<p>everyone pretty much agrees that Harvard is the best university in the world</p>
<p>so, im curious: how does Harvard think of other top schools?</p>
<p>like, what does everyone who is going to Harvard/have any connection to it think of yale, princeton, mit, lesser ivys, the liberal arts schools, oxford, berkeley, etc.</p>
<p>
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everyone pretty much agrees that Harvard is the best university in the world
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Edit: everyone pretty much agrees that Harvard is the MOST REPUTABLE university in the world.</p>
<p>what difference does it make? </p>
<p>answer the question :p</p>
<p>im not affiliated with Harvard, but i would think that they would think (just like any other member of HYPSM), that the other schools are good, but theirs is better.</p>
<p>In my obervation - rightly or wrongly - Harvard is more likely to be inner-directed; to be less aware of - or less openly concerned about, more precisely - other schools.</p>
<p>You see "Harvard: The Stanford of the East" t-shirts, "Harvard: The Michigan of the East" t-shirts, "Harvard: The Duke of the North" t-shirts, and "Harvard Sucks and Princeton Doesn't Matter" t-shirts in other locations.</p>
<p>The only equivalent item on regular sale in Cambridge loftily proclaims: "Harvard: Its Lonely at the Top" !!</p>
<p>As another Harvard alum, I fully agree with Byerly. </p>
<p>Harvard folks simply don't spend a lot of time thinking about other colleges. The folks at other colleges spend a lot of time thinking about Harvard. </p>
<p>The funniest Havard-inspired T-shirt that I ever heard of was McNicholls State in Louisiana that calls itself "The Harvard on the bayou."</p>
<p>There was an amusing - and revealing - editorial in the Yale Daily News a year or two ago, expressing exasperation with Yale's "Harvard-centrism."</p>
<p>They made a computer count of the mentions of "Harvard" in the paper over the course of a year and contrasted them with mentions of "Yale" in the Harvard Crimson. As I recall, they were chagrined to learn YDN's mentions of Harvard outdid instances of the word Yale in the Crimson by a factor of 15-1!</p>
<p>The final straw was a breathless, front-page story claiming that Yale had moved to 2-ply toilet paper across the board while single-ply was still in use at some Harvard locations!</p>
<p>Enough! the editorial board proclaimed! We have to stop doing this!</p>
<p>Thanks for the candid observations, Byerly and NSM. </p>
<p>In your experience, was this "inner-directed" perspective a positive or negative attribute? On one hand, I feel that some school's (Yale is a prime example) apparent obsession with Harvard isn't too healthy. On the other hand, living in a "Harvard bubble" doesn't seem too ideal either. What are your thoughts?</p>
<p>There is no doubt that the "Harvard-centrism" in Cambridge is almost as excessive as it is in New Haven!</p>
<p>Even if Harvard's name may sound like the greatest in the world, that unfortunately does not carry over to its students. A Harvard graduate doesn't have a leg up over a Yale or Stanford graduate in the real world. In fact, tons of Harvard graduates will be surpassed by the graduates of those "inferior" schools and vice versa. Once you reach the level of HYSPM, the distinction of the degree won't get your further than the other elites. However, it certainly is not a BAD thing that Harvard's name is seen as the best. It makes for good ego-stroking at parties and gathering of friends. But in terms of earning power and professional success, that "lonliness at the top" won't get you squat. (Except maybe slightly higher bragging rights which is cool in of itself).</p>
<p>Oh and I am not saying that prestige doesn't matter. Of course a Harvard graduate will have a leg up over a University of Chicago grad, a Berkeley grad, a lesser ivy grad, and the graduates of other top schools. But a Harvard grad doesn't have a leg up over a Yale, Stanford, MIT, Princeton, or Caltech graduate even though Harvard may be seen as being in a "class by itself." That's all I'm saying--that there's a disparity between the undeniably higher reputation of Harvard and the benefit of that higher prestige to the students.</p>
<p>"In your experience, was this "inner-directed" perspective a positive or negative attribute?"</p>
<p>I honestly have no thoughts on the matter. It's just the way the world is. And, of course, the world revolves around Harvard, and so it goes....;)</p>
<p>collegeperson...dont assume that a Harvard grad will have a definite leg up over those other schools you mentioned. In both grad school and in the job world, all of those school are top notch. It is the individual's gpa, interview, work exp, etc that will make the difference.</p>
<p>collegeperson, Harvard grads have a leg up on everyone, including stanford. Like it or not, Harvard is in a league of their own. A friend of mine got into stanford but cried like a baby for weeks because she didn't get into harvard. I'm not saying Harvard is better, but you can't put harvard next to stanford or any other school (somtimes yale and princeton) and expect the same reaction.</p>
<p>Of course a Harvard graduate will have a leg up over a University of Chicago grad, a Berkeley grad, a lesser ivy grad, and the graduates of other top schools. But a Harvard grad doesn't have a leg up over a Yale, Stanford, MIT, Princeton, or Caltech graduate even though Harvard may be seen as being in a "class by itself."</p>
<p>I pretty much take offense to that statement and totally disagree with it. First of all, where Harvard totally does not shine in its undergraduate program is the fact that everyone there is lumped into the college and not an individualized school, whereas Penn, Berkeley, or MIT all have business schools, chemistry, etc. A Harvard grad certainly does not have a leg up when applying to a business school when that grad is up against someone who went to Sloan, Haas, or Wharton for undergrad and actually performed well there, not to mention gained much business knowledge that the Harvard grad would not have had. It is totally false to believe that a Harvard grad suddenly has the E Ticket to life because they went to Harvard, regardless of their performance. Considering the massive grade inflation that Harvard has, I will agree that it would be more difficult for someone from say Berkeley, where there is grade deflation to get the same consideration for graduate school as someone from Harvard, where both of those students may have put in equal quality of work, but the grades just dont match up. Also, people who ***** and moan about "not getting into Harvard" are just disappointed because they wont have snobby bragging rights. I think there are few people out there who go to Harvard purely because of the education. Many people who get in generally get into other fabulous schools----why did they choose Harvard over those schools? Because they want the "Harvard" name. I do believe that those people will be very disappointed because going to a school purely for that reason is a joke. Must be why Harvard students are rated to be the least happiest college students........</p>
<p>Yours bias is thick, groovygrrlxoxo.</p>
<p>It's interesting that some of you cite the absence of specific schools within Harvard College as a weakness. Personally, this was an aspect of Harvard that I was really attracted to: The philosophy behind a broad liberal arts education appealed to me--I can't imagine being able to tie myself to a specific school ie career plan at age seventeen.</p>
<p>Groovygrrlxoxo--I would have to second raven001. Your bias is thick--enjoy Berkeley.</p>
<p>Yes, Harvard is in a league of its own by virtue of the breadth and quality that it is able to offer.</p>
<p>That does not mean, however, that a degree from a school with less breadth but the same quality in its best departments is a lesser degree or is less prestigious (to the people who matter). </p>
<p>No school in the world comes close to Harvard's quality for its size; however, can you say that Princeton is a lesser school because it doesnt have Harvard's breadth? That would be absurd, seeing as Princeton is 1/3rd Harvard's size.</p>
<p>princeton has greater breadth than harvard.</p>
<p>harvard engineering is a joke.
princeton doesnt have a single department that would qualify as a joke.</p>
<p>Princeton is a very strong school, a member of a very few super-elite universities within the united states.</p>
<p>However it cannot compete in breadth with Harvard, seeing as it has no Medical School, no Law School, no Business School-indeed no professional schools at all.</p>