Harvard or Oxford?

[Erudite]

I'm planning on doing Philosophy at Harvard or Law at Oxford. I have no idea which to pick and I'm divided between the two.

My ultimate aim is to become a practising lawyer in the UK, so I thought Oxford Law ftw! but then I spoke to a lot of people in the UK legal profession, including a recruitment representative from a top top law firm, and they were all like, "It doesn't matter..."

Oxford is Oxford but Harvard is also Harvard.

So now I am totessssss confused. Tbh, I can see myself being super duper happy at either of them, so I thought...

...If given the choice, what would you choose? And why?

[Arrowhead]

Harvard...any day.

I think I would have preferred the degree freedom allowed in an American university over the super specialisation inherent to the UK system. Also having studied Law in the UK, it's really not all that.

[cjy]

I'd personally go with Oxford. The Jurisprudence course is supposedly amazing, and Oxford is steeped in history, and is the first university in the English speaking world. The It's just so pretty too. And London is within an hour- an hour and a half away.

[maroctam]

Harvard, like Oxford, is steeped in history too. I, personally, would chose Harvard for basically the same reasons as Arrowhead. Even though your decision now won't affect your future career as a lawyer - what would rather do in the near future? begin with law immediately or do philosophy?

[cjy]

Harvard, like Oxford, is steeped in history too. I, personally, would chose Harvard for basically the same reasons as Arrowhead. Even though your decision now won't affect your future career as a lawyer - what would rather do in the near future? begin with law immediately or do philosophy?

Not as much as Oxford. Oxford is older than the country Harvard is located in.

[Award Winning Boss]

I'm not going to lie. I just saw that you were going to study philosophy and voted for that. Philosophy is the sexiest subject of them all and I don't care if you'd have to spend more money and time to get a law degree in the US.

I'm not biased in anyway. I promise.

You might even get to touch Michael Sandel. Do you know what that'd do for your street cred? Probably nothing but it's Michael Sandel.

[maroctam]

Harvard, like Oxford, is steeped in history too. I, personally, would chose Harvard for basically the same reasons as Arrowhead. Even though your decision now won't affect your future career as a lawyer - what would rather do in the near future? begin with law immediately or do philosophy?

Not as much as Oxford. Oxford is older than the country Harvard is located in.

Woah. Didn't think of it that way. Regardless, Oxford can be too old for some people's taste. (I hear they keep chairs, which you can't sit on due to their fragility, for their "historical significance" ... it's a chair.)

[Sandwich]

Assuming I was accepted into both, I would go to Oxford. The degree is shorter, the teaching style is very unique with the tutorial system and it means you can go into what you want to do much faster than having to go to Harvard where the course is longer anyway (plus you have to re-do a lot of basic things within the american system) and then having to come over and do a conversion course.

As somebody doing a long course, there comes a point where you just want to get out there and achieve actual things. As nice as it is to be in education, and as interesting as education is.

[yii yann]

I always figured that I would do my undergraduate in the UK. I know for a fact that I am very easily distracted, and honestly the US is a huge playground. Easy for me to get caught up in it, and I think that might be detrimental for me while I am still studying.

Of course, then there's the whole deal with Oxford being about as pretty as Orlando Bloom, so yeah.

[IanSurvive]

Harvard for better education, resources and support... Just look at the fees, it's almost like tripled that of in UK universities? (don't quote me on this, this is what I heard from others).

[Arrowhead]

Harvard for better education, resources and support... Just look at the fees, it's almost like tripled that of in UK universities? (don't quote me on this, this is what I heard from others).

What have fees go to do with anything?

[IanSurvive]

Harvard for better education, resources and support... Just look at the fees, it's almost like tripled that of in UK universities? (don't quote me on this, this is what I heard from others).

What have fees go to do with anything?

Sure you can't always say greater fee = better education, but there must be some truth/correlations to it. They have more students + greater fees = more funds on educational resources, training etc. ;whether the extra fees are spent efficiently or not.

[Gaby]

Harvard for better education, resources and support... Just look at the fees, it's almost like tripled that of in UK universities? (don't quote me on this, this is what I heard from others).

What have fees go to do with anything?

Sure you can't always say greater fee = better education, but there must be some truth/correlations to it. They have more students + greater fees = more funds on educational resources, training etc. ;whether the extra fees are spent efficiently or not.

Oxford is not exactly short of money, regardless of the fees.

[IanSurvive]

Harvard for better education, resources and support... Just look at the fees, it's almost like tripled that of in UK universities? (don't quote me on this, this is what I heard from others).

What have fees go to do with anything?

Sure you can't always say greater fee = better education, but there must be some truth/correlations to it. They have more students + greater fees = more funds on educational resources, training etc. ;whether the extra fees are spent efficiently or not.

Oxford is not exactly short of money, regardless of the fees.

You're not getting my point. The base/fundamentals of America's educational system is superior than that of UK because of the extra money (not just slight 'extra') spent on developing it continuously in the long term. It's not something you can compete or chase up with because they are already miles ahead simply by having a better-built framework (something you can't easily alter when built upon), regardless 'Oxford is not exactly short of money'. I think I have a pretty poor explanation here but I hope you get my point.

[Zarathustra]

Good luck getting in both of them

On a side note, I'd go for Oxford. Doing an undergrad in the US is not very wise (although I'd like to do a postgrad there eventually) and in my opinion the admission process is a bit biased (personal experience, I didn't apply, but plenty of my schoolmates did). However, the latter is not necessarily a disadvantage (however, let me be clear that it is harder to get into Harvard if you're from India than if you come from the US - again, personal experience).

But hell, Oxford is just Oxford, so fancy (and I got rejected by them!)

[vals]

Oxford all the way.
Why? Because it'd be so prestigious to get in one of the oldest universities in Europe, imagine being asked where you study and going like "Oxford"... Duh.

Errmm okay, putting (bad) "jokes" aside, I'd choose Oxford over Harvard simply because I don't condemn specialized studies as downsides in education.
To me, American universities are undoubtedly interesting, given their breadth and interdisciplinarity which any British university can only long for; however, the emphasis that they put on extracurriculars is just too heavy! Not my cup of tea, with all respect due to those who attend/wish to attend a university in the US.
The British mindset is, when it comes to studies, very well suited with my own.