an honest portrait of harvard, please

Colleges & Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

<p>hi, everyone. i'm a senior right now trying to narrow down my college choices to the ones i really honestly think i could see myself attending.</p>

<p>so while i am interested in harvard, i was wondering you guys could give me a completely honest portrait of what it's like to be a student there.</p>

<p>maybe you could answer the following questions?</p>

<p>1.) what are the classes like? extremely hard? fairly easy? interesting? lectures? small, discussion-based? etc.
2.) i want to be a movie editor/producer/filmmaker. how is harvard in this department? i've heard the lampoon has a lot of connections to hollywood? is this true for the film industry?
3.) i'm a bi guy, and i know harvard is gay-friendly, but are there plenty of bi guys/girls too? i want to make sure i fit in and everything. also, i generally get along better friend-wise with straight or bi guys than gay guys. i do have gay friends though, but i want to be able to have all different kinds of friends, gay, straight, bi. are all orientations well-represented at harvard?
4.) does it get boring at harvard? i hear that most people spend almost all of their time studying, and i'd like a college experience that--while characterized by hard work--also allows for fun. is harvard like this?
5.) what do people generally do for fun at harvard? i'm interested in joining a lot of student clubs. but i don't like drinking or doing drugs. are clubs big ways of socializing? how prevalent is drinking/drugs?
6.) how is financial aid? i'd need a ton to go there.
7.) i've taken honors geometry, honors algebra II, taking honors pre-calculus this year. no calculus. would this mean an automatic (or likely) rejection from harvard? </p>

<p>and any other info about what it's REALLY like to be at harvard would be really helpful. </p>

<p>like is there any certain criteria i NEED to fit to be happy at harvard? (for instance, it's a lot better to be liberal at brown than republican.) does anything like this apply to harvard? thanks a lot guys!</p>

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<p>Given Harvard’s stature, I am sure that you will be hard pressed not to find any answers to any of your questions.</p>

<ol>
<li>Not sure, I don’t go there.</li>
<li>Harvard College does have a film studies department, from what this link tells me: [Film</a> Studies at Harvard University](<a href=“http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~filmstud/]Film”>http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~filmstud/)</li>
<li>I am sure you will be welcomed. Harvard is quite a liberal school.</li>
<li>As a native of Boston, I can tell you that Cambridge is not a dull place. And I doubt that a bunch of 20-somethings study the entire time they are at college.</li>
<li>Harvard, like any good university, has hundreds of clubs and extracurriculars. And alcohol/drug use will happen on any college campus in this country. But luckily, you can always avoid that scene if you are not into it.</li>
<li>The financial aid is one of the best in the country. If your parents make less than 60K, you get a free ride.</li>
<li>No. I know people who have gotten into Harvard without taking Calculus whatsover.</li>
</ol>

<p>You ask too many silly questions. Do some research first!</p>

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<p>thanks for the reply! </p>

<p>i guess my main question though is: even though harvard has a film department, does going to harvard–as opposed to a more film-centric school–make it a lot more difficult to become a filmmaker? or does harvard have plenty of hollywood connections, alumni connections, film opportunities?</p>

4

<p>^
Just a question, but why wouldn’t you go to USC for film? They have one of the strongest film departments in the world and are near HollyWood.</p>

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<p>1.) what are the classes like? extremely hard? fairly easy? interesting? lectures? small, discussion-based? etc.</p>

<p>As you might expect, the answer is “it depends.” No classes will be fairly easy unless you’ve done the material before. Even then, you might still find it challenging. Math and science courses demand substantially more time than humanities courses, especially in freshman year. My classes are all quite interesting, with the lectures and sections all quite well taught. Sometimes, great TFs make better teachers than famous professors. You do a lot of your academic learning outside of the classroom with study groups and such. Many classes encourage study groups by holding regular study sessions in different parts of campus. Some of the most intriguing debate goes on there.</p>

<p>2.) i want to be a movie editor/producer/filmmaker. how is harvard in this department? i’ve heard the lampoon has a lot of connections to hollywood? is this true for the film industry?</p>

<p>Not sure about the Lampoon having connections, but there are some great filmmakers in the freshman class (some quite established - one of them had a film shown in Sundance apparaently) and you will find students with like interests. I’m not faimilar with the department, but I doubt Harvard is renowned for its film prowess. Again, learning from other students will be a huge boon for your filmmaking.</p>

<p>3.) i’m a bi guy, and i know harvard is gay-friendly, but are there plenty of bi guys/girls too? i want to make sure i fit in and everything. also, i generally get along better friend-wise with straight or bi guys than gay guys. i do have gay friends though, but i want to be able to have all different kinds of friends, gay, straight, bi. are all orientations well-represented at harvard?</p>

<p>Yes. It’s very clear that this is the case.</p>

<p>4.) does it get boring at harvard? i hear that most people spend almost all of their time studying, and i’d like a college experience that–while characterized by hard work–also allows for fun. is harvard like this?</p>

<p>You will have to study a lot. Harvard is NOT easy. Then again, there will be times to kick back and have a good time.</p>

<p>5.) what do people generally do for fun at harvard? i’m interested in joining a lot of student clubs. but i don’t like drinking or doing drugs. are clubs big ways of socializing? how prevalent is drinking/drugs?</p>

<p>It varies greatly. No one will pressure you into drinking or doing drugs. There’s a culture here where they are very accepting of those who choose not to drink. Extracurriculars, especially ones that have a substantial time commitment, are good for socializing.</p>

<p>6.) how is financial aid? i’d need a ton to go there.</p>

<p>The best.</p>

<p>7.) i’ve taken honors geometry, honors algebra II, taking honors pre-calculus this year. no calculus. would this mean an automatic (or likely) rejection from harvard? </p>

<p>Of course not. There are many students here who have not taken Calculus. They are usually placed into Math 1A. There’s even a Math Ma for precalculus.</p>

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<p>@ saugus, i am applying there, but the party/social scene at usc (big on frats, football, not many clubs that i find interesting) makes me wary of going there. :-/</p>

<p>@ noitara, thanks so much for the reply! it’s great to hear that there are filmmakers there. do you think that being a filmmaker myself (even though i haven’t been in sundance or anything :P) would make me unique in the applicant pool at all? </p>

<p>also would you say harvard is just as hard as the other ivies or harder?</p>

7

<p>The Lampoon does have a pipeline into certain parts of showbiz. For example many writers for The Simpsons are Lampoon alumni. However, the Lampoon itself is hard to get into.</p>

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<p>It’s very hard to know the answer to this first hand because almost no one goes undergrad to more than one Ivy League college. My impression is that all of them will work you pretty hard, but if you are smart enough to get admitted in the first place you will very probably be smart enough to succeed academically once you are there.</p>

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<p>Check out this organization aimed at Harvardians in entertainment:</p>

<p>[url=<a href=“http://www.harvardwood.org/]Harvardwood[/url”>http://www.harvardwood.org/]Harvardwood[/url</a>]</p>

<p>I don’t think any school can top USC when it comes to Hollywood networking. On the other hand, you’d be one of hundreds of similar students there, while there may be only a few aspiring Hollywood filmmakers in your Harvard class. It may be easier to take advantage of the smaller network.</p>

<p>I think that the only quality you really NEED to be happy at Harvard is fire in the belly. You should have the internal motivation to keep moving forward – toward anything, it doesn’t matter what. It is not a great place for a passive person, or an easily intimidated person. (Shyness is fine; I’m talking about being passive or getting too discouraged after a disappointment.) If you’re a person who keeps going when the going gets tough, you can be happy at Harvard.</p>

9

<p>I don’t reall understand these threads asking if Harvard quite jives with your needs. First get accepted and if that extremely unusual event occurs in your life – go visit and decide. Wondering if these posts are from kids from very tip-top privates where the GCs are pressuring them to decide NOW so they can guarantee the college target a yield point. Feels like a handshake in process. Yuck, yuck, double-yuck.</p>

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<p>^^I doubt that’s the case. Every year on CC you see lots of kids asking detailed questions about Harvard or debating the fine points of H vs. Yale, or Princeton, or MIT, or Stanford, or whatever - long before they have any acceptances in hand from any of them. And come April 1st they often get into good schools but still get shut out by HYPSM - just like the rest of the vast majority of very bright, very accomplished kids.</p>

<p>When I was in high school I used to endlessly fuss over whether a Ferrari or a Lamborgini was the right car for me. Same thing.</p>