Harvard Is Training Us for a World That No Longer Exists

[Anonymous]

But you *can* take vibe coding as one of your CS requirements: CS1060 meets one of the CS major's requirements.

[Anonymous]

The path to success in the future requires acceptance that you will need to continually learn, because the “practical skills” required in the workplace change constantly. I work in big tech and even the most senior execs spend hours per week learning and experimenting with AI.

The idea that Harvard should be teaching prompt engineering is farcical, first because in two years the skills needed will have evolved or changed completely, and second because these skills can be learned outside of academic classes by any student with a little gumption. This is how Harvard students have prepped for finance/ business careers for generations. Sounds like the author of this article is stressed and they have my empathy. Now go figure out what you need to learn and learn it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2025/11/18/wyche-harvard-ai-education/

Cornell and Penn in comparison are much more pragmatic. Both have separate engineering schools that teach kids how to actually code. Both have separate undergraduate b-schools. In general Wharton and Dyson kids are very preprofessional, go getters.

Lol this guy is mainly concerned about acing his Finance interviews so he can get rich.

"If Harvard wants to recalibrate academic dedication among students, prevent absenteeism, and lower career anxiety, moving towards tangible skill development in the classroom is a good way to go."

This kid recommends accounting classes as one fix.

I actually liked accounting in MBA school. But I don't think it's practical for undergrads who aren't intending an accounting major.

[Anonymous]

When will you learn NOT to cite whiny student newspapers. This stupid piece was written by someone who won’t even graduate until 2027 please start using your brain before posting student nonsense

[Anonymous]

Going to Harvard College to learn to code is an amusing idea but God invented state schools -- Purdue, say -- for that.

[Anonymous]

Yeah for sure. Thats why I didn’t go to Harvard, too

[Anonymous]

It’s a dumb student opinion from a student newspaper! Always check the author and publication before you read anything or bother commenting! This isn’t even worth reading

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Frankly, I’m shocked a Harvard student wrote this. Perhaps, the student is relatively poor and believes Harvard should land him a fancy job on Wall Street. But, the irony is that the basic skills this student seeks are not the goal of a liberal arts education or really what gets someone an IB job. Going to Harvard, or any elite school, is about developing the philosophical and ethical orientation to become a national leader. Graduate/professional school is for a more specific and toolbox approach. Harvard is not and should not be a trade school.

Admitting truly talented students based on merit does NOT make Harvard (or any school) a trade school; it simply means the institution is fulfilling its mission to educate the most capable students. Confusing merit-based admissions with vocational training reflects bigotry and lack of intelligence.

This article says nothing about merit based admissions though...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Elite universities are immune from these concerns. Brown, Dartmouth are the same or worse. They hire ivy graduates due to the prestige. There is no much difference between what’s taught at Harvard vs what’s taught at Haverford. As long as corporations continue hiring elites there is nothing to worry about.

Schools like JHU are different, they were built on German models. There is no prestige associated with JHU. Their success is measured by output.

And yet world leaders and their top people come to the US to go to Harvard and other Ivy League schools and leave to become successful in their countries. Harvard has graduated over 100 recent billionaires. The top hospitals in Boston are teaching affiliates of Harvard with Harvard trained doctors.

The White House administrations continue to be overrun by Harvard and other Ivy League graduates. Biden had 26 staffers from Yale and 18 from Harvard. Surprisingly Trump had more Harvard graduates in his cabinet than any other school. And for all of their talk about Harvard, Yale, Princeton being elite liberal havens the school also teaches their share of right wing including Steve Bannon , Reince Preibus, Mike Flynn, John Bolton Jarod Kushner, Ben Shapiro. Their education helped them become who they are, good or bad.

On the opposite end, the so painfully unqualified people Trunp put in power have shown the difference between an Ivy League education and a tier 3 type college education in terms of success and failure. Bondi, a graduate of UF and Stetson Law School, Kristi Noem, a graduate of South Dakota state with a BA are two example of the reason Ivy League education still matters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Elite universities are immune from these concerns. Brown, Dartmouth are the same or worse. They hire ivy graduates due to the prestige. There is no much difference between what’s taught at Harvard vs what’s taught at Haverford. As long as corporations continue hiring elites there is nothing to worry about.

Schools like JHU are different, they were built on German models. There is no prestige associated with JHU. Their success is measured by output.

No math 55 or physics 16 or CS 1210 at Haverford. JHU is very prestigious.

Math 55 was replaced 10! years ago with a regular track class that keeps its name only for branding. It's Real and Complex Analysis, and Linear and Abstract Algebra, all of which are at Haverford.

Harvard CS 1210 is Haverford CMSC/Math H345

Physics 16 is a review of H105 and half of H235

What Harvard has that Haverford does not is a large catalog of in-major electives and graduate level classes available for undergraduates. LAC a students take a more common core of courses and then move on to a graduate program.

What you end up with is Haverford and Harvard have a similar ratio of future PhDs to graduates, with a higher ratio at Haverford.

Harvard probably has more of the students who learn on their own despite poor/absent college teaching, while Haverford has more who are well taught.

https://www.collegetransitions.com/dataverse/top-feeders-phd-programs/#physics

[Anonymous]

Harvard is a hedge fund posing as a university. Has been for several decades now. It’s just that the rot has finally become visible to the masses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Going to Harvard College to learn to code is an amusing idea but God invented state schools -- Purdue, say -- for that.

and MIT 😉

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2025/11/18/wyche-harvard-ai-education/

Cornell and Penn in comparison are much more pragmatic. Both have separate engineering schools that teach kids how to actually code. Both have separate undergraduate b-schools. In general Wharton and Dyson kids are very preprofessional, go getters.

Harvard has a School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When will you learn NOT to cite whiny student newspapers. This stupid piece was written by someone who won’t even graduate until 2027 please start using your brain before posting student nonsense

+1

Why do we have many threads started about students’ opinion pieces? Is it a single poster?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Harvard is a hedge fund posing as a university. Has been for several decades now. It’s just that the rot has finally become visible to the masses.

Not wrong, and yet no shortage of applicants...