Is Harvard over-rated?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. This thread! I am a Harvard grad and it is t perfect by any means but it has among the most generous financial aid in the country. Admissions is still really hard for everyone. — a country club? Give me a beak.

I’m a Harvard grad too. Had a wonderful four years and it changed my life. All this thread shows is that those who can’t get in have to dump on it

The endowment is so high, they can make tuition 0, but they don't.

Why should they? The financial aid packages are reportedly excellent for those students who need it. Why should tuition be O for incredibly wealthy families — who would have to pay tuition even at their state schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. This thread! I am a Harvard grad and it is t perfect by any means but it has among the most generous financial aid in the country. Admissions is still really hard for everyone. — a country club? Give me a beak.

I’m a Harvard grad too. Had a wonderful four years and it changed my life. All this thread shows is that those who can’t get in have to dump on it

The endowment is so high, they can make tuition 0, but they don't.

Because endowments can’t be tapped into for that purpose

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Harvard is using the likes of Kim Kardashian to educate their students. So, there.

She's a knucklehead who managed to turn a sex tape into a billion or so dollars. She's far more successful than 99.9% of HBS grads.

I'd rather be one of the HBS grads making a living doing something that has value for the rest of the world and scraping by on $500k/year.

This might be one of the most naive statements I've ever ready on here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Harvard is using the likes of Kim Kardashian to educate their students. So, there.

She's a knucklehead who managed to turn a sex tape into a billion or so dollars. She's far more successful than 99.9% of HBS grads.

I'd rather be one of the HBS grads making a living doing something that has value for the rest of the world and scraping by on $500k/year.

This might be one of the most naive statements I've ever ready on here.

I’m a Harvard Law grad but have friends who did the joint MBA degree. You would be astounded at the good works done by students of both grad schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. This thread! I am a Harvard grad and it is t perfect by any means but it has among the most generous financial aid in the country. Admissions is still really hard for everyone. — a country club? Give me a beak.

I’m a Harvard grad too. Had a wonderful four years and it changed my life. All this thread shows is that those who can’t get in have to dump on it

The endowment is so high, they can make tuition 0, but they don't.

Because endowments can’t be tapped into for that purpose

Yes. Most endowments have restrictions from the donor. They can't just be reallocated in this way.

[Anonymous]

Jared Kushner was accepted after Daddy made a very generous donation. According to Daniel Golden, "the rich buy their under-achieving children’s way into elite universities with massive, tax-deductible donations." He also says an administrator from Jared's high school said of Jared, "His GPA did not warrant it, his SAT scores did not warrant it ... It was a little bit disappointing because there were at the time other kids we thought should really get in on the merits, and they did not."

If you want a pure meritocracy, you're better off looking at Caltech.

[Anonymous]

When you fill your freshmen class with 60 to 75% or more (they will never release these data) of recruited athletes, legacies, children of donors, celebrities, faculty & staff, VIPs, politicians etc. etc., you may have a good solid class with few stars to show off but certainly not the strongest class compared to schools admitting without all those bull crap.

[Anonymous]

It lost all credibility when it accepted Jazz Jennings and the Florida high school student who led the gun control events. Both worthy individuals but not intellectuals surely.

[Anonymous]

It’s the brand.

Plus, to be accepted the students need to be superstars at their high schools. (I know people will say legacy, professor kids, athletes and yes, these get a bit of a leg up but are still mostly superstars in their own right).

In terms of teaching - the students are mostly taught by TAs and don’t learn anything they wouldn’t / couldn’t learn elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

MIT, Caltech, and CMU are tops for engineering.

Stanford is tops for tech biz

Harvard is tops for world power.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It lost all credibility when it accepted Jazz Jennings and the Florida high school student who led the gun control events. Both worthy individuals but not intellectuals surely.

If Harvard starts admitting on the basis of (checks notes) nationally accomplished kids and not being the best grade grubber, it’s all coming apart.

[Anonymous]

Harvard, along with the rest of the Ivies, are hypocrites. They want to retain affirmative action yet refuse to get rid of ALDCs.

[Anonymous]

Yes.

[Anonymous]

I think all the applicants should 'boycott' Harvard for 1 year and see what happens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Jared Kushner was accepted after Daddy made a very generous donation. According to Daniel Golden, "the rich buy their under-achieving children’s way into elite universities with massive, tax-deductible donations." He also says an administrator from Jared's high school said of Jared, "His GPA did not warrant it, his SAT scores did not warrant it ... It was a little bit disappointing because there were at the time other kids we thought should really get in on the merits, and they did not."

If you want a pure meritocracy, you're better off looking at Caltech.

Why did you reactivate a 10 month old thread just to say this? So what? Most Harvard parents I know who want legacy status to count give six to seven figures.