Hello all! I am incredibly blessed to have been accepted to both Yale and Stanford recently. I have about a week left to decide and I am attending both admit weekends next week. In all honestly, I am leaning towards Yale right now out of pure gut feeling. I was also accepted through likely letter so I’ve known for almost two months and have had the time to meet other Yalies. I still want to give Stanford a fair shot though and I am a bit conflicted. I am from California, so Yale is obviously across the country from me and Stanford is about an hour drive away. The financial aid is relatively similar, but Yale’s is better by a few thousand. I figure that this difference in cost is made up by the frequent travel costs of going back and forth between Yale and my home in CA. Please let me know your opinions. I am planning to major in PoliSci and minor in an ethnic studies and a language. I plan on attending law school after. Weather is not a huge factor for me :). Thanks in advance.
There is another thread on this subject with a number of good observations. http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/yale-university/1979604-yale-or-stanford.html#latest
@MissKriss123 There isn’t any difference between the two in terms of quality of academics and opportunities for poli sci. Just go with where you fit in best. I feel you will have a clear understanding after you visit both and get a sense of the vibe in both schools, which is quite different.
Here is another similar post: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/yale-university/1984893-yale-vs-stanford-for-pre-law-grade-inflation.html#latest
I’m in a very similar position (^that’s my post linked above). I’m leaning toward Yale out of a pure gut feeling, and I’m going to BDD and to Stanford Admit Weekend to give Stanford a shot. I also live in California, and I, too, got a better financial aid offer from Yale and chalked this up to travel expenses (for reference, Stanford’s tuition seems to be a tad less).
I addressed my questions about grade inflation concerning law school applications (polisci major as well). Let’s meet up at BDD and/or Stanford Weekend.
Go to the admit days and go where you feel the best fit is. Both are excellent and there is no wrong choice. Congratulations!
@MissKriss123 Before you make your decision, you should read both these articles written by current Stanford students.
https://cathincollege.com/2016/03/28/w-for-wisdom-how-stanford-is-killing-the-very-intellectual-vitality-that-got-us-all-in/
http://www.stanforddaily.com/2016/01/29/tech-culture-yields-opportunities-and-challenges-for-stanford/
Also look at finolex1’s comment in http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/20577804/#Comment_20577804 They have one son each in Stanford and Yale.
@MissKriss123 Also check out the Stanford Daily where multiple articles have been written about the humanities by many different students who express many different points of view.
http://www.stanforddaily.com/?s=humanities
one red flag for yale is new haven which has got high crime and is economically depressed
I am a current Yale student, and I completely disagree with the previous one sentence post ^.
@MissKriss123 Congratulations, you have two great options, enjoy your Bulldog Days (I committed right after attending BD a couple of years ago)! PM me if I can be of help.
Yale has New Haven. A nice area around campus. Sketchy areas further away. East Palo Alto anyone? Seriously.
Yale’s Gothic architecture featuring courtyards and cloisters vs. Stanford’s “Taco Bell” architecture (I forget the term – Spanish Revival?)
Yale’s residential colleges vs. Stanford’s housing system
Weather (4 seasons vs. 1)
Relative emphasis on humanities and soft sciences (Yale) vs. STEM (Stanford). (That said, of course, everything both schools offer is quality)
Proximity to New York and Boston vs. the Bay Area.
A major rah-rah sports scene (Stanford) that is less developed/prevalent at Yale.
This choice is all about fit, and there are enough differences between the two to help you make an informed decision.
East Palo Alto- Have you been there? Ever? First, 99% of EPA is on the side 101 freeway. And miles (10-15 minutes) away from the Stanford campus. There’s a whole lot of REALLY expensive (millions per home) real estate in between.
In fact, Mark Zuckerberg lives fairly close to East PA, maybe less than a mile away, if that. Certainly much closer than the Stanford campus. He doesn’t seem to have a problem with EPA.
Crime is down significantly. East Palo Alto has a Four Seasons and some big box retailers on one side and the ever-expanding Facebook (Menlo Park) campus on the other side. And is probably the last frontier of “cheap” real estate on the SF Peninsula.
Ya, so.
I live just up the hill from Stanford. EPA is a problem. It’s getting better but let’s not brush away the problems. And yes Bay Area has beautiful weather but I find Yale’s campus much more appealing than Stanford. There are also some recent campus safety concerns there that admin is attempting to address.
Yale is perfectly safe in the surrounding area of campus. Yes the outskirts require caution as any urban area does…
We recently stayed in an AirB&B in just such an area and I never felt “unsafe”. Just use common sense. Same advice for EPA.
They are both amazing schools but very different.
New Haven average income of 19k… surrounds the Yale campus…
it’s a problem
@sbballer so you’ve spent time at Yale? Lived there? Just curious why we should take your opinion over students who actually live there?
Not saying crime is not an issue but at least you know what to expect.
Stanford certainly has its own challenges. It’s not immune from crime…It’s just crime of a different sort, but it’s crime.
look at an income map put out by the federal government … 13k, 24k, 25k, 24k
Yale is surrounded by a crime invested hood… .yes i’ve visited and it confirms these figures
Comparing ed.gov data for 2015, Yale had more robberies while Stanford had more incidences of rape. Take your pick, both types of crime are undesirable.
As I pointed out both are amazing schools but are very different. If the student has the opportunity they would benefit from attending admitted student welcome days/programs.
Wow so being poor means you are a criminal. That’s an unfortunate argument you are making. I know plenty of lower/working class folks, many of my students come from these communities (yes in the South SF Bay Area) and they are not more predisposed to crime because of their income level.
https://www.neighborhoodscout.com/ct/new-haven/crime
https://www.neighborhoodscout.com/ca/palo-alto/crime
yes there is a direct correlation between poverty and crime. snowflake theories aside:)
Well you are a Stanford person so you have your bias, and my kid is happy and healthy at Yale so we will have to agree to disagree.
OP will likely make the best choice despite our disagreement.
FWIW my dad attended Stanford Law and was robbed back in the good old days of the early 1960’s :)>-