<p>Reach for the stars!<br>
He who hesitates is lost!
Why settle for second best?
Every race has to have a winner!
Better to have tried and failed than never to have tried at all!</p>
<p>WOW GOOD JOB KID! YOU CAN REITERATE WHAT EVERYONE ELSE WROTE! WHO DOESN'T KNOW THAT HARVARD IS A REACH? OH OOPS ITS ONLY THE MOST PRESTIGIOUS SCHOOL IN THE WORLD. </p>
<p>Thanks for the advice scrub, but I rather take advice from someone who isnt a pompous recluse and thinks he has solved the mysteries of life. I'm so ****ing sick of these wannabe Aristotles on CC recently.</p>
<p>But if you show you have worked extremely hard in school even through financial and racial adversity, and have an intense burning desire to learn and consume all educational opportunities available (showing that you truly care for Harvards education resources rather than prestige) then I believe that will be a SIGNIFICANT attractor to adcoms (especially with stellar grades and test scores).</p>
<p>
[quote]
A lot of people here act as if Harvard is a guarantee, but it isn't.
[/quote]
Actually, I've found that people here tend to be more aware of how difficult it is to get in than most of the world. CCer's are generally cautious and wisely apply to safeties. They tend to know more about how difficult the admissions process is than your typical high school senior.</p>
<p>frankly, iwantfood, you dont see past harvard because you're biased to the education in the western world. Note specifically, regardless of the population of the applicants, a great majority are extremely well qualified, and still get rejected. IIT is, as the article explains, a level of prestige far beyond that of harvard. Harvard specializes in many other fields relative to the university, simply because thier focus is different. Ask any executive, however, to make the comparison between MIT and IIT, and the choice clearly presents itself. Also, to refute the idiotic claim that India only has one university, before you speak in ignorance, realize that IIT is a chain of schools, and there are many, IIT dehli, IIT bombay, and so forth. The degree attained from such a university carries far beyond the simplistic norms of just a name associated with prestige, the education there is quality to match, otherwise the name itself would mean nothing amidst such a populous and competitive environment.</p>
<p>Yes, they may be HIGHLY qualified, but using the ivy-league as your safety is pretty much absurd. Internation students are accepted at ivy-league schools at such low percentages.</p>
<p>"IIT is, as the article explains, a level of prestige far beyond that of harvard"</p>
<p>Ummm...no?</p>
<p>"Ask any executive, however, to make the comparison between MIT and IIT, and the choice clearly presents itself."</p>
<p>Again, that's a spectacularly short-sighted statement.</p>
<p>"The degree attained from such a university carries far beyond the simplistic norms of just a name associated with prestige, the education there is quality to match, otherwise the name itself would mean nothing amidst such a populous and competitive environment."</p>
<p>I enjoy how you manage to insult the entire American higher education system in one fell swoop.</p>
<p>If you think about it, their are no loopholes for getting in to IIT. It is all about the education based on an entrance exam. IIT is in fact the greatest and most rigorous technical education offered in the world. It says that students who don't get in are admitted to MITand the likes with full scholarship/aid (these students are international applicants mind you) in the US. As the article states "it's pure meritacracy". Tell me you can say that about the athletes, legacies, and urms' at Harvard...</p>
<p>IIT no doubt is a great institution, but the whole approach to academics is different in India, and in Asia in general, compared to in America. It is, unfortunately, very bookish and nerdish in my opinion, although some people do break free from these constraints (ie. the CEO of U.S Airways). If I got into harvard, or any other top notch uni in the US, and I see a way lower qualified person with nothing special about them studying alongside me, it might feel kind of odd.</p>
<p>Example: one of my friends got recruited at Brown for soccer. he had some "connections" there and got through. He's a decent player, but nowhere as good as some of the guys on the Varsity team that I played on. So is that admission worth the same as a 1600 4.0, 1000 hour community service admit? No. In that sense IIT is better. </p>
<p>When I said to look beyond the U.S, look at places like England. They strike a balance between extreme nerdish admissions at lottery admissions. Oxford, Cambridge, London School of Economics, strike the balance</p>