Tufts vs Harvard vs Vanderbilt vs Upenn

Mastadon
Sun, 01 May 2016 08:56:10 +0000

@deaston-

You may be the only one at Tufts to turn down Harvard. I’m sure there are many Harvard students that turned down Tufts. I hire a lot of young people and when I see Harvard on a resume, it gets extra attention.

Harvard has a high yield, but the notion that nobody turns down Harvard is fascinating…

One needs to remember that 44% of Tufts class is admitted early decision and there are plenty of RD applicants that “turned down” Harvard by not applying.

Based on Parchment matchup data we get the following for winning head to head competition vs Harvard:

Yale 41% 35-46% (for 95% confidence interval)
Penn 22% 17-28%
Princeton 20% 16-25%
Tufts 15% 7-21%
Brown 14% 9-18%
Columbia 11% 7-15%
Cornell 7% 3-10%
Dartmouth 5% 2-7%

It is challenging to attach any meaning to these numbers because it is hard to know the attributes of the sample populations. The results can be a function of financial aid packages and will vary by major. Penn’s relatively strong showing is probably the result of Wharton (which does not factor into the OP’s situation).

The results can also vary year to year depending on the attributes of the sample of the population that happen to be accepted at competing schools each year.

Based on the tournament model of head to head competitions in 2016:

Penn ranked 5th (it has recently been ranked as low as #10)
Harvard ranked 23rd (it has recently been ranked as high as #1)
Tufts ranked 25th (it has recently been ranked as high as #13)

One must also remember that the aspects of the Harvard stereotype (whether true or not) that make the candidate appealing as a lawyer can just as easily make the candidate unappealing in a tech environment that puts a priority on maintaining a cooperative, team based culture.

It is also important to remember that if one is not comfortable with the Harvard environment, then it is unlikely that one is going to be comfortable working in a company environment that shows deference in its hiring practices to Harvard alums…

Likewise for the Tufts environment or that of any other college.