[jpao79]

There could be a case that it is not just for photographs but it is actually the marketing pitch for the value proposition of Harvard over, as the Tyler Cowen mentions, UC Irvine.

If you are trying to train and prepare a student to lead global teams, set global government policy, guide diverse groups toward a common solution, etc., you will need exposure to a diverse set of ideas and a diverse future network of fellow alumni to debate ideas with during your formative undergraduate years.

Otherwise, might as well save the $0.25 million in tuition and indeed go to UCI instead because otherwise it really is the same lectures, reading material and tests!

[lotsofpulp]

>If you are trying to train and prepare a student to lead global teams, set global government policy, guide diverse groups toward a common solution,

That's a pretty big if, people in power like to keep it in their network.

[jpao79]

Ah - maybe a better way to phrase it is, if Harvard is pitching itself as a place a person can learn to lead global teams, set optimal global government policy, guide diverse groups toward a common solution, then the student body should probably not just be high test scorers pulled from high test affluent suburbs. It should be pulled from a variety of sources with a diverse set of socioeconomic, academic, artistic and cultural experiences.

I think that's actually a secret of Silicon Valley. If Apple needs to ask how a UI should be setup to handle the nuances from a certain country, they can go ask a person from that country. It'd be much harder trying to do that in Asia or even Europe.