Yale, Stanford or MIT? Please help me decide

College Search & Selection
41

<p>Hey guys, </p>

<p>Thanks for all the information. At this point I'm down to choosing between Yale and Stanford, and, though the sciences at Stanford appear to better, I think overall Yale provides a better social atmosphere with its residential college system and overall student life. </p>

<p>So...at this point I'm leaning towards Yale since I think it would be a less competitive and more fun atmosphere in which to do pre-med. </p>

<p>One question I wanted to ask was whether the ranking of the biological sciences program(s) between Yale and Stanford affects med school chances and/or the overall education you get? Will a science degree from Yale not be valued at all/as much?</p>

42

<p>posforpysics --</p>

<p>Yale will most assuredly NOT be less competitive (I can't speak to fun), rather the opposite. When I visited my friends at Yale while interviewing for admissions, all they could joke about was how the army said you need four hours of sleep, but that at Yale they were certain it was only two.</p>

<p>What an off putting atmosphere. Life is long. You don't have to lose sleep to get through university! Part of this is the "east coast" thing. It is hard to describe if you haven't lived in California, but the "east coast thing" means kids are more serious, work harder, have LESS fun though are more aggressive in pursuing it, and do not know how to RELAX, period. They're just so serious!</p>

<p>Let''s just say Adrian Kronauer in Good Morning Vietnam is a Stanford guy, and his CO was a Yale guy.</p>

43

<p>P.S. -- Yale is slightly more prestigious undergrad. For Ph.D. programs, Stanford and Berkeley are alone atop the heap, with no real competition. That is irrelevant really, as you are more concerned at the Ph.D. level with the quality of our advisor.</p>

44

<p>posforpysics --</p>

<p>Yale is a good place to study biology. But do realize you are turning down a #1 and #2 biology programs, and heading to a #7 program (well, tied with another 4 universities for #7).</p>

45

<p>Having just visited Stanford for admit weekend, I can say with some confidence that you will find fun and relaxed students there. I don't know about Yale, but I think that at Stanford you can get the great combination of stellar academics and a relaxed and noncompetitive atmosphere.</p>

46

<p>Yale less competitive? haha ok we have gotten delusional here. This is a tough choice. I think it comes down to your comfort level at each place. I don't know what I would do haha not that that helps!</p>

47

<p>Yale reminds me of that tv show Gilmore girls.. UURRGG...Stanford all the way....Plus if you are serious about molecular biology, stanford is much stronger than Yale..
Can you provide your stats please?</p>

48

<p>Rather than listening to some bored-and-have-nothing-to-do-but-search-for-USNews-Stats high school students who have NEVER EXPERIENCED either of the schools, I wouldn't really lean you ear to some of the responders.</p>

<p>Your best bet would have been to email some of the actual professors/deans of these colleges and ask about their (and their peer) schools, as well as the students attending who are majoring in what you are interested in.</p>

<p>But since time's running out, I'm not sure what to tell you. Just wanted to warn you about making this important decision based on two or three high school kids who have nothing better to do then go to usnews.com and feel elated each time their favorite school is ranked higher than a different university.</p>

49

<p>It has been going down hill for a couple of years.</p>

<p>
[quote]
</p>

<p>The National Academy of Sciences Elects New Members</p>

<p>The National Academy of Sciences today announced the election of new domestic and foreign associate members. Membership in the National Academy is considered one of the highest distinctions in academia. This year MIT and Harvard led the nation with seven appointments each, Stanford followed with five and Princeton, Columbia, Berkeley, UT Austin and UCLA each had three. </p>

<p>Princeton’s showing is significant given its lack of a medical school and much smaller faculty. Princeton’s honorees were:</p>

<p>Emily Carter, Dept. of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering</p>

<p>Rosemary Grant, Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology</p>

<p>Jose Scheinkman, Dept. of Economics </p>

<hr>

<p>2008 Leading Institutions</p>

<p>7---MIT (7 Arts & Sciences faculty)
7---Harvard (3 Arts & Sciences faculty, 3 medical school faculty, 1 affiliated research institute member)</p>

<p>5---Stanford (3 Arts & Sciences faculty, 2 medical school faculty)</p>

<p>3---Princeton (3 Arts & Sciences faculty)
3---Columbia (2 Arts & Sciences faculty, 1 medical school faculty)
3---Berkeley (3 Arts & Sciences faculty)
3---UT Austin (3 Arts & Sciences faculty)
3---UCLA (2 Arts & Sciences faculty, 1 medical school faculty)</p>

<p>The Ivy League was also represented by one honoree from Brown and one from Yale.</p>

<p>

[/quote]
</p>

<p>With this year's addition, the numbers of prestigious National Academy of Science for leading institutions look like this:</p>

<p>Harvard (162+7)
Stanford (126+5)
Berkeley (127+3)
MIT (103+7)
Princeton (73+3)
Caltech (74+?)
UC-San Diego (65+?)
Yale (60+1)</p>

50

<p>Here is the analysis based on the number of faculty members selected into the prestigious National Academy of Science since year 2000 for HYPSM + Berkeley. You'll see HARVARD is still HARVARD. Stanford is not far behind. Money can not buy everything.</p>

<p>search link
National</a> Academy of Sciences:</p>

<p>search method: type the university name, then type year.</p>

<p>NAS membership selected since year 2000</p>

<p>Institution/2008/2007/2006/2005/2004/2003/2002/2001/2000/total
Harvard/7/5/6/5/5/3/9/7/1/48</p>

<p>Stanford/5/5/1/5/4/7/7/2/6/42
Berkeley/3/1/5/3/6/4/5/6/5/38</p>

<p>MIT/7/5/3/2/4/4/2/1/2/30
Princeton/3/5/2/7/2/1/1/4/2/27</p>

<p>Yale/1/1/1/2/0/1/1/5/2/13</p>

<p>I know Yale is the 2nd richest university in the world. But where did the money go? Why did Yale fail to attract super star professors in recent years?</p>

51

<p>tami - many of the posters on this thread are not high school students, and have actually been on or studied on two or three of these campuses...</p>

<p>time to get off your high horse.</p>

52

<p>I was actually referring to datalook's extensive posts on USNews rankings. I do recall that he/she is still in high school.</p>

<p>Your advice will be ignored. Thanks.</p>

53

<p>Even if datalook is still attending high school, the points being made are still valid. You can not retort the facts he or she cited. Right?</p>

54

<p>at this point, I would try to make your decision based more on a gut feeling and where you think you'll be happiest than rankings and numbers. you'll get an incredible education at either place, go to where you'll enjoy the next four years--whatever that means to you. good luck.</p>

55

<p>MIT = most competitive, most work</p>

<p>Yale = most politically focused student body</p>

<p>Stanford = most fun, best in bio</p>

<p>let us know what you decide!</p>

56

<p>These are all the best of the best. Choose whichever you want.
Since you are intrested in Biology, Stanford might be a better choice? (Not sure)</p>

57

<p>Which did he pick?</p>

58

<p>Yale sends 94-96% of its premeds to medical school. I have read that Stanford's rate is around 75%. Yale does extremely well in sending its students to top graduate schools (#2 ranking according to WSJ).</p>