Ptolemy

You make a very good point here. Cambridge is a pretty intense place intellectually and I thrive on it to some degree. I do know some faculty and grad students in the dept. at Harvard and they are very friendly, but I am sure there are petty competitions and fights like any other department. At UCLA I certainly think I would have more contact with the profs and it is smaller dept with fewer students (which may be a bad thing), whereas there are 50 grad student at Harvard and nearly 20 faculty, but it is a very active place.

You are absolutely right. Thanks for the reminder. There are many great scholars at UCLA, 2 or 3 I would like to work with, but I think Harvard might have an edge in the status of the respective departments.

I've been admitted to UCLA for a PhD (in the Humanities) although funding is in question (though probable) and I am on a wait list at Harvard. Do I pass up the sure thing for a chance at the Ivy with a high yield?