It’s often good advice, other things being equal, to go to the best school you get into. Of course, other things are rarely, if ever, equal. (Where best means most prestigious.)
The Harvard name, particularly internationally, is probably without peer among U.S. institutions. On the other hand, I think it’s at least possible that for certain fields, including engineering, that an MIT degree, for example, would be viewed just as positively among those who are most likely to matter in terms of career advancement, etc. But people in engineering could speak better to that than I.
It’s also my impression, based on conversations with friends who are alumni of the school, that one of the primary criticisms leveled against Harvard is its lack of focus on the undergraduate school as opposed to the grad and professional schools. One good friend of mine, while very happy to have the Harvard name on his resume, was somewhat disappointed in the academic experience at Harvard because of that. Of the schools I’m most familiar with on your list, Swarthmore, for example, would be the very opposite of Harvard in terms of its attention to the undergrad experience.
I do interviews for my undergrad college, and always advise people, once they’ve narrowed down their list using whatever criteria they’ve determined are most important to them, that they won’t go wrong by going with their gut in choosing among the remaining contenders. Maybe that doesn’t sound like rationalist advice, but again, this is after you’ve already applied your rational analysis and narrowed your list down to just a handful of schools. (Of course, your analysis may leave you with only one school on your list anyway, in which case, no need to resort to the gut.) At that point, I recommend going with your gut, particularly if your gut feeling is informed by visits during admitted student events, which I highly recommend if you can swing it, and which, while not giving you perfect insight into the school, give you a different way to evaluate than just comparing schools on paper. Talking to current students and alumni is also useful.
It’s also my impression, based on conversations with friends who are alumni of the school, that one of the primary criticisms leveled against Harvard is its lack of focus on the undergraduate school as opposed to the grad and professional schools. One good friend of mine, while very happy to have the Harvard name on his resume, was somewhat disappointed in the academic experience at Harvard because of that. Of the schools I’m most familiar with on your list, Swarthmore, for example, would be the very opposite of Harvard in terms of its attention to the undergrad experience.
It’s funny that you say that specifically, I have a friend who’s mom taught at Harvard for a stint who said the exact same thing. Said friend is very enthusiastic about Swarthmore, I really hope she gets in.
I do interviews for my undergrad college, and always advise people, once they’ve narrowed down their list using whatever criteria they’ve determined are most important to them, that they won’t go wrong by going with their gut in choosing among the remaining contenders. Maybe that doesn’t sound like rationalist advice, but again, this is after you’ve already applied your rational analysis and narrowed your list down to just a handful of schools.
That’s how I chose to play the Clarinet instead Flute.
I find that I’m pretty easily swayed by college visits, in that I can easily imagine myself being very happy at every school I visited and applied to (Swarthmore, Harvey Mudd, CMU, USC, UMD). So I think I did a pretty good job of narrowing them down.
I need to do another analysis after hearing back about admissions and financial aid, though.
On the other hand, college visits provide a really good impression of what campus life is like, particularly social life and student’s study habits. On top of that, little details like food availability and class starting time make a difference in day to day happiness, and pretty much don’t get mentioned anywhere else.
It’s often good advice, other things being equal, to go to the best school you get into. Of course, other things are rarely, if ever, equal. (Where best means most prestigious.)
The Harvard name, particularly internationally, is probably without peer among U.S. institutions. On the other hand, I think it’s at least possible that for certain fields, including engineering, that an MIT degree, for example, would be viewed just as positively among those who are most likely to matter in terms of career advancement, etc. But people in engineering could speak better to that than I.
It’s also my impression, based on conversations with friends who are alumni of the school, that one of the primary criticisms leveled against Harvard is its lack of focus on the undergraduate school as opposed to the grad and professional schools. One good friend of mine, while very happy to have the Harvard name on his resume, was somewhat disappointed in the academic experience at Harvard because of that. Of the schools I’m most familiar with on your list, Swarthmore, for example, would be the very opposite of Harvard in terms of its attention to the undergrad experience.
I do interviews for my undergrad college, and always advise people, once they’ve narrowed down their list using whatever criteria they’ve determined are most important to them, that they won’t go wrong by going with their gut in choosing among the remaining contenders. Maybe that doesn’t sound like rationalist advice, but again, this is after you’ve already applied your rational analysis and narrowed your list down to just a handful of schools. (Of course, your analysis may leave you with only one school on your list anyway, in which case, no need to resort to the gut.) At that point, I recommend going with your gut, particularly if your gut feeling is informed by visits during admitted student events, which I highly recommend if you can swing it, and which, while not giving you perfect insight into the school, give you a different way to evaluate than just comparing schools on paper. Talking to current students and alumni is also useful.
It’s funny that you say that specifically, I have a friend who’s mom taught at Harvard for a stint who said the exact same thing. Said friend is very enthusiastic about Swarthmore, I really hope she gets in.
That’s how I chose to play the Clarinet instead Flute.
I find that I’m pretty easily swayed by college visits, in that I can easily imagine myself being very happy at every school I visited and applied to (Swarthmore, Harvey Mudd, CMU, USC, UMD). So I think I did a pretty good job of narrowing them down.
I need to do another analysis after hearing back about admissions and financial aid, though.
On the other hand, college visits provide a really good impression of what campus life is like, particularly social life and student’s study habits. On top of that, little details like food availability and class starting time make a difference in day to day happiness, and pretty much don’t get mentioned anywhere else.