universityguys

7 ms·

1.
by universityguys 4y ago
Most of the students admitted have top percentile grades/test scores as well. But the competition at the very top is based in leadership rather than minuscule differences in testing, yes.
2.
by universityguys 4y ago
"I’ve worked in software engineering with Harvard, Stanford, and MIT students. The only difference I saw was during their first couple of years out of undergrad where the people who went to prestigious schools had more confidence to ju
3.
by universityguys 4y ago
I feel like Harvard and MIT, those two universities in particular, carry a very unique cachet. Other elite universities may not be so worth it.
4.
by universityguys 4y ago
I have known multiple Stanford students who still bring up the fact that they "also got into Harvard." It seems that if you get into Harvard, you should just go. The brand name is too powerful.
5.
by universityguys 4y ago
This is the argument Professor Mansfield at Harvard uses (the bigot part). Inspiration from him or just coincidence?
6.
by universityguys 4y ago
Stanford has grade inflation, but not at the level at Harvard. Faculty senate said median GPA is 3.69 (so less than 50% have at least a 3.7, despite being just as selective as Harvard). And this is after taking into account that Stanford A+
7.
by universityguys 4y ago
To be fair, U of Toronto is nowhere near selective as Harvard.
8.
by universityguys 4y ago
Why does Harvard have orders of magnitudes higher GPA than any school with comparable student bodies other than Yale?
9.
by universityguys 4y ago
most students at harvard and other elite universities come from american public schools, for the record. very high concentration of rich preppy private school kids, yes, but majority is still public.
10.
by universityguys 4y ago
This is true. It is simultaneously true that many of these people have excellent credentials from a signaling standpoint. e.g. Shaw loves their Rhodes Scholars
11.
by universityguys 4y ago
I feel like Stanford is a little different. Despite being as selective as Harvardm Harvard has a very unique international reputation as the world's best university (or at least america's best university for the oxbridge lovers)
12.
by universityguys 4y ago
This isn't true, it's a strange assumption often perpetuated online. Looking at cross-admit numbers actually published by Stanford's Faculty Senate, for example, Stanford's biggest overlap is with Harvard, Yale, MIT, and
13.
by universityguys 4y ago
I agree, even as OP. Malcom Gladwell's writings on elite universities have gone viral, and even though some good points are sometimes made, many are just stretching the truth for clicks. As for the general grade inflation problem: It i
14.
by universityguys 4y ago
Right, but it makes no sense that Harvard's grade distribution is so different than schools with similarly strong student bodies like Princeton, Columbia, UChicago, Berkeley, etc. Also keep in mind that a very, very large portion of st
15.
by universityguys 4y ago
Yes. Elite hedge funds, private equity firms, etc. all care about academic credentials. Even within quant firms lots of Harvard grads will look to see if a candidate is a "Math 55er" and the grade received in the course if so.
16.
Grade Inflation: Over 82% of Harvard '22 Graduating With Over a 3.7 (A-) GPA(features.thecrimson.com)
262 points by universityguys 4y ago|331 comments