My experience is that those who apply to college on the basis of name recognition alone can be disappointed even if they are admitted. There are meaningful differences in campus culture and student experience among these three schools. The quality of life and indeed the overall experience can be higher elsewhere. For example, at Harvard you are likely to get far more of your teaching for grad students that at say, Amherst. It may be that there are some firms that hire only from Harvard, but I am fairly familiar with the hiring practices of US Ibanks and fund companies, and I don’t know of any. My suggestion is to dive more deeply into the schools before you make any decision. As for admissions, in recent years the admit rate at Harvard for kids with SATs of 1600 has been around 10%. Another reason to cast a broader net. Good luck,
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