<p>Harvard’s system is not anything like Yale’s, even if it was founded around the same time, but like I said, that’s something you’d have to visit and stay over to see for yourself. All of the guides/viewbooks will say a certain thing about the dormitories, usually totally positive, so it’s up to you to see for yourself what they are really like. </p>
<p>As far as the flight of social life, it is relative. But I would note that the places considered great college towns - like Madison, Bloomington, Ann Arbor, Athens, Chapel Hill, etc. - are always smaller cities where the campus is at the center. Among the Ivies, Yale is the only school in that situation. Honestly, it’s up to you to see what’s important to you, but if you visit overnight for a few days and compare Yale with Harvard or Columbia, I think you’ll agree there’s a major difference. I’ve tried to point that out as a major reason why Yale is now the most selective university in the country. Honestly, another part of it, like I said, is probably that the dormitories are so close to each other and students therefore just interact more frequently.</p>