I’m an athlete in the high school class of 2019 and I’m currently in the thick of the recruiting process. Ever since I was young, I dreamed of attending and competing for Stanford. However, I recently visited Harvard and met with the coach and absolutely loved everything about my visit. I will be returning in a few weeks to attend class and spend a ‘day in the life’ with some team members. Although I always dreamed of Stanford, something about Harvard made me feel at home and the history of academic and athletic excellent really pulled me in.
I’d love some information on the similarities and differences between Harvard and Stanford student-athletes. Stanford is clearly the better team in my sport, but Harvard’s program has been historically excellent and it currently appears to be in the midst of a revival on the national stage.
Although it’s early in the process, I am already beginning to worry about my eventual decision. What makes athletics at Harvard special? How is being an Ivy athlete different than the Pac-12? I understand the obvious scholarship difference and such, but I’m really looking for more information about the culture.
I don’t think anyone can give you an honest comparison between Harvard and Stanford athletics without knowing WHICH sport you are being recruited to play, as it’s going to vary by athletic team. FWIW: As you will be spending the majority of your non-academic hours at either school with your coach and fellow team members in practice, travel, and meets, IMHO it’s LESS important which school you ultimately attend and MORE important to have a good relationship with your coach and whether that coach is committed to giving you playing time your freshman year.
One of the biggest differences between Harvard and Stanford athletics is that, in many sports (and probably all of the most popular ones), only a couple of the athletes at Harvard (if that) would have been considered worth recruiting at Stanford. Although there’s some overlap in their recruiting targets, for the most part they are in different markets. (Not that Harvard wouldn’t be happy to recruit many of Stanford’s athletes, but most of them are looking for a level of competition Harvard can’t provide.)
If you aren’t being actively recruited by Stanford, this isn’t something you have to worry about much.
The thing is, I’d be one of Harvard’s top recruits. The coach told me this and said that he hopes I pick Harvard. While I am highly ranked at the national level, I wouldn’t be Stanford’s top recruit but I’ve been emailing and talking on the phone with the coaching staff and the assistant will be watching me compete in person a few weeks from now.
In my sport there are many athletes that chose between Harvard and top 5 programs, and Harvard has done very well recruiting in recent years so there definitely is overlap between the two. While they do recruit at a similar level, Stanford is still clearly the better team, but that isn’t rare due to Ivy policies and such.
I’ll be visiting Stanford this spring and hopefully by then I’ll have a clearer image of similarities vs. differences and where I fit better. Both schools are so amazing and no matter where I end up, even if it’s not one of these two universities, hopefully I make the right decision. While this process is definitely fun, it is very stressful as well!!!
If you go to Harvard, your opponents are going to be Dartmouth and Yale. At Stanford, you are going to be going against Cal, UCLA, Colorado and Arizona. If the sport is track and field, big difference. If the sport is rowing, maybe not such a big difference.
“…but I’m really looking for more information about the culture.”
And here’s where the main difference lie. The culture of Ivy League steeped in tradition and Pac-12 with its own tradition is very different, and only you can decide for yourself which direction you want to go. The question of whether you’re hoping to play your sport professionally after college can play into your decision-making, too. What about your intended concentration of study? Ultimately, go with your instinct.
There are so many variables that are considerations. The culture as an student athlete versus the culture as solely a student are vastly different. This may be simplistic but my sense is that at Stanford you are an athlete first and a student second. At Harvard I believe the reverse would be true.
There is not the school spirit in regard to athletics at Harvard that Stanford likely has.
The key is what feels right to you, what combination of circumstances is most important to you.
I know nothing about Stanford other than its reputation for academic excellence and its traditionally strong football and swimming teams.
Harvard is a very special place, the culture is so rich and deep. Our daughter is a Senior and I know she would not have traded her experience at Harvard for any other opportunity.
Best Wishes!
Coincidentally, today is the Harvard versus Yale Football game. We are in New Haven preparing to go over to the Yale Bowl. From a school spirit perspective this is the zenith for Harvard.
I am hoping for an upset! Go Crimson!!
@GreatKid
It was worth a try on Harvard’s part but alas the Bulldogs are #1
But you are correct that I’d say you are a athlete first at Stanford and a student second whereas at an Ivy you are a student first. That doesn’t mean you won’t enjoy competition, school rivalries, and a strong sense of team community but Stanford puts more emphasis on sports. Having said that I’m glad my kid is at Yale and not Stanford but I’m a bit biased…
You will probably have a better sense of preference once you spend time with both teams and have a first hand look at the academics during your visit.
Good luck!
I was an athlete at Stanford and also went to graduate school at the Ivy’s. My father was an athlete at Princeton though it was a different era. My nephews turned down Harvard to go to Dartmouth but they are top skiers. One friend’s son turned down Harvard to become an All American and national champion in Lacrosse at virginia, while another turned down a partial golf scholarship at Stanford to play at Harvard (which seemed surprising on the face of it, but clearly he preferred Harvard).
There are some sports where Harvard is the clear choice, such as rowing and squash. There are others like water polo or football where Harvard is high school compared to a Stanford.
I still have strong ties at Stanford as I periodically teach there, and the athletes are great students as well. Even the most famous (Olympians, first round NFL picks, etc) value that they are treated as students, and everyone accepts them that way.
My advice to prospects is it depends how important your sport will be to you. If you really want to have the best competition or be able to compete for the national championship go to the school that supports that. If that’s not the case, go to the school where you will enjoy the educational environment the most. Most sports aren’t leading to professional athlete status so it just doesn’t matter beyond that. The parents of the UVa lacrosse player were bothered he didn’t go to Harvard initially but they accepted it, and the son has turned out really as well, and that national championship will always be with him. (And UVa is an awesome school).
Between Stanford and Harvard of course there is no compromise.
Also, Stanford is just more of an athletic community. Perhaps because the weather is great and the campus is far more welcoming to playing sports at any level.
Outside the culture, you may want to look at the academic calendar and how it fits with your competition schedule. This can have a big impact on your sanity as a college athlete. Fall sports typically start at Stanford before the first term, which is really nice as you can focus solely on training and playing until the end of September. Will conference finals and exams be in the same week or two?
Beyond that, I would pick the place that you feel most comfortable with the coach and team as well as where the vibe feels right.
Well, I think in most sports it is very easy to compare the teams at Stanford and Harvard and decide what level of competition you want, and on which team you’d be more likely to get playing time. Want to be the big fish? Harvard is likely to win. Want to be on a nationally recognized team? Probably Stanford . Want some athletic money? Then it has to be Stanford. Want more than a dozen people in the stands cheering you on? Stanford.
I disagree that at Stanford you’d be an athlete first and a student second. All the athletes I know who have attended Stanford were excellent students first. In fact, most athletes I know work much harder at the schools they picked. Some might have gotten into schools that really challenged their academics. Speaking of UVA lacrosse… I know a couple of guys who could never have gotten acccepted to UVA without the athletic boost, but they made the most of the academic opportunities, graduated (on time - UVA doesn’t allow redshirting) and got great career opportunities because of their academic achievements. I think being an athlete gives much more structure to players’ days and that helps with academics as much as athletics.
Hi, I was browsing through threads and I saw this one and I had to comment I just committed to play volleyball at Harvard a couple weeks ago, and my father ran track at Stanford when he was in college. I was split between the two as well, but you have to understand that the two schools are EXTREMELY different in almost every aspect. Stanford has a much larger campus than Harvard, and Harvard athletes are treated more like regular students (or, NARPs) than Stanford athletes. Stanford trains its athletes to become Olympians, while Harvard focuses on the STUDENT in student athlete. In almost every sport (Men’s Basketball may be different but I highly doubt it), Stanford’s teams run laps around Harvard’s. It comes down to whether you want to pursue a sport after college, as well as school fit in general. I love my sport, but I know that I want to someday pursue medicine, and Harvard athletics is lenient enough to allow me to major in Neurobiology and be apart of a D1 program. With teams that perform at such a high caliber as Stanford’s, students are discouraged from taking rigorous courses. I hope I could help, and if you decide to go to Harvard, I hope I’ll get the chance to see you! Go Crimson
As noted earlier you might get more useful info if you were not so evasive. Sports are different. I can not speak to PAC12 but I can offer help with ACC vs Ivy League volleyball. My daughter was recruited by Duke, Penn and Columbia in volleyball. There are similarities. In volleyball the Ivy League is more protective of the student athlete in terms of travel. Ivy League volleyball matches are on the weekends to cut down on missed classes during the week. Stanford is like Duke volleyball matches occur during weekdays as well as weekends. If you gave more info about yourself you might get more help back.
I just committed to play volleyball at Harvard a couple weeks ago, and my father ran track at Stanford when he was in college. I was split between the two as well, but you have to understand that the two schools are EXTREMELY different in almost every aspect. Stanford has a much larger campus than Harvard, and Harvard athletes are treated more like regular students (or, NARPs) than Stanford athletes. Stanford trains its athletes to become Olympians, while Harvard focuses on the STUDENT in student athlete. In almost every sport (Men’s Basketball may be different but I highly doubt it), Stanford’s teams run laps around Harvard’s. It comes down to whether you want to pursue a sport after college, as well as school fit in general. I love my sport, but I know that I want to someday pursue medicine, and Harvard athletics is lenient enough to allow me to major in Neurobiology and be apart of a D1 program. With teams that perform at such a high caliber as Stanford’s, students are discouraged from taking rigorous courses. I hope I could help, and if you decide to go to Harvard, I hope I’ll get the chance to see you! Go Crimson