<p>I’m currently a junior at a top liberal arts college. My GPA is about a 3.76 and I believe I would need a 3.82 or thereabouts to get an invitation into PBK by the time I graduate. However, any grades I receive at Harvard will not be factored in to the decision. My motives for attending Harvard are to take courses in an area that is not very well-developed at my LAC, have a more recognizable name on my resume (which may be helpful if I do not go to graduate school), and less importantly, to spend some time away from the suburban bubble my LAC is in. I’m not sure what career I want to pursue, and I think that the courses I would take at Harvard might be relevant to one possible route. What’s holding me back is the possibility of getting PBK if I stay where I am… my grades have been improving, and I stand a chance if I continue to do well.</p>
<p>If any parents here could offer some input, I would love that. Which seems like it would help me more in the long run?</p>
<p>Spending a semester at another school - even Harvard - is not really something worth putting on your resume. It would be a nice thing to brag about in later life, though.</p>
<p>Almost 100% of your reasoning is wrong. Do what you would do if you were purely doing it for yourself, not for what anybody else might think of it. No one other than you (and maybe your Mom) will care about your Phi Beta Kappa membership, or whether you spent a semester at Harvard.</p>
<p>PBK seems largely useless to me, since all it really signifies is that you had a high GPA. Grad schools will look at your transcript anyways, and it probably won’t matter after grad school. I think spending a semester at Harvard is a really good idea for the reason that you will be taking classes that aren’t available at your home school, and not because Harvard is prestigious.</p>
<p>I really think it’s a personal decision. The semester at Harvard is really for you. Spending a season in Boston is it’s own education. PBK is for you, too. The PBK might go on your resume as an award, the semester at Harvard would not unless you added it like a foreign study or some other activity that was unique to your four years at college. Most corporations that need a transcript for their own accreditation or procedure ask for it after you are hired or as verification of your resume during the hiring process. Government positions sometimes ask you to attach it to your application.</p>
<p>I was a member of PBK and frankly, it’s useless. It’s a throwaway line on a resume, and it stopped mattering (to the extent that it mattered at all, which is to say minimally) after I got my first job. I agree that it’s repetitive to having a high GPA, and I agree that no one other than your mother will care. I don’t even think my mother does.</p>
<p>Why does it seem as if government agencies are more likely to request transcripts? I know that private organizations/companies also request them, but government agencies seem much more likely to do so.</p>
<p>What Pizzagirl and warbrain said. Sounds like you just want bragging rights; you get neither from either. You should ask yourself why you are asking this question. This thread should have stopped after post #3.</p>
<p>You’re at a “top LAC?” I guess I’m in the minority, but I think that Phi Beta Kappa is worth more in “bragging rights,” if that’s what you’re after, than a semester at Harvard.<br>
If it’s a chance for a more rounded education, then I’d have to say go for the Harvard semester.</p>
<p>During my entire career (30+ years), my PBK membership was mentioned by a prospective employer exactly once. Perhaps it silently dazzled others, but I doubt it. (But then I didn’t wear my key either–ick. Actually, I never even ordered the key.) My alma mater and GPA said all that was necessary about my academic prowess. Don’t let potential PBK membership influence your decision at all.</p>
<p>Agree with all about PBK, at least my experience. I was pleased to have gotten it junior year. I doubt my mom even cared. And it mattered not a bit for jobs or grad school. So do what you think is better for your learning and growth! take care,</p>
<p>The one place that PBK is probably quite useful is in academia. In the private sector - after your first job it is your experience which will get you your next job. But very few potential employers will consider your semester at Harvard, either. Make your choice based on what education you will get from that semester, either at your LAC or at Harvard, not based on the marginal reputational effects of PBK vs. a semester as a visiting student at Harvard.</p>
<p>Personally, if a resume listing “spent one semester at Harvard” came across my desk, my first thought would be “why not all semesters at Harvard” :D. I would not put something like that on a resume. PBK, however, is something to list as an award on your resume for your first job.</p>
<p>I think that a semester at Harvard would give you a different perspective and advance your education. I can imagine that it might change your life. I also don’t think it gets listed on the resume – but that the connections and interactions from that semester might be very valuable.</p>
<p>I don’t know if PBK is important for graduate school application (law school). If not, then I would spend a semester at Harvard to get a different experience. One of the down side of going to a small LAC is it could get stifling after few years. Most kids enjoy the experience first 2 years (nice transition from high school to college), but it could get boring later on. I went to a small LAC and I didn’t encourage my kids to go there because of the size.</p>
<p>Oh good grief, the semester at H will “change his life”? Why do you talk about H in these mystical, magical tones? He’ll go, he’ll have a great time, make some new friends, experience some new things, etc. but he’s not experiencing the Second Coming here.</p>