<p>I should preface that I don't mean to rip on Harvard here, because I think it's a great school, but I just want to use this article as an example that Harvard is not the best place for everybody. It's not a school filled with daisies and chocolate fountains, and a good chunk of people wouldn't want to return (even though it's stereotypically the place everybody wants to go to).</p>
<p>So now that that bit of news is out of the way, why do some of you think the dissatisfaction rate is as high as it is? Do you think students at other schools would perform better or worse if they were given the same survey? Do you even think that satisfaction results are useful in selecting a college?</p>
<p>Or is college a fundamentally unhappy time for some? I ask this because I have very smart friends at very good, "happy" schools who have expressed a good deal of unhappiness from being separated from home, from feeling friendless and isolated, from feeling financially burdened, from feeling bored with academics, etc.</p>
<p>Some people chose Harvard for the name brand only. They did not do their due diligence -- so they were ultimately unsatisfied with their Harvard experience. They thought that Harvard was this awesome school where the best of the best went. When they went to Harvard, they're disappointed that it simply was not as good as hyped. </p>
<p>No one denies that Harvard has the best brand name out there. But is brand name everything for a university? </p>
<p>I think a combination of strong academics and comfortable atmosphere are key. You have to feel comfortable with the school and not just so there because it's a brand name. This is not to rip Harvard, but just because it has the best brand name doesn't mean it's the best fit for everybody.</p>
<p>If you go somewhere expecting the best the world has to offer, and then what you get is anything less than perfect, you're bound to be disappointed.</p>
<p>Like IAmYourFather said, many people who go to Harvard go purely based on the name, and not based on fit.</p>
<p>I've taken classes at Harvard. Based on my experience, Harvard is not for everyone. The big brand name thing does inflate your ego for a while, but then whats left? I'm fine but it wasn't for me. I would choose MIT over Harvard anyday.</p>
<p>Actually, while four out of five said they'd come to Harvard again, the remaining 20% weren't necessarily unsatisfied. The article cites a satisfaction rate of 85%, which seems remarkably high. And bear in mind that the students who responded to the survey had a choice to go virtually anywhere else they might have chosen. I wasn't 100% satisfied with my own college experience, but I couldn't have gotten into the other places that I think I may have enjoyed more.</p>
<p>^^ I don't know how the survey was conducted, and I was confused as to how "satisfaction" was measured overall and then in components. To me, "satisfaction" is not a difficult goal to strive for. If you're not answering "very satisfied" or "satisfied," then you are probably answering "unsatisfied." I don't know for most people, but for me, it would take a lot for me to write down on a survey I was "unsatisfied" with something.</p>
<p>But because the statements were vague, I quasi-ignored that part to focus on the "If you had the choice again, would you return to Harvard?" question, which seems to me more straightforward. (Unless a Harvard '08 can replicate the survey here or it's available somewhere online, or somebody would like to contact the writer, this news article is the best piece I have).</p>
<p>Also, to reiterate-- 80% would hypothetically return is very high and probably higher than other Tier 1 colleges. 85% satisfaction is also very high and probably higher than other Tier 1 colleges. But it's not astronomically high. It means that if you choose to go to Harvard, there are going to be people who wish they went somewhere else (whether that "somewhere else" would have actually been a better school for that person or not is a separate issue).</p>
<p>25% Very Satisfied
54% Satisfied
14% Ambivalent
7% Dissatisfied</p>
<p>Note: This year's article says 80% Very Satisfied or Satisfied. No real change.</p>
<p>Other 30 COFHE schools
85% Very Satisfied or Satisfied</p>
<p>37% Very Satisfied
49% Satisfied
9% Ambivalent
5% Dissatisfied</p>
<hr>
<p>31 COFHE member schools</p>
<p>Amherst College
Barnard College
Brown University
Bryn Mawr College
Carleton College
Columbia University
Cornell University
Dartmouth College
Duke University
Georgetown University
Harvard University
Johns Hopkins University
MIT
Mount Holyoke College
Northwestern University
Oberlin College
Pomona College
Princeton University
Rice University
Smith College
Stanford University
Swarthmore College
Trinity College
University of Chicago
University of Pennsylvania
University of Rochester
Washington Univ. in St.Louis
Wellesley College
Wesleyan University
Williams College
Yale University</p>
<p>In fairness to Harvard, in googling for some comparisons, I see snippets here and there that suggest the COFHE averages are pulled down by the larger research universities in the group offset by higher satisfaction numbers at the liberal arts colleges.</p>
<p>I found a Duke (1996) number that is virtually identical to Harvard's (54.5% satisfied, 26% very satisfied). I found an MIT number that is lower than Harvards. And numbers that appear lower at Johns Hopkins and Northwestern.</p>
<p>Finding this stuff is like looking for needles in a haystack. I think it would be easier to find the location of bin Laden's hideout than COFHE survey results on the web, and you probably have to compare apples to apples (all student spring surveys versus senior surveys, etc.)</p>
<p>As it said in the article, students with higher GPAs were more satisfied with their education, and students in smaller departments were more satisfied with their education. This makes sense. Students who are getting above a 3.0 are more likely to feel like their college education is challenging, stimulating, and interesting. Students struggling to get a 2.0 probably feel like college is too difficult or not interesting. Also, students in smaller departments probably are getting more personal attention and more research opportunities than students in large departments. Economics (pre business?) and government (pre law?) were the two departments with the loweset satisfaction and the two largest. Part might have to do with students studying the subjects with little interest for further study after undergrad. Part might have to be with stress to get good grades for future plans (law school?). </p>
<p>The desire not to go to Harvard again by 20% of the students might not be because they dislike Harvard. They may just want a different undergraduate experience that Harvard cannot offer (like big time football or smaller setting).</p>
<p>I think a lot of students who were once the top students at their high school come to Harvard and are shocked to find that they have a much harder time standing out, or that they're no longer the star of the campus.</p>
<p>^bingo--exactly. A friend's nephew was a standout scholar in high school, made friends fairly easily, etc. Got to Univ of Chicago and wham!! Couldn't get any decent grades and was floored that college was "so hard". He couldn't grasp that he was no longer in Kansas. Dropped out and went home after the 2nd semester-foolishly. Never went back to college.</p>
<p>The self-reported average GPA in Harvard's senior survey was a 3.5.</p>
<p>I do think that these survey results fall in such narrow bands that they are not that useful as a direct comparison measure. </p>
<p>This is probably why the colleges don't make the data widely available. </p>
<p>The colleges use these surveys more for internal planning and evaluation. For example, if academic advising is their worst score, they can try to understand why and how to address it as an institutional priority.</p>
<p>The problem with these surveys as a crude comparison tool is that students at each college are using a different standard of measurement. For example, base on their expections for their school, it would not suprise me to find that 80% of the students at the local community college would attend again, the same percentage who would attend again at Harvard. I'm not sure how valid that is for comparing the community college to Harvard.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Here's a guide for comparison from the 2002 Senior Survey conducted by the 31 COFHE schools
[/quote]
</p>
<p>It's extremely unfortunate that surveys such as COFHE's are both leaked and ... reported. Those surveys, in addition to utilizing extremely variable mechanisms to ENSURE compliance (read make the surveys mandatory or offering bribes,) are not meant to be analyzed on a school-by-school basis. </p>
<p>The schools that participate in such surveys should do one of two things: </p>
<p>Keep them *completely *confidential or make them entirely public, including all methodologies and results. </p>
<p>At it stands, such discussions are a step below the National Enquirer. The Boston Globe should know better. And, fwiw, I believe that Harvard should have dumped that sorry COFHE group before dropping Early Admissions. :)</p>
<p>I'm guessing Harvard leaked it this year because they wanted the headline to be 80% of Harvard students satisfied instead of last time when it was Harvard ranks near bottom in satisfaction when the results of the two surveys were nearly the same.</p>