Harvard, Yale, or Princeton

[Anonymous]

U.S. News: Princeton (1) > Harvard (3) > Yale (5)

WSJ: Princeton (1) > Yale (3) > Harvard (6).

[Anonymous]

Are you serious? Harvard "pulls from towns and families all across the country -- everyone has heard of Harvard."

Are you talking about China or the US?

[Anonymous]

There is a recent article in Nature about the most successful and influential Americans come from a surprisingly narrow range of ‘elite’ educational backgrounds.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-024-03547-8

Harvard is way ahead, has almost the same numbers with all other Ivy schools combined in most categories.

[Anonymous]

Here is the summary of the Nature article https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-024-03547-8/figures/1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is a recent article in Nature about the most successful and influential Americans come from a surprisingly narrow range of ‘elite’ educational backgrounds.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-024-03547-8

Harvard is way ahead, has almost the same numbers with all other Ivy schools combined in most categories.

Some of the categories selected in the Nature article were questionable. I found it particularly funny that one of the extraordinary achiever domain areas was simply "Harvard Faculty"

Until the recent rise of Stanford with the tech and STEM booms, Harvard was unrivaled as the top overall university in the US for all of our lifetimes. Unfortunately for Harvard, that data will likely look much different later this century.

[Anonymous]

OP, are you aware that acceptance rates at Harvard and Princeton are around 2.7%, and Yale at 4%? Come back when your kid getsin to discuss

[Anonymous]

DH and I both loved Yale. Neither of us applied to H or P, as they are just different personalities. We have a very close group of friends from undergrad 10+ years out and remember our time fondly, both academically and socially. I learned so much about myself during my years there and it gave me so much confidence but also humility because of how brilliant my classmates were. Learned to fully accept that there’s always someone better than you at many things, and that’s totally OK and makes the world a better place. Learned to care about the world, and enjoyed countless intellectual challenges and debates with friends throughout the years, including post college.

[Anonymous]

I went to H. There were pros and cons to the experience but, overall, I liked it. However, I do think there are better places to spend 4 years of undergrad.

My kid is currently a sophomore at Yale, and he is loving it. He is majoring in econ and doing a poli sci minor. He is taking 5 classes this semester - 4 are seminars with less than 12 people. Based on his experience, I find Yale to be much more intellectual than Harvard. Also, I am pleasantly surprised at how close-knit Yale College is - he gets lots of attention and support!

[Anonymous]

My DC got into two of the three. Spent April attending numerous Admitted student events. Loved Bullfrog days at Yale but then went to Admit Weekend in Palo Alto. Stanford is smart they are the last ones to have the admitted students back on campus. These are 17/18 years making this decision and where they had a really fun time recently has a big impact.

[Anonymous]

Princeton because of einstein. Yale and Harvard alumni are world destroyers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Princeton because of einstein. Yale and Harvard alumni are world destroyers.

Oh, yes, let me ponder all the ways in which Jeff Bezos and Samuel Alito have made the world a better place. Don’t get me started on Ted Cruz.

No affiliation to HYP. I don’t think the schools create these monsters. I think monsters already hungry for power, wealth and influence are drawn to these schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Princeton because of einstein. Yale and Harvard alumni are world destroyers.

It’s an interesting theory, but if you expand beyond alum what are you gonna do about the whole Princeton/Oppenheimer connection?

[Anonymous]

Boston is the better city. At least that was my decision.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went to H. There were pros and cons to the experience but, overall, I liked it. However, I do think there are better places to spend 4 years of undergrad.

My kid is currently a sophomore at Yale, and he is loving it. He is majoring in econ and doing a poli sci minor. He is taking 5 classes this semester - 4 are seminars with less than 12 people. Based on his experience, I find Yale to be much more intellectual than Harvard. Also, I am pleasantly surprised at how close-knit Yale College is - he gets lots of attention and support!

Agree 100%.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DC got into two of the three. Spent April attending numerous Admitted student events. Loved Bullfrog days at Yale but then went to Admit Weekend in Palo Alto. Stanford is smart they are the last ones to have the admitted students back on campus. These are 17/18 years making this decision and where they had a really fun time recently has a big impact.

This happened with both my kids. H/Y/S and chose S after admit weekends.