Tell me why Harvard is the best!

[Anonymous]

Why is Harvard the best university and the tip top of college admissions achievement?

[Anonymous]

Name recognition among employers. If an employer gets a resume from a kid who went to Harvard and a kid who went to University of Maryland, who do you think she'll hire? It won't be the kid from Maryland.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Name recognition among employers. If an employer gets a resume from a kid who went to Harvard and a kid who went to University of Maryland, who do you think she'll hire? It won't be the kid from Maryland.

Unless the employer is an alum of UMD!

Or the kid from UMD has a STEM major and the kid from Harvard did a major in English literature, and the job requires quantitative skills.

If the job requires people to be personable and somewhat good looking, the UMD kid has a better chance.

[Anonymous]

Because US News university rankings, by far the most influential ratings scale in the industry, decided many years ago to do whatever it takes to keep Harvard, Yale and Princeton at the top of their list. This way, the top Ivies agree to cooperate with the rankings and receive top notch publicity, and US News gets sold.

Read the Price of Admission. An excellent book that debunks the machinations behind college acceptances.

[Anonymous]

It's not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Name recognition among employers. If an employer gets a resume from a kid who went to Harvard and a kid who went to University of Maryland, who do you think she'll hire? It won't be the kid from Maryland.

Not any employer. Ivy graduates have a reputation of being arrogant prima donnas. Of course, not all are, but this is certainly a factor outside of Big 4 management consulting, Big Law, maybe a few other narrow niches.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Name recognition among employers. If an employer gets a resume from a kid who went to Harvard and a kid who went to University of Maryland, who do you think she'll hire? It won't be the kid from Maryland.

Unless the employer is an alum of UMD!

Or the kid from UMD has a STEM major and the kid from Harvard did a major in English literature, and the job requires quantitative skills.

If the job requires people to be personable and somewhat good looking, the UMD kid has a better chance.

you would be surprised what a bank or hedgefund would pick.

as for personable/good looking - there's another reason why top consultancies and banks from front office positions troll the ivy league: they are easier to put in front of clients in these fields (atleast that's what banks/consultancies think so).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Name recognition among employers. If an employer gets a resume from a kid who went to Harvard and a kid who went to University of Maryland, who do you think she'll hire? It won't be the kid from Maryland.

Unless the employer is an alum of UMD!

Or the kid from UMD has a STEM major and the kid from Harvard did a major in English literature, and the job requires quantitative skills.

If the job requires people to be personable and somewhat good looking, the UMD kid has a better chance.

LOL. Maryland graduates as a group are pretty freakin' unattractive. No Natalie Portmans or Winklevoss twins to be found in College Park.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's not.

Yes it is. U.S. News says so and I believe them more than I do you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Name recognition among employers. If an employer gets a resume from a kid who went to Harvard and a kid who went to University of Maryland, who do you think she'll hire? It won't be the kid from Maryland.

Not any employer. Ivy graduates have a reputation of being arrogant prima donnas. Of course, not all are, but this is certainly a factor outside of Big 4 management consulting, Big Law, maybe a few other narrow niches.

This. My dad was a division director at a large tech company and absolutely would not hire Ivy grads and did not want us applying to them. He'd had too many bad experiences with arrogant prima donnas.

Personally, I've worked with plenty people from Ivys and most have been great but the ones who are a PITA seem to directly tie their PITA-ness to their Ivy experience -- one of the first entry level people I supervised didn't think she should have to fax stuff (a huge part of an assistant's job in those days) because she went to Penn (yes, she actually said that to me, her boss). It definitely made me look closer for that entitlement attitude when interviewing Ivy grads, more so than those from other schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Name recognition among employers. If an employer gets a resume from a kid who went to Harvard and a kid who went to University of Maryland, who do you think she'll hire? It won't be the kid from Maryland.

Not any employer. Ivy graduates have a reputation of being arrogant prima donnas. Of course, not all are, but this is certainly a factor outside of Big 4 management consulting, Big Law, maybe a few other narrow niches.

This. My dad was a division director at a large tech company and absolutely would not hire Ivy grads and did not want us applying to them. He'd had too many bad experiences with arrogant prima donnas.

Personally, I've worked with plenty people from Ivys and most have been great but the ones who are a PITA seem to directly tie their PITA-ness to their Ivy experience -- one of the first entry level people I supervised didn't think she should have to fax stuff (a huge part of an assistant's job in those days) because she went to Penn (yes, she actually said that to me, her boss). It definitely made me look closer for that entitlement attitude when interviewing Ivy grads, more so than those from other schools.

This has been my experience.

I had an employee from an Ivy who informed me loftily that the college I went to (which was a top 10 SLAC) was her "safety school." She's had a lot of problems with arrogant behavior and cluelessness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's not.

Yes it is. U.S. News says so and I believe them more than I do you.

In fact, US News ranks Princeton number 1 and Harvard in second place. But who's counting?

[Anonymous]

US News rankings are partially fabricated, as is well-known.
Universities fudge numbers they send to them, and those colleges who refuse to play along get sent to the bottom ranks.

I'm not saying we shouldn't pay attention to rankings, since employers still largely go for name-recognition. Just see the rankings for what they are. A nice little cronyist system.

[Anonymous]

I hate how people always bring up the whole "UMD STEM major/Harvard English major" dichotomy. There are kids at Harvard who major in STEM, and contrary to many people's belief some of those departments are top notch. Harvard has a great chemistry department, for example.


However, I can see how someone would have a better undergraduate experience (less TAs, for example) at Yale or Princeton without any sacrifice to "name recognition"....

[Anonymous]

Harvard's the best because they have the third biggest library in America, obviously.