For many current students, Harvard was their absolute dream school. However, it may not have been the only school to which they applied. While Harvard and Yale are competitors on the football field, they also compete when it comes to admissions. Many students applying to Harvard also apply to Yale, as the schools are comparable in many ways. Get into one? Amazing! Get into both? Even better. Many admitted students had to make a difficult decision between the two schools. Keep reading to hear from Harvard students who made the choice, and why they know it was the right one.
Lucas Gazianis ’24
Gazianis applied to Harvard and Yale because he knew both matched the type of school he wanted to attend. “It’s hard to pinpoint a specific reason other than that I was a good student looking at this type of school. I grew up in Connecticut, so it was easy to think about these schools seriously and visit them.”
Gazianis, a piano player, chose Harvard over Yale due to the music offerings Harvard provided and his preference toward Harvard’s campus. “I was really impressed with Harvard’s jazz offerings relative to Yale’s, and I knew that I would have lots more music opportunities in a place like Boston,” he said. “I also just preferred Harvard on the basis of my visit to each—I was a lot more excited about Harvard’s campus atmosphere.”
He also feels that location also played a factor in his decision, considering Yale is in the same state he grew up within. “It probably had some implicit, negative influence. Three hours is a better distance from home than 45 minutes.”
Looking back on his decision, Gazianis knows that he made the right one. “I don’t revisit my decision. I think I’d be happy anywhere, but I have definitely treasured my experience thus far.”
Jake Marlo ’22
For Marlo, Harvard and Yale were both strong contenders because of his background in rowing. “I rowed in high school and wanted to row lightweight in college. I was fortunate enough to be invited to visit Harvard and Yale in the fall of my senior year of high school,” he explained. “At both schools, I was incredibly impressed by the people I met, the quality of the educational resources, and the campus culture.”
He was also enticed by the rigor of the student body and educational staff at each school. “I applied to both schools because I was excited to potentially surround myself with smart, ambitious, and hardworking students and teachers from whom I could hopefully learn a lot.”
Despite his love for both schools, Marlo almost chose Yale. “I ended up choosing Harvard because I felt a more natural fit with the teammates I stayed with. I figured I would spend a lot of time with these people, and it seemed like a good sign that I immediately got along well with many of them. Both schools seemed similar, so the difference came down to a gut feeling about my future teammates.”
While Marlo thinks about what his experience could have been at Yale, he feels grateful he got to spend his time at Harvard. “I’m incredibly lucky to have been able to attend Harvard and my experience has been overwhelmingly positive. Sometimes I do think about what my college experience would have looked like at Yale or any other college. At another school I would have met different people and made different friends. I would have had different educational, athletic, and professional experiences. It’s impossible, however, to say whether those differences would have been better or worse. I’ve had a fantastic experience at Harvard.”
Sally Barksdale ’25
In high school, Yale was Barsksdale’s dream school. “I visited it often. I applied to Yale Early Action and was accepted. I really applied to Harvard as an afterthought because I considered it the only school that I may choose over Yale, but I had never visited Harvard and didn’t know much about it aside from the name brand.”
Ultimately, Barksdale chose Harvard due to her newfound love for it while visiting the campus and the courses that Harvard offered. “It was a tough decision, but I was leaning towards Harvard soon after getting in… I ultimately chose Harvard because of its location (Boston was way more appealing than New Haven), and because it is stronger in pre-medical curriculum,” she explained.
Barksdale acknowledges that Harvard and Yale are both great schools, and she believes that she would have been happy as a student at either institution. However, she does not look back on this decision often because of the opportunities Harvard has given her, such as discovering her concentration. “I am very confident in my decision with Harvard because of the amazing friends I’ve made and the great experiences I have had here so far. Academically, Harvard introduced me to the field of History of Science, which I just declared as my concentration. It is fascinating, and I would not have had the same academic direction at any other school.”
Aditi Kona ’26
Kona’s first choice of school was Yale. “I wasn’t originally very interested in Harvard just because of all the stereotypes surrounding it. I applied early to Yale because I painted this picture in my mind of what Yale would be like,” she said.
However, after her acceptance into both, and attending Visitas at Harvard and Bulldog Days at Yale, it was clear to her that Harvard was the right choice. “I think Visitas really sold Harvard for me.
Everyone was so high energy at Harvard which is something other schools really lacked,” she explained. “It took seeing Harvard in-person to realize that Harvard kids are really just normal people, which was something I loved. Also, New Haven seemed very boring to me.”
When asked if she has ever regretted choosing Harvard over Yale, Kona exclaimed, “Never.”
Robbie Owen ’25
Owen wasn’t sure what school he wished to attend and applied to many that he thought could work for him and his field of study. “I am English and honestly had no idea what I was doing for applications, so I mostly just applied to the top schools with good reputations for academics and my two extracurricular interests: rugby and theater.”
His nagging feeling that he just “couldn’t say no” to Harvard was ultimately something he could not ignore. “Maybe that logic of the name being important is really problematic and causes lots of pressure on Harvard students. But, especially in the [eyes of people in the] U.K., Harvard is just the top of the top of U.S. universities.”
While Owen has revisited his choice since, he knows he made the right one. “I do slightly revisit my decision on the basis that I have a good friend of mine with similar interests who had the same situation and chose Yale. But I never regret it, as I’ve somehow managed to make a sweet life for myself here and I love my friends.”
Layla Chaaraoui ’26 (laylachaaraoui@college.harvard.edu), unlike these Harvard students, did not apply to Yale.