Tough choice

I have received an offer from Harvard, Yale and Stanford.Any insight into the strengths/differencies between these universities would be greatly appreciated,as I have never been in USA. I have also applied to read PPE in English unis /have an offer from LSE and a few others/, but am also interested in History and English.

Reply 1

chainz

Harvard hands down. Number One Uni in the world - how is it a tough choice at all?

Reply 2

CamRules

Stanford all the way. I mean, it depends on your preferences. I can promise you that Stanford is a great, amazing place to be. Awesome weather, fascinating campus, you name it. Harvard has the name, but I've heard that its undergraduate program is overrated.

If I were you, I'd go for Stanford, but you can't really make a bad choice.

Reply 3

IB-more

Yeah, that's a tough choice alright... I wouldn't advise making it based on some people on a website that you don't know. Get off TSR and actually do some real research about these schools, rather than basing your opinion off hearsay online.

But, hey, you got into Yale, Harvard, and Stanford, I probably didn't have to tell you that.

Reply 4

mdog235

If you're interested in history or english and want a fun, social experience, I'd go to Yale. Students there seem to love it and the residential college system really does seem to solidify friendships and allegiances. (This coming from an awesome weekend spent there earlier this year). I personally wouldn't do undergrad at Harvard, because they don't help you out that much. I've heard its 'sink or swim' and socially, it's not that great at all. Stanford was my personal second choice university, and I think it's a great atmosphere, but it is heavily leaning towards science, math, and engineering. If I had your choice now, I would probably go to Yale. But I'm not you, and it's your decision. hope this helps even a little bit

Reply 5

pharmakos

If you want to do English, Harvard has quite a few big name scholars: Henry Louise Gates, Stephen Greenblatt, Homi Bhabha, Barbara Johnson, to name a few. Yale's English Dept used to be extremely good, but all their big name scholars have either passed away or retired.

Reply 6

kstone122

Congratulations! Unheard of, truly... most people are happy to get into one of those schools. You can't go wrong with any of those options, but I would go for Harvard because of the name (there's a special expression "dropping the H-bomb" which basically means that when you tell people that you went to Harvard you can do anything) and the alumni network which is incredibly strong all over the world. Plus, Boston is a spectacular city and it's close to New York, Vermont (for skiing), Cape Cod/the beach. There are 40 universities in Boston and there are lots of opportunities to take people at pretty much any of those schools. Just curious, where are you from? Best of luck with your decision.

Reply 7

Champagne Breakfast

Yale is in a rubbish location. I would pick Harvard/Stanford. This is how I see it - Harvard you make some sacrifices for undergrad for BIG long-term gains (namely the brand-name 'Harvard'). These sacrifices include worse social life as someone mentioned and being worked extremely hard. However I hear it is definitely possible to have a more social time if you want to go that route. Harvard's on the East Coast which is going to be closer to England, a fair bit colder, and probably a more familiar setting to what you are used to (if you're from England). Obviously there will be amazing professors there, who are available, but the problem is they will not all be that accessible. The opportunities once you leave though will be incredible.

You'll probably have a better time at Stanford. The name recognition isn't as good, but it is still AMAZING. I mean, pretty much everyone has heard of it, it will definitely catch employers' attention. You may even get a better undergrad education as they probably are more interested in undergrads than Harvard (although I'm not sure about this). It will be in the West Coast, so a more liberal feel, more laid-back, and also sunnier. The location is nice but probably quite boring (Palo Alto is supposed to be for rich old people), but San Francisco is reachable at the weekends. (I didn't like it much but that's probably just me). The campus is beautiful.. it's amazing. If you can I would definitely go visit both. I loved the architecture at both but you may prefer one over the other. Stanford may lean more towards the sciences but they are amazing across the board, they'll definitely be excellent at politics and economics, and I think they are amazing for English as well. Not sure about philosophy or history but I would imagine so. Basically your opportunities once you leave will still be excellent, so I guess it's more down to what you want out of your undergraduate experience and where you'd rather be, West Coast next to Palo Alto or East Coast next to Boston.