mochamaven

To be honest, Yale isn't putting on that much of a show for BDD. People here are usually enthusiastic and excited about Yale, and don't pump up their attitudes for BDD. There are a few more activities going on than usual, but believe it or not it's not that huge a difference. I have a friend from MIT who came to visit a few weeks ago, and he commented that he finally saw (he had never really visited Y before) a real difference between Y and H. Apparently H students tend (on average, of course) to be more competitive and less friendly and social than Y students. A lot of them are apparently dissatisfied, at least somewhat, with their school while Yalies tend to LOVE Yale. I know I do!!!

posterX

Yale students are friendlier only because they are so much happier.

Yale has easily the #1 undergraduate academic program in the country, one of the best social scenes and most vibrant campuses of any university in the world, one of the best college towns (certainly the best in the Ivy League), and a one-of-a-kind residential college system that many other universities have been trying to copy for decades, to no avail.

It doesn't have to do with the people themselves, I don't think.

RODS1990

I agree with SaltLick in post #14.

ihavehope13

It would be incorrect to say that Yale pumps up its recruitment efforts for BDD. I visited before BDD, and observed the same enthusiasm then that I saw at BDD. There is no way for admissions to get 5,000+ students to pump up recruitment because yield is looking low. Yalenthusiam is internal, I believe.

ThetaCheese

I don't think it's fair to call Harvard snobby...(but I may be biased since I have chosen to join the class of 2012 there)...but as of right now it is sort of disheartening to see most of the people that I met choosing between Yale and Harvard pick Yale...
I'm hoping that these stereotypes don't hold up, and I doubt that they will...
because Harvard kids love their experience as well. I'm sure that at most of the top ivies, everyone will be happy.

posterX

Theta: People are happy, but there is a difference between sometime happiness and outright love affairs/worship/adoration.

ThetaCheese

Maybe...there's only so much love one place can take...
but with Harvard, because everyone else loves it so much...the student's love for it has to be somewhat subdued...at least in comparison =)

SaltLick

I don't know, bro...

Last time I used that argument I got dumped.

pacificbreeze

Theta: I believe that there are reasons for people to choose harvard over Yale or vise versa. If you already picked your school then go for it. You should be fine. Not all harvard students are unhappy or snoppy. I personally know a few of kids there, and they are doing fine.
I went to bulldog days with my daughter. I just want to use one word to describe the yalies: PASSION. I am supprised to find that the passion is not short either in newly admitted students. There are still constant message exchanges, persuasive letters. encouragement and support up to this moment among this big group of newly admitted students. As a result, all the students admitted from our area will matriculate this fall at yale. The group even helped several kids to finally make up their minds to go for Yale. It is amazing that these kids just met a couple of weeks ago. No body ever asked them to do this. Love of Yale bonds them together. The energy, passion, enthusiasm and mutual trust are just incrediable. So I know My d and her new friends have their reasons to choose and love yale.
Theta, I am sure you have your reason to choose Harvad, and I hope you will enjoy you harvard experience as well.

evil_asian_dictator

I LOL'd so hard when I read that because it's such a biased and foolish overexaggeration. Yale is, in my opinion, easily one of the top 5 universities in the world but there is no way it's even close to having "one of the best social scenes" or being "one of the best college towns". Almost every state school has a better social scene and is located in a better college town than Yale. You might be right about the residential college system because it sounds like a great living/learning environment but I feel like it's importance is greatly overemphasized on this board.

No one can know with any certainty whether Yale students are happier than Harvard students or vice versa. Both attract equally intelligent and talented students so there's no reason to suspect there's even a minor disparity in the matter. The happiness of a certain individual would probably come down to his/her own personal experiences and environment anyway. I, for one, would definitely prefer to live near Boston(one of the greatest and vibrant cities in the world) than in ghetto New Haven.

mochamaven

Ok EAD's comment is so full of inaccurate statements that I need to respond.

I'm a student at Y, but most of my HS friends go to our large state school. To be honest, I think our social scene (with size taken into account, of course...50k vs. 6k is a big difference) is almost as good! Probably better, if your definition of social scene goes past "wild frat parties."

New Haven is also unfairly bashed by non-residents. It actually has a lower crime rate than Cambridge, and just because *gasp* we have non-college students/professors living near campus does not make it a ghetto. It actually just makes Yale a little bit less of an ivory tower, because we actually have to recognize that not everyone is privileged and brilliant. New Haven isn't that dangerous, for the most part, if you're not stupid. It's actually been becoming livelier and more interesting than it was in the 1980s, not to mention a lot safer. Schools near big cities also tend to have poorer on-campus lives since students are distracted by the bustling city. New Haven's businesses tend to revolve around students (from Y, UNewHaven and SCSU), which is why it is a college town, in a way.
(Also, Boston is a very nice city. It is not one of the world's greatest/most vibrant!)

A friend of mine from MIT visited and commented that Yale students are much happier than kids at Harvard...the enthusiasm of Yalies actually surprised him, since he assumed they'd be much like Harvard students. Also check out the Pton Review's annual rankings of student happiness...Yale (and Pton, Stanford, and Brown) are pretty much always on it, while Harvard has yet to make an appearance. Coincidence?

evil_asian_dictator

1. Princeton Review rankings are whack. Who really takes them seriously?

2. The definition of a social scene varies from person to person but for the vast majority of college students, it would entail a combination of awesome tailgates/large Greek scene/attractive student body/lots of time to party. Yale is an extremely hard school and doesn't have big-time athletics, a huge Greek scene or particuarly good-looking people.

3. Harvard is located near Boston while Yale is not located close to any major American city. Don't tell me that "Yale students can just take the train to Boston" since that's not really realistic since I'm sure Yalies are quite busy. New Haven is pretty dangerous, at least relative to most places in the country.

None of my statements are "inaccurate". There's no way for you to prove that Yale students are happier than Harvard students since that's something that's extremely subjective. A strong Greek community or big-name athletic programs need to exist in a school in order for it to have a cohesive social scene that includes the vast majority of the student body, something that Yale lacks. At the end of the day though, Yale is arguably the best or one of the best universities in the world so most people would be crazy to pick another school over it for the factors I mentioned because of the giant disparity in the quality of undergraduate instruction and available resources for students.

frrrph

Who says you need a huge Greek scene to have parties and events that are fun, crazy, chill or outrageous in any combination thereof? Greek parties are easily the lamest option out there, at least in my experience. Yale is very social - and Greek-provided alcohol doesn't even begin to cover all the ways in which you can be social and enjoy yourself.

New Haven is not "pretty dangerous, at least relative to most places in the country". It's an urban area with a mostly "minority" population hovering around the poverty line -- a fact that does not equate to it being an instanteous death sentence for anyone that dare go beyond the safe confines of campus. Which you don't have to, and most Yalies don't. The bars and restaurants of downtown New Haven are great, and I've never had any safety issues enjoying them at any time of day I want to. It's not a suburban refuge. It's not the SAFEST place to hang around, but that being said, it's definitely not a particularly big issue if you use common sense, either.

If it wasn't for New Haven being a real place with real people not connected to Yale, I sometimes wonder if I would've enjoyed my Yale experience as much -- it's nice to get out of the bubble sometimes. Who knows, maybe I would have liked Boston better, but New Haven is not by any stretch something that makes me any less in love with Yale over other options.

Booklady

But they can easily take the commuter train to NYC, something my D and her friends do a few times a year. Frankly, though, there's so much going on on the Yale campus that it's usually a matter for her of bemoaning what she has to miss each week.

mom2319

Pacificbreeze, congratualtions to your D's choice.
However, I have to say that it is this passion about convincing perspective students to matriculate that somewhat makes me concerned. I really think the students should be left alone to make this important decisions. I discourage S to go on those boards to avoid his own opinion being heavily influenced by others. I actually know a kid last year who was given an extention on the reply deadline as the local alumni was so anxious to make sure that the yield in our area met the targeted number. This is really alarming.