Anonymous wrote:Harvard for 4 years and then move to Florida. I would not pick a school based on weather.
Anonymous wrote:Here's a summary of some relevant studies -
https://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/the-college-solution/2011/03/01/the-ivy-league-earnings-myth
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I went to Harvard and can confirm that the name has and continues to open doors to me. It is clear that the Harvard name catches attention and draws perks and special consideration long after the point when most other colleges' names stops mattering in the course of a person's career. Fair or not, the advantage is real.
In 10 years, nobody will take note of Miami on your son's CV, but Harvard will continue to draw attention for his entire professional career. It is absurd to consider passing up Harvard for the sake of a few years in the sun now: tell your son to go to Harvard and then move to Miami for work.
Plus, Cambridge and Boston have a charm of their own.
This is confirmation bias. You haven’t been in the job market as the graduate of another university. Other colleges have prestige and alumni networks. Back in the day, when every high-stats kid who applied could get into an Ivy and these schools had a concentration of the children of the wealthy and powerful, Harvard meant more. Now, there are huge numbers of smart, high stats kids who go elsewhere. Yes, a Harvard degree is nice, but the difference between an Ivy degree and a degree from one of the many other well-regarded schools out there isn’t what it used to be.
I’m the child of a University of Miami alumnus. I never even thought of applying there, because it sounded too much like a party school. I also dated someone who played basketball at a T30, Division III school.
The son of the OP should go to the University of Miami.
Combining varsity sports with serious academics at a place like Harvard would be stressful.
The University of Miami has solid classes, for students who want that, and it has extremely loyal, rich alumni. A student who can handle the party scene at Miami and play decent golf can go on to do anything.
Harvard is better for someone who wants to teach philosophy or be an investment banker, but Miami is great for someone who wants to hire investment bankers, or own banks, shopping malls or subdivisions.
Anonymous wrote:This one is easy...he should go to the University of Miami...no questions asked.
He will be much happier, which means he will likely do well. Sounds like it feels like home to him. That counts for alot.
He won't come out of school with a ton of debt.
He can get a solid education.
He can play his sport at a great school
What's left to consider?
If he wants to go to graduate school, he can go to Harvard then.
Anonymous wrote:This one is easy...he should go to the University of Miami...no questions asked.
He will be much happier, which means he will likely do well. Sounds like it feels like home to him. That counts for a lot.
He won't come out of school with a ton of debt.
He can get a solid education.
He can play his sport at a great school
What's left to consider?
If he wants to go to graduate school, he can go to Harvard then.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I went to Harvard and can confirm that the name has and continues to open doors to me. It is clear that the Harvard name catches attention and draws perks and special consideration long after the point when most other colleges' names stops mattering in the course of a person's career. Fair or not, the advantage is real.
In 10 years, nobody will take note of Miami on your son's CV, but Harvard will continue to draw attention for his entire professional career. It is absurd to consider passing up Harvard for the sake of a few years in the sun now: tell your son to go to Harvard and then move to Miami for work.
Plus, Cambridge and Boston have a charm of their own.
This is confirmation bias. You haven’t been in the job market as the graduate of another university. Other colleges have prestige and alumni networks. Back in the day, when every high-stats kid who applied could get into an Ivy and these schools had a concentration of the children of the wealthy and powerful, Harvard meant more. Now, there are huge numbers of smart, high stats kids who go elsewhere. Yes, a Harvard degree is nice, but the difference between an Ivy degree and a degree from one of the many other well-regarded schools out there isn’t what it used to be.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:If he is dumb enough to prefer Miami for it's weather - I say go for it, make the change and open up a spot for some smarter and clearly more deserving kid to Harvard.
Harsh, but not totally inaccurate. OP's son is thinking very short term.
You're acting like Harvard makes the student, the reality is the students make Harvard what it is. If he is smart enough into Harvard he'll probably be fine doing whatever it is he'd like to do or go where he wants with or without Harvard.