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 Harvard’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!
“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’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.”
For ALL of the above valid reasons, you will be MUCH, MUCH happier at Stanford.
You will find incredibly smart, hard working students at Stanford and the interdepartmental opportunities in STEM areas are limitless. Congratulations and welcome to Stanford!!
Actually if you go to Harvard you’ll most likely take classes at M.I.T. as well (especially if you’re STEM) and you could say you went to Harvard and MIT. That’s dope. Only thing Stanford has to offer over MIT ( in STEM) is Silicon Valley. Personally, I love the atmosphere at MIT (I visited) and I’m sure you will too. I suggest in depth visits at both Harvard and Stanford
You really don’t have to dislike Harvard to go to Stanford. Both have their own positives and negatives. If you want to do Engineering or CS, Stanford is the place to be.
Stanford and Harvard are both fantastic schools. Stanford does have a stronger CS/engineering program than Harvard, but both are strong in the physical sciences and humanities. So if you are a CS/engineering prospect, it’s Stanford hands down.
As to the stereotypes of Stanford being collaborative and Harvard being pretentious, can you really believe in these generalities as being capable of defining an entire school? You will find collaborative, cutthroat,and pretentious at every school. It’s the way of the world, so it comes down to the people you choose to befriend and collaborate with wherever you go. I will say this though, both schools have wonderful students that help each other and are down to earth. Both schools are very different and give off a unique vibe. This aspect is what you need to experience for yourself, because it is palpable. Some kids prefer the vibe of Harvard, others the vibe of Stanford. No one can tell you which is best for you when they are both fantastic. (other than Stanford for cs/engineering).
Then why would you even consider going to Harvard? Is it just the brand name?
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Yes, yes it is dopey. It isn’t about saying where you went it is about getting the best education and enjoying the experience. The only real choice is between Stanford and MIT, not Harvard with the idea that you can also take courses at MIT.
I would like to address this persistent myth that somehow Harvard is weak in STEM. It is patently FALSE. Approximately 50% of all Harvard students now major in STEM.
Harvard has ALWAYS been a science powerhouse… its science programs are all very highly rated, usually top 5… astronomy & astrophysics, biology & biochemistry, chemistry, earth & planetary science, mathematics, physics, psychology… it has been this way for the past century.
It has a strong computer science department (top 20). Top 20 is not “weak”. Harvard is also investing ridiculous amounts of money to accelerate its program forward. Computer Science is now one of the most popular majors.
For traditional engineering, Stanford is stronger than Harvard, no doubt about that… but in the natural sciences, Harvard is just as strong. Harvard has historically had a small engineering program… this had made sense because MIT is literally 2 miles down the road. However, here again, Harvard is rapidly accelerating its investments into engineering. It has the money to do it. Harvard’s endowment is literally more than Stanford and MIT, COMBINED.
For a student wanting to pursue one of the traditional engineering disciplines, Stanford and MIT are definitely better choices. For a student wanting to pursue any of natural sciences, Harvard, Stanford, MIT are EQUALLY strong, and therefore it should come down to personal fit and in which environment the individual student feel they can best thrive.
It is all relative.
It is weak in comparison to a top 3 program.
It is strong in comparison to a 20-50 program.
But this thread was about comparing it to Stanford.
Yes, they are investing to catch up, but it is more than just spending money. SIlicon Valley is a huge benefit to the Stanford program. There is a reason why the President held the recent cyber security summit at Stanford, and this week there is a follow up where students including grad students are meeting to talk about it more, including research ideas and how students can get involved. Things like that happen every week.
Yup… CS at Harvard is so weak, it’s amazing Zuckerberg came out knowing how to code a do loop… or that Google has recruited Harvard CS professors away from academia to work for them.
A student studying CS at Harvard will do just fine. Though, that has nothing to do with the OP.
In any case, you are missing the point… I raised it to counter the silly notion that Harvard is weak in STEM.
And for the OP who is interested in physics, Harvard would be just as strong a choice.
Of course, he got a lot better after leaving Harvard and moving to the West Coast. There is a reason he moved to the West Coast, even though it would be harder to hire all those Harvard programmers.
I got your point.
It is weak relative to top programs in parts of STEM.
It is strong relative to not-so-top programs.
But they are trying, but they are hardly a “STEM Powerhouse”
Ah, the arrogance of Silicon Valley that unless you are producing ridiculous cell phone apps like SnapChat you can’t possible be a STEM powerhouse, despite the fact that Harvard has top 5 programs in astronomy & astrophysics, biology & biochemistry, chemistry, earth & planetary science, mathematics, physics, psychology and a top 20 program in computer science.
There is more to STEM than cell phone apps. When the next tech bubble bursts… (yes, I know… THIIIIIIISSSSS TIME it will be different… LOL)
OP, for your interests in physics, cognitive science, environmental science, either Stanford or Harvard will provide you an equally strong education, and you will have a dazzling array of opportunities at either. You will have no problem preparing for graduate school or a future career.
Ultimately, you cannot go wrong with this choice. If you can, be sure to visit both with an open mind, and just go with your gut on what will be the best fit for YOU. For some students, Stanford will be better, and for other students, Harvard will provide their optimal environment. ONLY YOU can determine which of these excellent choices is right for YOU.
It’s a relatively recent article from The Harvard Crimson that I think does a good job of providing a fairly objective compare/contrast of the two schools.
absolutely go VISIT each campus, your heart will tell you which school you belongs to. At this point, ranks do not matter, they are both top-tier schools. It depends on where you will be comfortable to call it a home and have the most amazing four years of your life.
And yet YOU were the one who brought up Zuckerberg, even though he wasn’t a STEM major nor a strong programmer and you were the one who brought up cell phone apps (hint: many cell phone apps like Snapchat require a strong backend infrastructure).
As far as tech bubbles, there is a reason it is called Silicon Valley, not Application Valley. Even with a bubble burst, you will probably still use your phone, computer, car navigation, and all the other things that have a CPU, DSP, memory or any other piece of silicon.
@oboeisbae truth be told stanford is THE place to be. especially given your interests its kind of a no-brainer. also i ve heard the same things regarding the overall atmosphere of the two schools and based on what you are saying you will be much happier at Stanford. and like as a general observation stanford seems to be the number 1 choice of more and more people nowadays. like at Penn I have gotten the impression just from conversations that for for most people stanford was their number 1 choice. (it definitely was for me…) rather than harvard. had you asked the same question 10-15 years ago it prob would have been harvard. stanford rly has it all, powerhouse stem and amazing lib arts, incredible weather, great culture.
Decisions made at this point, let’s not pretend there’s a “better” and rankings are really going to lead so many students into bad choices. For my daughter, the answer was Stanford, simply because its programs were more in line with her specific areas of study (which are not STEM at all). Harvard simply doesn’t offer one program and the other is so closed-off that we could be spending a fortune to send her to school and she wouldn’t even be able to get into the courses she needs. She’s a little sad about missing out on that great urban vibe of Cambridge/Boston. Once you’re in the top echelons of colleges, those are really the basis for decisions, not whether Harvard ranked #3 in 1987 or whatever.