<p>I wasn't going to ask this but my D needs all the help she can get. She was fortunate to have been accepted to both and is trying to make her decision. She wants to study International Politics/Economics as well as Japanese Language and Culture. She has pretty much decided to attend SFS when ther H acceptence stunned her. She has dreams of working for the State Department in some capacity and believes that DC and the internships availabe and the SFS school at Georgetown will prepare her for this. Unfortunately, she has not researched Harvard's program completely as she didn't expect an acceptance. She will be visiting Harvard soon, but any input regarding what H can offer related to her interests would be appreciated. </p>
<p>If you want to blast her for even comparing these schools, please PM that to me. This is a difficult decision enough for a 16 year old to make. She is very aware that "it is Harvard" and has heard that a lot over the past few days.Thank you.</p>
If her interests change, and she wants to become a stem cell researcher, or an economist, or an expert of folklore and mythology - Harvard has great programs in all of those areas (and more!).
She wants to be surrounded by brilliant students who are passionate about many things, rather than brilliant students who are mostly passionate about foreign policy/politics.
She likes the campus/atmosphere/food/whatever better at Harvard.</p>
<p>Or if these don’t apply (or don’t apply enough) go to SFS! It’s certainly one of those opportunities that some students turn Harvard down for on a regular basis.</p>
<p>If the internships available are of concern, I’d suggest snooping around the Kennedy School and Institute of Politics websites. There are plenty of available opportunities at Harvard. </p>
<p>A nice little added bonus is the series of freshman seminars that are held with world leaders and brilliant professors in the field, which require no homework from the student. They’re just there for fun. I don’t know if Georgetown would have an equivalent.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for your help. D will visit on Monday and has appointments scheduled to speak withsomeone in East Asian Studies Dept. and Government dept.</p>
<p>Congrats to your daughter. What a choice. She’s the same age (actually older) than I was last year when I was making a similar decision. It’s definitely acceptable (and recommended!) to compare the schools.
Just as just<em>forget</em>me hinted, there are more than enough reasons to choose Harvard, but she has a very interesting dilemma given her SFS school at Georgetown and should find both the negative and positives in the two and work from there. After that, please, I can’t stress this enough, visit. When you and your daughter decide to browse the campus, I highly encourage her to ask students about their experiences in Government and East Asian studies. The IOP is a great place to start. I myself am premed (a far cry from law and government) and I have enjoyed the programs presented there. In additions, there are so many other resources to tap into that she should inquire about. She shouldn’t be shy to ask those pressing questions, because at the end of the day, those are the critical “make-it or break-it” links.</p>