Yale...Stanford? Stanford...Yale??? ANYTHING GOES!

Colleges and Universities A-Z Yale University
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<p>I was recently very fortunate to be admitted to Stanford SCEA, and then even more lucky to receive a likely letter from Yale, my two top choice schools!</p>

<p>I thought it would be easy to choose Stanford, my number one pick and my dream school for a long time, but now the choice has become unclear. So please, help me and future applicants, future students in my situation, and maybe even yourself in the process.</p>

<p>Stanford or Yale??? What's good, what's bad???</p>

<p>Anything goes. I want to hear anecdotes, rumors, feelings, guesses, statistics, quotes, pictures, ANYTHING that can help with the decision.</p>

<p>About me: Prospective Econ major (if a school lets me take as few math classes for this as possible that's a plus).</p>

<p>What I like about Stanford more than Yale: Sports, Weather, Laid-back, Cultural</p>

<p>What I like about Yale more than Stanford: Tradition, Administration-Student Cooperation, Housing System</p>

<p>Tie: Academics, Surrounding Location</p>

<p>I've read all of the other threads on this issue, but I want more meat. The good and the bad on both schools! Thanks for helping out!</p>

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<p>Not to hijack the thread (I mean, I'm posting outside of HSL/Cafe, shows how much I'm bored), but what's a likely letter?</p>

<p>Where are you from? That might be a factor. </p>

<p>I seriously can't help, but I'd suggest you visit the schools, maybe?</p>

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<p>At this academics link, count how many times each school appears in a list of top ten:</p>

<p>REED</a> COLLEGE PHD PRODUCTIVITY</p>

<p>I got Stanford 1, Yale 6.</p>

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<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/stanford-university/618239-stanford-yale.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/stanford-university/618239-stanford-yale.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>^ That "thread is essentially debating whether Mercedes or BMW has the best options package."</p>

<p>Yale undergrad is a grad-school-prep college; Stanford is more pre-professional, with a world-class grad school.</p>

<p>Not very significant: Yale is about 46% undergrad, Stanford 37% undergrad.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
"Yale undergrad is a grad-school-prep college"

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I heard that this is particularly true for the engineering majors, that they either get into top PhD programs or go into banking. I want to get a PhD so I am hoping that this is true. From what I know about Yale engineering, it does seem to be more focused on research rather than actually industrial engineering.</p>

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<p>I was in same position as you last year. Let me make a few comments:</p>

<p>"If a school lets me take as few math classes for this as possible that's a plus."</p>

<p>-An econ major at Yale only requires 1 single variable math class (extremely easy). Obviously you may need to use more advanced techniques, but they will be taught in the Econ classes as opposed to requiring explicit math courses.</p>

<p>"Sports, Weather, Laid-back, Cultural"</p>

<p>-In terms of high quality athletics and weather, Stanford wins and I won't contest that. The "laid back" thing though is a California myth; they call it "duck syndrome" at Stanford, where everybody tries to appear "calm on top" but underneath is "paddling desperately struggling to stay afloat." This may be a result of Stanford's quarter system vs. Yale's semester system, which means that Stanford students have more midterms and finals. Culturally, Yale is more politically active and probably more self-assured, but I also found it far more integrated (i.e. fewer differences between "engineers," "jocks," "classics majors," etc).</p>

<p>"Tie: Academics, Surrounding Location"</p>

<p>I think it is probably fair to rate the surrounding locations at equal, but be aware that they are very different. Stanford students don't roam off campus as much and Palo Alto has less going on for college students than New Haven (i.e. in terms of clubs, bars, affordable restaurants). On the other hand, Stanford is also in a generally wealthier area. As someone from Palo Alto, however, I would say that I certainly don't find New Haven to be "poor" or "filthy" or whatever.</p>

<p>See <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/yale-university/610751-welcome-yale-college-class-2013-feast-comestibles.html?highlight=feast+comestibles%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/yale-university/610751-welcome-yale-college-class-2013-feast-comestibles.html?highlight=feast+comestibles&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>Have you visited both of the schools?</p>

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<p>It sounds like you violated both schools' SCEA policies...</p>

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<p>He received a likely letter from Yale, not real admission yet.</p>

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<p>Thank you Millhouse, some people need to read properly!
What I would say (with a very malicious smile on my face) is that you do not go into Yale. It means you are one less person I have to worry about. I do not know about Stanford because I never bothered. If you really loved Stanford, you should go there. It is the same for me, I love Yale since I was fifteen, and it was the first school that my heart asked me to go to. If that is the same for you, and you are going to get into both schools, then choose the one you really want to go into. It is simple, and would help me. </p>

<p>But I will sell Yale. it is definitely THE school with a rounded education. The requirements and shopping period make sure that you fulfill your credits, hit the classes that you love, and then get the education that they want you to. What is better than that?
The dorm system is fantastic. I personally think Yale sports cannot be tampered with. Yale were the first to go 800 wins, and is in the Ivy League. That means that they make a student, scholar, citizen and an athlete in one package. That is 100%!</p>

<p>I will say no more.</p>

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<p>bump! which would/did you choose and why???</p>

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<p>ahhhhhhh bump!</p>

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<p>TYLER!</p>

<p>I say you should go to Yale. For the following reasons:</p>

<p>1) I will be there</p>

<p>2) On the East Coast, people don't care that much for Stanford. Case in point: my good friend (Oprah! for those of you who are familiar) and I are often together and whenever people ask where we are going next year we get VERY different reactions. Mine is almost always, "WOW! NICE! Yale? That's awesome!" whereas Oprah!'s are more like "ohhhh.. great!" Don't get me wrong, people seem to be impressed with both, but going to an Ivy is something that's universal, going to Stanford is something that really only matters on the West Coast (that's not to say Stanford isn't internationally renowned... I'm just saying amongst commonfolk, this is the case).</p>

<p>3) You seem like fun and Yale is known for their crazy and fun traditions that come about as a result of the residential college system and the great people that go there.</p>

<p>4) Yale is currently pwning every school in the nation in terms of notable faculty (mk... not really, but still). Tony Blair is there, John Negroponte from the State Dept is there, that crazay woman who wrote the inauguration poem is there (<3), and of course the run-of-the-mill nobel/pulitzer prize winning people are there as well.</p>

<p>5) Seasons are great. Don't get me wrong, I'm moving out to California the minute after college is over (albeit to LA rather than Palo Alto and for purely professional reasons) and California is great... but there's something special about watching the leaves change as you dawn your wool knit sweater, getting ready for your philosophy class; or pulling on your hat as you walk over to Au Bon Pain for a cup of hot chocolate before trekking off into the snow towards Science Hill; or watching the blossoms from the window of your Seminar building.</p>

<p>6) The Library is a freaking Gothic Paradise! and part of it runs UNDERGROUND! Can you say HELL YEAH!?!?</p>

<p>7) It's better than Stanford at everything.... EVERYTHING. (hehehehe)</p>

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<p>I'm also going to repost what I said a while ago on the Stanford thread comparing Yale and Stanford:</p>

<p>
[quote]
Well I was just accepted to Yale (YAY 2013!), but I too will be applying to a few other places during the Regular Decision round. I'll clue you into why I decided to pick Yale as the school I SCEAed at.</p>

<p>1.) There is a very discernible "Ivy League" quality that Yale, Harvard, and Princeton have. These schools are, of course, some of the oldest in the country and it's very apparent (especially so at Yale among the three). If you're into that kind of "old money" prestige thing, then Yale is perfect.</p>

<p>2.) Yale is known for having incredible resources available to humanities students. I myself am similar to your son in that I'm thinking about pursuing a politics related major. I loved Yale because they have a major (Ethics, Politics, and Economics) that encompasses alllll of the things that I love about Government and that I'm sure would prepare anyone more than adequately for law school. Yale also has the #1 Law school in the country - but who looks at rankings anyway (heh heh)!</p>

<p>3.) Yale takes a very different approach to living than Stanford. Yale randomly assigns those who matriculate to 1/12 (soon to be 14) residential colleges. I'm sure you've heard all about these! My friends at Yale say they love the system and are glad that they didn't go to a school that implements a "Stanford-type housing model." They say that were it not for being randomly assigned to their college (which they stay in all four years) they would never have become friends with some of the people they did.</p>

<p>4.) East Coast v. West Coast may be what it comes down to!</p>

<p>5.) I have some great friends who attend each now and who will be attending each next year. So either way, your son will not be able to go wrong.

[/quote]
</p>

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<p>Listen to others, then schedule a visit to check out the schools for yourself. There is no right or wrong answer to your question.</p>

<p>All the best in your school selection process!</p>

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<p>First, look at the following photos:</p>

<p>Halls</a> of Learning on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
Branford</a> College on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
stanford</a> engineering quad on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
Yale</a> Campus on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
Stanford</a> Campus / Palo Alto 2009 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
IMG_3939</a> on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
Stanford</a> University Campus on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
Fountain</a> on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
Stanford</a> campus - 075 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
from</a> connectican (USA) on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
Stanford</a> Oval on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
Yale</a> Campus on Flickr - Photo Sharing!</p>

<p>Now, which school gave you goosebumps?</p>

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<p>I definitely think Stanford is more gorgeous, though Yale is a nice site too.</p>

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<p>I was in the same situation last year, and I chose Yale. However, I still find myself thinking about Stanford.</p>

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<p>yale! yale!</p>

<p>The residential college system is beyond amazing.</p>