<p>Harvard is a terrible place…the food blows and the TAs have BO!</p>
<p>PS- That my son is on the waitlist has in no way influenced my view of where you accepted students should go…</p>
<p>ive already said yes to Harvard:-( and rejected Yale! plz give me hope…i want to major in biomedical sciences…n yeah i like to be on the top but ill get used to not being on top…i guess,…i hope!!!</p>
<p>I think this is really insightful.
When I applied to colleges, I was wait-listed by Harvard.
I understand why Duke may be a better fit than Harvard in the long run- Duke is “Type A” enough for me as a very Type B sort of person.</p>
<p>For current students. What do you hate most about your school?</p>
<p>Some things I <em>hate</em> about Harvard :):</p>
<p>** Too may activities I want to be in till 2 AM **
It is agony to choose one activity over another. This place is just
so chock full of things to do that it is going to play havoc
with your sleep patterns- athletics, publications, interest groups, etc.</p>
<p>** Lab research **
I started off promising myself I would do no more than a couple
of hours a week. The facilities are really cool and the mentors so
accessible I am now voluntarily doing 12+ hours a week. Its eating up
all my time and I hate that I cannot control myself enough to stay
away- seriously :)</p>
<p>** Fellow Matriculants 
**
Freaks. Every single course you get a freak who is better than you.
Count on it. Sadly enough I have not yet met any scions from the many
rumoredly rich groups that mythically infest Harvard. My life would
be so much better if my classes were filled with underachievers. <em>sigh</em></p>
<p>Other than the fact that it sometimes annoys me how ridiculously smart a lot of people are without having to study as much as I do, I love it here 
Any other downsides to Harvard are trivial things (like freezing weather, crappy annenberg food half the time, etc) is easily made up for by the amazing people and opportunities available here. </p>
<p>I had to choose between Harvard and Yale and I know people at both schools - it really doesn’t seem like there is too much of a difference in terms of the kind of school environment, class structure or students. I really don’t see how you’d be a lot happier at one than another (I just personally preferred Boston to New Haven and had a better time at Harvard’s prefrosh weekend =P)</p>
<p>im pretty sure its more waspy and old-money like at Princeton and maybe even yale…harvard attracts more international students than Princeton at least…</p>
<p>all of these comments make me glad im going</p>
<p>Our S is not a Type A personality, and he loves Harvard. The people he has met there have been funny, smart, friendly – and helpful rather than competitive. I was stunned when he mentioned during the first week or two of school that his advisor had called him and arranged to take him to a cool restaurant for dinner and talk. So don’t think a Type A personality and do-it-yourself-mentality are requirements for happiness and success at Harvard.</p>
<p>“Too may activities I want to be in till 2 AM
It is agony to choose one activity over another. This place is just
so chock full of things to do that it is going to play havoc
with your sleep patterns- athletics, publications, interest groups, etc.”</p>
<p>Word to this.</p>
<p>This is a great post. As a current Harvard student, I know that I’m in the right school for me, and I knew it as soon as I finished the tour as a high school junior. It is amazing, but it’s not the best school for everyone. I just want to add in my endorsement for this post: if you fit any of these categoies, Harvard may not be for you. <b>However,</b> give it a chance, take a tour, and go to prefrosh weekend to double check… don’t just let people online give you advice! Think for yourself!</p>
<p>you do realize that all the reasons given here for harvard, or in a sense reasons why a student would not enjoy harvard are reasons that i could use for my school - columbia. i am just pointing this out because it is not harvard specific.</p>
<p>aiyi got it about right. it is in the end what feels right (as there is no absolute right).</p>
<p>“I know a blocking group or two that’s done nothing but smoke up and play Smash Brothers for the past four years”</p>
<p>Do they live in Mather?</p>
<p>This makes my desire for Harvard even greater. You have no clue how much I want to be around people that don’t shout out their greatest successes, yes I want to hear them (might not) but you don’t have to be so sluggish about it. I like that Harvard students don’t brag about whatever it is that they’re good at. Now all I have to do is get accepted.</p>
<p>@token89 - Yup :P</p>
<p>“you do realize that all the reasons given here for harvard, or in a sense reasons why a student would not enjoy harvard are reasons that i could use for my school - columbia. i am just pointing this out because it is not harvard specific.”</p>
<p>True that. Several months ago a friend and I had a conversation regarding which schools we felt offered an “education equivalent to Harvard” or vice versa.</p>
<h2>Cross-posted from another thread - but I think this might capture some of the reasons to go to Harvard:</h2>
<p>Please don’t go to Harvard for the “bling factor.”</p>
<p>Go to Harvard because you want to do research at the (world famous) HMS teaching hospitals down the road. Go to Harvard because you want Stephen Pinker to advise your undergraduate thesis. Go to Harvard because you want to take Greg Mankiw to lunch, and tell him why he’s wrong about the healthcare problem in the United States. Go to Harvard because you want your freshman roommates to make you feel both inadequate and inspired. Go to Harvard because you want the CEO of NBC/Universal to stop by and say hi while you’re working on your school newspaper and fill you in on his latest plans for Hulu.</p>
<p>Don’t go to Harvard because people in rural China will be impressed by your degree. Trust me, by the time you graduate, you’ll already be annoyed with the reactions.</p>
<p>People in positions of power (i.e. grad schools, employers) will see only a marginal difference (if any) between a Harvard and Swarthmore diploma. They will, however, be madly impressed by your “only at Harvard” accomplishments - if you take the initiative to do such impressive things during your four years at Harvard.</p>
<p>If you are a fellow math and science geek, don’t go to Harvard; MIT is the place for you ;)</p>
<p>^not if the OP is a math/science geek who likes subsidized meal plans.</p>
<p>Ahh, yes, because that’s exactly what I look for in a college…not :P</p>
<p>If you’re a math/science geek who can’t stand the thought of sharing a campus with people who aren’t math/science geeks… then, yes, you might need to go to MIT.</p>
<p>But Harvard certainly has a sizable geek contingent, as well as a strong acceptance of nerdery by the general population (and, of course, some of the best math/science professors + classes in the world).</p>