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. 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.
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<p>That's an extremely weak argument. Take the case of MIT. Sure, MIT has 6 separate 'schools', but for the purposes of undergraduate education, so what? Course 15 (Management Science) may be technically run by the Sloan School, but if you're an MIT undergrad majoring in course 15, you have barely any interaction with any actual Sloan bureaucrats. The Sloan School administration makes itself felt in the Sloan MBA program, but not in the undergraduate program. It's not clear to me that the simple fact that MIT has multiple 'schools' makes the undergraduate experience at MIT any different. That is, of course, unless you are trying to make the argument that you need to have an undergraduate business program in order to be an elite university, but if that's true, then that's something that none of HYPS have. </p>
<p>The same could be said for the various colleges and schools at Berkeley. Berkeley has the College of Chemistry. So what? I don't see how that fact by itself makes for a better undergraduate experience for the Berkeley undergraduates who are in that college. </p>
<p>Basically, I have to question the assertion as to why having individualized schools is necessarily always better than lumping everybody into one program. Sometimes it's better, sometimes it isn't. But I don't see why it is ALWAYS better. </p>
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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.
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<p>Oh, I don't know about that, for the simple reason that I'm not sure how much true business knowledge you can gain just from an undergraduate business program. The simple fact of the matter is, business is a hard thing to teach to undergraduates who have never held a real full-time job before in their lives. </p>
<p>And besides, I would say that the proof of the pudding lies in the eating. While I don't know this for sure, I am willing to bet that Harvard College graduates are at least as successful in getting into HBS or even the Haas MBA program as are Haas BS graduates. I don't have the data, but I would predict that the data would support me. Or, put another way, if we were to poll current Haas BS students and ask them if they'd like to transfer to Harvard, and then poll current Harvard students and ask them if they'd like to transfer to the Haas BS program, I think we would find more of the former than the latter. </p>
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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.
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<p>I don't think anybody said that. </p>
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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.
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<p>Well, I don't know if it is a joke. That's a perfectly valid reason for going to college. Let's face it. Whether you like it or not, the fact is, one of the most important factors involved in choosing a college is how marketable the degree is, and that is a direct function of the school's brand name. All other things being equal, you want to get a degree with an extremely strong brand name - and, like it or not, Harvard has the strongest brand name of any school in the nation. </p>
<p>Now should brand-name be the only factor in your decision process? Of course not. But on the other hand, you shouldn't be so foolish as to think that it is not a factor at all. Let's face it. In this world, brand-name matters. Marketing and publicity matter. Whether it's right or wrong, the fact is, having 'Harvard' behind your name will attract attention and publicity. </p>
<p>Just think of it this way. Lots of people go work for big companies for a few years even if they don't really want to, just so that they can the name of that big company on their resume. You go work for a Microsoft or an Intel or a General Electric or a Goldman Sachs just so that you can have that big-name experience on your resume. There's nothing wrong with that at all - in fact, that's a perfectly legitimate and sound careerbuilding maneuver. So what's the difference between doing that and going to Harvard just for the name? I think it is perfectly legitimate and logical to go to the college that will help your future career the most, and if you determine that the Harvard name will help your future career the most, then that's the choice you should make. </p>
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Must be why Harvard students are rated to be the least happiest college students........
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<p>Yeah, but notice the extremely high graduation rates. I guess they couldn't be THAT unhappy - otherwise, a lot more of them would be dropping out or transferring out. They may say they're unhappy, but the fact that they stick around and graduate means they're voting with their feet. Contrast that with a school like Berkeley where a significant fraction of undergrads never make it to graduation.</p>