Harvard or Columbia - Where would you go?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For Finance and Engineering
Columbia

For Lib Arts Harvard.

Columbia has no undergrad Finance major. Columbia majors are traditional liberal arts and engineering.

While it’s true that there is no finance major, Columbia has a direct pipeline into Wall Street. Only NYU (Stern) rivals it. Although a Harvard grad who wants to go to Wall Street will have no problem either.

In a thread full of stupid posts, this one takes the cake.

Harvard is by far the better of the two if you're concerned about finance placement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Much easier as a legacy to get into Harvard than Columbia.

This is why MIT students aren’t impressed by Harvard. All MIT students are qualified to be where they are. Not true with all Harvard students.

Who cares? MIT admits a lot of kids turned down by other Ivies.

There aren’t many MIT kids who can’t handle Harvard.
Some - but not all - Harvard kids can manage MIT.

Probably true. But Harvard students generally don't even think about MIT.

[Anonymous]

Out of some 2000+ colleges and universities in the USA, we are talking about two schools that’s ranked somewhere around top 1-4. It’s like debating between Honda and Toyota, BMW and Mercedes. I think it’s a personal preference if someone chooses Honda over Toyota, or BMW over Mercedes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Much easier as a legacy to get into Harvard than Columbia.

This is why MIT students aren’t impressed by Harvard. All MIT students are qualified to be where they are. Not true with all Harvard students.

Who cares? MIT admits a lot of kids turned down by other Ivies.

Yeah, because the Ivies look at a lot of non-academic factors i.e. legacy status, parent's donations to the school, etc. when admitting students. MIT doesn't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Much easier as a legacy to get into Harvard than Columbia.

This is why MIT students aren’t impressed by Harvard. All MIT students are qualified to be where they are. Not true with all Harvard students.

Who cares? MIT admits a lot of kids turned down by other Ivies.

Yeah, because the Ivies look at a lot of non-academic factors i.e. legacy status, parent's donations to the school, etc. when admitting students. MIT doesn't.

No one cares.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Much easier as a legacy to get into Harvard than Columbia.

This is why MIT students aren’t impressed by Harvard. All MIT students are qualified to be where they are. Not true with all Harvard students.

Who cares? MIT admits a lot of kids turned down by other Ivies.

Yeah, because the Ivies look at a lot of non-academic factors i.e. legacy status, parent's donations to the school, etc. when admitting students. MIT doesn't.

Being a legacy at MIT sounds like an inherited disease.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Much easier as a legacy to get into Harvard than Columbia.

This is why MIT students aren’t impressed by Harvard. All MIT students are qualified to be where they are. Not true with all Harvard students.

Who cares? MIT admits a lot of kids turned down by other Ivies.

Yeah, because the Ivies look at a lot of non-academic factors i.e. legacy status, parent's donations to the school, etc. when admitting students. MIT doesn't.

Not PP here but the kids you're talking about only make up a small percentage. The vast majority are not there through those means. I don't have a dog in the fight of MIT vs. Harvard, but hearing people label every Harvard kid like that is very frustrating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Much easier as a legacy to get into Harvard than Columbia.

This is why MIT students aren’t impressed by Harvard. All MIT students are qualified to be where they are. Not true with all Harvard students.

Who cares? MIT admits a lot of kids turned down by other Ivies.

Yeah, because the Ivies look at a lot of non-academic factors i.e. legacy status, parent's donations to the school, etc. when admitting students. MIT doesn't.

Not PP here but the kids you're talking about only make up a small percentage. The vast majority are not there through those means. I don't have a dog in the fight of MIT vs. Harvard, but hearing people label every Harvard kid like that is very frustrating.

Well, Kushner went to Harvard, not MIT (or Columbia)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Much easier as a legacy to get into Harvard than Columbia.

This is why MIT students aren’t impressed by Harvard. All MIT students are qualified to be where they are. Not true with all Harvard students.

Who cares? MIT admits a lot of kids turned down by other Ivies.

Yeah, because the Ivies look at a lot of non-academic factors i.e. legacy status, parent's donations to the school, etc. when admitting students. MIT doesn't.

Kids getting into MIT but not the Ivies show that MIT doesn't discriminate against math/science savants on the autism spectrum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Much easier as a legacy to get into Harvard than Columbia.

This is why MIT students aren’t impressed by Harvard. All MIT students are qualified to be where they are. Not true with all Harvard students.

Who cares? MIT admits a lot of kids turned down by other Ivies.

Yeah, because the Ivies look at a lot of non-academic factors i.e. legacy status, parent's donations to the school, etc. when admitting students. MIT doesn't.

Not PP here but the kids you're talking about only make up a small percentage. The vast majority are not there through those means. I don't have a dog in the fight of MIT vs. Harvard, but hearing people label every Harvard kid like that is very frustrating.

Basically, more Columbia (SEAS) students, although not all Columbia students, than Harvard students can handle the rigors of MIT work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Harvard, from an overseas perspective. We lived in Asia and it is said "Harvard" is probably the most valuable 'brand name' in all of Asia. It's an instant door opener in the business community in some countries.

I think I'd also rather be a student in Cambridge than in New York. I love NY, but the idea of four years there in 'student mode' would be a bit rough.

In many foreign countries, Harvard has less of a pull than state unis simply bc there aren’t many Harvard grads in position of power. Those who studied overseas and returned (and are now in position of power) often went to less expensive unis such as the U of Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, UCLA...

I've lived overseas and my experience is they'll know Harvard, Stanford, and MIT and associate them with the top level in education. They don't distinguish as much between schools that are further down.

You seem to be suggesting OP's kid should be picking a school based on the name recognition of Harvard among ill-informed middle managers at some random company in China? How sad. Scores of American universities besides Harvard have been full of international students for a long time.

Where did I mention middle management or a random company in China? Harvard has the highest and best name recognition period. MIT and Stanford are in the ballpark with Harvard.

And why is what the foreigners in Asia think about Harvard so important here? Is OP’s kid going to work in China?

Thread has turned on itself; instead of meaningful input about the pros and cons of each school for undergraduates, it's a stereotypical exercise in confirming that an auntie in Seoul or some VC associate in Hong Kong will be more impressed with Hahvard. Who knew?

Should we all be choosing colleges based on name recognition in China and Hong Kong? That would really suck as they only seem to have heard of Harvard. Guess you’re a loser and will amount to nothing in Asia if you studied in the US and didn’t go to Harvard. Even for Engineering and CS, should have picked Harvard.

[Anonymous]

I almost went to Columbia, not once but twice. It has a very interesting urban vibe yet the campus is both serene and beautiful despite its location in New York. The students seem intense but not full of themselves. I really like Columbia. From what I've seen, most people choose Columbia because there are features of the community that strongly appeal to them.

On one of the occassons when I turned down Columbia, I chose Harvard instead. While I liked many individuals who studied and worked there, Harvard was a rather cold place. I would bet that over half the people who choose Harvard do so not because of the opportunity to hang out in Boston or the amazing faculty or some other features of the the community but because Harvard is thought to be the most prestigious option. They go to Harvard because they think nobody turns down Harvard. Going to college with thousands of people who think that was isn't always ideal.

[Anonymous]

Harvard is a brand not an education. It works for all the elite and privileged kids who go there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I almost went to Columbia, not once but twice. It has a very interesting urban vibe yet the campus is both serene and beautiful despite its location in New York. The students seem intense but not full of themselves. I really like Columbia. From what I've seen, most people choose Columbia because there are features of the community that strongly appeal to them.

On one of the occassons when I turned down Columbia, I chose Harvard instead. While I liked many individuals who studied and worked there, Harvard was a rather cold place. I would bet that over half the people who choose Harvard do so not because of the opportunity to hang out in Boston or the amazing faculty or some other features of the the community but because Harvard is thought to be the most prestigious option. They go to Harvard because they think nobody turns down Harvard. Going to college with thousands of people who think that was isn't always ideal.

+1 I agree with this post. I went to Harvard and it was pretty awesome but nothing especially amazing. I think grad school at Harvard is a better experience than undergrad there. Some super smart and fantastic people but lots of arrogant airheads as well. Grade inflation definitely exists.

[Anonymous]

Cornell grad here. Eye opening thread. I dread to think about what China thinks about Cornell. Yikes. No Hong Kong investment banks will touch me I guess. Should have worked harder in HS. Will tiger parent my kid to get him into Harvard.