<p>spiffystars, roughly how old was this guy? Do you know when he graduated?</p>
<p>He was around 35, so I suppose his personal opinions are somewhat...outdated, especially since Harvard has probably changed a lot since then :]</p>
<p>I will say that my brother and sister both went to Harvard. They met some great kids, and had some very good professors. But they both felt like they were on their own there. And my sister's friend from there described it to me as "swimming with the sharks". Now, I am the first to admit that we are sort of, um, tender folks in my family, but I don't think it is completely untrue that Harvard as an institution is better for hardy types. Overall. And it's possible and even likely that the hardy types would hate the kind of places we are comfortable in:).</p>
<p>And yes, this is anecdotal from a long time ago....</p>
<p>I think it's still for the hardy types. There are students who think it's great if their profs phone them if they are not in class because they overslept; there are students who would not appreciate it (as a parent who got chewed off for calling at noon--but it was on a weekend). S hasn't found any shark; but then, he's not competed for a part that 50 other people auditioned for.</p>
<p>The way my interviewer put it, Harvard is for self starters. There is ZERO hand-holding at Harvard, which may or may not be a bad thing depending on what kind of person you are. Personally, I think it's perfectly fine and I rather like it that way, but that's just me.</p>
<p>"Harvard is for self starters"</p>
<p>I agree with this. The amount of hand-holding is greater than zero, especially for freshmen, but it is true that, at a minimum, you need to ask for help when you need it. No one is going to be leaning over your shoulder all the time.</p>
<p>"he's not competed for a part that 50 other people auditioned for."</p>
<p>I have, and it can be very tough, but it's not shark-ish. In other words, when I was an auditionee going through round after round of tryouts for something extremely competitive with very few open spots, there was a real sense of camaraderie among the hopefuls. I definitely stressed out about it, but it felt more like we were all salmon swimming upstream, not like we were sharks eating each other.</p>
<p>Also, for virtually every competitive activity, there is a non-competitive counterpart that anyone can join (varsity vs. intramural sports; a cappella groups vs. no-audition choirs; the Crimson vs. smaller newspapers; etc.). If your goal is to <em>participate</em>, you can. What makes people unhappy is when they don't get into the hyper-selective group, and then they refuse to join the more welcoming group because it isn't good enough for them. The vast majority of freshmen grow up and get over this, and they go have fun on the intramural team or whatever. The few who can't adjust have a very unhappy time...and maybe blame "sharks" in the selective groups for their unhappiness.</p>
<p>"at a minimum, you need to ask for help when you need it. No one is going to be leaning over your shoulder all the time"</p>
<p>Good thing is, when you do ASK for help, you'll usually get it.</p>
<p>So why are we singling Harvard out? If there's no hand holding at Harvard, then there's most likely no hand holding and spoon feeding at any of the other top universities.</p>
<p>Nah. There's hand holding at Princeton - and a general feeling of aw shucks aren't we friendly. Again, some people hate it. My roommate while I was there hated it. She spent her junior year in London. Wished she had gone to Columbia and stayed in a city instead of winding up in the bucolic suburb of Princeton. </p>
<p>I think this is an honest thread. Harvard is probably for the hardy. But that's not bashing anyone to say that. And if anyone asks me if Princeton is more conservative than Harvard or Columbia and do the eating clubs have an impact on the social life, I will tell them yes.</p>
<p>Could it be that your D's classmate is also applying to H, and wants her to think so poorly of H that she doesn't apply there. It would be eliminating competition.</p>
<p>"I have not comfronted these two individuals yet. But, why talk so negatively about Harvard?"</p>
<p>It really isn't your place to confront these two individuals. Whether they are playing a game and speaking negatively of Harvard to dissuade your daughter from applying (as TarHeel3007 suggests), or whether they indeed had negative experiences there and really didn't like it, they're allowed to say what they like about Harvard. It is not for you to correct or confront them about it. What do you care in the final analysis? Even assuming they had bad experiences, so? There's no reason to assume that every Harvard alum had universally positive experiences. I recently met someone from my alma mater who really disliked it there. It surprised me, but so what? We're all individuals; he's entitled to have disliked it, and I'm entitled to have liked it. I don't see how it should affect you or your daughter in any way.</p>
<p>Why talk negatively about Harvard?</p>
<p>Is it that hard to believe? Ever think that it's true or do you have simply to high of a view of Harvard that you can't believe that anyone would ever say anything bad about it? Smarten up, let your daughter apply to places that she wants to attend. Keep trying to push her in the direction that YOU want her to and you'll end up pushing the wrong buttons.</p>
<p>Excellent post, Spr33. Because Harvard is the #1 university in the world (by averaging most survey measures - plus we all know in our hearts it is true), others are constantly denigrating it. It becomes almost laughable to hear non-Harvardians (my own word) put it down. Even I looked for reasons to do it (before my D was admitted) but couldn't find anything solid. The cross-admit numbers prove that it is true - i.e., no matter what anyone says about Harvard, it ranks highest as the #1 choice for admittees.</p>
<p>I am not sure about ranks highest as the #1 choice for admits??? Princeton is the #1 admit choice that being said there is no doubt that Harvard is a great institution!</p>
<p>fall2007 - "Princeton is the #1 admit choice" based on what?? Published data shows that Harvard wins the cross admit battle with every university including Princeton and Harvard has the highest yield of any ivy.</p>
<p>Anyone denying the fact that EVERY school has its problems is self-delusional. Harvard, Princeton, Yale included. Harvard happens to have a few, but weighing them with the benefits...the benefits win.</p>