eve2008 Posted March 2, 2008 Posted March 2, 2008 Hello. I'm trying to decide between Stanford and Harvard, and thought I might solicit the opinion of the members of this forum who might be a bit more objective than any of the faculty or graduate students trying to recruit their admits! I'd rather not go into the details of my interests, which I suppose handicaps your ability to offer advice. But any comments on the general strengths and weaknesses of the comparative programs, the quality of life in Palo Alto v. Cambridge would be appreciated...hell, at this point, I'm even interested in what your Ouija board has to say. I guess I can't go wrong at either. Harvard is Harvard, but they are huge and haven't been doing that well with placement the last few cycles, while Stanford has been cleaning up. Since I will be on the job market in 6+ years, I don't really know the value of those data...
Canadianpolsci Posted March 2, 2008 Posted March 2, 2008 The Harvard placement record looked solid to me. I think you should focus on one or two professors you can see supervising you. That, I think, is the key.
silencio1982 Posted March 2, 2008 Posted March 2, 2008 Hello. I'm trying to decide between Stanford and Harvard, and thought I might solicit the opinion of the members of this forum who, although perhaps a bit uninformed, are certainly more objective than any of the faculty or graduate students trying to recruit their admits! I'd rather not go into the details of my interests, which I suppose handicaps your ability to offer advice. But any comments of the general strengths and weaknesses of the comparative programs, the quality of life in Palo Alto v. Cambridge...hell, at this point, I'm even interested in what your Ouija board has to say. I guess I can't go wrong at either. Harvard is Harvard, but they are huge and haven't been doing that well with placement the last few cycles, while Stanford has been cleaning up. Since I will be on the job market in 6+ years, I don't really know the value of those data... i can't speak to palo alto, but i currently live in boston and am pretty familiar with cambridge as i used to work near harvard sq and took a class at harvard. it's a cool place to live... i often cross to the cambridge side of the river for films, food, & music. definitely a vibrant student life. there are some pretty affordable places to live in cambridge as well, at least as expensive east coast city prices go. i am not totally in love with the boston/cambridge area (i am actually really excited to be starting somewhere new next year), but it was a good place to spend the last 4 years of my life, and definitely a great place to be a student. i've been pretty happy here, met my husband here, and made some great friends. i would say either school would obviously provide you with great opportunities and as far as placement goes i doubt harvard and stanford will have huge differential in the long run, even though it may vary from year to year. and, although it is a pretty trivial reason to pick a school, the weather up here in the winter is pretty damn depressing.
dudemaster Posted March 2, 2008 Posted March 2, 2008 All I can say is that I'm wait listed at Harvard and if you do choose Stanford please informed Harvard promptly! I will love you forever through the internet and it will provide you with a bounty of positive karma if you believe in that kind of hooey.
glabkl Posted March 4, 2008 Posted March 4, 2008 I didn't apply to Harvard, but I'm currently a grad student at MIT, and I had the option of going to Stanford. I love Cambridge and east coast cities in general. So much to do and see that's within walking distance or easily accessed by subway! At Stanford, on the other hand, everything is ridiculously spread out; bikes are needed just to get around campus. If you like warm, dry, sunny weather, Stanford has an advantage, but having grown up in MN, I find Cambridge winters to be relatively forgiving. Yes, we get a lot of snow here, but it usually melts in a week or two, unlike MN, where you can expect any snow that falls in December to stay around until March. I can't comment on the comparative politics programs at either school; I can only agree with Canadianpolsci that choice of adviser is key.
eve2008 Posted March 10, 2008 Author Posted March 10, 2008 I didn't apply to Harvard, but I'm currently a grad student at MIT, and I had the option of going to Stanford. I love Cambridge and east coast cities in general. So much to do and see that's within walking distance or easily accessed by subway! At Stanford, on the other hand, everything is ridiculously spread out; bikes are needed just to get around campus. If you like warm, dry, sunny weather, Stanford has an advantage, but having grown up in MN, I find Cambridge winters to be relatively forgiving. Yes, we get a lot of snow here, but it usually melts in a week or two, unlike MN, where you can expect any snow that falls in December to stay around until March. I can't comment on the comparative politics programs at either school; I can only agree with Canadianpolsci that choice of adviser is key. Yeah, I do agree that Stanford seems ridiculously spread out. I often wondered, while visiting, where all the people were! Harvard seems to have a pretty vibrant campus life, although I'm not really certain how graduate students fit into the picture. I suppose a visit there will clarify things. Anyway, thanks all for your advice. I'm so psyched!
materialgirl Posted March 11, 2008 Posted March 11, 2008 Eve2008, I've spent a summer at Harvard and loved it. So far, I get the impression that Cambridge is cheaper than Palo Alto on the whole, but Stanford subsidizes the housing so well that rent's actually cheaper when you take utilities and internet into account. I think there are plenty of things to do in Cambridge and Boston...I'd say anyone who gets bored with that area is 1. from NYC, 2. has no time to go out, or 3. is just grumpy. On the other hand, California has great weather, wine country, many more outdoor activities, and beaches, if you have a car. The two schools seem to have different things going for them, but I don't think there's any doubt that either one would be a great choice. As tie-breakers for the quality of life category, check out the red tape/beaurocracy, and how much you connect with the students at each school. Being an engineer, I can't say anything about your program, but I'm sure you'll figure it out. Good luck!
mahist10 Posted March 17, 2008 Posted March 17, 2008 I received my undergraduate degree at Stanford. Speaking from experience, there is very little to do in Palo Alto - a couple expensive bars and restaurants. Stanford is rather isolated, so without a car it will be difficult to do things off-campus. Stanford has a graduate student pub, but it's pretty lame (a number of students complained about the prevalence of drinking in the pub). There is also an on-campus eatery called the "Treehouse," but the food kind of sucks. At least they sell beer. It's difficult to get to San Francisco - it'll probably take about an hour by CalTrain or car. That aside, it's an excellent school, and the social sciences faculty are brilliant, dedicated, and involved. You won't have much time for non-academic activities, so Palo Alto's suckiness doesn't matter that much.
FuzzyDunlop Posted March 18, 2008 Posted March 18, 2008 For quality of life, Cambridge wins hands down over Palo Alto, which is basically a yuppie suburb with nothing to do. They are both great programs and you are mostly in a no lose situation. Harvard's department is much bigger and much less cohesive - people are spread out physically across many buildings, there are substantial divisions within the department, etc. Stanford is smaller and, in comparative politics at least, seems to have a more close-knit feel. With both of these schools, be careful about putting weight on the presence of specific professors at the junior level. Its very difficult to get tenure at both schools, so there is a lot of movement. PM me with more info about what you will be studying if you want more specific feedback. Its really impossible to say much more without at least knowing your regional interest.
Manchild Posted March 23, 2008 Posted March 23, 2008 "For quality of life, Cambridge wins hands down over Palo Alto, which is basically a yuppie suburb with nothing to do." A ridiculous statement. Palo Alto is pretty suburban, but there are a number of bars and great restaurants in the area, Santa Cruz, various other beaches, and San Francisco are all < 45 minutes away, you can swim in the pool 10 months of the year, and its 75 degrees there right now. Depends on what you're looking for, I guess, but I'd say NorCal quality of life is pretty good, if not close to the best in the U.S. Opinions are fine, but rhetoric like that is ridiculous.
eve2008 Posted April 12, 2008 Author Posted April 12, 2008 Any more takers? (Also, the Harvard gov department has a new building, so all the faculty are in the same place, and are even organized by floors. Americanists on one, comparativists on another, IQSS on another...I wonder if geography will help change the culture of the department a bit.)
zephyr Posted April 13, 2008 Posted April 13, 2008 in terms of geographic location, cambridge is definitely a pretty cool place to be, though palo alto obviously has the better weather. personally, i'd really think hard about stanford over harvard, though. have you seen the recent placement record? it's freaking sick. seems like EVERYONE graduating from stanford goes on to a top 10-15 school for their first gig. plenty of people do so from harvard, too, but not everyone. though this may have a lot to do with people's preferences when they finish as to where they want to teach, stanford's record is absolutely incredible. i think this is probably the most important thing in choosing a program...placement record. however, if you feel harvard is the better place in terms of what you want to do (and not just for a professor or two, since they can leave while you're there - and given the difficulty of getting tenure at harvard, i bet this will probably happen during your doctoral studies if you go there), then go for it. overall, you have unbelievably good options and will do great either way.
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