<p>Dadiwalla, the reason you will get arrogance in this and other threads is you said “sell me Yale.” Assuming that you could even get into Yale is still very very arrogant, despite your SCEA acceptance at Stanford. I hope that you didn’t mean it in a bad way, though, so I won’t hold it against you.</p>
<p>I HIGHLY encourage you to read an earlier post by me: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/yale-university/610751-welcome-yale-college-class-2013-feast-comestibles.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/yale-university/610751-welcome-yale-college-class-2013-feast-comestibles.html</a></p>
<p>I live right by Stanford and I was accepted to both Stanford and Yale. Stanford is a great school, but there were several defining features that made me conclude that it was a tier below Yale in terms of overall experience. </p>
<p>For one, the cultures are different. Stanford is not as intellectual as Yale (and H). While the lower SAT score averages at Stanford may seem irrelevant, it (in my opinion) becomes reflected in the character of the student body. Stanford students, while very smart, are much more athletes and much less nakedly academic/intellectual than their east coast counterparts. Yale dining rooms are filled with people discussing politics, debate, morality, etc; at Stanford, that type of discussion is less common.</p>
<p>Second, the housing system is unparalleled at Yale. There is nothing like it at any other college in the United States. It really creates the close bond of “small communities” within the larger university, and it is as close to Harry Potter as it gets. Imagine living in [Davenport</a> College - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davenport_College]Davenport”>Davenport College - Wikipedia), playing intramurals against other students, having competitions like [YouTube</a> - Yale BladderBall invades Elm Street](<a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N87ET6ckO3Q]YouTube”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N87ET6ckO3Q), the same group of 120ish students you live with all four years, a small group of personalized deans/advisers, etc.</p>
<p>Academically, they are both great. Anyone who tells you that Stanford is good at science or Yale is good at humanities is wasting your time; the difference in undergraduate courses are very small between any of the best university. The main thing that differentiates colleges at the top level is fit/culture.</p>
<p>Stanford kids seem to be really happy. But Yale kids seem to LLLLLOOOOVVEEEE YALE. That is what sold me on Yale – and trust me, I think (and everyone else here does too) that Yale gets at least a 15 on a 10-point scale.</p>