<p>Byerly: Yeah. We know that Harvard is usually ranked higher (or highest).</p>
<p>But I would <em>never</em> go to Harvard over Stanford. I've visited both, and decided outright not to apply to Harvard. It's not for me.</p>
<p>"The possibilities of Harvard's social life are increased tenfold by Cambridge and Boston, where there are many places to have fun.... Cambridge/Boston is the ultimate college town;everything is geared towards the students."</p>
<p>Ok so the main difference between Harvard and Stanford is personal fit THE END</p>
<p>Thank you, bluephish.</p>
<p>I'd say the main difference is the setting. "Personal fit" (whatever that is) is not a difference between the schools, but a difference among the applicants.</p>
<p>Statistical Comparison of Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Stanford
Harvard Yale Princeton Stanford
RESOURCES
1 Endowment 2004 ($billion) 22.6 12.7 9.9 9.9
2 Library (million volumes) 15.4 11.7 6.2 8.2
AWARDS AND HONORS
3 Nobel Prize winners 75 19 29 37
4 Current Faculty in National Academy of Sciences 164 62 70 124
5 Current Faculty in National Academy of Engineering 14 5 20 87
6 Current Faculty in Institute of Medicine 101 37 8 81
STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
7 2005 National Merit Scholars 287 232 180 194
8 2005 National Achievement Scholars 70 57 40 51
9 Rhodes Scholars 315 166 126 84
10 Marshall Scholars 239 112 101 74
11 Putnam Math Competition First Place Finish 25 0 0 0
12 Putnam Math Competition Top Five Finish 51 11 24 5
13 2003 College Class Enrolling in Top Graduate Schools 358 231 174 181
ALUMNI
14 U.S. Presidents 7 5 3 1
15 Current U.S. Senators 17 7 3 5
16 Current U.S. Supreme Court Justices 6 2 1 1
LAW SCHOOL
17 Supreme Court clerks 1991-2005 128 100 0 42
18 2005 Law School Class Hired by Top 50 law firms 166 46 0 57
MEDICAL SCHOOL
19 2005 NIH grants ($billion) 1170 300 N/A 244
20 Current Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigators 32 17 3 13
BUSINESS SCHOOL
21 Alumni among Fortune 500 CEOs with MBA 23% N/A N/A N/A</p>
<p>Sources: 1. <a href="http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0112636.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0112636.html</a> 2. <a href="http://hul.harvard.edu/about.html%5B/url%5D">http://hul.harvard.edu/about.html</a> <a href="http://www.yale.edu/oir/factsheet.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.yale.edu/oir/factsheet.html</a> <a href="http://www.princeton.edu/main/library/%5B/url%5D">http://www.princeton.edu/main/library/</a> <a href="http://www.stanford.edu/home/stanford/facts/libraries.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.stanford.edu/home/stanford/facts/libraries.html</a>
3. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Prize_laureates_by_university_affiliation%5B/url%5D">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Prize_laureates_by_university_affiliation</a> 4. <a href="http://www.nasonline.org/site/Dir?sid=1011&view=basic&pg=srch%5B/url%5D">http://www.nasonline.org/site/Dir?sid=1011&view=basic&pg=srch</a> 5. <a href="http://www.nae.edu/nae/naepub.nsf/Home+Page?OpenView%5B/url%5D">http://www.nae.edu/nae/naepub.nsf/Home+Page?OpenView</a> 6. <a href="http://www.iom.edu/CMS/2951.aspx%5B/url%5D">http://www.iom.edu/CMS/2951.aspx</a> 7. <a href="http://www.nationalmerit.org/05_annual%20report.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://www.nationalmerit.org/05_annual%20report.pdf</a> 8. <a href="http://www.nationalmerit.org/05_annual%20report.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://www.nationalmerit.org/05_annual%20report.pdf</a> 9. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhodes_scholarship%5B/url%5D">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhodes_scholarship</a> 10. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_scholarship%5B/url%5D">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_scholarship</a> 11. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Putnam_mathematical_competition%5B/url%5D">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Putnam_mathematical_competition</a> 12. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Putnam_mathematical_competition%5B/url%5D">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Putnam_mathematical_competition</a> 13. <a href="http://www.wsjclassroomedition.com/college/feederschools.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.wsjclassroomedition.com/college/feederschools.htm</a> 14. <a href="http://www.americanpresidents.org/%5B/url%5D">http://www.americanpresidents.org/</a> 15. <a href="http://www.vote-smart.org/index.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.vote-smart.org/index.htm</a> 16. <a href="http://www.supremecourtus.gov/about/biographiescurrent.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://www.supremecourtus.gov/about/biographiescurrent.pdf</a> 17. <a href="http://www.leiterrankings.com/jobs/1991scotus_clerks.shtml%5B/url%5D">http://www.leiterrankings.com/jobs/1991scotus_clerks.shtml</a> 18. <a href="http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?id=1126256708738%5B/url%5D">http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?id=1126256708738</a> 19. U.S. News and World Report 2006 Best Graduate Schools issue 20. <a href="http://www.hhmi.org/%5B/url%5D">http://www.hhmi.org/</a> 21. <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/management/2005-04-06-cover-ceos_x.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/management/2005-04-06-cover-ceos_x.htm</a>. Harvard is also the school with the most undergraduate alumni among the Fortune 500 CEOs (<a href="http://content.spencerstuart.com/sswebsite/pdf/lib/Statistical_Snapshot_of_Leading_CEOs_relB3.pdf#nameddest=GAedu)%5B/url%5D">http://content.spencerstuart.com/sswebsite/pdf/lib/Statistical_Snapshot_of_Leading_CEOs_relB3.pdf#nameddest=GAedu)</a>.</p>
<p>all these pro harvard posts have lead me to regard the posters as insecure about their own school's "superiority"
if you guys are so sure your school is the best, no need to peruse college confidential to post stats that cast your school in a better light
its like the cal/stanford rivalry, cal students bring it up all the time, but when it comes down to it, stanford students honestly could care less!</p>
<p>But the its <em>Stanford</em> that features the Harvard-centric t-shirts: "Harvard: the Stanford of the East" - just like Stanford-twin Duke features "Harvard: the Duke of the North" t-shirts.... you don't find the counterparts in Cambridge!</p>
<p>I honestly havent seen those sweatshirts around Stanford. What I have seen are lots of "Stanford" sweatshirts, showing a school spirit sorely lacking at harvard</p>
<p>I didn't see that either, not even once!</p>
<p>The you haven't been looking very hard! I've got a "Harvard: the Stanford of the East" t-shirt that I bought at the Stanford Bookstore on campus 2 yrs ago. White, with "cardinal" lettering! Made in Honduras.</p>
<p>there was not one item of clothing at the stanford bookstore that had the name of any other university during admit weekend, nor was there when I visited two weeks before admit weekend</p>
<p>the very fact that we would have to "look very hard" to find one means that it's probably not worth our time to do so!</p>
<p>harvard owns stanford in my opinion.</p>
<p>stanford admitweekend was great btw</p>
<p>lol I didn't see any of those sweaters.
OH NO I'm so sorry for saying the difference between two schools is personal fit when that applies to the applicants. If you say that the main difference is SETTING and would agree that it depends on how the applicant feels they fit in that setting, why do you keep quoting statistics?
"all these pro harvard posts have lead me to regard the posters as insecure about their own school's 'superiority'"...not to mention perpetuating the stereotype that Harvard students are arrogant snobs. I'm glad to say most of the students I met there are not like you.
Why can't we just drop this and admit both schools are great like the mature people we wish we were?</p>
<p>go bluephish!</p>
<p>Both schools are, indeed, "great", but it remains statistically true that the overwhelming majority of those who have a choice pick Harvard over Stanford.</p>
<p>Byerly, what is your ranking of the top school? Are Harvard and Stanford your top two?</p>
<p>I don't do "rankings" but they're certainly two of the best.</p>
<p>why should it matter whether or not the majority picks one school over the other?
if you were trying to help the op make a decision as to what school to choose, this is the same as saying "follow the masses"</p>
<p>very sound advice indeed</p>
<p>As with any other type of market research, it is always helpful to know what choices informed purchasers, similarly situated, have made. One never knows with certainty what factors influenced them, but if most top students deciding between school A and school B choose school A, that is surely a factor to be taken into account.</p>
<p>See, for example: <a href="http://post.economics.harvard.edu/faculty/hoxby/papers/revealedprefranking.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://post.economics.harvard.edu/faculty/hoxby/papers/revealedprefranking.pdf</a></p>
<p>See also the so-called "Laissez Faire" rankings, whose author -</p>
<p>"... takes the historical and etymological view that a college is a "chosen company" and attempts to rank colleges by the membership they attract. It lets the best applicants point to the best colleges. Bright kids pay attention to selectivity when they look at colleges because they want to go where their peers are going. With their matriculation, they help compose a superior community, thereby confirming received opinion."</p>
<p><a href="http://collegeadmissions.tripod.com/%5B/url%5D">http://collegeadmissions.tripod.com/</a></p>