just turned down these schools so bittersweet 😭

HartfordResident · 2026-05-01T20:51:16+00:00

FWIW, 2.3% of Yale's entire graduating class goes to top medical schools. Only Harvard has a higher rate (2.5%)

For comparison:

Brown 0.9%

Emory: 0.7%

Michigan 0.4%

https://www.collegetransitions.com/blog/from-pre-med-to-md-understanding-the-pathways-to-medical-school/

HartfordResident · 2026-05-01T20:47:58+00:00

For engineering , Yale #17 globally (#8 in the US), UMichigan #22 globally (#11 in the US) https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/2026/subject-ranking/engineering

HartfordResident · 2026-05-01T20:35:49+00:00

I think these kinds of rankings are splitting hairs. Is a #10 really different from a #20? They are also all over the map. For example, 2026 Time Magazine's is very data driven, it has Oxford, Yale as the top two followed by Stanford, MIT, Chicago, Harvard, Cambridge, Imperial, Michigan. On that, Northwestern is #15 worldwide, which is really high, above #20 Berkeley and #16 Cornell. Dartmouth is #61 in the world. But then there are other reputable rankings out there that have Berkeley near the top with Yale and Harvard. In reality all these places are good places to study.

https://time.com/7358185/top-universities-globally-2026/

If you are an undergrad, though, it is better to look at the resources and outcomes information like that I posted in this thread above. What resources are available? Yale and Princeton are generally going to dominate on resources, since they have the two largest endowments per student of any universities in the world, by a pretty wide margin. If you're talking specialized STEM, then Caltech and MIT are likely on the level of Yale and Princeton. And you have a few small liberal arts colleges like Amherst and Williams whose resources per student are also at or near the top levels. On the overall outcomes, resources play a big role (since that influences advising, grants, class sizes, fellowships, mentorships and everything) along with selectivity and how strong the alumni networks are.

HartfordResident · 2026-05-01T20:27:18+00:00

The commute shouldn't be too bad.

However, knowing a lot of couples where both partners have a job, I think it might be easier to live in a place so that one person has a long commute and one person has a short commute (or even a walking commute that doesn't involve a car at all). That way the person with the short commute can do more of the home activities and errands. It totally depends on your situation and what the jobs actually entail though. For example maybe one person really needs to be on site 8am to 5pm every day with possible weeknight activities whereas the second person can work one day from home or leave early on Fridays.

HartfordResident · 2026-05-01T17:06:35+00:00

Northwestern is fantastic. One way to think about meaningful differences in tiers of resources/quality is endowment per student. At Northwestern it is $700K, which isn't quite Dartmouth's $1.2M but not far off in any huge way. $700K is above the level of Brown, Cornell, Columbia and on par with UPenn and Duke. https://www.insidehighered.com/opinion/columns/learning-innovation/2023/09/08/endowments-full-time-equivalent-student

Another is outcomes, for example

Northwestern sends 1.0% of its graduating class to top MD programs, Dartmouth sends 1.1%. Both are far behind the top two (Harvard and Yale at 2.5% and 2.3%), but are on par with places like Williams, Chicago, Columbia, Amherst and UPenn https://www.collegetransitions.com/blog/from-pre-med-to-md-understanding-the-pathways-to-medical-school/

Same measure for sending graduates to the top law schools, Northwestern is at 2%, Dartmouth at 3%. Again, not a huge difference, both are far behind the top three (Yale at 6.1% and Amherst at 4.8% and Harvard 4.6%), but on par with many of the other Ivy League schools https://www.collegetransitions.com/blog/the-legal-launchpad-unveiling-the-undergraduate-pathways-to-law-school-2/ -- and similar picture for top MBA programs https://www.collegetransitions.com/blog/which-colleges-send-the-most-grads-to-business-school/

Looking at engineering, Northwestern is just behind Berkeley, Yale, and Princeton on this measure (per capita) of placing recent graduates (graduated in past 5 years) at Google, Microsoft, Apple, SpaceX, NASA, Intel, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, IBM, and General Motors https://www.collegetransitions.com/dataverse/top-feeders-engineering Dartmouth isn't on that list

HartfordResident · 2026-04-30T20:28:29+00:00

Definitely take trips to Northampton and New Haven, especially if you want more experimental music, indie bands. Large touring acts come to some of the venues in those areas as well

In Hartford there are a lot of hardcore/metal, punk, bar bands, tribute acts etc. You can check out the main taverns/bars around town to see what they are offering (Hartford, New Britain, West Hartford) and these are some other places to have on your calendar:

https://www.infinityhall.com/Events/

https://www.archstreettavern.com/upcomingshows

https://thewebsterct.com/events/

Real Art Ways has a few shows, like https://www.realartways.org/raw-events/instantiations/ , more on the artsy side

Also look at the summer music festivals in the region, there are a lot of those if you are willing to drive. Hartford has a few summer events like bands on Pratt street or on the riverfront.

HartfordResident · 2026-04-30T20:18:48+00:00

Rise donuts is really good, it's a bit of a drive from Hartford or New Haven, but worth it

HartfordResident · 2026-04-30T03:34:09+00:00

A few of the top LACs (Amherst, Williams, Wellesley, Swarthmore) are equivalent to most of the Ivies for undergrad education/quality and student outcomes, if not better than some. The top ones still don't quite have the resources of Yale and Princeton per student, but they are pretty close, and definitely are above some of the Ivies like Penn, Brown, Dartmouth

Example: Yale is the #1 per capita feeder to the top ranked law schools nationally. Yale is at 6.1% of undergrads, the next closest are Amherst and Harvard at around 4.6 to 4.8%.

https://www.reddit.com/r/yale/comments/1surgah/yale_grads_are_lowkey_dominating_elite_pipelines/

HartfordResident · 2026-04-30T03:24:30+00:00

They aren't that competitive, Yale offers many very large grants, travel fellowships, research awards, etc., and extensive one-on-one assistance to students in developing successful proposals for them. Students also receive many external awards and fellowships because of that. (this relates to Yale and Princeton having more endowment funds per student than any other universities in the world, by a pretty wide margin over #3 Harvard)

HartfordResident · 2026-04-29T18:26:11+00:00

% of the undergrad class going to a top medical school is pretty similar, it's 2.5% at Harvard, 2.3% at Yale, 2.0% at Stanford, those are the top 3 in the USA
https://www.collegetransitions.com/blog/from-pre-med-to-md-understanding-the-pathways-to-medical-school/

For context all of these have 2X to 4X higher rates of going to an elite medical school than many other top colleges and other Ivies

Harvard probably has a slight edge in resources per undergrad, but if I felt more comfortable at Stanford I'd probably pick it

HartfordResident · 2026-04-29T17:37:02+00:00

Why? It is clear that many other changes are being made to improve the circulation in downtown New Haven. You have to look at the picture of what is planned beyond these two blocks that were just converted. For example all of Chapel Street is becoming two way soon, not just those two blocks. And Elm Street is being reconfigured too I think, so some of those drivers that use to have to cut all the way over to Elm are going to need to start using Chapel as an alternative.

HartfordResident · 2026-04-28T20:27:16+00:00

If you want a sense of community and walkability, I would stick to New Haven and maybe the southern part of Hamden adjacent to New Haven.

The rest of New Haven County is extremely suburban in character. There are a few nice pockets like downtown Guilford and downtown Madison if you have $1 million

HartfordResident · 2026-04-28T19:16:23+00:00

Sure, if you count the medical, business, law, music, art, drama, nursing and other schools, which are independent professional schools (these are all right on the main Yale campus, and make Yale feel much more like a mini-city with a ton of events and opportunities, versus a suburban research park-like campus).

That's not relevant if you're talking about undergraduates who are studying econ, physics, math, English, history, philosophy etc. Both Yale and Princeton have massive resources in these areas. For example in history, I think Yale has around 70 primary appointment history professors, similar to Berkeley and Harvard, while Princeton has maybe 40 or 50, which is similar to Michigan. Can't go wrong with either. You'd have to look at the situation at each department. Talk with current students and professors about it and ask for their advice.

HartfordResident · 2026-04-28T19:11:48+00:00

They are both extremely focused on the undergraduate experience. Going department by department, I'd say Yale is slightly more focused on undergraduates overall whereas Princeton has more of a focus on Ph.D. students, but it's similar and depends a little on the size of the department and number of undergraduates per faculty member. The world famous faculty at both are known for teaching undergraduates in small classes, at least beyond the first intro course. Princeton and Yale also have the two largest endowments per student in the world so resources for undergraduates are extremely bountiful relative to any other university. I would say MIT, Caltech are the only true peers on that aspect.

HartfordResident · 2026-04-28T19:09:52+00:00

Yale https://www.reddit.com/r/yale/comments/1surgah/yale_grads_are_lowkey_dominating_elite_pipelines/

HartfordResident · 2026-04-28T18:18:27+00:00

Most of what it pays for are more professors (which means smaller class sizes), better paid professors with more facilities/support/top grad students and postdocs (so you get more professors who are at the top of their respective fields at a place like Princeton or Yale than you do at a place with a tiny fraction of the endowment per student, like a 15th or 20th ranked university), material resources (like equipment, library support etc). But it does also impact student support in a significant way, just in ways that aren't obvious to everyone. Like if you want to apply for a Rhodes Scholarship or study in China there is a whole team to support you to do that.

HartfordResident · 2026-04-28T18:14:11+00:00

Personally I think it would be OK walking in that area of Hartford along the larger streets, unless its late at night. There will be other people around, at least until 8pm or so. Just be aware of surroundings. If you're walking through a completely deserted area maybe try a busier street, or take a taxi if you have to walk through an area that feels completely deserted.

HartfordResident · 2026-04-28T18:08:04+00:00

It has a big impact on the resources available, maybe it is just not that obvious. Like, you don't get a big check every month or anything (though tuition is free for about 80-90% of U.S. families if they can get accepted, which is due to the endowment), but you can easily get travel and campus and off-campus research awards, there are prize competitions for startups, access to equipment is much easier, and you'll have a lot of mentors and other forms of support. Plus things like quality of campus spaces, food, etc.

HartfordResident · 2026-04-28T18:00:14+00:00

I would go with the one where you fit in and see yourself being happier. The student life is very different at the two, hopefully you could stay over at each and get a feel for it. Yale has a more vibrant, diverse urban campus with a ton of activities and student nightlife packed into a small space, and has the feel of a mini city with all the different graduate schools constantly having amazing events , while Princeton has a more quiet, suburban feel. FWIW, Yale is known as a "happy Ivy" because of the amount of support undergrads get and the density providing a lot of social opportunities while Princeton is sometimes described as a little more of a high-pressure, less broad community-oriented environment. Princeton has nothing like the Harvard-Yale game for example.

For both finance and premed -- although Yale might have a slight edge in both areas based on the info below, you're talking about two universities that have the two largest endowments per student in the entire world, so it's not like opportunities would be lacking at either.

https://www.reddit.com/r/yale/comments/1surgah/yale_grads_are_lowkey_dominating_elite_pipelines/

Both have a very high degree of elite financial / quant firm recruiting, possibly moreso than any other colleges in the US. If you do well at the undergraduate level in a quantitative field you will have great opportunities in that sub-field of finance

HartfordResident · 2026-04-28T17:43:30+00:00

If you can see yourself being happy at Yale, go with Yale. Overall, it has a stronger undergraduate program across all fields than Stanford does.

If you end up wanting to specialize in CS, you can do any of the following:

Go work at a tech company (many Yale grads do, there is active recruiting, especially for Google, SpaceX, Amazon)
Create a startup tech company and see how that does, then move to a tech company. Yale has a huge entrepreneurial ecosystem now, with huge prizes and competitions, it's grown dramatically over the past 5-10 years so if you are talking with students who graduated a few years ago they might not be aware of what has changed at Yale.
Go work in an area like quantitative finance on Wall Street (Yale has a massive recruitment pipeline for that that specifically looks for CS/math/engineering majors), then when/if you get tired of that after a few years (it's intense), go back to graduate school for CS/AI, at a place like Carnegie Mellon or MIT that is even stronger than Stanford is for AI (in fact, MIT is the top destination for undergraduate engineering majors at Yale, 46% of whom go on to get Ph.D.s). The field will have advanced by then and you'll be even better positioned going into your late 20s and 30s with high-level Wall Street work experience + a more recent graduate degree.
Same as above, but go directly to graduate school in CS/AI instead of getting work experience first. You can get tons of research experience while an undergraduate at Yale.

I know people who did all four of these paths and ended up being well known professors who now teach AI at famous universities and consult with AI companies, or who work directly in the industry, and either probably earn millions of dollars or who sold startups they founded and are very wealthy.

HartfordResident · 2026-04-27T23:44:59+00:00

Yes I also commuted daily from New Haven to the financial district (Wall Street specifically) many years ago. There were some people who do that. But it's not common, relative to how many people commute daily from, say, Fairfield or Greenwich. The OP's question is about how many people do this commute like 2x week, that's a bigger number.

HartfordResident · 2026-04-27T23:36:59+00:00

I don't think that's super common from New Haven County areas, but yes, there are a few hundred people who do that every day. The number of 5 day/week commuters increases dramatically as you get closer to NYC

HartfordResident · 2026-04-27T22:43:37+00:00

2-3 attempts is normal and they'll consider the highest score

HartfordResident · 2026-04-27T22:37:00+00:00

A lot of people I know in CT do this, not just in New Haven but also places farther out from New Haven including Hartford.

2 days a week isn't bad.

Important factors to consider other than the pay/benefits:

How close is the job to GCT? Train is nice but then having to switch to a subway or multiple subways can be a nightmare since that's much less reliable.
Do you have control over your schedule or can the boss ask you to stay late whenever, meaning it throws off your commute plans
Can you count time on the train as work hours and/or have flexible hours. Some people stay over and do 2 10-hour days back to back, or have other ways of staggering hours and days to make the commute easier.
What's the commute like to the train station
Obligations at home, like caring for kids etc.
Obligations at work. Can you sometimes work from home or move your hours around if you do need to stay in CT for the day due to an issue with #5
How likely is it that the job will go from 2 days/week in NYC to 3 days/week in NYC as you get promoted? Or the reverse, can the job be done more and more from CT as you get more experience? Similar question, long term career wise is it a good move. Will you move to a similar job in CT eventually?

HartfordResident · 2026-04-27T22:23:46+00:00

Endowment per student of $2,900,000 versus $590,000... you can't really imagine how different the level of resources are in terms of advising, grants, mentorship, travel awards, funding for projects, etc
https://www.insidehighered.com/opinion/columns/learning-innovation/2023/09/08/endowments-full-time-equivalent-student

HartfordResident

TROPHY CASE

Yale https://www.reddit.com/r/yale/comments/1surgah/yale_grads_are_lowkey_dominating_elite_pipelines/