<p>I remember my Dad telling me that he once taught someone from the Jefferson Airplane. Whoever it was didn't graduate, just went to school there for a while. It was the '60s. Anyone who was in Northern California in that era knows what I am talking about;).</p>
<p>My boss in German claims he spent an enjoyable night at the beach with Grace Slick. He swore he had hair down to his waist in those days. Hard to imagine the clean-cut Reagan-loving, BMW driving, suit-wearing guy hanging out with hippies!</p>
<p>just an opinion after spending a lot of time on the Stanford campus, and going on tours of Harvard and Columbia. At Stanford, I used to ride my bike around in cut-offs and flip flops, lie in the grass, watching the ducks and reading--at the other two places, there were a lot of parents on the tour in black trenchcoats with black umbrellas with sons wearing shirts and ties and blazers--and their hair was always neatly combed--right out of prep school---I thought that it was very, very creepy. I think that its an east coast/west coast kind of thing--but the New Yorkers I know think that its the only place to be.</p>
<p>That's not completely accurate, Bay (#120). Based on the survey (which is meaningfully out of date at this point -- like 10 years), for every 100 students admitted to both Stanford and Harvard AND WHO CHOSE ONE OF THEM, they chose Harvard at a ratio of about 3-1. Some people were admitted to both of them and somewhere else, and if they chose somewhere else they are not included in those numbers.</p>
<p>Also, given Harvard's yield on students it accepts, one could translate the numbers another way: Stanford is one of a small handful of colleges that a significant number of students prefer to Harvard.</p>
<p>
[quote]
And some place with cioppino near (but not in) Half Moon Bay
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Duartes in Pescadero? Artichoke soup? Homemade pies? Emma, the pie lady died, but Duartes is still going strong.</p>
<p>That's it!</p>
<p>JHS,</p>
<p>Here is the working paper from which the chart was drawn:</p>
<p>I'm sure you have seen it; I got it from another thread on this site. (Thanks to tokenadult).</p>
<p>While it is somewhat dated, I guess it is the most recent research out there. I thought Table 6 on page 36 was noteworthy: The preference ranking for the CA, HI, OR, WA region was:</p>
<p>Harvard
Cal Tech
Yale
Stanford</p>
<p>I would have guessed that Stanford would be on top for those Western states.</p>
<p>
[quote]
That settles it - Harvard for sure.
[/quote]
Not so fast. Olympic medallists at 10 paces.</p>
<p>Stanford:
Traditions</a> - Stanford University Official Athletic Site</p>
<p>Harvard:</p>
<p>Well, I couldn't find a page for Harvard. But I did find this:
"In all, Harvard has had 182 Olympians, who have collected 86 medals."
Ivy</a> League Sports</p>
<p>Counting backwards from 2004, Stanford had Harvard beat in '84. It's not all bad news, though. Harvard's had many more athletes compete than Stanford. ::snort::</p>
<p>Here are Harvard's Olympians:</p>
<p>Harvard</a> Olympians - GoCrimson.com - Official Web Site of Harvard University Athletics</p>
<p>
[quote]
Duartes in Pescadero? Artichoke soup? Homemade pies? Emma, the pie lady died, but Duartes is still going strong.</p>
<p>That's it!
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Haha! That is where my reference to abalone versus lobster came from. I almost wrote "Abalone from Duarte's Tavern versus Cape Cod Lobster."</p>
<p>Look at the last item on the menu:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.duartestavern.com/menu.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.duartestavern.com/menu.html</a></p>
<p>By the way, I don't know the place (yet.) I have to give credit to that goofy dude named Guy Fieri from the Food Network and his show Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. It's on my list of must-have visits for June 2008. </p>
<p>Duartes^^ Still has the best pies! When my son comes home from USC, one of the first trips he takes is to the coast to bring back home a fresh baked pie for the week[ 2 1/2 hours there and back on a windy road, so you know they are good!]</p>
<p>Ok, the pies are definitely making me hungry. I went to both S and H. I would choose S. Kids are very happy there. H has a ways to go in the happy department.</p>
<p>Go to Caltech and eat at Pie 'n Burger!</p>
<p>I still miss Elsie's in Harvard Square... (But while Steve's in Somerville is long gone, it's just as good as Herrell's in the Square and a lot easier to get to.) :)</p>
<p>ellmenope-</p>
<p>I will be Sunday- look for me at the UCSD tent!</p>
<p>I attended both as well in the dark ages, taught at H full-time for a number of years and still teach there occasionally. Both are absolutely superb institutions. If your daughter is interested in engineering, Stanford is vastly superior. Bio-engineering might be a closer comparison because Harvard's very strong in the medical area. My observations of Harvard are much more recent, but my recollection is that more of the teaching at Harvard was done by teaching fellows rather than professors. Unpublished surveys show that Harvard students are not that happy compared to other top schools, though the kids I know there profess to love it. Because of the weather and the more relaxed atmosphere, Stanford kids do seem happier though less interested in intellectual inquiry and display less intellectual intensity.</p>
<p>shawnbridge... I will say they display less <em>outward</em> intensity. Inwardly the fires burn as brightly.</p>
<p>Which underscores my primary fit criterion -- how does the prospective student feel about overt competition? The answer to that should settle the deal.</p>
<p>I will repeat an illuminating desription of Stanford students (probably misquoting a bit):
Stanford students are like ducks on a pond. On the surface they are gliding through the day, but underneath their feet are paddling furiously.</p>
<p>PS: Stanford sports -- the school has repeatedly won the award for best overall college sports programs (someone help me with the name of the award?).</p>
<p>DunninLA and curious77, I would agree that they display less "outward" intensity and the interest in intellectual inquiry, which may be similar, did not seem to be displayed as often or as intensely. Since the OP's daughter's experience will depend upon the interaction with her peers, whether they appear excited to engage with her in deeper inquiry or not will affect her experience of education. Underlying brightness did not seem to be an issue at the two institutions, but willingness to engage in sustained discussion outside the confines of defined assignments seemed different. I think it is a matter of taste. Weather, engineering and general happiness level would push one towards Stanford. Peers who want to engage you in more sustained, out-of-the-standard-channels inquiry might push one towards Harvard. Although both institutions are plugged into the networks of power in the world, Harvard is really an important node in the networks of power. If that is of interest and if a student is going to try to take advantage of that, Harvard becomes more compelling. But this may be more like a choice between the red caviar and the black caviar. Both are terrific.</p>
<br>
<blockquote> <p>how does the prospective student feel about overt competition? <<</p> </blockquote>
<br>
<p>Parent of Harvard student here. I have read about "overt competition" or "cutthroat competition" at Harvard over the years, but my D just hasn't experienced that. I wouldn't pick one over the other college based on that criterion.</p>
<p>ellemenope -- I refer more to the difference between an an east coast urban vibe, and the California vibe. I would make the same comparison between Pomona and Williams, or Berkeley and Tufts, and of course Stanford and Harvard.</p>