U of C/Harvard

newmassdad
Sat, 02 Apr 2005 22:04:57 +0000

jpps1, your post above (16) is a classic example of the problem so many people have with analyzing colleges. The question you asked and ansered is “Do Harvard people do better than non Harvard people?” and of course, the answer is yes. But, if you asked the question “Do kids with rich parents have higher living standards as adults than kids with poor parents?” the answer would also be yes, but have little to do with the kid, and everything to do with the parents.

In this situation, the proper question to ask is " how would the same kid who is Harvard material do if they attended, say, Chicago, or U. Kansas?" and research has shown that they would do the same.

you gotta control for inputs in situations like this. There has been a great deal of press obfuscating this point. No doubt the public affairs offices of elites have a hand in this obfuscation.

The one real difference is bragging rights.

BTW, my D is a first year at Chicago, and has about 15 classmates at Harvard. So far, when she compares notes, she finds her ed situation much more interesting. I would say the biggest difference is that Chicago wants faculty who teach undergrads, and only uses TA’s for science labs and discussion sections. (OK, maybe intro language courses, too). Harvard has more classes taught by grad students. Name faculty seldom appear in lectures for mere undergrads.