Harvard or Stanford?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

Hi all, I have found myself in the most amazing position of having to decide between Harvard and Stanford. Right now, I am at a complete standstill, and could use as much insight as possible before having to make my decision in May. I expect a bias from posting in this thread, so I will also be posting this same topic on Stanford’s page in hopes of acquiring as much insight as possible.

My ideas thus far:

I am definitely a STEM person, and although I am unsure of specifics, I know that I will be pursing a career in this field. I think Stanford has an edge since it is “inventing the future”. I also really value quality of life over anything else. I’m somewhat of a hippie and despise the kind of cut throat competitive kids that are willing to sell their mother’s soul for an A. I know that there is a mix of students in every crowd, but Harvard’s reputation of vomit-inducing pretentiousness really turns me off to the school. I’ve heard that Stanford sustains a collaborative and overall happier environment.

So, any thoughts? Please let me know if there is any information I can provide that will help. Thank you all in advance!

2

@oboeisbae I don’t know where you’re getting your info from but I’ve had friends go to Harvard and other top schools and it is not a cut throat environment at all. I would think they make sure of this as they accept people who realize that there is more to life than grades. Every schools has the type of people you’re talking about, but I don’t think Harvard has many of those. Both their learning environments are equally good.

If you’re a STEM person, I think Stanford might be better. I think their engineering program is better than Harvard’s.

Have you ever thought about the weather or anything about the campus? You want to make sure that the school you’re going to has an environment that you’re going to enjoy. Maybe if you have time, schedule a visit and see both campuses for yourself.

Finally, congratulations on your achievement! You got in arguably the two best schools in the nation. No matter which one you choose, you are getting a top-tier education.

3

Harvard is a STEM powerhouse. It has top 5 programs in all of the natural sciences (physics, chemistry, biology, biochemistry, astronomy & astrophysics, earth & planetary sciences, mathematics). True, it is relatively weaker in engineering (still solid, in the top 25). Fully 50% of all undergraduates concentrate in STEM disciplines.

Harvard students are no more or less pretentious than Stanford students or Yale students or Princeton students… what’s the deal with these ridiculously broad generalizations? The competition for admissions is incredible at all of these schools, and by the mere luck of the draw, any given Stanford student might have been rejected by Stanford and ended up Harvard instead, and vice versa… the students are far, far more similar than not.

While Stanford has a much milder climate… Harvard has Boston. Stanford’s campus is a bubble… a beautiful bubble… but a bubble nonetheless. Students rarely venture off their campus for 2 reasons… without a car, it is difficult because public transportation connecting Stanford to the rest of the Bay Area is weak… as well as the quarter system keeps Stanford students just a a couple weeks away from the next big midterm.

Harvard, on the other hand, is an urban campus… and within a very short subway ride, is connected to MIT, BU, Tufts, and all of Boston. Harvard students get into Boston orders of magnitude more often than Stanford students get into San Francisco.

Academically, Harvard and Stanford are peers. You cannot go wrong with either. Some students prefer Stanford, some prefer Harvard, and still others prefer someplace else.

Visit both with an open mind (clear your mind of ridiculous, outdated stereotypes), and then go with your gut for in which environment you can most thrive.

4

what type of STEM do you like?

5

I think Stanford is better for STEM subjects now, but with Harvard having the largest endowment and prestige in the world, once they start focusing on STEM (which they are now), they can easily surpass Stanford. In the new few years, faculty for STEM subjects and development in Allston will mean Harvard will become a STEM powerhouse. Think of it this way, no one will ever fault you for going to Harvard for STEM even though it may not be the “best.” But say you go to college and fall in love with a liberal arts subject, you want to go into marketing or law, a Stanford humanities degree will be weaker than a Harvard degree. Also, Harvard has an amazing cross-enrollment program with MIT. If you take some classes at MIT every semester, couple that with study abroad perhaps in STEM powerhouses in Europe, you will be golden.

6

Stanford.

These are essentially the same reasons my student made the same choices.

Are you an oboe player?

7

Hello,
Four years ago my son was in the same position. He does not classify himself as anything (hippie or otherwise) but is for sure the opposite of a snob and is not one bit cut-throat. I do not know where you got the “vomit inducing pretentiousness” bit. I can’t imagine you believe such silliness, because if you did, why would you have applied to Harvard to begin with?
At any rate, my son visited Harvard during Visitas and despite the less than ideal weather (it rained), he fell in love with it…the people, Cambridge, the city of Boston, etc. He is graduating this year. His group of friends comes from varied backgrounds (national and international) and, from what I’ve deduced, cover the financial spectrum. He is graduating with a Mathematics degree and a minor (I think they call it a secondary) in Classics. The beauty of Harvard is that it has opened up his mind to fields outside of STEM. He is a member of the Harvard Lampoon, joined a club sport, and loves all of his friends (from the hippie who ties himself to things to the preppy Pakistani who convinced my son to take part in an Asian festival and dance in a Bollywood number). They all support and help each other. For example, he is running a 5K to raise money for trauma victims pursuant to a charity started by a friend whose little sister was badly injured during the Boston bombing (he has never run a race in his life!)
I am sure kids from Stanford have wonderful experiences too. Can you visit both?

8

Most everything in your “my ideas thus far” would indicate that you are leaning toward Stanford. This decision is about what you want, ultimately, and it doesn’t matter what some random strangers on an online forum think or what statistics they spew–especially since both places provide insanely good academic opportunities so it doesn’t even really matter either way. You will find a way to be happy at either place. Stanford and Harvard will each have a huge number of snobs and a huge number of actually decent people–and you will be able to find your crowd at either university. Go with what you feel like is best for you (from what you said Stanford is it).

9

Oddsbeater is right on. I left a post on the Stanford site, so I won’t repeat it here.

10

@jwong945, perhaps because you are less familiar with the science side of Harvard, but Harvard has always been a powerhouse in STEM. Harvard has been in the top 5 for almost all natural science disciplines (astronomy & astrophysics, biology, biochemistry, physics, chemistry, mathematics, earth & planetary science, psychology) for at least a century. Computer science is also very strong (top 20 program). Engineering is where it has been relatively weaker, but that is rapidly improving.

For those who think only Harvard has snobby, pretentious folks, I suggest folks read up on Stanford alum and Snapchat founder Evan Spiegel… read up on his email controversy… and no, of course the vast, vast majority of Stanford students are not as arrogant, obnoxious, and misogynistic as that fool… and it would be wrong to stereotype Stanford students by the behavior of a few… all of the top elite schools will have there share of the privileged, arrogant snobs. If you really think Stanford has less of those folks just because it is on the West Coast, well…

11

@curiousmother,

Thanks for sharing! My older son is a classics concentrator, and my younger son is a math concentrator. You bundled them both up in one package, LOL.

Neither one of them have discovered this “cutthroat” culture they keep hearing about. The older guy better find it fast, as he’s completing his junior year, and thus is running out of time.

As for rich folks and snobs, my older son finds that his rich buddies do drink superior brands of Scotch, but they’re inclined to share, so it all works out.

12

@harvardandberkeley, thanks for the clarification. Yes, I was an Econ concentrator during my days.
I completely agree with you also that the whole notion that Harvard kids are more arrogant than others is false. Are some Harvard kids arrogant? Yes. Are Harvard kids generally more arrogant than students more other schools? Yes. But for elite academic institutions, any ivy, they are all equally arrogant. At Harvard, the arrogance is “intellectual” no one will belittle you and socially ignore you. At Stanford, not only is there “intellectual” arrogance, I know for a fact that the athletes think they are better than the rest of the student population. You think the football team at Stanford don’t look down on non varsity athletes?

13

Hey @oboeisbae Can i avoid your question (since i don’t have any answers better than the ones i see here)…but instead ask my own – that is, how did you get into both of these schools? (and i’m assuming a bunch of others)…yes, you no doubt had superb grades…but what else? Are you internationally known when it comes to the oboe? I’m just curious about the kids who get into both of these institutions.

14

@florida26 I am interested in physics, cognitive sciences, and environmental engineering.

15

@jwong945 You’ve touched on a topic I’m quite curious about - Harvard has established it’s reputation over 350 years, while Stanford has reached it’s current heights in a fraction of the time…is it possible for Stanford to possibly ‘overcome’ Harvard in the next decade?

16

@JustOneDad Yes, I am an oboe player.

17

:slight_smile:

Will your oboe playing possibly continue at Stanford?

18

@SouthernHope I don’t wish to veer away from the main subject of the thread, but feel free to DM me with specific questions and I’ll be happy to answer.

19

@harvardandberkeley‌ I am apologetic for my hasty judgement on Harvard. I come from a school that hasn’t admitted students to either school for at least a decade, so I do not have many people to talk to about my decision and do not have much more to base my decision off of than stereotypes. .

20

@JustOneDad Recreationally yes, but formally, I am not up to par with the players at Stanford and Harvard, so no.