<p>I didn’t…long story…</p>
<p>I am writing this as an MIT alumnus, and interviewer, who spent a lot of time on the Harvard campus. Both schools are excellent. Both facilities are excellent. The culture of both campuses are different.</p>
<p>One of my close high school friends went to Harvard, and as it is only a mile down the road, I visited a lot. I always found that the Harvard campus was vaguely pretentious in a way in which made me not quite comfortable. I told her this one day and she said something like “Really? I feel exactly the same about the MIT campus.”</p>
<p>The question is not “Which is a better school?” That is a meaningless question. The better question is “Which is a better school for me?” If you have the opportunity it really helps to visit both of them before you choose (and of course you can apply to both and only visit when you have the two acceptances). See where you are comfortable.</p>
<p>MIT obviously has a strong concentration in the Sciences and Engineering, but it has other very strong departments including Business Management, Economics, Political Science, Linguistics, even the Music department is very highly rated. Harvard is traditionally much stronger in the humanities and most arts. </p>
<p>At Harvard, 56% of student major in English, History or the Social Sciences (not including 7% in psychology). 5% major in the physical sciences.
At MIT, some 55% of students major in some form of Engineering (including Materials Science and Naval Architecture). And 27% major in the physical sciences.</p>
<p>There is an apocryphal story of an event that occurred at a supermarket in Central Square in Cambridge roughly halfway between the two schools, when a student showed up at the express checkout lane (10 items or less) with a basket full of goods. The lady at the checkout counter is reported to have given the student a withering stare and asked “So are you from Harvard and couldn’t count, or from MIT and couldn’t read the sign?”</p>
<p>Also MIT and Harvard have broadly similar quantities of international applicants. MIT’s international admit rate hovers around 4%. I am unsure of Harvard’s, though MIT is often regarded as slightly harder for international students to get into, whereas Harvard is significantly harder for American students to get into. </p>
<p>Neither however, is trivial. Both are extremely competitive universities.</p>
<p>I should say something about why MIT is harder for internationals in an attempt to head off flame wars. This is largely due to the Asian applicant population. MIT could fill their freshman class with qualified applicants from India and/or China alone. These students do not apply to Harvard in the same numbers.</p>
<p>In a supermarket in Boston, in the rush cashier said “NO MORE THAN 10 ITEMS”. In the line was a student with a full cart.
The cashier thought this guy is from Harvard, because he can read, but he can’t count, wait maybe is from MIT he can count, but he can’t read.</p>
<p>Maybe he was from Princeton: couldn’t read, couldnt count, but was getting a free ride in the supermarket</p>
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<p>Anything to back up that claim?</p>
<p>Ajay, I’ve heard of that one as well…although it needn’t necessarily be true</p>
<p>In that case, hope there will be just around 200 eligible candidates for MIT nxt yr. -faints!!-
*sparkk: maybe the school could get bigger…?</p>
<p>MIT alum in here?? where?? How can we find out if an MIT alum resides within 80 km of your area (80 km coz thats the radius of UAE)?</p>
<p>I’ll gladly take MIT-specific questions in the MIT forum, rather than the International Students forum.</p>
<p>But in short, an MIT alum is not good enough, you need one registered and trained as an Educational Counselor(EC). That being said, yes advancer07, there are 6 ECs in Dubai, a couple in Abu Dhabi, and others around the region. I am not sure quite where you are applying from, but you should be able to get an interview.</p>
<p>Hope that his helps,</p>
<p>which is the best university for business (undergraduate).</p>
<p>Probably Wharton. But please, go by fit, and not name. That’s what’s most important in choosing your undergraduate college (you can leave prestige for grad school).</p>
<p>MIT is a terribly stressful school. If you really love studying, and by that I mean reading a 1000 page book in two days and writing a thesis on it, than this school is for you. Harvard is nothing like that. MIT is a place where you won’t find any hot girls at, which is a big decider for me. I don’t want to me stuck in a place where there are no girls worth dating (though they do have beautiful minds) and I am barred out of every other college’s parties because I am the “Nerd of the Heavens.” That’s why I would pick Harvard over MIT because the girls are better and you actually can get accepted into “hot girls from dumb college” club. This is maybe one of the least important matters in deciding the school for me, since I still can’t refuse the offer of MIT I received. May God know my destiny. Thank you for wasting so much time reading this…:)</p>
<p>Do you know who has the lowest acceptance rates? These colleges are fighting to be more stern in admission process. I believe some day their acceptance rates will only be 0.0005% i.e. only a student per class Lol. Anyway Mit has some sorts of Parties (not wild though), i guess. you can see here <a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9CByeMLCag[/url]”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9CByeMLCag</a></p>