^I majored in psychology at a solid liberal arts college that is nowhere near Harvard’s orbit and I work neither fast food nor miserable cubicle life. I know tons of kids who majored in the liberal arts at elite universities who have interesting and varied careers.
Regardless of whether you major in physics or engineering at Harvard, you will likely land on your feet. A lot of kids (and parents, apparently) labor under the misconception that they have to go the BEST school in a particular field to get a job. No! Especially not in engineering. Harvard is a truly excellent university, you will love it, and you will be FINE.
Harvard, I'll likely do physics or attempt to do a double concentration in physics and econ.
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What is the career goal with this?
Not that there’s anything wrong with this, but why eng’g at Stanford, but not eng’g at Harvard?
I would think to get your parents off your back, you should do eng’g at Harvard…and maybe some econ if you can fit it in. At least if you could do some eng’g at MIT (however that’s offered), that would also get your parents off your back.
Another option is math and econ. That might be very desirable for Wall Street jobs, but others can chime in…I don’t know much about that.
If you have not officially turned down Stanford yet, you can call them first thing in the morning to see if you can still commit to them. Most universities do not mind if you pay your deposit on the 2nd of May. If they are ok with it, you can pay your Stanford deposit, and once that is confirmed, you can contact Harvard and withdraw. You lose your deposit, but I don’t think that’s a big deal.
Go with your gut. You cannot go wrong either way of course.
Sometimes in life you just have to choose between two mututally exclusive things. Or maybe it’s just for now (see#25).
If you had chosen Stanford you might also be second guessing yourself and the thread would say “I’m such an idiot, I chose Stanford.” Either way you can only attend one school next year.
You had several brilliant choices and you decided on one. You had your reasons, and they won out. There was no “bad” decision (at least, from the info in your post). Your parents are pressuring you waaaaay too much if you feel their disapproval so strongly. Maybe they have also been under a lot of stress. Maybe they are reacting to something. Can you distance yourself from their disapproval, being confident in your own decisions, while not doubting that they simply want what’s best for you? They want to give you a good life…but there are many ways to get there, and ultimately it is up to you. Look at this as practice for learning to negotiate that type of situation with your parents, cause it may be that way for a long a time.
I echo what mom2collegekids said in her post above. Why would you go for engineering at Stanford and not pursue engineering at Harvard? That makes no sense, unless you are not really enthused about pursuing engineering as a career goal, in which case that supports your decision to decline Stanford. So, it seems like you actually did made the right decision for you. You say you want to major in physics and economics —seems an odd choice of major combo, as you don’t indicate you are premed or finance. As a parent, I can see why your parents have expressed disapproval, because there is uncertainty and ambiguity of what career path you will ultimately seek. It’s not clear cut like engineering at Stanford.
You feel like you made a mistake choosing Harvard? The number one university in the world, not just America - the world. You seem to be confused on what you want to major in, you can always do two years at Harvard then transfer to Stanford. Either way with Harvard as your education background, where can you go wrong?
Harvard has ABET-accredited programs in their Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Engineering Science programs.
Stanford is accredited in their Civil, Mechanical and Chemical Engineering programs.
I can’t tell you everything ABET accreditation entails, but I believe there has to be a capstone project or a design project or class required to complete the degree. There are also some pretty rigid curricular rules.
So – both schools offer ABET-accredited programs.
Now, there is some mention that ABET accreditation isn’t a big deal for CS, but you aren’t mentioning interest in CS, so it’s neither here nor there.
If you want to do Engineering, Harvard is just fine. Harvard + a couple MIT classes would be pretty cool in terms of meeting more people and it would broaden and enrich your education, probably.
And if you decide against Engineering, Harvard is good at everything and even where it isn’t top-10, the degree still has Harvard on it, which launches it reputationally into the top 10 among people who don’t memorize grad programs rankings.
Hey if it makes you feel any better, I’m in a similar if not same situation as you except my choice of colleges I was deciding between were much lower ranked; not even as close to prestigious as Harvard nor Stanford. I kept flip flopping back and forth and wondered whether I should go with my gut. And I finally did go with my gut. But afterwards is when I got the “grass is greener on the other side” effect. I kept thinking of all the wonderful opportunities I was probably missing out on because of picking this college. I thought about how different my life could’ve been. But after talking with a close friend today and literally bawling my eyes out, she told me I chose the college I did for a reason. And that with everything going on and outside voices, I’m starting to second guess myself. She asked what I would’ve picked if there were no outside forces, with nobody telling me to go with this or that. And I smiled because I said “u of m.” and in the end, it doesn’t matter where you go; your character is what matters. So don’t have any regrets, because no matter what, I believe you will get to the campus and think “how could I have ever doubted going here.”
OTOH, I do get why it’s a hard choice and why it would be especially hard if you are going against parental wishes. That’s scary! Still, if you’d yielded to what they wanted, then you’d be going against your own wishes and you’d feel torn then too. My bet is that no matter which choice you made, you’d be feeling a bit lost and confused right now. That’s hard but if you accept the reasons why you are feeling this way, they will resolve. I honestly believe that your parents will come around and you will find that you are happy with the choice you made. It’s not as if employers will turn their noses up at your CV and think, oh my, why would we ever consider hiring this loser from a third rate school?
If it helps, plenty of kids take classes over at MIT and it’s probably as close by as it would be getting from one end of Stanford to another. You’ll meet other Harvard kids going over to MIT and vice versa.
The other thing that calls out to me is that it sounds like ** you ** want, at least in part, a liberal arts education. You want to pursue physics and econ and also have interests in engineering. Not only is that impressive, it tells me that you will do well at Harvard where that orientation to education is pretty common and what seems to draw many in. I think you’ll be able to combine them all if you want.
Good luck and BE HAPPY with those wonderful admission results!
@mom2collegekids I wanna do physics and econ because physics is my true passion, and I’ve always had an interest in entering grad school to get my PhD in it. Econ because it’s also really interesting, and in case I decide against grad school for physics, I can use it to pursue a career in finance. I’ve already gotten advice that Wall Street looks favorably upon physics and math majors, and with econ added to that, it sounds like a nice package.
^ As mentioned above (post #19), if I were you I’d study physics and econ at Harvard - which resonated with you more than Stanford did - both of which require a lot of math, and throw in some engineering courses. You will be well positioned for grad school in physics, for a masters in engineering, or for finance, whichever path you eventually decide on.
Wow! Immigrant parents upset because their child picked Harvard? That’s gotta be a first!
Go to Harvard and don’t look back. Work hard, enjoy your college experience, and you will do great. My daughter majored in Phyics and picked Harvard over both Stanford and MIT, and she never regretted it for one minute. She considers choosing Harvard the best decision of her life.
@doubleslit What I like about your combination of Physics and Economics is that in a top program, they are both math intensive, and the same advanced math that students need to do physics makes it much easier for someone to explain the econ to you.
@doubleslit, I’ve been on CC for more than 10 years and I thought I’ve read it all.
But this is the FIRST TIME EVER I’ve come across a student whose parents are mad that he picked Harvard. Harvard!
You say your parents are immigrants so maybe they’re not aware of what Harvard means in this country, but especially in the elite East Coast halls of power.
So educate them. Show them the lists of presidents, senators, Nobel Prize winners, Supreme Court judges, CEOs, and even Academy Award winners educated at Harvard. Research and explain to your parents the ties between Harvard and investment bankers and Wall Street in general.
Don’t say anything about Palo Alto vs Boston (I agree by the way about Palo Alto) or even about your gut feeling that Harvard is a better fit. Just sell your parents on Harvard.
Or, just give them time. Once they tell their friends their child is Cambridge-bound, and they see the impressed faces, feel the envy and hear the “wow,” they may come around on their own.
Congratulations. That was a tough choice and you made it. Feel good about it, and know that in a few months you’ll embark on what may be the most exhilarating adventure of your life.
except my choice of colleges I was deciding between were much lower ranked; not even as close to prestigious as Harvard nor Stanford. I kept flip flopping back and forth and wondered whether I should go with my gut. And I finally did go with my gut. But afterwards is when I got the “grass is greener on the other side” effect. I kept thinking of all the wonderful opportunities I was probably missing out on because of picking this college. I thought about how different my life could’ve been. But after talking with a close friend today and literally bawling my eyes out, she told me I chose the college I did for a reason. And that with everything going on and outside voices, I’m starting to second guess myself. She asked what I would’ve picked if there were no outside forces, with nobody telling me to go with this or that. And I smiled because I said “u of m.”