<ol>
<li>You don't have to.</li>
<li>Many families make 40k a year, or thereabouts. What planet are you from?</li>
<li>They do, but I've explained above why state schools are much worse.</li>
<li>Brown is not HYP.</li>
</ol>
<p>"The average income family is still often still left paying around 10-20k a year."</p>
<p>You have a skewed perception of what constitutes average income. The median US household income is $44,334 as of 2004. USA</a> QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau</p>
<p>Starting in 2006, 100% of families with household incomes below $60,000 are expected to pay ZERO to send their kid to Harvard.</p>
<p>If you're paying $10-20K a year to send your kid to Harvard, then your income (and/or assets) are well above average.</p>
<p>Facts appreciated, and noted. </p>
<p>I guesss I should say a lot of middle class people end up paying 10-20k a year, which is often more than they can pay. That's people who make around 70k a year, etc. I think it would be interesting to look at what the average income for ivy student families. </p>
<p>Poster X: </p>
<ol>
<li>And I don't. </li>
<li>Of course they do! When did I say they didn't? But show me some stats on how many people with families with sub 40k incomes are getting into ivies. (I'm NOT saying they don't, I just stressing that there are a lot of middle class people left paying a lot of money. It's not an all or nothing deal)</li>
<li>And you're wrong. Your logic is faulty. </li>
<li>I'm not going to listen to your your HYP is better than Brown (and many other schools) diatribe. You are again wrong.</li>
</ol>
<p>I think Harvard is somewhat overated because the best students in the country are not necessarily at Harvard or other top Ivy's. What is annoying about Harvard and other top schools alike is that people associate those schools with geniuses. However, there are many people who go to other schools that are indeed much smarter than 50-70% of Ivy league students. If a parent says their student is going to Harvard, everyone assumes that they are the smartest thing to ever walk the planet.</p>
<p>um what is the purpose of this thread?</p>
<p>I agree, Harvard is very overrated.</p>
<p>The Harvard name is 50 times more prestigious than colleges like Emory, Rice, Tufts, Wash U, Williams yet a HArvard education or degree is not even close to being 50 times superior.</p>
<p>I personally would RATHER go to Penn or Williams or Middlebury or UChicago than Harvard.</p>
<p>if you think harvard is overrated, then don't go, simple as that</p>
<p>if you like the place, then go to it (as long as you get in)</p>
<p>whether it's overrated or not, you will not be hurt in going there... in all reality, you could go to penn, princeton, yale, Uchicago, MIT, duke, or any top 10 school and get the same education... but going to harvard by no means will hurt you</p>
<p>and again, if you think it's overrated, then just don't consider it and don't post threads about why you think it's overrated..</p>
<p>To everyone who thinks Harvard is overrated : PLEASE DON'T APPLY, I BEG OF YOU. ;)</p>
<p>Harvard is NOT overrated to anyone who understands why Harvard is "Harvard". Its NOT because they are teaching secret material that you cant get anywhere else. And its not because they are funneling graduates into positions of high power in society(Yale.....). Its because of its history, prestige, selectivity,and the incredible minds that go there like flocks of birds go south. thats it. And its not overrated because all of that is true.</p>
<p>overrated by the same people who think its overrated
wait did that make sense ;) :P</p>
<p>look, when people say you can find an equally inspiring undergraduate experience at yale, vassar, haverford, etc. they are right. with family at harvard, penn, and duke, i know first hand the fact that there are numerous colleges across the globe offering a brilliant education.</p>
<p>with that settled though, there is one thing about harvard that is different though -- and it is capped off by an excellent quote on the website: "the people, the people, the people." that is what makes harvard what it is.</p>
<p>yale has "the people," princeton has "the people," even trenton community college has "a person," but harvard has a rich history, a story, and a vision that has attracted the most talented and eclectic group of students the world over. it is not overrated at all -- it has an aura that no other campus i have visited has. harvard's campus is not half as bueatiful as yale's, but when i walked through the yard at night with my brother, or when i ate in the yule dinner in the house dining hall, i felt something that i have never felt -- and may never feel -- anywhere else.</p>
<p>with all that said, i still don't mind not getting in. there's a person who may be better than me or worse than me who could take my spot. but i know i can make my college experience awesome wherever i go -- and if my future campus lacks "the people," my duty would be to turn my peers into "the people." w.t.f.? that did not make sense.</p>
<p>there are awesome people at alot of schools. And im sure there are schools out there that have "talented and eclectic" students just like Harvard, so that doesnt set it apart.</p>
<p>read aggressively, supereagle. here is a direct quote from my comment:</p>
<p>"yale has "the people," princeton has "the people," even trenton community college has "a person," but harvard has a rich history, a story, and a vision..."</p>
<p>i said harvard's aura, its history, and just the atmosphere about it makes it something special. unfortunately, i never was afforded the chance to visit yale as long as i did harvard -- i stayed for a week with my brother there. but from what i felt while at the campus was the fact that harvard's history and it's vision, an indescribable feeling about it makes it what it is.</p>
<p>i never said there is something in harvard's "people" that cannot be found at other "top" schools. i even went so far as to say those same "people" can be found at mediocre schools -- never having had the chance to make it to a "top" school. </p>
<p>personally, i would be humbled to be at any ivy leage: cornell or dartmouth, yale or brown. i would be the first to say yale has cooler people than harvard -- when you look at the whole class. it is just the history behind harvard that makes it what it is.</p>
<p>The OP is laughing his tail off over in Evanston. He threw out a one-line piece of smack talk in a dull moment almost two years ago, and CCers are still rebutting him. :)</p>
<p>this is true. an epic move on the op. i salute you.</p>
<p>
No, it makes sense and it's true. The people who call Harvard overrated are those who put it on a pedestal and then later got their knickers in a twist when they found out it's not that different from several other colleges. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>exactly. i second that.</p>
<p>This thread is pretty pointless, I agree. If you search "Overrated," I'm sure you will find dozens of threads that agree with your opinions. I will say a few things though. I'm upper middle class, parents make $90,000 combined before taxes. Berkeley wanted me to pay $25,000+ a year with instate tuition. Harvard has be paying $6,000-$8,000 a year. UChicago, my first choice, wanted me to pay about $30,000 a year. Secondly, I think it is ignorant to call Harvard "way overrated." Are there "problems" with Harvard? Sure! We have often too busy, we don't get enough sleep, there are alot of pre-professional students, there can be elitism from boarding-school vs. "other" mentalities that manifest themselves in Final Clubs and other such things. But the benefits of Harvard farrr outweigh the negatives. Classes are almost always open to whoever wants to take them, including Freshman (I should know!). I would point to Berkeley, where a good friend of mine has to wait until his Junior year to take a Spanish class because they are so overfilled with Students. Now this isn't universal, but that is a major plus at Harvard. Finally, Harvard has amazing faculty members who love to talk with students, even undergraduates haha. In fact, students are so busy that many are left to beg for students to talk with. I got to have a nice conversation with a physics Nobel Laureate after class today because everyone else rushed off and he was just standing there looking for someone to talk to!</p>
<p>"This thread is pretty pointless, I agree"</p>
<p>i agree too :D</p>
<p>@the prophet “it has an aura that no other campus i have visited has”</p>
<p>Wow, you’ve clearly never visited MIT 
If you want to go ahead and talk about people, you should make your way over to MIT. Now if you’re looking for a truly gifted, diverse, eclectic, and inspiring group of people, you must look to MIT, not Harvard. Harvard’s student body can’t even compare to MIT 
So don’t use that as an excuse for thinking that Harvard is superior… I had the pleasure of exploring both campuses and experiencing what both have to offer, as I was accepted to both this past year, and they simply do not compare. Perhaps I’m a bit biased though, seeing as I chose MIT haha</p>