Anonymous wrote:DC is having a hard time deciding where to go. Not set on a major. Likes CS, Physics, mathematics but also has a creative side and enjoys art. Likes many aspects about Princeton, Yale, Brown and Duke. But I think it will come down to Harvard, Stanford and MIT. We feel very fortunate he has many great choices. It was an unexpected result. Would appreciate any advice, thoughts, experiences. Thank you.

What about Princeton or maybe even Yale? Princeton has solid engineering and CS is top ten program. But also very strong liberal arts focus. If kid likes east coast, maybe a strong consideration along with Harvard? While Yale is known for humanities, the college is also investing a lot in STEM and offers an excellent undergraduate experience. Many would argue for a “generalist” kid right now, Princeton or Yale could be better than Harvard.

For a STEM leaning kid that is unsure of their major or may pivot, Stanford is the way to go. Excellent in STEM and excellent in the social sciences and humanities.

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Anonymous wrote:People will come up with all kinds of reasons to say otherwise, but Harvard is superlative in virtually every course of study and opens the greatest number of doors. I’d only say otherwise if they want to go into engineering.

No I agree and I’m an MIT grad. If more of a generalist and not passionate about engineering, should default to H for the name brand.

At MIT, were most of the classes taught by professors or grad students? I'm hearing that at Harvard, many classes are not taught by profs.

I never attended a class that wasn’t taught by a tenured professor. For the large freshman courses (think Multivariable Calc or intro to CS), the recitations were led by grad students. For all other courses, even the recitations were led by tenure-track profs. Excellent, excellent teaching throughout.

That being said, I would still recommend H for a generalist. At that point the name brand is more valuable than the learning.

ETA Even the very senior, famous professors at MIT seemed excited to come out of their labs and lecture 3x a week, even to the freshmen. This was before the era of smartphones though - hopefully the student body is still as engaged and the tenured professors are still as excited to lecture, but who knows.

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Anonymous wrote:People will come up with all kinds of reasons to say otherwise, but Harvard is superlative in virtually every course of study and opens the greatest number of doors. I’d only say otherwise if they want to go into engineering.

No I agree and I’m an MIT grad. If more of a generalist and not passionate about engineering, should default to H for the name brand.

At MIT, were most of the classes taught by professors or grad students? I'm hearing that at Harvard, many classes are not taught by profs.

I never attended a class that wasn’t taught by a tenured professor. For the large freshman courses (think Multivariable Calc or intro to CS), the recitations were led by grad students. For all other courses, even the recitations were led by tenure-track profs. Excellent, excellent teaching throughout.

That being said, I would still recommend H for a generalist. At that point the name brand is more valuable than the learning.

These acceptances sound like a kid from my DC’s school this year. STEM kid got into Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Caltech, CMU, Yale, Princeton, Duke, Brown, Columbia, Dartmouth, Vanderbilt, Rice, Williams, Amherst and other highly selective colleges in RD. Puzzling to me how one kid can be accepted to such different types of schools. Kid does not know where they want to go.

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Anonymous wrote:People will come up with all kinds of reasons to say otherwise, but Harvard is superlative in virtually every course of study and opens the greatest number of doors. I’d only say otherwise if they want to go into engineering.

No I agree and I’m an MIT grad. If more of a generalist and not passionate about engineering, should default to H for the name brand.

At MIT, were most of the classes taught by professors or grad students? I'm hearing that at Harvard, many classes are not taught by profs.

Anonymous wrote:People will come up with all kinds of reasons to say otherwise, but Harvard is superlative in virtually every course of study and opens the greatest number of doors. I’d only say otherwise if they want to go into engineering.

No I agree and I’m an MIT grad. If more of a generalist and not passionate about engineering, should default to H for the name brand.

OP here. Thank you for sharing. DCs interests have changed somewhat and evolved throughout the past year and I know it is not uncommon to change majors once in college.

Will attend back-to-back admit days for as many as possible. Finalizing registration for the last schools. I guess my kid needs to do more self-reflection and figure out what matters most to them and pay attention to vibes/location. But it helps to hear opinions from others. DC probably could be happy at all, but hopefully can figure out which is the best fit.

People will come up with all kinds of reasons to say otherwise, but Harvard is superlative in virtually every course of study and opens the greatest number of doors. I’d only say otherwise if they want to go into engineering.

Anonymous wrote:Should I hookup tonight with Scarlet Johansson or Jesica Alba or Margot Robbie? Need help deciding.

But this is not really a choice, if you think about it: two forty-somethings vs. Margot Robbie. So, which school is Margot Robbie? From a youth and up-and-coming standpoint, Stanford wins.

Got into all of those elite schools but has no idea about a major? Lol. Though I did see an "undecided" Harvard admit this cycle, that kid had at least one hook.

Anonymous wrote:Think about it. How many students apply to and get accepted (not even waitlisted) at these three universities? Ten? Maybe a dozen?

And one of their moms is crowdsourcing advice on a DC mommy blog? It beggars belief.

I am not OP, but my DC was also admitted to each of these schools, so it does happen. Although I am too shy to post, I did follow the discussion as there's no reason not to get data from any source. And yes, we are going to CPW, Admit Weekend, Visitas, and one other.

If not troll - send them to all the campus preview events. Worth the airfare

Anonymous wrote:My kid had a choice between Harvard and MIT full pay, but instead chose Alabama on a full ride.

I hope this is a joke. Why would you do that to your kid?

Think about it. How many students apply to and get accepted (not even waitlisted) at these three universities? Ten? Maybe a dozen?

And one of their moms is crowdsourcing advice on a DC mommy blog? It beggars belief.