University of Miami or Harvard?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to Harvard and can confirm that the name has and continues to open doors to me. It is clear that the Harvard name catches attention and draws perks and special consideration long after the point when most other colleges' names stops mattering in the course of a person's career. Fair or not, the advantage is real.

In 10 years, nobody will take note of Miami on your son's CV, but Harvard will continue to draw attention for his entire professional career. It is absurd to consider passing up Harvard for the sake of a few years in the sun now: tell your son to go to Harvard and then move to Miami for work.

Plus, Cambridge and Boston have a charm of their own.

This is confirmation bias. You haven’t been in the job market as the graduate of another university. Other colleges have prestige and alumni networks. Back in the day, when every high-stats kid who applied could get into an Ivy and these schools had a concentration of the children of the wealthy and powerful, Harvard meant more. Now, there are huge numbers of smart, high stats kids who go elsewhere. Yes, a Harvard degree is nice, but the difference between an Ivy degree and a degree from one of the many other well-regarded schools out there isn’t what it used to be.

I’m the child of a University of Miami alumnus. I never even thought of applying there, because it sounded too much like a party school. I also dated someone who played basketball at a T30, Division III school.

The son of the OP should go to the University of Miami.

Combining varsity sports with serious academics at a place like Harvard would be stressful.

The University of Miami has solid classes, for students who want that, and it has extremely loyal, rich alumni. A student who can handle the party scene at Miami and play decent golf can go on to do anything.

Harvard is better for someone who wants to teach philosophy or be an investment banker, but Miami is great for someone who wants to hire investment bankers, or own banks, shopping malls or subdivisions.

That’s some funny shit right there.

You’re dissing me here. I think the real problem with the Harvard v. Miami choice is hurricanes.

A bright, athletic, outgoing kid who can get into both schools should do well after going to either school.

The big concern with Miami is the chance of a storm flattening your school and wrecking a semester.

[Anonymous]

I went to grad school at Harvard and the undergrads were miserable. So much anxiety and mental health issues and depressing winters. I swore I wouldn’t let my kids do their undergrad there. I would encourage him to listen to his gut on this. Grad school is where the prestigious degree matters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went to grad school at Harvard and the undergrads were miserable. So much anxiety and mental health issues and depressing winters. I swore I wouldn’t let my kids do their undergrad there. I would encourage him to listen to his gut on this. Grad school is where the prestigious degree matters.

If you go to Harvard undergrad and want to go into finance or tech, there is no need to go to grad school.

All my friends from Harvard or Yale undergrad who went into finance: bulge bracket finance --> buy side funds or PE --> retired by early 40s. No need to waste the time or money on business school.

Same goes for those who enter tech from HYP. Why would you spend $200K on business school/grad degree and take yourself for two years out of the work force? It's nonsense.

If you're in consulting, there is more pressure to pause for a grad degree. But even then, if you're a rising star at McK or Bain, you can work your way up the ladder. Most of the kids in your b-school program will be desperate to get your old job.