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The thing is that Harvard’s actual instructor to student education is far worse than many universities like liberal arts colleges that focus on instruction. Nob
by ponker 6y ago
The thing is that Harvard’s actual instructor to student education is far worse than many universities like liberal arts colleges that focus on instruction. Nobel Laureates are just very hit or miss on teaching while colleges like Amherst or Reed or Davidson hire only for teaching skill. The reason you go to Harvard is for the name, and for what you get from other students — that when the next Mark Zuckerberg hires his first ten employees he’s looking to you, or when your college roommate is looking to hire a portfolio manager for his $700 million inheritance he feels that he can trust you because you did kegstands together. You’re not getting anything but the Harvard name in this model, and it’s uncomfortable for everyone involved to admit that it’s all about in-group signaling.
- panda888888 6y agoSeconding this comment. The quality of the undergraduate academic instruction at Harvard has a reputation for not being very good. I wish more people knew this. You'll get a better education if you go to a state school for undergrad and then Harvard for grad school.
- ponker 6y agoI don't think you'll get a better education at a state school. The state school has hiring criteria similar to Harvard but at a lower bar. You'll get a better education at a four year teaching-focused college.
- memexy 6y agoHow do you know what the hiring bar is?
- ponker 6y agoBecause my academic friends have almost never gotten a top-tier private university (Ivy-class) without also getting state school offers but the reverse has happened many times.
- memexy 6y agoSo top-tier -> state school but state school -/-> top-tier. I don't think that implies anything about hiring bars. My philosophy professor from community college graduated from a top-tier university and he chose to teach at a community college because he knew he would do much more good that way instead of being a professor at a top-tier university. More generally, associating prestige with educational institutions is why they've started to decline because optimizing for prestige is not the same as educating the next generation of visionaries.