<p>How is their computer science program? I'm an MIT guy, but I do have family friends who either attend or have graduated from Harvard. I know they're more of a law school, but is their computer science and mathematics solid for a person majoring in it?</p>
<p>I'm also considering Harvard because of a generous financial aid, that's better than MIT.</p>
<p>“I know they’re more of a law school.”
-I’m not sure where you got this idea, but it’s a bit off base. Harvard engineering has been traditionally weak, but Harvard is strong in all of the liberal arts and professional schools. I believe Harvard CS is also highly ranked, from a theoretical perspective.</p>
<p>There are a few people around here who are more knowledgeable about college CS programs than me, so I hope they’ll comment.</p>
<p>But I can speak to my own experiences getting a CS secondary field (aka a minor). Harvard CS has a fantastic intro course ([This</a> is CS50](<a href=“http://www.cs50.net/]This”>http://www.cs50.net/)) that manages to be interesting to hard core coders and n00bs alike. Beyond that, the concentration + classes get much more intimate – everyone in the classes knows each other, and the professors are very cool + accessible (see [Matt</a> Welsh](<a href=“http://www.eecs.harvard.edu/~mdw/]Matt”>http://www.eecs.harvard.edu/~mdw/) and [Greg</a> Morrisett](<a href=“http://www.eecs.harvard.edu/~greg/]Greg”>http://www.eecs.harvard.edu/~greg/) for example).</p>
<p>I never got much beyond the intro programming classes, but I know the tougher, more theoretical stuff is very good.</p>
<p>I also know that the job opportunities are pretty fantastic. A whole cadre of Harvard folks (mostly CS, but some engineering/math/sci as well) ship off to Google, Microsoft, and Facebook every year. MIT definitely has more tech firms come on campus to recruit, but you can attend their career fair if you’re interested in smaller places. And, of course, lots of entrepreneurship around campus as everyone tries to be the next Zuckerberg.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info, and I love theoretical CS. I plan eventually on going into a PhD program, so a few years at Harvard if I get in and then maybe off to MIT or Stanford would be nice.</p>
<p>and the idea basically came from the standard Harvard generalization</p>
<p>MITHopeful,</p>
<p>The math department at Harvard is amazing. </p>
<p>The CS department is up and coming, but nowhere near the caliber of MIT, Stanford, or Berkeley. Princeton’s depth in theoretical CS is superior to Harvard’s too, if you are interested in checking out Princeton. If you were to get into Harvard but not MIT undergrad, you could still cross-register for some CS classes at MIT.</p>
<p>Zenokan,</p>
<p>Do they have the pure and theoretical mathematics? That’s the field of research I plan on minoring if not adding a major too.</p>
<p>I’m not sure about the distinction you’re drawing, since I think of “pure” math as encompassing theoretical (as opposed to, say, “applied”) mathematics. In any case, have a look at the multitude of course offerings here: [Harvard</a> Mathematics Department : Mathematics Courses](<a href=“http://www.math.harvard.edu/courses/index.html]Harvard”>Harvard Mathematics Department Administration and Finance)</p>
<p>Ok, for reference, pure and theoretical are essentially the same. I just added both for no reason. Do they have a concentration or major for pure mathematics? Even though the classes interest me a lot.</p>
<p>Harvard is top in the country (with Princeton) for pure math.</p>
<p>Ooh. that’s Nice. Does their electrical engineering contains elements of computer engineering? cause I didn’t see a program like that mentioned/</p>
<p>Yeah - you can do engineering with an EECS focus. Take a look at some info here: [Electrical</a> Engineering ? Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences](<a href=“http://www.seas.harvard.edu/faculty-research/research-areas/ee]Electrical”>http://www.seas.harvard.edu/faculty-research/research-areas/ee)</p>
<p>For what it’s worth, my friends who were just CS were a lot happier than the ones who did EECS. The EECS folks had a lot more in the way of requirements - and it mostly meant taking classes they weren’t very fond of.</p>