mountainold

1) Your concerns are valid. VERY valid. 
2) Echoing KungFuKenny and jellyfish7, both schools are top schools within the religious studies world so adding either on your CV will only benefit you. 
3) Is HDS worth the $20,000 in my savings or loans? I think that's your decision to make. I took out a small amount when I got there. Full tuition + $8,000 annual stipend was not enough for me to live in Boston. I also had to work off campus during the summer (I did my best to get away from the Harvard bubble as much as I could). 
4) As much as I want to praise HDS I can't and I must be honest about the conversations that happen on campus. We're considered the "hippie school" ? but lots of folks across campus find that space rewarding. I think the Chicago Div School slogan is "where the fun dies". 
5) Despite the lack of diversity in faculty (I'm a Latinx scholar) it is ABSOLUTELY possible to find/create opportunities to succeed. I found my mentor when I told him his class was intimidating during office hours haha. We also just lost Dr. Cornel West, again, so it's a huge hit for the Div School. I met with him on a couple occasions and can safely say he was a source for my own development as a Latina scholar on campus. I'll also say I met with some world-known faculty who encouraged me to dream big during our office hour conversations. 
6) This I think leads into the potential downside of being at HDS: that it's still attached to the Harvard name. I didn't realize how conditioned I became to be mistrusting of my peers because the culture of secrecy is so real! For example, I always felt like I couldn't share my ideas with my cohort because someone might snatch it and beat me to publication. Bizarre, but the feeling was still there. This of course might just be academia in general, but I never felt this at the other schools I went to. 
7) Also, performativity is taken to a completely different level. I felt it was no longer about collaborating or co-learning but rather establishing the most nuanced take of the assigned reading on Foucault. This, in turn, made me feel like I wasn't reading just to read but rather reading to find something interesting to say in class. The competitive nature of these seminars just made it difficult to drop my guard or forgive myself for simple mistakes.    
8) And don't get me started on being a Latina at Harvard hahahahahahaha... So, I will say that "my people" became the janitors and the cooks and the security personnel on campus (and a few faculty members). They're the ones who greeted me every day. They're the ones who asked me how midterms were going. They're the ones who looked like my family back home. They're the only ones I thanked at the Div School diploma ceremony because my own working-class family could not make it to my Harvard graduation. They're the ones I'll say hi to when I go back to visit one day. Them and the Spanish-speaking co-workers at the restaurant job I had. They were my community. They're the ones who saw past my Harvard exterior and zeroed-in on my humanity. It's a lot I know but I think I needed to say this. 
 9) I'm sure you know this already but make sure you have a great sense of self before you go to either campus. I know how easily the Harvard name can blow up my ego haha so it was helpful to stay true to the person I was before Harvard. I was always that indigenous-looking brown girl in class who wore huaraches and hoops and red lipstick. So, I made sure to continue that identity at Harvard. (No amount of elbow-patch jackets will ever change me hahaha.) I made sure to eat the same beans and rice I ate back home and listen to the same banda music from my childhood when I walked through Widener Library. LOTS of folks discouraged me from pursing grad school but when I was able to ground myself in my own journey I was able to make it through all the bummer moments at Harvard. It's what's gotten me through this application cycle and what will get me through the rest of my journey. : )
 

That's good advice thank you guys!  I think I will end up following the money.  Thankfully, I won't need to take out loans for Yale, and it sounds like that is rarely the story for Columbia.  I just haven't received the official offer from them so I didn't know.  I didn't anticipate having options, and I think I just got excited at the prospects! To be fair, the curriculums are so different I felt as though I should put some thought into it ?  Thanks again!

Thanks for that recommendation!  You're right, the curriculum within YDS is definitely very Christian focused while Columbias courses were more geared towards Islam and regional/ cultural studies; however the YDS requirements are way more structured than Columbia which I think is a good sign, and I was definitely able to find relevant courses.  They also seem to have good opportunities for interdepartmental study and have really strong Islamic Art resources through the History of Art department that I could take advantage of.  I'm still in undergrad, so I can change course a little bit in terms of my "interest" without having wasted too much time or resources if that makes sense ? That was a helpful suggestion thanks!  Totally agree with you about HDS, but unfortunately I was waitlisted. I guess I can hold out for that, but I think the odds of being admitted are pretty low, especially this year.  I haven't received aid info from Columbia yet, but the program director told me they were assembling a generous package whatever that means... we shall see! Thanks again!