<p>Byerly, let me apologize in advance for the tone of this message. In response to your point:</p>
<p>"...you do a laughably weak job of listing Harvard's strengths. I assume (perhaps incorrectly) that you were at Stanford as an undergrad, since you seem relatively unfamiliar with the advantages of Harvard College. Obviously, if everybody assessed the two schools through your "cardinal-colored" glasses, 3 out of 4 common admits would choose Stanford, rather than the other way around!"</p>
<p>I did not think my undergrad affiliation was relevant - as I pointed out, I am extremely familiar with undergrad life at both institutions. Since you make a point of it, I was in fact a Harvard undergrad (fwiw, I was a summa grad in the 90s). Two siblings were undergrads there, along with several cousins. I know the institution very well - both its strengths and weaknesses.</p>
<p>I like both institutions quite a bit, and am amused by the fact that you accuse me of wearing "cardinal-colored" glasses ... while you apparently have myopic "crimson-colored" glasses. Byerly, many of your posts give the attitude that "H has the best students in the world," "it is harder to get into H than anywhere else," or "H has the highest yield - therefore it's the best." Who cares? I don't want to get personal here - but it is exactly this attitude among Harvard students that is very troublesome to me. I've seen many undergrads suffer from the negative effects of this type of thinking - deep confidence problems when they discover they're not really "the best," being driven to the point of self-destruction, etc. On the other hand, there are many others who thrive in that type of environment. It's an individual choice.</p>