<p>Havard2011Girl: Thanks for putting this thread together. It is really informative about Harvard. Finally, a chance to learn about the school, rather than who has a chance of getting in.</p>
<p>harvard2011girl, I assume you're looking to focus your studies on English, journalism, sociology, or something related since you wrote that long article for the local newspaper and contacted the sociology professor about research opportunities. If so, are you taking any classes this year that are unique to people who want to study writing or sociology?</p>
<p>How hard are your classes compared to your experience in high school?</p>
<p>You talked above about journalism in a post above, but to add to my question, which classes this semester have you thought to be the most interesting? Which had the most impact on you so far?</p>
<p>could you possibly post your stats? thanks!</p>
<p>Is the Core program philosophy at Harvard similar to any other ivy league's view on learning and education? Just wondering...cause this is what draws me to harvard.</p>
<p>1) I don't know a terrible lot about the VES concentration. I do know their film program is much more theoretical than practical. It's not terribly easy getting into VES classes if you're not concentrating in it since they're very small, but they do reimburse you for supplies which is awesome. </p>
<p>2) My roommate plays violin. It depends on what orchestra/ensemble, some are obviously harder to get into than others. I think she said something about either Gilbert & Sullivan or the Pops orchestra being the easiest to get into... regardless, there are lots of musically related things on campus to get involved in.</p>
<p>3) It's definitely possible to take multiple languages! I know freshmen who are taking two languages right now. And different concentrations have different amounts of requirements, so that also comes into play. </p>
<p>4) I'm taking a sociology elective and a psych seminar. The seminar is great, taught by a really accomplished professor in a class of 12. The sociology elective was too easy... as weird as that sounds, I just can't get engaged if the class is too easy so that's one mistake I learned from. I'm also in expository writing, a freshman requirement. I have a pretty cool preceptor who's very constructive, but for me, I kind of think the class is not quite rigorous enough, but it might just be my section. I've heard other expos sections are more hardcore.</p>
<p>Honestly, I think since i spent SO much of my time working at The Crimson this semester, that's where I did the majority of my learning. The Crimson will teach you so much, as far as learning to not fear cold-calling people, talking to famous people, writing a good article, and working under deadlines.</p>
<p>5) My classes have been pretty easy compared to HS but ONLY because I purposefully chose it to be that way. I know a lot of freshmen who decided to kill themselves first semester with hard classes. It's really up to you to figure out your ideal schedule.</p>
<p>6) The class I've found the most interesting is my psych seminar on memory and my best classroom experience has been in my Chinese class, which is really well taught and which has a nice group of people in it. I'll be taking intro to psych next semester and continuing with Chinese.</p>
<p>7) My stats are pretty average for Harvard. SATs were in their mid range. GPA was good. Honestly, NO ONE here cares about your SATs or GPA. NO ONE. Everyone here was smart in high school. End of story.</p>
<p>8) I can't speak too deeply on the Core, honestly, especially since I haven't taken a Core class yet. There's a website with some essays by students on the Core, if I find it, I'll let you know.</p>
<p>How early can you get breakfast at Annenberg :) ?</p>
<p>Thanks for answering my questions, Harvard2011girl!</p>
<p>I know you might not know a lot about this as a freshman, but I'm wondering what kind of community the House system builds. Do people get really attached to their house so that the houses become smaller communities within Harvard? Or are they more just like dorms and not very familial?</p>
<p>Just one quick question: Is the advising at Harvard really as bad as they say? Are you really being advised by post-graduate students who don't know how undergraduate life works?</p>
<p>Laststop: 7:30 am, on Sunday, brunch starts at 11:30. Very few people are there at 7:30 though... and tons never eat breakfast. </p>
<p>Luna: I think it depends on the house. I know Mather is known for more house spirit, and there definitely is house pride and house community. To what degree exactly, I'm not sure, since I'm sure it also depends on the house/person. Each house does have its own traditions, dances, advising, dining halls, and its own character, which is really cool.</p>
<p>Signal: I've been pretty happy with advising so far. I have a peer advisor, who is a senior, and she obviously knows how undergrad life works. She's really great and checks in on me every so often. My proctor also happens to be my advisor and she is super sweet, although I haven't needed much help so far. I have heard complaints from other freshmen who have big shot professors as advisors (like I know one guy who has Marty Feldstein as his advisor) that they're hard to get in touch with.</p>
<p>oh and does the number of tourists that come to the Yard every day ever disturb your sleep? Like do you ever wake up, yawn, look out the window and see a group of people suddenly taking pictures at you? (assuming you're not a celebrity or something)</p>
<p>harvard2011 thanks so much for taking questions from so many Harvard wanabees. My son applied to H as a classic major. I would like to know if this dept is underpopulated and if there are any sense that they need more classic majors? thanks in advance</p>
<p>The tourists usually walk around the Yard in groups. I don't really notice them anywhere else and they have never disturbed my sleep. They don't usually take pictures of random students.</p>
<p>Hey harvard2011girl, </p>
<p>Thank you so much for responding to all our questions. I am sure you must be very busy. I just thought you should know that you are really appreciated. Thank you.
Also, I have a few questions. </p>
<p>They say that if you go to Harvard, your life is "set" in terms of jobs and life in general. How do you feel about that? </p>
<p>They all say, that premeds at Harvard do not neccessarily get into medical school. What are your thoughts?</p>
<p>And, last but not least, are the people at Harvard seriously cut-throat competitive? Do you constantly feel that you are not up to the mark? ( I am not say 'you as is You, directly' but in general)</p>
<p>Is it hard to get a research opportunity because everyone is soo competitive?</p>
<p>Thanks again, harvard2011girl.</p>
<p>Graduating from Harvard will open up doors for you when you're looking for a job, but you still have to know your stuff and live up to the expectations when you start working.</p>
<p>I don't know who would say that pre-meds at Harvard don't get into med. school. I have never heard that from anyone before.</p>
<p>I'm an engineering major so I can speak for engineering. The students are not cut-throat or competitive. We help each other out. There are a lot of projects that require teamwork and everyone I have worked with have been very nice.</p>
<p>It's definitely not too competitive to get research positions. I know a lot of student doing it.</p>
<p>Could you elaborate on how the engineering programs in Harvard are? I'm planning on doing EE but my parents want me to give up stanford/MIT for Harvard (if I am accepted) due to the "prestige" factor (They have this notion that passing up harvard is the stupidest thing I can do) What is your take on this?</p>
<p>How does engineering at Harvard compare to MIT?</p>
<p>Hi me2008, I'm a current sophomore.</p>
<p>
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They say that if you go to Harvard, your life is "set" in terms of jobs and life in general. How do you feel about that?
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<p>That's just not true- it's nice to think that you can have your life set just through a letter you get in high school, but it's only a small part. Life isn't that easy- college applications might be difficult, but there's a lot more work you'll have to do to ensure yourself a great life- you'll have to work hard in school, work hard at your jobs... you're not in any way set.
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<p>
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They all say, that premeds at Harvard do not neccessarily get into medical school. What are your thoughts?
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<p>That's definitely true- you have to do well to get into a good medical school.</p>
<p>
[QUOTE]
And, last but not least, are the people at Harvard seriously cut-throat competitive? Do you constantly feel that you are not up to the mark? ( I am not say 'you as is You, directly' but in general)
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<p>NO. I can't stress this point enough- there isn't a cut-throat atmosphere at all. I've responded to this in previous posts, so forgive me if I quote:</p>
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I'm taking almost all math/science courses, unlike m_c, and I can confirm that there is no emphasis on competition in those classes either. People help each other on the problem sets and congratulate each other on tests. It would be easy to imagine that a school full of people that got into Harvard would be full of people who were cutthroat competitors, but that's just as far from the truth as it gets- unlike in high school, there isn't pressure to be the best at everything, and that really shows.</p>
<p>What's more, to tell you the truth, it's usually not the cutthroat competitors who get into Harvard from most schools, at least in my experience. Most people are just really interesting and intelligent. A few never leave their room and spend all their time studying, but they are by far in the minority, and- by their nature- you don't end up interacting with them too often.
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<p>I've taken classes where you would expect there would be a competitive classes- they're small, they're in math and science, and they're graded on a strict curve- but even in those classes students consistently work on problem sets together. It's unheard of to hope that your friends will do badly so that you can get a better grade. In fact, I feel like there's considerably less competition than there was in high school.</p>
<p>
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Is it hard to get a research opportunity because everyone is soo competitive?
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<p>Not really- it can be somewhat challenging, and you might not get the first one you try, but pretty much everyone I know who wanted to do research found a lab, including myself. I've been working at an OEB lab since the beginning of the summer, which I enjoy.</p>
<p>You really just have to take the initiative- contact a professor you like, or look up job opportunities in Harvard's database (which is how I found the professor I'm now working with- he was looking for a research assistant). I tried for a couple of jobs before I found this one, but I couldn't be happier with it.</p>
<p>I hope I helped!</p>
<p>Thank you so much to harvard09 and Admiral, in particular. You input really means a lot to me and thank you for taking time to answer my questions.</p>
<p>Congratulations to both of you for being part of the world's best institution. I hope to join you next year (Hope- is the key word).</p>