<p>Your post addresses 2 different problems that are not necessarily related.</p>
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<li>Is Yale an equal of HPMS in terms of undergrad science education?</li>
<li>Does Yale have a “community of science-oriented peers intent on innovation” comparable to HPMS?</li>
</ol>
<p>To the first question, I say yes. I hope you realize your concern about Science Hill is going a little over the top. It takes 10 minutes to reach the top of Science Hill. That’s a whopping 5 minutes longer than it takes to reach many other class buildings. Plus, buildings on Science Hill are new. Where else are they supposed to put them? Farther.</p>
<p>Also, I’m sure you have heard plenty about the abundance of research opportunities at Yale, which is the main reason I consider Yale to be an excellent place for an undergrad science education. HPMS probably have a slight edge in research quality and output, but as an undergrad, are you really going to be involved in the extremely high-level research that might actually distinguish MIT from Yale? To quote another forumer:</p>
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<p>To put it more concretely, in my second semester of freshman year, I e-mailed a couple of professors at the Yale School of Medicine (an important resource that Princeton and MIT don’t have; Harvard > Yale = Stanford for med school) about research. Got positive responses from all of them, chose the lab I liked best, and now I’m working on a project nobody else in the lab is working on under the supervision of the professor. I’m not working with grad students or post-docs (the case for most people), all of my guidance comes directly from the professor himself. This is not the case for everyone at Yale, but I think it is a good representation of Yale’s undergrad focus. The immediate interest from all the professors I e-mailed is also a good indication of this focus.</p>
<p>As for question 2, I’m not going to sit here and tell you that Yale’s science environment is like MIT’s. In fact, no school has that kind of environment outside of maybe Caltech and Stanford (Harvard and Princeton are a lot more like Yale, really). But I do think I should point out that your impression that science majors are less respected at Yale is definitely wrong. Not sure where you got that from, because I’ve never heard of anything remotely like that at Yale.</p>
<p>While Yale’s science environment is not going to be similar to MIT’s, it should be noted that this does not mean Yale’s science students aren’t strong.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/yale-university/1133012-dispel-idea-top-science-students-dont-come-yale.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/yale-university/1133012-dispel-idea-top-science-students-dont-come-yale.html</a></p>
<p>You may have some impressive achievements yourself, but trust me, there are plenty of science-oriented students at Yale that have done the same.</p>
<p>This is not to say you shouldn’t choose MIT over Yale. MIT is probably better at science than Yale is. But I don’t think the difference is significant at the undergraduate level unless you’re really looking for an environment like MIT’s. But hey, Yale has a unique environment too, that’s why those stellar science students chose Yale over HPMS, that’s why I chose Yale over Stanford, and that’s probably why you liked Yale so much.</p>
<p>All in all, I don’t think you should let your (in my opinion, misguided) concerns about science at Yale deter you. Plus, this is only the application process … you can still apply to both.</p>