Yale vs Harvard: Comparison of Social Life

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
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<p>Thanks for all the input on housing. As I think about it the distances, are not that much different that other schools of Harvard's size. MB what makes it seem different is that there is a volume non-Harvard building between the Houses and academic facilities.</p>

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<p>Thanks just<em>forget</em>me for the link, although a start date of 2011 at the earliest will not likely benefit the Class of 2013!</p>

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<p>Your children, perhaps :-P</p>

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<p>Cabot.</p>

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<p>in my experience, (almost exactly like eating food's), it was the harvard people i knew that did the bashing when i said i got into yale EA, while the yalies were just really happy for me and only made a few snide references. </p>

<p>i think that it's all in good fun either way (most of the time), people from both schools know they're getting a ridiculous education.</p>

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<p>I am not taking any sides on this matter because I have no experiences to report. </p>

<p>But Cogito, I am missing what point you are trying to make. Your profile shows that you applied to Yale EA this year and are planning to go to Yale next year. Why would a Yalie have given you a hard time since you are planning to be a Yalie? As for the Harvard kids, you are planning to go to Yale. Of course some of them may tease you. I would have said that you had a point if you had the experience of having been accepted at both Harvard and Yale and then were reporting the behavior of the students from each school towards you.</p>

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<p>The main bashing difference I observed between the two schools was not so much between the students but between the degree of bashing done by official school representatives. Yale admissions staff made direct comparisons to Harvard on several points, and the Yale tour guide openly bashed Harvard two or three times during the tour. By contrast, neither the Harvard tour guides nor admissions people ever mentioned Yale or other peer schools at all.</p>

<p>Thus at Yale it seemed that the constant self-comparisons to Harvard are institutionalized, in their very bones. But at Harvard they officially ignore Yale.</p>

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<p>We have done campus visits twice at each H and Y. Here is a basic synopsis of how my family and I interpreted the tone of the presentations and interactions that we had with tour guides/students/admissions officers/ others in both official words, and as unofficial asides and opinions embedded within answers to Q&A sessions, etc:</p>

<p>Y: "There is no better school on the planet. We dominate the ivy league. You will make connections here that will carry you far. Our buildings and grounds kick the butt of H and P. Our football team is awesome. Our student body is tighter and we are the best."</p>

<p>H: "You may or may not find that H is a good fit for you. If, after looking us over, you feel we are a good fit, then please we urge you to apply. But if you have misgivings, or if you find another Ivy (or any other school) to be more attractive, then we wish you all the best and all good luck in your future."</p>

<p>The general tone above was consistent across all 4 visits. I think it is just a matter of how the admissions depts at each school has chosen to position themselves. Yale comes at it from a position of "we are the best without question", which may in fact be the case, or not. Harvard seems to take more of the "Take us or leave us -- honestly we don't care, we'll get over it" attitude. Which may be genuine, or not.</p>

<p>Anyway, that's my 2 cents.</p>

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<p>I took Yale's tone to be more one of eagerly, almost desperately, trying to convince you, and themselves, that they are the best. I took Harvard's tone to be : "We have everything here - Come and get it."</p>

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<p>When I visited Harvard for their admitted students weekend last year I noticed a lot of Yale bashing from students and representatives of the University (much more so students).
I go to Yale and haven't really experienced much Harvard bashing. Yeah, there are some jokes etc, but its not mean spirited and nothing that you wouldn't expect from a friendly rivalry. Yale students seem to honestly believe that their school is better than Harvard but they don't really make a big deal out of it.</p>

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<p>Some of the above comments are interesting to me. I also made several visits to Yale with prospective applicants over the past five years, and I didn't hear Harvard bashed once. The consistent, almost word-for-word consistent, attitude from the admissions staff was "We think we have the best mixture of qualities available, and we're happy to explain why, but honestly we're not that much better than 10 or 15 other universities. We can't accept all the great students who apply, but we know that they'll all get great experiences, here or elsewhere."</p>

<p>It has, however, been my experience over the years that the Harvard-Yale rivalry is felt more keenly at Yale, and that whatever bashing happens probably happens more there than at Harvard. But there may be a little more contempt on the Harvard side. As reflected in their traditional football songs: Yale's evidences a lot of respect for Harvard -- "Break through that Crimson line, their strength to defy . . . Harvard's team may fight to the end, but Yale will win." Harvard doesn't quite return the favor -- "Poor Eli's hopes we are dashing into blue obscurity."</p>

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<p>My impression as well.</p>

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<p>"But there may be a little more contempt on the Harvard side. As reflected in their traditional football songs:"</p>

<p>The Yale Band was actually suspended after their Harvard/Yale performance this year because their act was deemed too rude and negative.</p>

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<p>When we did the Yale tour last summer my D really liked everything she saw and heard....except the couple of times the tour guide made reference to "another school to our north that shall remain nameless". </p>

<p>I get the sense that Yale likes being Harvard's rival, while Harvard thinks it has no rival.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
I took Yale's tone to be more one of eagerly, almost desperately, trying to convince you, and themselves, that they are the best. I took Harvard's tone to be : "We have everything here - Come and get it."

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I find it hard to consider coureur's comments objective since her daughter was rejected at Yale and accepted at Harvard. I'm just saying....</p>

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<p>What about the opinion of someone who applied to Harvard (and got in) but not to Yale?</p>

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<p>Uhh, this thread was about social life at the two schools, and not about Yalies and Cantabrigians bashing each other.......</p>

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<p>Yeah, and my younger daughter is now applying to Yale. Which means that I have sat through admissions talks and taken the tours at both colleges twice now - 5 years apart. Which has given me an extended glimpse into how to the two schools present themselves.</p>

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<p>I did the Yale tour with S. There were several references to Harvard, none derogatory, but showing that Yalies are very conscious of the competition. I did not do the Harvard tour, so I don't know what was said there. S chose Harvard for a variety of reasons, including the fact that Harvard was definitely stronger in his chosen field despite being very cordially welcomed by the chairmen of the two departments he was interested in at Yale.
On the social front, he likes the idea of being able to choose the blockmates he has had over the past 2 1/2 years. He is still good friends with people from his freshman entryway despite the fact that most are now scattered through various houses. The one thing he is critical of is the food. Yale definitely beats Harvard on that front.</p>