<p>Yale is one of my dream colleges and I’ve been thinking lately about why I wanto go there… I get that Yale is better than Harvard in many ways. But what makes it so distinct from other Ivy Leagues such as Columbia, Princeton, Dartmouth, etc.? </p>
<p>And… I’m thinking about minoring in music. Which college has the best music department?</p>
<p>You might want to take a look at the thread “Why I chose Yale over Harvard” in this forum. It has a lot of insights about Yale that are true independent of the Harvard comparison. Assuming you’ve already looked at that, I recommend looking into those other schools more deeply.
Columbia – definitely a campus you need to VISIT. That was a prime decision-making factor in my case (to help me rule it out). The NYC setting is a love-hate as well.
Princeton – considered the most conservative Ivy for good reason. This isn’t a negative and it isn’t just a simple political label.
Dartmouth – it’s rural and small. Preppy.</p>
<p>My one word descriptions probably make me sound like I’m stereotyping/being negative but I’m not, and most people would agree with my statements. Regardless of that, however, you should do your own research, either by visiting or talking to current students about atmosphere. I am focusing on atmosphere because really the education you get at any of these schools is very good and the difference in the quality of education between each one is not big enough to make a discussion out of.
As for music, I know nothing about that and I am not going to comment. But I will say this, Yale does not officially allow you to “minor” but I think the deal is that they just call it another name and in the end you do get to do it.</p>
<p>MallomarCookie, I STRONGLY disagree with the political label you mentioned (w/ regard to Princeton). As a Princeton student, I should know. Baadassmonkey, if you would like some insight about Princeton, PM me anytime (this was an extremely funny sentence to type btw)! ;)</p>
<p>As I said, it’s NOT just a political label. Thanks for learning how to read! APdoolittle, I am a very liberal student and my first choice is Princeton. If you’d really like to know, I got that “conservative” remark from a relative of mine who teaches at Princeton. Just to let you know 
He is most certainly not a petty man who uses cheap political labels and I’m pretty sure you aren’t either.</p>
<p>Just wanted to clear that up. Don’t want you going Byerly on me!!!</p>
<p>Haha, I assure you, that won’t be happening anytime soon. I’m only 19 for gosh sake!! I admit that I misread your post (unless you edited it). I’d say that Princeton’s student body seems to be composed of a preponderance of liberal students, just like you (but of Ivy League caliber of course). I don’t know your relative or which Princeton University he’s affiliated with, but it certainly isn’t the one we have in mind. It’s certainly not as conservative as other Ivy League institutions.</p>
<p>FYI, Dartmouth is well known and widely accepted as THE most conservative of the Ancient Eight.</p>
<p>Understandably.</p>
<p>(referring to the Dartmouth thing. Notice how I said Dartmouth was preppy, and not Princeton. People say Pton is preppy and I’m like wha??)</p>
<p>With all due respect, I think you should re-check your stereotypes! Princeton is DEFINITELY preppy!! In fact, while I don’t have any specific evidence, the word on “the street” is that Princeton is one of the preppiest Ivies. That’s not necessarily a good or bad thing. MallomarCookie, you said you’ve been on campus before, right? Were there no students around when you visited?? Princeton looks like a page out of a J.Crew catalogue. (And I say that with the utmost affection too.)</p>
<p>I guess my definition of preppy is different from yours. I know people dress that way, but I consider preppy to be conservative, white, and not intellectual.</p>
<p>Yes, Princeton could be called WASPy but same goes for Yale really.</p>
<p>Intense discussion…! So the difference is in atmosphere. But then why do so many people want to go to Yale? I guess it’s because of the name and stuff.</p>
<p>Skull & Bones is the key</p>
<p>mallomarcookie - can you tell me why your visit to Columbia turned you away from the school?</p>
<p>Prestige Schmestige. That shouldn’t be the only factor in choosing a school.</p>
<p>Yes MallomarCookie. I’ll make one concession: the term preppy is indeed a relative term. You may want to check its definition to see if yours more or less falls in line with more widely-held conceptions of the term:</p>
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<p>Haha, and again with regard to “name value” – allow me the pleasure of shattering that silly notion:</p>
<p>Brown Schmrown!
Columbia Schmolumbia!
Cornell Schmornell!
Dartmouth Schmartmouth!
Hahvahd Schmahvahd! 
U Penn Schmu Penn!
Yale Schmale!</p>
<p>…And in the spirit of the moment… even though I attend the greatest university in the country, I’ll defile its beautiful name in order to demonstrate that I seriously DO NOT condone choosing a university solely (or even to a significant degree) because of its perceived prestige factor:</p>
<p>PRINCETON SCHMINCETON!!</p>
<p>Ouch… that kinda hurt. ;)</p>
<p>lol…</p>
<p>Princeton is definitely very preppy, guys. J. Crew, Banana Republic, Ann Taylor, and Coach are just across the street! (literally)</p>
<p>In terms of being conservative, perhaps you could call it more traditional? I don’t know. I had an interviewer once who’d gone to Princeton for undergrad and Harvard Business and she said Princeton was more conservative. She made an example of comparing the number of formal parties at both schools, saying that Princeton had many each year and Harvard only had a couple.</p>
<p>I should probably shut my mouth (as it were) since my current outfit is almost 100% Banana Republic. But I won’t. Theoneo, we only have a few formal parties at Princeton. We actually had our first lawn parties (on The Street) sometime in September. Rihanna came to perform, but that’s beside the point. For lawn parties, everyone dresses über preppy (mostly as a joke though – I’m serious!). There are kids who don multiple popped collars and the brightest clothes this side of Prospect Avenue! As for the interviewer’s remark, you should keep “time frame” in mind. She likely graduated from Princeton AT LEAST a decade ago (if she went on to business school). Things have definitely changed since then (this was a major component of the engaging post-interview discussion I had with my Princeton interviewer last year). I don’t know if one can really label one Ivy as the most traditional. “Traditional” is definitely a relative term. What it means to be traditional for Princeton is certainly different from what the same term means at Brown.</p>
<p>Right, which is why I mentioned that she was comparing it with Harvard. Oh and she just graduated from HBS this year; she isn’t that old.</p>
<p>In general, though, this whole area around Princeton is very affluent and sometimes snobby, and the township of Princeton itself is renowned for all the old money floating around. Plus the fact that it seems like anyone who isn’t a student is over the age of 70. That’s probably influencing my judgment much more than the university students themselves.</p>
<p>Theoneo, you’re right. Perhaps the name “Princeton” wasn’t being used clearly enough. Whenever I speak of it, as a student, I’m almost always referring to the University. Your observation is somewhat valid though, when applied to the town. Six of one; a half dozen of another. ;)</p>
<p>Everyone wants to go to Yale because Yale’s 12 residential colleges are a system unique to Yale. Other colleges sometimes say they have “residential colleges”, but none have a system like Yale’s where students are affiliated for four years, where each college has its own beautiful building and dining hall, and where the colleges are so well funded. Also, because Yale’s undergraduate campus area is by far the most compact of the Ivies, everyone can get to each other’s parties within a couple of minutes. Also, the college town, which is one of the best college towns in the country, wraps all around the Yale campus so you don’t need to take a subway ride or leave campus really in order to go out to hundreds of restaurants, bars, cafes, etc. As a result of all this, the social life at Yale is much better than at any other top university. The streets are buzzing with activity 24/7 and students there seem really happy. Visit for a few days (a weekday and a weekend day) and you’ll see. It’s totally unlike any other college.</p>
<p>Also, there’s the whole thing about Yale having the best undergraduate academics in the country. Classes are small and professors actually teach. Academics are especially strong in the sciences and engineering, where there is a huge amount of faculty and research (e.g., Yale has literally thousands of researchers and gets $430,000,000 in federal science research funding per year, versus only $100,000,000 per year at Princeton), but still a relatively small number of students studying the sciences. Therefore it’s very easy to distinguish yourself and do any kind of research you want - you won’t end up washing laboratory dishes like you will at larger universities. Students in all areas do very, very well after graduation by every available measure compared to the other top five universities. For example, Yale produced 3 Rhodes and 4 Marshall Scholars this past year, more than the rest of the Ivy League combined (Harvard, a much larger school, had only 0 Rhodes and 2 Marshalls). Yale produced 31 Fulbright Scholars, more than any other University in America despite the fact that Yale is one of the smallest of the top universities.</p>
<p>Because Yale has the best academic life as well as the best social life of any top university by a wide margin, students there are incredibly happy. And that in itself is a reason why people really, really want to go, and why Yale is the most selective university in America. Again, go visit and you’ll see just how happy and friendly they are.</p>
<p>As far as your question about music programs go, Yale has the best music school of any university in the country. The music school even just got a gift of $100,000,000. There are literally over a thousand free concerts per year you can attend. Opportunities there are virtually limitless.</p>
<p>I heard that both Harvard’s and Yale’s (and Harry Potter’s) housing systems are based on those of Oxford and Cambridge*, so they’re all alike. Nonetheless, I agree that Yale’s is distinctive because you’re randomly assigned and you enter your freshman year. I remember that was the first thing I loved about Yale and soon found myself wondering exactly how special it really is, so I convinced myself to like it for other reasons. But only recently I’ve found out that it truly is unique to Yale.</p>
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<p>Nah, UCSD has all that too.</p>
<p>Just a quick comment on the Princeton thing: I’ve lived near the town and gone to school there for my entire life…it’s pretty much the definition of preppiness. From what I know of the University, it applies there too.</p>