Anonymous wrote:Prestige: Harvard > Yale > Princeton

Social experience: Yale > Princeton > Harvard

Academic experience: Princeton > Yale > Harvard

Anonymous wrote:Not looking to troll. Sincerely curious how people choose between the three.

Context: we’re new to DC. Well educated and here for professional reasons like most. However, we’re from a region where people don’t talk about exclusive colleges much (think big rectangular states). This is interesting to us.

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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.

I really think this is not a thing. I know lots of people that went to these schools and they always tell people where they went. Who gives a crap, really?

How do you know they always tell people? I went to one of these schools. Sometimes I tell people where I went and sometimes I don't. It depends on how in the mood I am to deal with an outsized response, and how likely that is to come in, and who's asking and why.

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Anonymous wrote:Not looking to troll. Sincerely curious how people choose between the three.

Context: we’re new to DC. Well educated and here for professional reasons like most. However, we’re from a region where people don’t talk about exclusive colleges much (think big rectangular states). This is interesting to us.

You will likely have much more success applying to Harvard, Yale, and Princeton from your big rectangular state. The odds of an unhooked student in the DMV being accepted to any of these three is becoming vanishingly small. But fortunately, there are many other great colleges for the best students. So I wouldn't focus exclusively on those three.

With that caveat out of the way, without doubt Princeton is the best of the three. The focus is on undergraduate education - unlike Harvard. It has fantastic STEM programs - unlike Yale. It has a beautiful campus, a great network of alumni, and a Princeton degree is universally respected by everyone. Both Harvard and Yale have massive grade inflation. People know a Princeton degree is earned. And among the three, Princeton grads tend to be saner, kinder, and more down to earth than the Harvard and Yale people. Obviously there will be exceptions, but Princeton does a better job shaping smart young people today. There's a reason why every list always has Princeton as the best university in America. It just is.

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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.

I really think this is not a thing. I know lots of people that went to these schools and they always tell people where they went. Who gives a crap, really?

Anonymous wrote:You are talking about lottery schools. Chances are your kid will get waitlisted, even if a legacy like my kid (no big bucks donations) and get in nowhere. If you get into two Ivies come back then to duscuss

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Anonymous wrote:Not looking to troll. Sincerely curious how people choose between the three.

Context: we’re new to DC. Well educated and here for professional reasons like most. However, we’re from a region where people don’t talk about exclusive colleges much (think big rectangular states). This is interesting to us.

You will likely have much more success applying to Harvard, Yale, and Princeton from your big rectangular state. The odds of an unhooked student in the DMV being accepted to any of these three is becoming vanishingly small. But fortunately, there are many other great colleges for the best students. So I wouldn't focus exclusively on those three.

With that caveat out of the way, without doubt Princeton is the best of the three. The focus is on undergraduate education - unlike Harvard. It has fantastic STEM programs - unlike Yale. It has a beautiful campus, a great network of alumni, and a Princeton degree is universally respected by everyone. Both Harvard and Yale have massive grade inflation. People know a Princeton degree is earned. And among the three, Princeton grads tend to be saner, kinder, and more down to earth than the Harvard and Yale people. Obviously there will be exceptions, but Princeton does a better job shaping smart young people today. There's a reason why every list always has Princeton as the best university in America. It just is.

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Anonymous wrote:there's a reason that princeton alum have the highest rates of engagement and donation among the 3 schools. just take a look at reunions.

Princeton's a fkn cult. I've never seen harvard grads go out of their way to help out other harvard grads like I've seen princeton grads do. They think it's some sort off duty or something.

pp. it's absolutely fantastic. i have a daughter at P and a son at Y and the difference between the two schools is night and day in quality.

I have a child who recently graduated from Princeton and in some ways it is hard for me to say this as a Yale grad, but I agree that P is absolutely fantastic. I don't want to bias my younger children so I keep my thoughts to myself, but they also are drawn toward P more than Y. Not only for the incredible focus on undergraduates, but the facilities (many new dorms, new wellness facilities, new health center, museum (soon) etc) and campus as well. The food is also better. Princeton's strength in STEM is another factor and we are all impressed with the new engineering campus P is building and that will be complete within the next year or two. it is incredible. P reunions are also out of this world. The school spirit those P alum have is next level. I'm jealous as a Yale alum tbh. Yale's reunions are a huge disappointment compared to Princeton's.