Collegekid12

Probably the most overrated school in the country.

juggieburger

Then don't go. I will.

chari

Well Put!!

taemi

overrated. i wonder why...

jcll2002

He probably didn't get in. I agree, it is a little overrated, but no need to start a thread exclaiming to the world!

ncody0220

Collegekid12, why don't you explain why you feel it's overrated?

loslobos71

Harvard is certainly an amazing school, but you're ****ting yourself if you dont think it's overrated.

lhslexingtonorg

Overrated by whom? Business recruiters? or some random person on the street?

loslobos71

Just in general.

littleathiest

I agree that it's overrated as well (and before I get lambasted for being "a Harvard reject" I'll just say that I didn't apply to Harvard and never had any intention of applying there). It's a fantastic school, no denying that, but it's definitely not the ultimate college from an academic standpoint. Example: I have a friend who goes there who's a current sophomore. She absolutely loves it but is the first one to admit that there are other schools where you could get an equally good or superior education, particularly at the undergraduate level.

b4nnd20

True...doesn't mean it's bad...it's still terrific. Duh?

littleathiest

I agree b4nnd20... Harvard is a fantastic place. I just feel that's it overrated in that everyone sees it as "the number one school BY FAR" (at least at my "colllege prep" school).

lackadaisy

No, Harvard's not the best school... "best" is subjective but even objectively depends on what you value. It's not the best for, say, Engineering. Or English. Or Visual and Environmental Studies (Art). It's the best for Government (PoliSci), though, and pretty close for everything else I care for, so that's where I'm going.

Overrated by whom? I don't think Harvard students are blind to its shortcomings. If anything, they're (we're) pretty critical. Yalies, on the other hand...

kwijiborjt

Haha i'll reaffirm the stereotype . I, personally, was impressed by many features of harvard. The course selection and offering of majors in the life sciences were promising, it seemed as if you could get any money you wanted to do anything, and the location is a nice benefit, even if it's a bit too overpriced for a college budget. With that said, i turned harvard down because of a lot of its deficiencies. Visiting each university to which i was accepted, i asked people why they chose that school above other schools. I was surprised at how many of the students at harvard i met said "i chose it because my parents pressured me to" or "i probably would have liked (insert school here) better." I think that's an unfortunate consequence of harvard's brand name. I also didn't feel the same sense of community and spirit at harvard. As my former classmate who's now a freshman put it, "people aren't very rah-rah at harvard." This may seem silly to some of you, but the food was just plain bad when i visited, and i met a decent number of people that were legitimately unhappy, although that number was less than the number of people who were enjoying their experience. So, in that the general public seems to think harvard is the world's best university in every way, i'd say yes it is overrated. While i was very impressed by its academic programs (although not so thrilled with the core, which students seemed to endure more than enjoy), i thought the quality of life was lesser at harvard than at other schools i visited. So i chose yale!

Boola boola!
~kwijiborjt

posterX

Harvard is not overrated. It is clearly one of the greatest universities in the world. The Times of London calls it one of "the two greatest universities in the world" along with Yale.

There are no particular reasons to choose Harvard over other top-notch schools, however, seeing that the undergraduate student body there isn't any more selective than them these days (it used to be more selective, but in terms of relative standing has fallen dramatically in the past 5-10 years), the food certainly isn't better, the social scene isn't more vibrant, and in fact other top schools (Caltech, Yale, Princeton, Dartmouth) are somewhat objectively stronger for undergraduate education in many fields. (the University's HMS, HSPH or HBS, though, I would choose over probably any other programs)

Someone wrote: "It's the best for Government (PoliSci), though"

Gourman Report Political Science Department ranking:

1. Yale
2. U Michigan
3. UC Berkeley
4. Harvard
5. Chicago
6. Princeton
7. Stanford
8. U Wisconsin
9. UCLA
10. Cornell

Gourman Report undergraduate ranking in Political Science:

1. Yale
2. Harvard
3. Berkeley
4. Michigan
5. Chicago
6. MIT
7. Stanford
8. Wisconsin
9. Minnesota
10. Cornell