<p>In response to the original question, I think your dad is slightly misplaced with his enthusiam for Harvard. There are many things far more important than the name of the school on your CV, but on that point it is true that Harvard isn't known as an engineering powerhouse. Schools like MIT and many large public universities will carry more weight with the target community he is referring to. </p>
<p>Remember that Engineering is considered a professional degree as opposed to a 'pure academic' or 'liberal arts' degree. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that... as they said it's not better or worse just different. Schools like Harvard focus their undergraduate education mostly on a more liberal arts approach whereas egineering is a practical subject that's more about applying the principles of other 'pure' subjects. Many other universities focus on both areas by having a large focus on the 'pure' subjects (physics, chemistry, mathematics) but then also have a separate strong undergraduate focus on applied 'professional' subjects (structual engineering, chemical engineering, applied mathematics)... that's probably the sort of school you should be looking for. </p>
<p>Harvard is great for a lot of things... engineering probably isn't one of them.</p>
<p>Beyond just the classroom though, I think there is a big difference in the general atmosphere in the dorms between kids at schools like MIT/Caltech/etc and Harvard/Yale/etc. Especially in the engineering fields, a lot of small tricks you learn aren't things you get out of a classroom or lab, but rather things you do just for fun randomly in the dorm.</p>
<p>hmm .... like learning quickly about electric potential.....:)
since your fellow dormer has rigged your door knob to zap
you everytime you touch it ....:D</p>
<p>remembering that when there is a large potential difference between your body and a metallic object, and you don't want the pain of static shock, touch said object with your knuckles (almost no nerves) instead of your fingers (loads of nerves to sizzle!).</p>
<p>Harvard engineering is a moving target, they are expanding the program aggressively, and it will move up in the graduate rankings as this occurs. They already have excellent students. They are moving from being primarily a liberal arts College that offers an engineering major for a relatively small number of students to a full fledged school of engineering with a larger faculty and student body. Ten years from now it is possible that Harvard engineering will be on a par with MIT.</p>
<p>Harvard physics is outstanding now, and long has been. Same for MIT and Caltech.</p>
<p>If you want to graduate with a professional engineering degree and go to work as an engineer, MIT certainly will give you more choices than will Harvard. Caltech, interestingly, is so small and theoretical that it also may be somewhat limited compared to MIT for heading into the workforce as a practicing engineer.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that there is a high probability that you will move on to graduate school for a masters or doctorate degree-most graduates of any of these three colleges do that. At that point, your undergrad degree matters much less than your graduate degree. Harvard would give you a terrific background for grad school.</p>
<p>The real question is "where do you want to go to college?" The Harvard environment is much different than the tech institutes.</p>