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Different folks, different strokes. I think everyone should realise going into this that the entire premise of the article is ridiculous. I think very few peop

by objclxt 14y ago

Different folks, different strokes. I think everyone should realise going into this that the entire premise of the article is ridiculous. I think very few people in academia would disagree with this. MIT may be the most important university in the world for technology or entrepreneurship. But if you're a arts student is MIT 'the most important university in the world'? No, probably not. It is extremely easy to myopically focus on the fields that are relevant to your own interests, and prioritise accordingly. Of course, it's a magazine article, not a paper. People shouldn't take it too seriously - I went to Harvard, I also cross-registered at MIT. I enjoyed my time at both places. I now interview and help recruit international students in the UK. If your primary readon for choosing a university is a magazine article, or a ranking, or anything other than your own personal feeling you're doing something wrong.

rayiner 14y ago
I agree the premise of the article is ridiculous. I was taking a tongue-in-cheek jab at the self-importance exhibited in the article... Harvard absolutely dominates MIT in finance, business, politics, law, medicine, and all the fields of the humanities. I wouldn't be surprised if a higher proportion of Harvard graduates started their own companies, considering Harvard's massive MBA program.
- _pius 14y ago
  Harvard absolutely dominates MIT in finance, business, politics, law, medicine, and all the fields of the humanities. I wouldn't be surprised if a higher proportion of Harvard graduates started their own companies, considering Harvard's massive MBA program. You're very confused. Related: MIT does not have a law school or medical school.
  - rayiner 14y ago
    What relevance does that have? Would you consider a university the greatest in the world if it didn't have any engineering or science programs?
    - _pius 14y ago
      I'm already regretting replying to you, but in for a penny, in for a pound, I guess. What relevance does that have? Should be obvious. You've claimed that Harvard "absolutely dominates" MIT in law, but MIT doesn't have a law school. Would you consider a university the greatest in the world if it didn't have any engineering or science programs? Not sure the relevance here, as MIT has a full complement of humanities programs. I wouldn't be surprised if a higher proportion of Harvard graduates started their own companies, considering Harvard's massive MBA program. Doubt it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIT_Sloan_School_of_Management http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIT_Sloan_School_of_Management Harvard absolutely dominates MIT in finance [and] business No. http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-business-schools/finance-rankings http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-gradu... ... [and] all the fields of the humanities. No. http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-humanities-schools/economics-rankings http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-gradu... If you actually do want to see domination, though, feel free to check this out. http://www.usnews.com/education/best-graduate-schools/articles/2011/03/15/mit-dominates-rankings-of-best-engineering-programs http://www.usnews.com/education/best-graduate-schools/articl...
      - deleted 14y ago
        [deleted]
      - tedunangst 14y ago
        You've claimed that Harvard "absolutely dominates" MIT in law, but MIT doesn't have a law school. If the other team doesn't even show up, the team that does gets the W.
        geebee 14y ago
        While I don't mean to discount the importance of a law school, from a research perspective I think there is a massive order of magnitude difference between lacking an engineering or med school vs lacking a law school. In short, I don't think a law school matters enough from a research perspective to factor here. The med school thing does, though. The only university with top research programs in essentially everything is Stanford. If you allow UCSF to stand in for Berkeley's med school (which you can't really), then UCB/UCSF would be the other one. While Harvard is an exceptional research institution, I think it falls just a little too far short of Stanford and Berkeley in engineering and applied science to qualify as the top research institution.

by objclxt 14y ago

rayiner 14y ago

I agree the premise of the article is ridiculous. I was taking a tongue-in-cheek jab at the self-importance exhibited in the article... Harvard absolutely dominates MIT in finance, business, politics, law, medicine, and all the fields of the humanities. I wouldn't be surprised if a higher proportion of Harvard graduates started their own companies, considering Harvard's massive MBA program.

_pius 14y ago
Harvard absolutely dominates MIT in finance, business, politics, law, medicine, and all the fields of the humanities. I wouldn't be surprised if a higher proportion of Harvard graduates started their own companies, considering Harvard's massive MBA program. You're very confused. Related: MIT does not have a law school or medical school.
- rayiner 14y ago
  What relevance does that have? Would you consider a university the greatest in the world if it didn't have any engineering or science programs?
  - _pius 14y ago
    I'm already regretting replying to you, but in for a penny, in for a pound, I guess. What relevance does that have? Should be obvious. You've claimed that Harvard "absolutely dominates" MIT in law, but MIT doesn't have a law school. Would you consider a university the greatest in the world if it didn't have any engineering or science programs? Not sure the relevance here, as MIT has a full complement of humanities programs. I wouldn't be surprised if a higher proportion of Harvard graduates started their own companies, considering Harvard's massive MBA program. Doubt it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIT_Sloan_School_of_Management http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIT_Sloan_School_of_Management Harvard absolutely dominates MIT in finance [and] business No. http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-business-schools/finance-rankings http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-gradu... ... [and] all the fields of the humanities. No. http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-humanities-schools/economics-rankings http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-gradu... If you actually do want to see domination, though, feel free to check this out. http://www.usnews.com/education/best-graduate-schools/articles/2011/03/15/mit-dominates-rankings-of-best-engineering-programs http://www.usnews.com/education/best-graduate-schools/articl...
    - deleted 14y ago
      [deleted]
    - tedunangst 14y ago
      You've claimed that Harvard "absolutely dominates" MIT in law, but MIT doesn't have a law school. If the other team doesn't even show up, the team that does gets the W.
      - geebee 14y ago
        While I don't mean to discount the importance of a law school, from a research perspective I think there is a massive order of magnitude difference between lacking an engineering or med school vs lacking a law school. In short, I don't think a law school matters enough from a research perspective to factor here. The med school thing does, though. The only university with top research programs in essentially everything is Stanford. If you allow UCSF to stand in for Berkeley's med school (which you can't really), then UCB/UCSF would be the other one. While Harvard is an exceptional research institution, I think it falls just a little too far short of Stanford and Berkeley in engineering and applied science to qualify as the top research institution.