Hi there! This is cross-posted on both schools’ forums for obvious reasons.
I am so fortunate to be choosing between two amazing institutions - I was admitted SCEA one school, and have received a likely letter from the other. I’m a prospective human biology major at Stanford, and a biology major at Yale. However, I’m also interested in computer science, biocomputation, and (possibly) biomedical engineering.
I’ve wanted to be a doctor since I was little, and this interest hasn’t waned as I’ve gotten older; I’m thinking a MD/Ph.D. is currently the best fit for my interests and will definitely be pre-med, but I could also see myself doing just one of those degrees. It seems like Yale has better pre-med advising and less stress (partially due to the semester system), and I’m concerned that the human biology core will “take over” my sophomore year if I go to Stanford (I would love more info on the humbio core if anyone has experience with it!). It also seems like Stanford pre-med advising is not great, with ~70% med school admit rate vs 92% for Yale, but I know the two schools have very different advising methodologies.
I’ve been extremely involved with research in high school and am 100% planning on doing that in college, both Yale and Stanford are the top institutions in the country for my field of interest and it seems like the undergrad research opportunities will be similar. It seems like it’s possible to have more extracurricular balance at Yale, again due to the semester system. How accessible are shadowing opportunities in New Haven vs Palo Alto? I’ve heard it can be hard to volunteer at the Stanford Free Clinic, which is a bit concerning.
I’m interested in healthcare technology, so I’d love to intern at a tech company at least one summer to see if I could be happy being a software engineer (I’ve always heard that one shouldn’t go into medicine if they could be happy doing anything else). From talking with people, it seems like more companies recruit, and there are generally more compsci opportunities, at Stanford. However, I don’t think I would really be able to take full advantage of Stanford’s compsci department until junior year if I did humbio (I could probably only fit CS 106B into my first year due to the demands of orgo, and sophomore year is basically filled with the humbio core).
I’m more excited by the courses that Stanford offers. Personally, I’m much more STEM-oriented, and having gone through the course catalogs of each school, I prefer those of Stanford. However, I like Yale’s shopping period and the fact it’s on the semester system.
With regard to student life, I absolutely adore Yale’s residential college system and the built-in community that it provides. I do prefer the warmer weather of California, but having grown up in Northern California (and spent a good chunk of my time on Stanford’s campus), it would be nice to have a change of location. I’m concerned about duck-syndrome at Stanford, and about Yale being too “formal” coming from California.
Financial aid is roughly equal from both, with Stanford being ~$1000 more generous. As an FYI, I’m not interested in debating the perceived prestige of either - I want to go to the place I will be the happiest.
So, the question remains: having said all of this, which seems like it would be a better fit for me? I’ve been debating between both and there is no clear “right” choice. The more I think about it, the more similarities I see, which I suppose is good, so any input is appreciated.