Answered by financegal27
Sounds like a lot of posters have connections to one of the schools or has preconceived notions on them. I didn't go to either but from a unbiased perspective here are my thought. Besides the obvious distance between the two, both schools are top tier universities and are very selective with admissions. Depending on what you plan on studying one school might have a stronger program than the other, US News and World Reports does an annual ranking of schools by course of study, and it can provide some insights into the individual majors. A lot of people on here have commented that Harvard isn't worth it or that not everyone that goes to Harvard is that smart, blah, blah, blah. Harvard University has one of the strongest alumni networks in the world, and networking with those alumni offers students there opportunities other schools can only dream of. Depending on what you plan on studying it can help you in you career as well. I work in finance and in my industry its much harder to even be considered for some of the more prestigious jobs (research analysts, hedge funds, etc.) without the name Harvard or Wharton, or Stanford, etc.. on your resume, no matter how great your experience is. Why, alumni! Alumni from those schools have a proven track record of success, and employers will look for potential candidates that share traits with existing outperforming employees. Let's face it, both schools offer a quality education, and yes, there are other smaller schools, less well known schools that offer the same quality, but no other schools offer the opportunity that Harvard & Stanford do. Opportunity is the name of the game when it comes to competing for a job. I would lean towards Harvard more than Stanford if just because of the alumni factor. While other people can debate about the merits of going to an ivy league school, what can't be debated is the opportunity the school creates for you.