<p>I find it difficult to believe that the typical HYP student has grand aims of changing the world - curing diseases or eliminating poverty. Wouldn’t Harvard be a really boring place?</p>
<p>There must be some people who simply don’t give a damn, who want to get to the top of the pecking order and stay there, to hell with changing the status quo. FYI, I just see all this wealth and privilege being waved around me and feel sick that I did not win this section of life’s lottery. Happiness is relative, I guess. </p>
<p>Apologies for rambling. I needed a few answers:</p>
<li>Is it a death sentence to bring out such questionable aspects of one’s personality on the app? Conversely, does it have any positive effects?</li>
<li>Are HYP students really mostly altruistic? If so, what college would be suitable for someone like me?</li>
</ol>
<p>Divanny: I'm interested to know in what the prevailing sentiment at Harvard is. I mean, if the school's culture revolves around altruism, I'm probably not going to fit in very well.</p>
<p>Shaganov: Is that based on your visits to those schools, or do you attend one of them? If you're at Harvard as your location suggests, maybe you too can tell me what you think the prevailing sentiment is.</p>
<p>Altruism is very important. Most Harvard students do volunteer work even though its not required. From what I've seen, Harvard admissions does its best NOT to admit students who volunteered only to impress colleges. Harvard really wants students who have a sincere interest in making the world a better place. </p>
<p>That doesn't mean that CS is mandatory for students to get admitted, but it does mean that students who simply want to go to Harvard so they can be rich aren't desired.</p>
<p>Here's a link to Phillips Brooks House Harvard's huge, student-run community service organization. Community service also is part of many other Harvard organizations.</p>
<p>"BHA is a student-run public service organization at Harvard University.</p>
<p>Consisting of 78 program committees, over 1,800 student volunteers, and serving close to 10,000 constituents in the Cambridge and Boston area, PBHA is an organization dedicated to Social Service and Social Action.</p>
<p>As a student-run organization, we draw upon the creative initiative of students and community members to foster collaboration that empowers individuals and communities. Through social service and social action, PBHA endeavors to meet community needs and promote social awareness and community involvement at Harvard and beyond."</p>
<p>Despite the rhetoric about altruism, some absurd percentage of each year's graduating class goes into consulting or financial services. I've heard as high as 50% floated around, but I can't back that up with hard evidence. But let's put it this way: it's a heck of a lot higher than those who go off to work for non-profits and NGOs.</p>
<p>I wouldn't worry about it. But I also would be careful about coming across in your application as opposed to altruism, or, coversely, as overly interested in power and personal gain. Once they've established the pool of applicants who they know can do the work, they're looking either for reasons to admit or reasons to deny each individual applicant. You don't want to give them any ammo for the latter decision.</p>
<p>I came across a thread where someone said she wanted to do i-banking for a couple years, save up enough money, then spend the rest of her life doing volunteer work for NGOs. I suppose that might account for some of those going into IB and consulting, but it's hard to swallow that the majority fit that description. </p>
<p>NSM: Don't you think it's possible that adcoms have let "frauds" slip through? Or perhaps those students entered Harvard with altruistic dreams, but wizened up after 4 years and decided to pursue a practical career.</p>
<p>HAHAHA I'm sure the vast majority of Harvard grads seek practical jobs that offer them financial security in the long run. I seriously doubt there are many Harvard alums who spend the majority or even a sizeable portion of their time doing nonprofit or charity work. Such is the way of life my friend.:)</p>
<p>Well, the way NSM puts it, "Harvard really wants students who have a sincere interest in making the world a better place." It would seem that it would be almost impossible for them to get in without feigning interest in altruism. Either the admits are excellent frauds, or adcoms can't detect insincerity, hmm?</p>
<p>Timepiece: The other option is that most students at Harvard are interested in making the world a better place. I know it's hard for you to imagine, but a lot of people do care about things like that. That includes people who also would like to do well in their own professions, including in fields like business, law and medicine.</p>
<p>exactly. you don't have to want to work for an NGO or cure cancer to make the world a better place. I'm going to have a really slick, schmoozy job in DC as a political consultant someday, but I wasn't lying in my application when I said the moment that I knew I was going to spend the rest of my life in politics was the moment I lay crying on my living room floor as John Kerry conceeded because I believed so fervently he would have been a singular kind of leader who would have made the world a better place.
I think what Harvard wants, more than the future Mother Teresa's of the world, are people who get out of bed in the morning to do something more than put one foot in front of the other. The feel I get from Harvard (I haven't been yet, I'm a transfer student) is that you can do whatever you want-- you have the talent and you have the resources. Take that and focus on making the world better, and don't worry, with that talent and these resources, you'll be sucsessful anyway."
One final thought-- I think "making the world better" has a very broad definition. You can write a beautiful, meaningful book and have it published and you've given the world something that would not have been there without you, creating a better world.</p>
<p>I can make the world better by developing the next generation of weapons technologies which kill people just that much more efficiently. Damn, I should be knighted.</p>
<p>Man, if you could make some weapons of mass destructions to exterminate all humanity, you would really make this world a better place for the penguins. LOL.</p>
<p>There must be some people who simply don't give a damn, who want to get to the top of the pecking order and stay there, to hell with changing the status quo.</p>
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<p>Yes, there must, and there are. It's a perfectly legitimate perspective to think that the world will be a better place once you become chairman of Goldman Sachs, and spend your life working toward that goal. Believe me, Harvard wants the next chairman of Goldman Sachs to be a Harvard alum.</p>