Tufts vs Harvard vs Vanderbilt vs Upenn

ormdad
Sun, 01 May 2016 14:13:04 +0000

This is an interesting (one sided) conversation, but I have to disagree with @Mastadon- in the world of Silicon Valley, pedigree (prestige) rules:

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-startup-connections-insight-idUSBRE98B15U20130912

A Reuters analysis of the 88 Silicon Valley companies that received “Series A” funding from one of the five top Valley venture firms in 2011, 2012, or the first half of 2013 shows that 70 were founded by people who hailed from what could be described as the traditional Silicon Valley cohort.

That means the founders had held a senior position at a big technology firm, worked at a well-connected smaller one, started a successful company already, or attended one of just three universities - Stanford, Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

(no mention whether the educational background referred to graduate or undergraduate, or if they were CS majors)

Yes it’s a small sample size, but it is pretty clear to me that a Harvard degree will open more doors than one from Tufts. That’s not to say that Harvard CS grads are better equipped or more successful. I have worked with many Harvard and MIT CS grads, and know a couple Tufts CS grads. If anything, the Harvard CS grads are the least entrepreneurial and in some ways least impressive of the group.

Regardless, to the OP: sounds like you should go to Tufts. Harvard will help you later in life, but you could be pretty miserable there. It happens.