<p>So most of my friends who go to other colleges think that Yale has a more WASPish student body than P or (especially) H? Who thinks this is true?</p>
<p>I did a brief search in the admissions office websites of the three colleges, and I did find that
55% of Yale’s admits attended public schools, whereas
57% of Princeton’s and 64% of Harvard’s did.
I also believe that Harvard has a significantly higher percentage of students on federal and institutional financial aid (I don’t know about P).
Harvard and Princeton also boasted higher percentages of minority students. H and P also had higher percentages of international students.</p>
<p>I am starting to think that the seemingly popular stereotype that Yalies are more WASPish and “old money” than their peers in P or H is actually partly based on some truth.</p>
<p>So I am interested in listening to everyone’s opinion about why this might be.
Is it because of Yale’s emphasis on “well-roundedness”?
Is it because of Yale’s perceived weakness in the sciences, which tend to attract more minority students (especially Asians)?
Is it because of Yale’s renowned History department, which, according to some statistic I’ve read a long time ago, attracts white Americans more than other demographic?
Is it because Yale is in Connecticut, near the old wealth towns along the shore?
Does Yale favor legacies more than H or P?
Is it because W went to Yale?</p>
<p>Yale was ranked on PR’s “lots of rank/class interaction” top list while both Princeton and Harvard were not. If you look at diversity, Yale does very well (Princeton = most white):</p>
<p>Princeton
* Total Enrollment:
4,918
* % Female:
46%
* % Male:
54%
* % Out of State:
84%
* American Indian or
Alaskan Native:
0.69%
* Asian:
13.91%
* African-American:
8.46%
* Hispanic:
7.4%
* Caucasian:
51.55%
* Race/ Ethnicity Unknown:
7.1%
* International:
9.17%</p>
<p>Harvard
* Total Enrollment:
6,648
* % Female:
50%
* % Male:
50%
* % Out of State:
81%
* American Indian or
Alaskan Native:
0.74%
* Asian:
15.54%
* African-American:
7.82%
* Hispanic:
6.99%
* Caucasian:
44.84%
* Race/ Ethnicity Unknown:
14.37%
* International:
9.7%</p>
<p>Yale
* Total Enrollment:
5,311
* % Female:
48%
* % Male:
52%
* % Out of State:
94%
* American Indian or
Alaskan Native:
1.11%
* Asian:
13.63%
* African-American:
8.74%
* Hispanic:
8.12%
* Caucasian:
48.65%
* Race/ Ethnicity Unknown:
11.37%
* International:
8.38%</p>
<p>I don’t know where you got the private school stat but I think it is less relevant.</p>
<p>I can’t imagine that any of the three are significantly different. The applicant pool is so similar and which you get in to often seems random. I would think that someone in search of blue blood culture would probably be more comfortable in a wealthier, more suburban environment, but honestly anything on this thread will most likely be speculation. Go judge for yourself. </p>
<p>And to answer your question more directly, preppy culture is alive and well at Yale in various circles. But it’s just one of many facets of the undergrad body.</p>
<p>I might have asked this before, but is there de facto segregation at Yale (between racial groups, yes, but also among groups in general)? Or is it an environment where you just find a group and stick with it?</p>
<p>This question would probably be better answered by a student of color: but do students of color actively seek to be with other students of color?</p>
<p>^^ I’m a South Asian student and I admit that I would like to have more South Asian American friends. However, most of my friends are Caucasian, Puerto Rican, and East Asian. </p>
<p>I think the class-race interaction could improve, despite what the Princeton Review says. Everyday in commons I see the Chinese (international I believe) group taking up two entire long tables. It’s ridiculous.</p>
<p>^^^ Agreed… international cliques definitely happen. I think it’s unfortunate that the international Southeast Asian community is kind of self-isolated, but that’s not true of everyone (one of my good friends is an intl from Shanghai). But other than Race/ethnicity oriented student groups (frats, cultural houses, etc.), i don’t think there’s any noticeable social segregation. The colleges mix things up pretty nicely.</p>
<p>Also… citing the percentage of white people going to a school as evidence for WASP elitism is probably not very reliable. The two are not the same thing, and I’d imagine there are plenty of white people at Yale and Harvard who come from poorer families, Catholic families, etc that aren’t really WASPy.</p>
<p>That statistic of white people also includes Jewish students, who aren’t WASPs, either. Heck, a lot of the private schools students aren’t WASPS–private schools would include Catholic schools.</p>
<p>Caucasians make up around 50% at HYP. That’s much less than the 70% of the country’s population they make up. And out of that 50%, I wouldn’t be surprised if a third or even half of them are Jewish.</p>
<p>most people at hyp are extremely intelligent… shouldn’t they be at least open minded and accepting of diversity (my actual question is, shouldn’t race really be a non-factor?)? i doubt % of x race at x school really says anything of the culture at this level, if that’s what you are getting at.</p>
<p>Juliushark: hahaha. your post made me laugh, in a good way. Are you from the US? Protestant in this case means a form of Christianity, not protesting something. I really don’t know what the white anglo saxons would be protesting. Regulations on yacht sizes changing? (I jest, I jest, I harbor no resentment or biases towards WASPs).</p>
<p>Well, Protestant does mean protesting something: Roman Catholicism. That’s what Martin Luther was doing when he posted his theses on the church door.</p>
<p>Nah I’m Canadian, and protestantism was the farthest thing from my mind when I read the name, they should consider changing it to white anglo saxon protestants -_-</p>