<p>What is a typical day in the life of a Harvard student like? (obviously this question is intended for those in the know). I just wanted a general idea of how a normal day is.</p>
<p>You wake up in the morning to the sounds of trumpets acknowledging how special you are. As you walk out of your dorm room, you give a quick wave to the common, Non-Harvard people on the way to class, maybe tossing them some loose change or a piece of advice about the SAT IIs.</p>
<p>Your professor reminds you at the beginning of class how fantastic he is, then teaches material that everyone in the classroom finds easy. Everyone scores perfectly on all the tests- that's why they got into Harvard.</p>
<p>After classes, you might run into Bill Gates, Natalie Portman, or Conan O'Brien around the campus- after all, these celebrated alumni have nothing better to do than spend all their time at the school. My roommate says he saw W.E.B. DuBois at Urban Outfitters once, but I think he might be lying.</p>
<p>You hang around with other students in the evening, talking about the things that Harvard students are interested in- differential geometry, Somerset Maugham, postmodern surrealism, computational economics... The only problems with the conversations is that everyone already knows everything, so there isn't much to discuss. Sometimes, therefore, the debates just degrade into games of fox-hunting and discus throwing (after all, everyone who goes to Harvard is both rich and an Olympic athlete).</p>
<p>At the end of the day, just to relax, you might grab your Harvard acceptance letter and head into Boston. After all, a Harvard acceptance letter gets you into any club or party in Boston, lets you buy alcohol in bars whatever age you are, and can be used to get out of speeding tickets and most misdemeanors.</p>
<p>The fact that John Adams went here has an impact on your everyday life, as does the school's age and the size of the its endowment. In particular, having such a large library makes a huge difference! Harvard's 14 million volumes, most of which are held elsewhere in the country or around the world, offers you SO much more than Yale's 9.9 million volumes or Columbia's PATHETIC 6.9 million volumes. Can you imagine having only 7 million books at your school's library? You'd probably run out of things to read by junior year!</p>
<p>At the end of the day, you curl up in your luxurious dorm room that only Harvard could provide, fully appreciating the advantages that Harvard gives you...</p>
<p>The truth? IT'S JUST LIKE ANY OTHER SCHOOL! You have classes, you have homework, you have friends, you go to parties, you eat junk food, you date, you drink, you act irresponsibly every once in a while just to see how it feels. You go to the extracurriculars you like, you take the classes that interest you, and you graduate after four years having hopefully learned something.</p>
<p>Do you really want to know my day? I finished my Physics problem set early this morning before rushing to a Life Sciences lecture, followed by a Physics lecture. I had pretty bad pizza for lunch at the cafe, then did some work before going to Expository Writing in the afternoon. I went home and hung out on the computer before taking a long nap, then woke up to get to my Life Sciences section a little late (sections are once a week and taught by TFs). We did some work in the lab, then I came back to my dorm to do my math homework, talk to the people across the hall, and then visit collegeconfidential before doing my Life Sci problem set. Overall, it was actually a busy day.</p>
<p>Was that really all that enlightening? No! I just went to classes, did some work, and hung out and had some fun. IT'S A SCHOOL! IT'S NOT A METAPHOR ABOUT PERFECTION AND ACHIEVEMENT OR SOMETHING!</p>
<p>Sorry- I'm just tired of the perception that Harvard offers a fundamentally different experience than most other selective colleges. It's absolutely true that you can meet brilliant and wonderful people here, that the classes are usually taught by (in my opinion) great and engaging professors, and that the campus and location are fantastic. However, that doesn't mean it's a fundamentally different kind of college. Harvard's not perfect, and it's not even all that special. So keep a sense of perspective.</p>
<p>hahaha.. there is NO typical day just as there are NO typical students. every student has a different "typical day" that might range from sports practice at 6AM to lab from 6-9PM; weekly rehearsals to having regular lunches with political figures. some people's typical day might include sleeping in and skipping class, or spending all their time in lamont. you'll figure it out when you get here. it's not like there can be a typical day for everyone thats easily describable. it's likely that it will include class, food, sleep (maybe), and homework of some kind but that's pretty much the only guarantee that i can make.</p>
<p>p.s. tomorrow is an example of an ATYPICAL day: stephen freaking colbert is coming to harvard :D :D :D :D :D :D</p>
<p>Admiral, your day sucked :)</p>
<p>DirectorsCut- hahaha, Thursdays are the days when all my classes pile on at once. I set up my schedule that way because now my only class on Monday, Wednesday AND Friday is math from 10-11 A.M. It gives me the whole rest of the day free.</p>
<p>So, in short- yes, today wasn't much fun (although today's classes were actually very enjoyable). The bad pizza in particular lent the day a truly Shakespearean aura of tragedy. However, I do usually really enjoy typical days at Harvard. And what's more, most days sound really dull when you just describe them, part of the reason I found the OP so silly.</p>
<p>I didn't get into the Stephen Colbert lottery. DAMN YOU M_C! :P</p>
<p>My typical Thursdays...</p>
<p>I get up at 11:00AM. I shower then I head down to have some lunch (I am an upperclassman so I don't leave my dorm for anything). Then I go back up to my room, read or chill until 2:30PM when I have to get to my job by 3PM. I work until 5PM and then I have section for a class until 6PM. Afterwards, I eat dinner with friends and then chill out and do homework or surf facebook until 10PM, when my Chemistry 17 (Organic Chemistry) study group meets. I just got back from said study group just now at 2:30AM! :)</p>
<p>xjayz-Apparently they're selling for $50/each? I'd get rid of mine in a second if someone offered me that much.</p>
<p>admiral-That post was amazing. I'm usually a fan of the Greenhouse pizza (even though it's no Nochs) but yeah, it has its off days.</p>
<p>I'll chime in with my day (in more detail than I'm sure you care about):</p>
<p>11:00 a.m. - Wake up, shower, etc.
11:30 a.m. - Meeting/lunch in dining hall about new student group w/ the president
01:00 p.m. - Multivariable calc = multitasking. First, finish problem set in class, because the professor is a bore. Catch up on emails a bit.
02:30 p.m. - Grab my Colbert + Negroponte tickets @ the IOP + head to the room. Relax for a while, talk to roommates, contemplate beginning my Chem 17 problem set, but really just screw around on the computer.
04:30 p.m. - Something comes up at the Crimson, ahhhhhh.
05:00 p.m. - Still at the Crimson, working on layout. An alum is back visiting, talking about what it's like to work at McKinsey (consulting firm). He tells some hilarious stories about the Crimson-Lampoon rivalry.
06:30 p.m. - Was planning on going to an investment banking company info session, but decide to pass. Get dinner with my roommate, head back to the room, to prevent my roommates from being productive.
09:00 p.m. - Still haven't started Chem, head to the Crimson for a beer pong tournament!
09:15 p.m. - Am knocked out of beer pong tournament, pout, then head to Lowell house for Christmas tree decorating and gingerbread cookies!</p>
<p>After that, spent some time with my girlfriend, went back to the Crimson (where the beer pong tournament has unfortunately turned into an embarassing game of "never have i ever") to work on an upcoming project, back in the room, more emails, start looking at Chem 17... cry... then begin problem set, only to be distracted by college confidential.</p>
<p>i didn't get the lottery, actually -- a bunch of people didn't pick up their tickets last night, and i was at the reception for new members of congress. i have some friends in the IOP so they gave me a heads up. try it next time; i bet it'll work :)</p>
<p>just<em>forget</em>me...what board are you on in the crimson? just curious...lol
Yeah...and everyone else here forgot to add one thing...somehow everyone is still up 3:00 in the morning haha...</p>
<p>Hahahahahahaha...this is great. </p>
<p>My day is not a good indicator of an average one because of the stress level involved (I had 600 pages of reading this week, 2 midterms, and a paper that I stayed up until 3:20 last night working on), but here goes:</p>
<p>8 am got up and printed off my paper (usually I have class at 10, with a 9 am section on Fridays).</p>
<p>9 am: section.</p>
<p>10 am: lecture. </p>
<p>11 am: wrote some emails, called my mom, hung out in the dining hall with my friends (thank God it's Friday...)</p>
<p>Now: should be taking a nap. I have section at 2 and possibly work at 3, then I'm going SHOPPING IN BOSTON!</p>
<p>There you have it: actually, that was a pretty good "average" day for Harvard--a ton of stress and a ton of relaxation at the same time. It's a strange brew...</p>
<p>And the John Adams-esque post was absolutely brilliant. We do discuss "computational economics" or whatever, but we also talk about how much silly putty it would take to stick two tables together. </p>
<p>If they had trumpets in the morning, someone would die. Damn you, Thayer bells last year...;)</p>
<p>I'm on the business board of the crimson.</p>
<p>How is the student radio station at Harvard? </p>
<p>Is anyone in the "marching" band at Harvard?</p>
<p>Here's an article on more about academics specifically at Harvard. It's written by a freshman at Harvard about how acadmics are done there generally. Might be what you're looking for; it's an interesting account: <a href="http://admitspit.wordpress.com/2006/11/01/how-x-does-academics-x-harvard/%5B/url%5D">http://admitspit.wordpress.com/2006/11/01/how-x-does-academics-x-harvard/</a></p>
<p>The Core is being revamped into General Education Requirements, but the article is quite accurate. Just a note: this year, Social Analysis 10 (better known as Ec 10) has 965 undergrads enrolled in it. INSANITY.</p>
<p>spyder: i'm not in the marching band but i know 2 people who are, and they absolutely love it.</p>
<p>Admiral,
Thanks for reminding me of my undergraduate years.</p>
<p>LOL. That was hilarious!</p>