Cornell and Yale Named Amongst Most Hogwarts-y U.S. Colleges
The first book in the Harry Potter series–Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone–was released in the United States in 1998. (Yes, it was that long ago.) Over the next 11 years, the millions of children who first read the book back in the 20th century would all grow up and go to college. And one common action all of these kids took was to evaluate how much the university they attend is like Hogwarts. Well here to finally settle the dispute of which American universities would be most likely to have a chamber of secrets is college admissions counselor Katherine Cohen. Ms. Cohen has toured many colleges over the years and has compiled a list of the five best suited for wizardry. Unsurprisingly, some Ivy League universities made the list. Perhaps surprisingly, only two Ivies made the list.
Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Located on 745 acres overlooking Cayuga Lake in upstate New York, this research university is fairly removed from the hustle and bustle of Manhattan (as Hogwarts is from London). Cornell’s West Campus residential community, appropriately called “The Gothics,” along with the War Memorial, Risley Residential College, and the Law Library, are gothic masterpieces. There’s big school spirit here, too. Ice hockey, lacrosse and football games bring out huge crowds. Like competitors in the Triwizard Challenge, Cornellians wear their red scarves when they compete against their Ivy League rivals.…
Yale University, New Haven, CT
As the third-oldest college in America, this might be as close to Hogwarts as one can get. The campus is full of towers, courtyards, arches and balconies, and boasts some of the country’s most breathtaking gothic architecture. Like Hogwarts, the Yale campus conceals many nooks and crannies. For example, under Sterling Library there’s a tunnel that leads to another library, part of Yale’s large underground network of unseen passageways, some of which remain locked or forgotten. Yale’s secret societies (such as Skull and Bones which has been made famous by Hollywood) may remind Rowling fans of Dumbledore’s Army. A defining feature of this Ivy League institution is its twelve residential colleges. Like the infamous sorting hat, the administration places incoming students in one of twelve residential colleges, where loyalties and rivalries abound.
Ms. Cohen lists “physical appearance, residential community, academic rigor, extracurricular opportunities, and unique traditions” as her criteria for wizarding universities. Oddly, having actual Hogwarts wizards as students is not included. While Ms. Cohen does appear to have all her facts in order (Cornell’s Risley Hall is known for its annual Harry Potter night), she should apologize to Dumbledore’s Army for comparing them to Skull and Bones.
For Cornell and Yale, being named to this short list of Hogwarts-esque schools is nothing more than an amusement. It’s in no way something for one of them to publicize, especially not on the front page of their website. Right?
Okay, Yale wouldn’t publicize it. Cornell, you’re embarrassing us all again.
(H/T Justin)
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July 24th, 2009 at 4:58 pm
anyone who’s ever walked around princeton and seen our dining halls knows that it’s a travesty that pton was excluded from the list.
July 24th, 2009 at 6:37 pm
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/gallery/hogwarts/
Harvard is obviously Hogwarts.
July 26th, 2009 at 8:51 am
Anyone who has ever been to other Ivy League schools knows that Princeton is not alone in having lots of stone and high-ceilinged dining halls. Grow up… you’ll always been an abridged version of Yale.
July 26th, 2009 at 1:46 pm
Having been to all of these campuses at one point or another, I have to say that I’d consider Princeton to be the most Hogwarts-like. Yale a very close second. And Cornell, I suppose. Harvard has Mem Hall but not much else. Penn has the Quadrangle. Brown has Hermione. Columbia has the seminary. And what’s that other school? I forget…
July 26th, 2009 at 2:28 pm
i can’t really see how this is a debate. let’s break down the ways in which yale is clearly the most hogwartsy:
1) resemblance to hogwarts- sure princeton, cornell, penn, and harvard have some gothic structures and dining halls, but nothing really compares to what is found at yale. yale is the only ivy where the craftsmen took the time to sculpt gargoyles and ornament the buildings to the level of detail found at hogwarts
2) residential colleges- let’s face it, harvard and yale are the only schools in the ivy league with legitimate college/house systems. what makes Yale’s more hogwartsy, however, is that from day one you are a member of that community. most yalies (minus those from stiles and morse) walk away from yale feeling an extreme sense of pride not only in the university, but also their college. people constantly walk around in college colors, rather than the traditional yale blue. also, go to any football game and you will realize the extent of college pride, from the saybrook strip to chants of “JE Sux.”
3) intramurals- ok, so this probably could be included in the residential college section, but i think it warrants its own category. all the residential colleges compete for the tyng cup every year. IMs get heated and trash talk abounds–is there truly any other ivy where people take their college intramurals so seriously?
4) secrets- this is a broad category, but yale is littered with secrets. from secret societies to revolving bookcases and underground tunnels, yale is unrivaled in the number of nooks and crannies found on campus. there is a hugely popular (albeit controversial) campus organization devoted to studying these secrets.
this list is obviously abridged, but i believe sufficient to prove yale the most hogwartsy school in the US.
July 26th, 2009 at 5:03 pm
@senior yalie
stiles and morse have pride too. or at least stiles does.
MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSE
July 26th, 2009 at 5:17 pm
fair enough. it only strengthens my point.
July 26th, 2009 at 5:22 pm
You guys are arguing to decide whose schools (or alma maters) resemble a fictional university of wizardry the most. Sweet.
July 26th, 2009 at 5:33 pm
Dartmouth has the forbidden forest, it’s a train ride away into the wilderness, and we actually look forward to returning each fall.
July 26th, 2009 at 6:13 pm
No!!! My school most closely resembles hogwarts.
July 26th, 2009 at 6:44 pm
@pton and @40yroldvirgin
way to take the fun out of mindless banter. most people go on this site not to get real information, but just to engage in frivolous debates to distract themselves from the everyday grind. by writing out my spiel, i successfully saved myself from 5-10 minutes of serious work. good work trying to kill escapism and procrastination…
July 26th, 2009 at 7:11 pm
@senior yalie:
You make it sound like no other schools have those qualities. You also make it sound like those qualities are good things…
July 28th, 2009 at 3:58 pm
Lol, thanks for proving once again that Dartmouth students seem to be the only Ivy Leaguers without their heads up their arses.
Dartmouth still looks more or less colonial, since we never had rich 19th- and 20th-century benefactors turn our school into a Potemkin village of the Oxbridge they wish they had attended…
July 28th, 2009 at 4:23 pm
@pton
Hogwarts isn’t even a wizarding university. It is more like a combined Middle and High School.
July 28th, 2009 at 9:46 pm
Does anyone find it funny that Brown is getting Emma Watson aka Hermione Granger, while the Hogwarts-y schools didn’t?
July 30th, 2009 at 7:28 pm
@Allimba. Not really. Think of it this way, wouldn’t it be weird if she by-passed the real Oxbridge experience in her own country in favor of the fake thing here? Don’t get me wrong, I love gothic revival, but usually if you like that, you like real gothic better.
August 4th, 2009 at 9:54 pm
Personally since I have been to Hogwarts, I have to disagree completely with all of you. None of the Ivy League Universities are anything like the fine wizardry institution that all of you have read about and merely dream of seeing. Though Brown does has Hermione, who is quite a gem and I have had the luxury of chatting with on occasion, it does not hold a flame to the fire of the Great Hogwarts.