Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:First, welcome to DC. Sounds like you've noticed that people here are pretty prestige oriented.

I'll give this a shot. (Disclosure: I didn't attend HYP for undergrad but did post-doctoral work at Yale).

First, very few people get the chance to attend one of these schools (let alone all three). That said, many who get an offer from only one put their chips in that single basket application-wise, so there's more choice involved than many here may acknowledge.

First elephant in the room is legacy. About 10% of the students have a parent who attended. This is a leg up in admissions. It doesn't get a less-than-stellar student in. It does prevent stellar students from being rejected in many cases. Similarly--but less often acknowledged--there is geography. The valedictorians of public high schools near Princeton will probably have an easier time getting into P than H and Y (and vice versa).

But let's say you're lucky enough to have three acceptance letters on April 1. It does happen. Some considerations:

PRINCETON:
The most undergraduate focused of the three. No professional schools. Graduate school is small -- pure academia. Arguably the best teaching. You do have to write a senior thesis (plus for many, not all). Grading standards are the toughest of the three, and for all but the very best students this can impact graduate and professional school choices (especially those in the bottom half of their class). Definitely the strongest engineering departments of the three. Mathematics is arguably the best in the world, but it's also incredibly difficult. In that sense, it's not a great department for a strong but not truly gifted math student.

Socially the most traditional and preppy of the three. This is a turnoff to some. Despite the old money vibe, it has long had the best financial aid in the nation. The social scene revolves around eating clubs. To some they are incredibly fun and welcoming. Others find them elitist.

The Town of Princeton is beautiful and historic, but it's a wealthy enclave in NJ. The campus is arguably the most beautiful of the three.

Most Princeton students love the place, those who don't tend to really hate it.


HARVARD:
Most prestigious university in the nation, arguably the world. Lovely Boston location. Very graduate student focused. Competitive. Cold winters. Lackluster teaching. Largest of the three in enrollment. Academically what you make of it. Probably easiest to have a high GPA, but those who benefit most from the place don't think in those terms. A truly gifted scholar who had the benefit of a first class secondary school will thrive here, but they are the exception. Social scene focuses on Boston, surrounding colleges, and for some Finals clubs. Less dominant than Princeton's eating clubs but even more elitist.

Some alumni probably say "I loved Harvard," but I have yet to meet one.


YALE:
Larger than Princeton, smaller than Harvard. Fine arts, music, and drama are exceptional (i.e. world class) here. That also means competitive (like math at Princeton). Mecca for humanities and social sciences. Special programs for undergrads interested in Great Books (Directed Studies), which means small classes and very intellectual environment.

Overall, students are probably more artsy, quirky, and intellectual on average than H and definitely P, but may find them more friendly. City of New Haven can be dangerous, but campus is beautiful. Weakest in engineering of the three. Hard sciences are strong, but probably not as strong as H and P.

There probably are Yale alumni who didn't love their college experience, but I have yet to meet one.

I didn’t go to HYP either, but between my kid at one and multiple family members/friends across the 3 schools totally agree with the above

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have met very few Harvard College grads who say “I loved Harvard.”

I have met very few Yale College grads who don’t say “I loved Yale.”

Majority of Princeton grads love their school, but the fraction who don’t really hate it.

You nailed Yale and Princeton but the thing about Harvard is that it's like you're not allowed to love it or at least not allowed to tell people you love it. Harvard's reputation -- particularly among people who DON'T know that much about these schools -- is so overpowering and heavy that I think a lot of Harvard alums are trying to thread a needle where they are just trying not to provoke people. That's where the whole "I went to school in Boston" thing came from which is idiotic and actually sounds way more obnoxious than just saying you went to Harvard but people are very in their feelings about Harvard.

Obviously Yale and Princeton also have huge reputations but they aren't as laden as Harvard's. Harvard is Nike or Coca Cola whereas Yale is like Adidas and Princeton is like Reebok. Saying you love Harvard sounds boring even if you actually went there and actually loved it. It's hard to be authentic about Harvard because people bring so much baggage to the conversation.

Nothing says "I think I'm better than you but don't want you to know I think I am better than you" than saying shit like this. It's one of the dumbest things you can say in a professional setting and obnoxious in a social setting. Yalies saying I went to school in New Haven is arguably worse.

If you went to HYP, you never EVER tell people where you went to school. Not even the “I went to school in Boston/NH/NJ” crap. It puts a target on your back.

Anonymous wrote:I have met very few Harvard College grads who say “I loved Harvard.”

I have met very few Yale College grads who don’t say “I loved Yale.”

Majority of Princeton grads love their school, but the fraction who don’t really hate it.

Anonymous wrote:I am east coaster who went to a big three, so if you're looking to get into that mentality: I applied to Yale only because my sibling had gone there and my father and grandfather went there for grad school and of Yale, Harvard, and Princeton, Yale was considered the most liberal. I didn't consider applying to Princeton because I considered it country clubbish with its eating clubs etc and more likely to skew Republican. I didn't consider Harvard because I had the impression it was more Republican - that was probably not true and a dumb reason not to apply. But Harvard wasn't in my family tradition so I just didn't think about applying, really. I do think people back then tended to apply to Yale but not necessarily Harvard and vice versa for reasons like mine above.

I bet today top performers are more likely to just apply to all three or at least two and see what happens.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would look at it this way:

Harvard is a reward.

Yale is a festival.

Princeton is an opportunity.

No, just no. This is beyond stupid.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have met very few Harvard College grads who say “I loved Harvard.”

I have met very few Yale College grads who don’t say “I loved Yale.”

Majority of Princeton grads love their school, but the fraction who don’t really hate it.

You nailed Yale and Princeton but the thing about Harvard is that it's like you're not allowed to love it or at least not allowed to tell people you love it. Harvard's reputation -- particularly among people who DON'T know that much about these schools -- is so overpowering and heavy that I think a lot of Harvard alums are trying to thread a needle where they are just trying not to provoke people. That's where the whole "I went to school in Boston" thing came from which is idiotic and actually sounds way more obnoxious than just saying you went to Harvard but people are very in their feelings about Harvard.

Obviously Yale and Princeton also have huge reputations but they aren't as laden as Harvard's. Harvard is Nike or Coca Cola whereas Yale is like Adidas and Princeton is like Reebok. Saying you love Harvard sounds boring even if you actually went there and actually loved it. It's hard to be authentic about Harvard because people bring so much baggage to the conversation.

Nothing says "I think I'm better than you but don't want you to know I think I am better than you" than saying shit like this. It's one of the dumbest things you can say in a professional setting and obnoxious in a social setting. Yalies saying I went to school in New Haven is arguably worse.

Anonymous wrote:I would look at it this way:

Harvard is a reward.

Yale is a festival.

Princeton is an opportunity.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have met very few Harvard College grads who say “I loved Harvard.”

I have met very few Yale College grads who don’t say “I loved Yale.”

Majority of Princeton grads love their school, but the fraction who don’t really hate it.

You nailed Yale and Princeton but the thing about Harvard is that it's like you're not allowed to love it or at least not allowed to tell people you love it. Harvard's reputation -- particularly among people who DON'T know that much about these schools -- is so overpowering and heavy that I think a lot of Harvard alums are trying to thread a needle where they are just trying not to provoke people. That's where the whole "I went to school in Boston" thing came from which is idiotic and actually sounds way more obnoxious than just saying you went to Harvard but people are very in their feelings about Harvard.

Obviously Yale and Princeton also have huge reputations but they aren't as laden as Harvard's. Harvard is Nike or Coca Cola whereas Yale is like Adidas and Princeton is like Reebok. Saying you love Harvard sounds boring even if you actually went there and actually loved it. It's hard to be authentic about Harvard because people bring so much baggage to the conversation.