Why do you want to go to Harvard?

<p>The East and West coasts are what matter (just kidding, i'm a little biased)</p>

<p>tallyrand, Yale is #1 this year, but Harvard was last year. I applied RD to Yale also, in case I change my mind. ;)</p>

<p>I wanna go to Harvard because I've been inspired by the movie Legally Blonde...get an Orange Mac Labtop!</p>

<p>To Navgirl,</p>

<p>I am pretty sure that YLS has been #1 for long time now (but ranking really doesn't matter). An important question is whether you will be able to take classes at the law school as an undergrad. I know at Yale you can, I don't know about Harvard - you should check that out. And more importantly, does a law school really matter that much for undergraduate education? I personally don't think so (i.e. Princeton).</p>

<p>crimsonbulldog, <a href="http://www.lawschool100.com/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.lawschool100.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>That ranking doesn't seem to rely on any criteria and I have honestly never seen it before - maybe you know something about it. How do they judge "Qualitative" anyway? I hate USNEWS but at least they have a reason for their ranking. And I think they sound more reliable than <a href="http://www.lawschool100.com%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.lawschool100.com&lt;/a>. And I found this on your website though outdated:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.utexas.edu/law/faculty/bleiter/rankings02/peer_groups.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.utexas.edu/law/faculty/bleiter/rankings02/peer_groups.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>to the OP: I asked my interviewer what was the one thing that he thought Harvard gave to him that was unique and different from other schools. He said that it was the people there, and how you could sit at a dining hall and talk to a world-class cellist, or a olympic-level swimmer, etc. He also talked about how everyone was highly specialized in one thing but was still interested in many other things, which made for a very stimulating environment.</p>

<p>
[quote]
I asked my interviewer what was the one thing that he thought Harvard gave to him that was unique and different from other schools. He said that it was the people there, and how you could sit at a dining hall and talk to a world-class cellist, or a olympic-level swimmer, etc.

[/quote]

So like do they wear signs saying, "hey wanna' talk to a world class cellist?'" I'd rather just talk to people without asking "what makes you so VERY special?"</p>

<p>you're spinning what he said...obviously, they're not defined solely by their talent. Like I said, "highly specialized in one thing but still interested in many other things". The point is, people who are so talented and special in one area tend to be very interesting people, who in turn would make good conversationalists.</p>

<p>"The point is, people who are so talented and special in one area tend to be very interesting people, who in turn would make good conversationalists."</p>

<p>Sure, take Mike Tyson for example. A "talented and special" boxer like him must be so much fun to chat it up.</p>

<p>I'm sure he would be, although I'm afraid some miner character flaws might keep him out of the Class of '09.</p>

<p>the quote about people's unique-ness and interesting-ness making Harvard unique-</p>

<p>I'm sure that applies to so many, many other colleges as well.</p>

<p>i wanted to go to harvard because of hte biology department. i read up literature on the programs offered there and the one thing that impressed me was that every term Harvard undergrads are grouped together under the supervision of a faculty member to work on ongoing research projects. That really appealed to me because I don't want to be robbed out of research from graduate students.</p>

<p>you simply have to read up on the department you're going to major in. see what makes harvard so unique by reading about it.</p>

<p>crimsonbulldog, (<a href="http://www.utexas.edu/law/faculty/b...eer_groups.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.utexas.edu/law/faculty/b...eer_groups.html&lt;/a&gt;) This was a ranking from 1999-2000. It's really just a matter of opinion and you're entitled to your own. Personally, I think Harvard is the better of the two, but Yale is a great school also. That's why I applied! :)</p>

<p>The ranking was actually for 2002 (<a href="http://www.utexas.edu/law/faculty/bleiter/rankings02/peer_groups.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.utexas.edu/law/faculty/bleiter/rankings02/peer_groups.html&lt;/a&gt;). I wasn't talking about my opinion since I never went to law school and couldn't subjectively judge one law school from the other - I frankly don't know what make a good law school nor do I have any idea what law professionals views are on the matter. Instead, I was referring the usnews ranking which has place yale law #1 for the past 6-7 years at least. I don't understand why you care though, since you are going to college and not to law school.</p>

<p>Wait...if Harvard doesn't carry the most prestige on the East and West coasts...which school does?</p>

<p>
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...I also want to take classes at the Kennedy School of Government.

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</p>

<p>I don't believe that Harvard undergraduates are allowed to take classes at KSG, with the possible exception of AB/AM students doing a cross-reg. </p>

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...Best law school in the country!

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</p>

<p>If you're an undergraduate, what does it matter what the quality of the law school is? I suppose it would come as news to MIT, Caltech, and Princeton undergraduates that they are getting short-changed because they don't have a law school. Same thing is true of all the students at the LAC's.</p>

<p>dawgquelle - If what you wanted was biology, you should have applied to Reed...(the best bio program, as shown by the fact that it's ranked #1 in the number of graduates who go on to get PhDs.....)</p>

<p><a href="http://web.reed.edu/ir/phd.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://web.reed.edu/ir/phd.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>