<p>I am looking to go either pre-business or pre-law. I am looking for a school for a school that will provide me with a fun yet intellectually satisfying environment.</p>
<p>PROS OF HARVARD
1.) international prestige
2.) placement into law firms/Wall Street
3.) top-notch professors</p>
<p>PROS OF GEORGETOWN
1.) internships in D.C.
2.) amazing poltical science/international relations department</p>
<p>PROS OF DUKE
1.) good social life/athletics
2.) fun student body
3.) good Public Policy program</p>
<p>Can anyone from Harvard provide me some input regarding my decision? Financial Aid is not really an issue.</p>
<p>Harvard's Institute of Politics is fantastic, in case you are interested in that stuff. I chose Harvard over those schools as well. If you are worried about internships/departments/people/social life, Harvard has it, I promise. This school is fantastic. Congrats.</p>
<p>I had tons of fun at Harvard. Unless your idea of fun is raging keggers every Tuesday night, you don't need to worry about that. Go to the admitted students weekend and see for yourself.</p>
<p>Bacardi - D #1 is a soph at Harvard; D #2 got into Harvard, Georgetown, and Yale yesterday and has a decision similar to yours. I'm pretty certain that she'll choose Harvard. She's stayed w/ her sister there on three different occasions and loves the campus, the city, and the social vibe. D #1 adores the place and routinely has experiences, any one of which the rest of us would consider an experience of a lifetime. Example: her work-study supervisor tells her "OK, regarding your summer internship in South America, here are the e-mail addresses of two people who are expecting to hear from you. This one is the President of the country's Harvard Club, this one is the e-mail of the Vice President." D responds, "The Vice President of the Harvard Club?" Supervisor: "Uh, no . . . the Vice President of the country." The extracurricular scene at Harvard is beyond anything you've ever known. Students get together on their own initiative, get funded by the university, and produce professional-quality programs and events that attract sell-out crowds. But the biggest sell of Harvard is the student body. I think that the influence of the peer group is the biggest influence you'll have as a college student, and this is a peer group without peer. All colleges refer to their students as the "future leaders of the free world." But these young people probably really are the next generation's world leaders, and their accomplishments at their age are breathtaking. Another anecdote: freshman dorm friend to D: "I'm sorry I can't join you guys this weekend; I've got to go to Washington." D: "Road trip to see some buddies?" Freshman friend: "No, they're putting on my play at the Kennedy Center and I'm supposed to be there for the premiere." I see D #1 immersed in this kind of peer culture, and I can witness her growing sense that she'll be impacting her community in a significant way. The prospect for making an impact doesn't merely strike her as a possibility; for her, it's a now a notion that seems much more the norm than the exception.</p>
<p>well....
I just joined CC because my sister is trying to figure out where to go - Yale or Harvard. I'm at Harvard, and I'd love her here with me - but she thinks Yalies have more fun, and Yale is known for more focus on undergrads.
I agree with gadad that a lot of the students here are great.
BUT - I wish I had known when I was making my decision that:
1. Harvard isn't known, to put it mildly, for its undergraduate education.
The house system is great, but the academics are quite uneven, sometimes pretty lame. See this article that came out when I was considering my options - I wish I had paid more attention to it:
Class of 2006 Dissatisfied with Advising, Social Experience The</a> Harvard Crimson :: News :: Class of 2006 Dissatisfied with Advising, Social Experience -</p>
<p>The social life also seems less rich than a lot of places where my highschool classmates went (including Georgetown & Duke) - to the extent that today's Crimson has the lastest "Fun Czar" article (none of the fun czars - there have been several of them - have made much difference) The</a> Harvard Crimson :: News :: McCoy Named ?Fun Czar? -</p>
<p>There's been an ongoing discussion here about student life - again, the house system is good, but the overall social life is limited, and the final clubs don't help (all male, preppy, exclusive.) </p>
<p>You will have a great time whereever you go - a lot depends on what you like. Cambridge is grey and cold for months - Duke and even Georgetown are better, if you like to be outside. Visit if you can - your instincts will guide you well. I wish I had listened to mine, instead of falling for the Harvard name.</p>
<p>Hahaha, gadad, that reminds me of a couple of similar stories.</p>
<p>Junior year, I went to Long Island to visit a close friend from my singing group and his family. On the wall is a photo of him in tails, bowing, with an orchestra behind him on stage.</p>
<p>Me: Oh, this picture is so adorable! What is it from?
Friend: I was in this piano contest in high school.
Me: Is this you winning?
Friend: No, the prize is that you give a concert and they accompany you, and that's from the concert.
Me (recognizing stage): Wait a minute, is that Lincoln Center?
Friend: Yeah.
Me: So this orchestra behind you...that's the New York Philharmonic.
Friend: Well, yeah.</p>
<p>Also, when I got my undergrad handbook in the mail in 1997, I read this rule: No undergraduate club may invite a foreign head of state to campus without first notifying the university Marshal's office. That blew my mind, because I realized the rule meant that (1) undergrads actually have the chutzpah to invite heads of state to speak to their clubs and (2) if you invite them, THEY COME. That's the essence of what you learn at Harvard: think big. Really big.</p>