<p>I think Harvard is one of the most publicized schools by far, and I’m just wondering why you guys want to attend here? Is it because of the bragging rights you’ll have, the prestige of the name, the top notch academics, you’re parents alma matter, etc… It’s a great school, but I don’t have a chance here, so I’m just curious. Good Luck to all applying! 
You all seem very qualified and smart 2 me.</p>
<p>Harvard Is Awesome!!! Awesome academics etc. IT ROCKS!</p>
<p>Princeton-I never really considered Princeton, and sort of regret it. The only kid from my school to go there was sort of snobby, which reinforced the stereotype. New Jersey is, well, New Jersey... But academics wise, its definitely top-notch.</p>
<p>Yale-Seems a lot like Harvard to me. With the "colleges" (or "houses") and the shopping period and so on. I'm applying, and if Harvard doesn't work out, Yale would be awesome. But Cambridge > New Haven.</p>
<p>Columbia is a little too urban for me. Penn, I never got around to visiting. Cornell +Dartmouth are too rural. Brown is just... weird. Stanford is awesome, one of my top choices, but also really far away.</p>
<p>I love Cambridge, Harvard has one of the best debate teams in the nation, their student-to-faculty ratio is awesome, the prestige doesn't hurt, and HBS is my dream grad school...the business profs from HBS teach some undergrad classes and you get to use the resources of all of Harvard's schools as an undergrad. Im applying HYD; yale for the rejection stationary.</p>
<p>Hey thanks for your replies! I know I love the surrounding area of Harvard.</p>
<p>varsity1AC=cute sn</p>
<p>im 1A , 2N</p>
<p>I'm the 2A, 1N. Love debate. (Yes, this doesn't relate to Harvard at ALL but I L<3VE debate. I'm policy looking to do parli in college.)</p>
<p>hehe..yeah debate rocks..im policy too..what are u running this year?..i wanted to try LD..see how that is..are you located on the northeast side?</p>
<p>I'm actually not debating this year, I'm student coaching. (Too much work!) Besides that, we did really well at nats last year so I felt it was fine to end there. I live in the midwest and hate LD though a good friend is the LD champ. ;) It's too esoteric.</p>
<p>Are you NEDA? Or CEDA? (or something else...there are so many debate organizations...)</p>
<p>hmm the udl! its funded by IMPACT..im actually gettin a rec from this dude..they are known as the famous GGs..they won the nationals i believe..as college students from NYU..</p>
<p>i cant put much time into debate this year..but i love the resolution..i hated last years resolution..ehh</p>
<p>I think people here are just being politically correct, which has been well-defined as espousing something publicly that which you do not privately believe to be true. Let's face it. A lot of people are going to Harvard and not Yale or Princeton or anywhere else primarily because of the prestige. Obviously that's not true of all Harvard students. But it's true for a significant portion of them. People can talk about the academics or the feel of Cambridge and all that for as much as they want, and for some people, those are in fact the real reasons. But let's face it. For a lot of people, it's all about the name. I know that nobody wants to come out and be the one to say it, but it's the truth.</p>
<p>And as far as using all the resources at Harvard as a Harvard undergrad, well, I wouldn't go that far. If you're a Harvard undergrad, you can't use the HBS Shad Hall private gym, except on special occasions, and Shad is a pretty darn nice gym. Obviously you can't get access to HBS dorm housing, which is probably one of the best features of HBS because it immerses you in the HBS culture. And it is written policy that Harvard College undergrads are not allowed access to any HBS MBA classes whatsoever, not even for cross-reg (to be eligible to cross-reg at HBS, you must be a graduate student at any Harvard school or at MIT-Sloan, or at Fletcher at Tufts). There are a host of other restrictions involved in trying to get access to any of the Harvard schools if you're coming from Harvard College.</p>
<p>i totally agree with sakky...</p>
<p>so for pure academics, which school would you pick, if name were not to be considered.</p>
<p>University of Chicago! No question!
(And I'm glad it's not so prestigious-- that means that the kids who go there really want to be there, and really want the rigor and stimulation and the nutty intellectual atmosphere.)</p>
<p>For pure academics, without regard for name-brand prestige? For undergrad? Hands down, one of the elite LAC's - Amherst, Williams, Swarthmore, etc.</p>
<p>To comment on the post I made earlier, where I said that a lot of people choose Harvard over Princeton/Yale because of Harvard's name - to be fair, I should also point out that this sort of thing is not specific to Harvard. Let's face it - a lot of students at Yale and Princeton are also there because of prestige They're there because it was the biggest-name school that they got admitted to. If they had gotten into Harvard, they would have gone there, but they didn't, so that's why they are at Y/P. Now obviously this is not true for all the students at Y/P. But it is true for a lot of them. So again, all this talk about how people prefer the academics or lifestyle or all these other considerations might be important to some students. However, for many students, it's all about the name.</p>
<p>as a matter of fact, it is not true for over 80% of ppl at p.</p>
<p>as for education. i dont know about LACs, i still think princeton or uchicago. if we only talk about academics: education, reserach opp, fundings, etc... i dont know if LACs will to too good for reserach and such.</p>
<p>Yeah, but that's only if you want to do research. Let's face it - lots of students have no interest in research. They just want to learn a subject well, but not necessarily do research in that subject. The LAC's emphasize undergraduate teaching. </p>
<p>So it depends on what you want. If you want research, I would say that indeed a research university would be good for you. If you don't, then a research university is probably not good for you.</p>
<p>And finally, I don't want to get into percentages, but I think we all have to agree that a lot of HS seniors have the attitude that they will apply to HYPS, maybe M, and then go to whichever one will admit them. If they get into more than one, then they have a choice to make. But if they get into one, that's the end of their whole college decision-making process. I would say that for these people who ended up at Princeton, they are basically there for the name.</p>
<p>umm sakky...there's plenty of people who apply to amherst and williams for the prestige...</p>
<p>hey if you can't fend for yourself in the ivy environment...go to a second high school LAC...</p>
<p>all about da prestige and da bragging rights to me...being totally honest...o and the crimson is really funny!!</p>