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E-PrinceFive Saturdays ago, as Princeton fans watched the football team hand Harvard a last-minute beating, as Tiger hearts leapt and Nassau spirit soared, as “Harvard Sucks” sweatshirts smugly taunted rival fans, as crowds chanted, as undergrads prepared for an epic ...(back to the article)
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Trenchant analysis.
As someone who picked Princeton over Harvard and would do the same one hundred times again, I know precisely why I "hate" on Harvard: they're not as good as a school. When I pretend that they're "awful" I'm poking fun because I know it's not true. They're the third or fourth best university in the country, in my estimation. I honestly believe that they're not as good as Princeton or Yale, I formed this belief in high school when lots of my friends went off to these three schools and it's a belief that was reinforced I went off to Princeton and kept visiting Harvard and Yale. But I only "hate" on Harvard because fundamentally the three schools are all in the same league and there's an instinctual sense of camaraderie among the student bodies whenever we meet in a non-competitive-sports setting.
Also, the H-bomb may penetrate farther into sub-Saharan Africa or whatever - even Oxford carries farther than Cambridge - but so long as you're in the usual major-cities/First World/Western circuit, the P-bomb carries at least as much explosive power. (Though I agree with your underlying point, that Harvard is coasting a lot on its graduate schools and that might be an argument why we set up one or two of our own.)
I feel the exact same way as you Rebecca!
i dont think anyone really means it. but i do find the 'harvard sucks' 'yale sucks' stuff to be annoying too. by saying they suck, youre almost admitting that theyre better than you. like, we don't even think/talk about the ivy league schools, and thats how you can tell we're confident that theyre inferior to us.
^we dont even think/talk about the other** ivy league schools
Spot on-I love this article for being so true.
Harvard sucks for many reasons: its lack of engineering, almost complete focus on graduate students, and the rampant support of the red sox. Amateur hour, Prince
This is a silly article. I don't think anyone who wears a "Harvard Sucks" sweatshirt actually believes that Harvard is an awful institutions, the same way that a football fan trashing the Patriots is not commenting on their athletic ability. Harvard, Yale, and Princeton are revered as the top three schools in the country, and it makes sense that there's some playful antipathy between the three, even if it's stronger between Harvard and Yale.
I had the choice between Harvard and Princeton and chose Princeton because I believe it offers a superior undergraduate experience. Does Harvard have more graduate schools? Yes. Does it have somewhat greater name recognition? Yes. But in no way do I feel jealous or resentful.
We need to stop taking everything we say so seriously. It's fun to bash Harvard, and we may have some principled reasons for doing so, but it's mostly in good fun and doesn't require so much thought.
We talk about Harvard and Yale because they're most comparable to Princeton, not because they're better than us. The point is that HYP are better than the other Ivies.
I, too, chose Princeton over Harvard on principled grounds. I visited both, spoke to students, examined programs, and found that Princeton seemed to be a better place for my undergraduate, while I could go to Harvard for law school, maybe. It's kind of fun to say that Harvard sucks the same way that a Yankees fan would say the Red Sox suck. It's not an actual commentary on the educational institution.