<p>We can hardly spent time on concerning with politics like US students.. Courses are very busy..I think US students will be more social..</p>
<p>"If Tsinghua has that much of money, it can easily exceed Harvard."</p>
<p>"Students in Tsinghua are very tough. Most Chinese student can earn perfect score on SAT Math IIC Physics and Chemistry tests."</p>
<p>I seriously doubt the validity of the first sentence. As for the second, it is irrelevant. So what if most Chinese students can score perfects on introductory assessment tests? Does that correlate to pioneering scientific knowledge or authentic creativity? Last time I checked, Harvard students still led the world in this respective. </p>
<p>The difference between most East Asian universities students and American ones comes down to a fundamental dichotomy between the way education is viewed. In the former region, emphasis is placed on acquiring proficiency over known material and strenuous testing for proof of that proficiency. In the later, tests aren't idealized; they merely serve their purpose by ensuring that people study the material. What becomes valued, aside from extracurricular involvement and social competency, is novelty, a way to develop a different perspective or approach to solve problems. That, ultimately, is what education brings to our society.</p>
<p>Aren't we forgetting something?</p>
<p>GRADE INFLATION</p>
<p>It's almost October and it's been remarkably nice thus far. I'm going to expect another rather mild winter here.</p>
<p>Is Harvard cold in December? Our school will participate in Harvard Model UN by that time. Thanks.</p>
<p>kyzan, do you mean that SAT is only an introductory assessment tests? It appears to me that US education emphasizes on "breadth" rather than "depth". You only need to know concepts and not need to have superior proficiency in solving questions. In China we never use calculators in tests even we can calculate square root manually.</p>
<p>So what if you can calculate square roots manually? I can do it faster with a calculator. What is the square root of 180238947? Quick, do it by hand! I will find the answer in 5 seconds with a calculator.</p>
<p>When you find a job, I don't think it matters how skillful you are in solving problems without a calculator. You want to find the most efficient way to obtain the answer, that is, to use a calculator to speed up some of the processes.</p>
<p>The US emphasizes breadth during high school and the beginning of college. Once you pick your major, you have your depth.</p>
<p>I don't think it would be an advantage. In fact, China had brilliant records on Math and other subjects of Olympiad contests but earned no Fields or Noble Prize. In contrast, it kills creativity.</p>
<p>I like the weather. I love New England fall. I love snow. I spent several years in Pasadena, and while I loved LA, the weather was booooring and not so nice during the rainy season...</p>
<p>G2COM,</p>
<p>I think there is a misunderstanding. We're talking about Harvard students, not the American educational system for average high school students. The SAT tests are meant for hundreds of thousands of students seeking admissions at all sorts of different colleges. Therefore, they need to make the questions approachable to a wide range of intellectual capacities. For students at the top (ie Harvard bounds), these tests are often meaningless because they do not reflect what the students have been pursuing. You say that Chinese students can calculate square roots by hand. Like Gaffe said, "so what?" Does it matter? Both Tsinghua and Harvard students both know what a square root is, so what is the difference? I can't speak directly for Harvard students but I'm sure what while they were in high school, they engaged themselves in academic fields much more creative and stimulating than standardized tests (and yes full of problem solving, albeit not necessarily quantitative ones), thus making the testing quite irrelevant in the long run. What is ultimately important is learning how to learn because in the end, any test can be learned with a show of simple tricks.</p>
<p>Pinocchio's is honestly the best pizza I have ever eaten. Their crust is what makes the pizza there legendary; ask for a corner slice if you ever visit.</p>
<p>I agree with you. I wish I could be there someday!!!</p>
<p>Does anyone think a student should go to Harvard because they will get a superior education there? </p>
<p>Does anyone think a student at Harvard will get a better education than at a LAC college like Amherst, Williams, or Swarthmore?</p>
<p>The education there, like anyplace, is what you make of it.</p>
<p>The question whether one will get "a superior education" at a place like Harvard than at a fine LAC is, I think, a question that is simply unanswerable, as I don't think that there is any single set of criteria by which the quality of an education can be measured.</p>
<p>Surely, one can get a wonderful education at Harvard. So, too, at any number of fine LACs. And so, too, at any number of other schools. Or even without going to college at all. No one has a monopoly on quality education.</p>
<p>It is certainly true that the texture of one's experience will likely be different at Harvard than at an LAC. Among other things, one will likely get less individualized attention, but will have a greater range of opportunities (both inside and outside the classroom).</p>
<p>Which is "superior"? It depends on the individual.</p>
<p>(For whatever it may be worth, my son decided on Harvard, instead of an LAC, in part because it offered an experience that they simply could not - the chance to write for a terrific daily newspaper.)</p>
<p>
[quote]
Surely, one can get a wonderful education at Harvard. . . . Or even without going to college at all.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>That's a point I think is worth emphasizing. There are a lot of highly accomplished individuals who never graduated from college or never even attended college at all. A learner can get the best effect from any learning environment by taking initiative to learn.</p>
<p>Relatedly, I think that it's potentially misleading in some very meaningful ways even to say that one gets - or could get - an "education" from going to college, as if education were some sort of commodity that one could consume while going to school for four years.</p>
<p>The liveliest minds I know aren't those that went to the "best" schools. They're the ones that, continuing on into their 30s, their 40s, their 50s and beyond keep learning and educating themselves, continually renewing themselves by reading new books, developing new interests, and enriching old ones. At the end of the day, the quality of one's education has little to do with where one went to school, and virtually everything to do with who one is.</p>
<p>I have to be honest and say that I am very impressed with the responses I have received to my question about the quality of the education at Harvard.</p>
<p>I was expecting its the best in the world and other such BS. Instead I got thoughtful answers. </p>
<p>I was wrong, and I am impressed.</p>
<p>And my son chose Carnegie Mellon (School of Computer Science) over Harvard because he wanted the huge department and resources of CMU. While I think that Harvard beats Carnegie Mellon in many non-academic areas - they weren't necessarily things my kids would take advantage of.</p>
<p>i think that some people want to be able to say that they graduated from "harvard" and money is likely a big part of it.</p>