<p>As my name suggests, I was set on Stanford after EA. However, getting into Harvard has made me think about it. Any advice? I posted this on both fora.</p>
<p>Stanford Pros:
The weather is gorgeous.
The atmosphere is open-minded.
The academics are stellar.
The athletics are stellar.
The campus is gorgeous.
Amazing diversity.
Near San Jose/San Fran, but still a distinct college locale.
Opportunities for a sciency guy in Silicon Valley.
New experience for me in climate, etc.</p>
<p>Stanford Cons:
Farther from my mom/brother/girlfriend in Ohio.
Unknown (to me) climate and locale.</p>
<p>Harvard Pros:
The academics are stellar.
The prestige is unmatched.
The alumni network is great.
Boston.
The diversity/athletics are still great.
I am used to that weather.</p>
<p>Harvard Cons:
Didn't like how the campus was so stretched.
Don't like cold weather.
Still far away.</p>
<p>Ultimately, the admit weekends are the most important. Until then, however, advice, thoughts, etc. would be great.</p>
<p>Thank you in advance and good luck to you in whatever you do!</p>
<p>Stanford14, you’ll know what you want after the admit weekends, but unless you strongly prefer an urban environment, Stanford has all the positives of Harvard (and then some), and none of the negatives. Prestige at this point is indistinguishable (and actually, Stanford has now risen above Harvard as the #1 “dream school” of students and parents alike); academics are probably incrementally better at Stanford (in light of the emphasis on undergrad teaching Stanford maintains despite its status as a leading research university); Stanford has an amazing alumni network as well; and the students tend to be remarkably happy, unpretentious people. There’s a genuine, positive vibe there that is hard to find at other top schools. Have fun making your decision, and I hope you love it wherever you wind up!</p>
<p>It seems you already have a preference based on the language you used in the post. You’re right, getting into Harvard should make you think about it. It’s a great school. But I wouldn’t feel obliged to go to Harvard just because “it’s Harvard.” I’d just recommend you to pick where you think you’ll have the most enjoyable experience and/or where you can set yourself up for the most future success.</p>
<p>“Didn’t like how the campus was so stretched.”</p>
<p>Not sure what you mean by “stretched.” In my experience it takes a lot longer to walk around/through Stanford’s campus than Harvard’s. Stanford is huge and spread out, which is why many kids ride bikes. Not nearly so many ride bikes at Harvard and it’s not as necessary.</p>
<p>But that being said, it looks to me like you’ve got your heart set on Stanford anyway. Stanford is a great school. Good luck with your decision.</p>
<p>I’m in a similar boat, with a couple differences. I live in Boston, and want to major in CS/Engineering. In my case, I’m leaning (hard) Stanford, but if you want to major in non-engineering, I can see how the choice would be much harder. Good lick with your choice, and know that you can’t go wrong, either way! (I think Harvard and Stanford’s admit weekends are the same weekend, but I could be wrong.)</p>
<p>Stanford’s is the 22-24, while Harvard’s is the 24-26 (I think).
And what I meant by stretched out was not a matter of physical distance, although I know this was unclear. What I meant was in regards to Harvard’s campus being disjoint, with unaffiliated buildings interrupting the campus from being totally contiguous. The distance doesn’t bother me; furthermore, I can ride my bike with no handlebars :)</p>
<p>In that case I’d say go to Stanford. Just as I advised the CA kid on a previous similar thread to go to Harvard, I think it’s good to spend your four college years gaining new experiences on the opposite coast.</p>
<p>It seems as if you’re leaning towards Stanford anyways. It has awesome weather throughout the whole year, and the diversity is really evident both on and off campus.</p>
<p>While it is quite trivial, just wanted to note that on my visit to Stanford in February, we could not find a Mexican restaurant within walking distance of the campus. A majority of the restaurants were Mediterranean which was not to my liking. The weather was amazing however! Having a bicycle is a necessity, IMO.</p>
<p>If you ask me, you are nuts if you don’t go to Stanford. I don’t know what you’re interested in, but it is better than Harvard in ALL of the sciences (Actually their departments are ranked #1 in all of them) and still many other categories. It doesn’t have the arrogance and elitism associated with Harvard, and is a much more friendly environment.
Stanford IS by far the most desirable institution in the country to me. Like you said, weather, athletics, environment- Stanfords nuts.
Anyways, I heard somewhere but I forget where, that Stanford’s gonna be the top university in the country anyway within 20 years. So screw Harvard’s prestige…</p>
<p>Stanford was my top choice but I got rejected there EA :(. Turns out I got into Princeton and Wharton though.</p>
<p>OMG you are so lucky!Congrats! I think I would do Stanford because it’s so different from where you live now. Neither school is near enough to be close, so go for the total change.</p>
<p>sMITten, there is a Mexican restaurant right in the center of the Stanford campus, at the back of the Tresidder student union. The burritos are great.</p>
<p>My D got into HYPSM, but is leaning strongly toward Stanford. She thinks that Harvard puts too much pressure on students and is too much about prestige, while Stanford has both, prestige and quality of life.
Admit weekends overlap, but you can still make it (like two days in CA, and two days in Boston).</p>
<p>There are no restaurants within walking distance of campus! If you think I am going to walk down palm drive you are sadly mistaken (I assume you are referring to the restaurants on university because many of them are Mediterranean). Everything is done in terms of biking distance, and there are definitely mexican restaurants within biking distance.</p>
<p>I grew up in stanford (my parents are profs), and as someone who hasn’t lived there for so long you’d probably really like it. I don’t know what people are talking about with regards to the burrito claim, palo alto has great mexican food (mtn view and redwood city are the best, though). I also think stanford students are pretentious in their own right, but in a kind of laid-back, west coast way. People rave about stanford’s location, but personally I think it’s kind of a tired place after you’ve been there for a while. San Francisco isn’t really RIGHT next to campus–you’d go there less than you probably expect–and Palo Alto is mostly full of snooty old rich people and the world’s most annoying cops. Harvard’s atmosphere, on the other hand, seems like it would be a lot more fun. Obviously I have a skewed view and I really can’t speak for Harvard since I’ve never been, but basically I don’t think you could go too wrong with either one. Personally, I would go with Harvard. Best of luck!</p>
<p>stanford and harvard are equal on all but one point, weather. and weather is the most discussed subject on the planet. so your decission is about the weather you like:)</p>
<p>freeze in the winter and wish for cold in the humid summer/fall or …</p>
<p>Deciding between Harvard and Stanford has got to be one of the toughest of all college pairs to choose from. I know it was very hard for my D until she realized that she only felt terrible about turning down the the prestige of getting into and attending Harvard–not anything about the school itself. Now prestige does matter, but I’m not convinced that among the top group of Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Stanford there’s enough of a difference to cause you to make your decision based on that. And here’s why: Harvard still beats Stanford in prestige, but for every point Harvard gets for prestige, it loses half a point for the antagonistic reactions it produces in people. The name intimidates, produces defensiveness, inspires envy, and suggests snobbery and elitism. So, there are plenty of negative connotations the Harvard name carries with it that the Stanford name doesn’t and don’t think it won’t bite you. So I think that fact makes is a draw.</p>
<p>Agreed. Harvard has a sizeable advantage in age, history and tradition over Stanford. This has manifested in a sizeable advantage in prestige. Harvard is the only school to which Stanford loses cross-admits; Harvard is the only school that has both a lower acceptance rate and a higher yield rate than Stanford. That said, keep in mind that a half-century ago, Stanford was still mostly a “regional” school. What it has done since the Cold War has been nothing short of miraculous. There is usually a time lag between prestige and academics. But from a purely academics standpoint, Stanford currently has a slight edge on Harvard.</p>
<p>While I believe it is a tough call to choose Stanford over Harvard, I don’t think the same is true between Stanford and Yale/Princeton/MIT. Due to their ivy affiliation, Yale and Princeton will always be in the shadow of Harvard. The same is true for MIT due to its proximity. Stanford stands on its own. While Stanford’s relatively young history costs it some prestige, it can be its greatest asset as well. I’ve said elsewhere that Stanford does not have as much inertia as HYP. It can afford to take chances that its older ivy counterparts cannot. One direct result is the founding of Silicon Valley.</p>
<p>I think it gets much easier to distinguish between Stanford and Harvard after spending some time at each campus (and both of their admit weekends are coming up fast). At Harvard, the overriding zeitgeist seems to be: “Harvard: We’re Really, Really Old.” At Stanford, it’s “Stanford: We’re What’s Next!”</p>