.</p>
<p>Good summaries, affle and goolsci.</p>