<p>A few things I'd like to clear up:</p>
<p>1) Harvard kids are not snobby or elitist - the rich/legacy crew is a tiny minority. And they are great kids too.
2) Harvard kids are not depressed - everyone has their niche here.
3) Harvard is an amazingly special place to go to school.
4) Harvard is not cutthroat. I've made amazing friendships here
4) Yes, Harvard kids have social lives</p>
<p>Definitely apply if you're on the fence.</p>
<p>Hey Ace! You’ve been absent from the CC Harvard boards for a while, which is a good thing. Your first semester of college should be full of a lot more exciting things than posting for the rest of us. But I’m delighted to hear that life on campus is going so well for you. And your experience there sounds as if its been the same as my daughters’.</p>
<p>your life should be something more than 3172 posts on this website. Let your daughters live their life and get your own.</p>
<p>^Aww, that’s harsh! :(</p>
<p>Anyway, I will apply, thanks. How cohesive does the campus feel to you, Ace? I visited and worried about feeling isolated there.</p>
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<p>Have no fear - living in at Harvard is a great experience. As a freshman everyone lives together in Harvard Yard (in some of the most beautiful dormitories in the United States). Harvard does a great job of breaking your class of 1,600 into smaller units like your entryway. Since most housing consists of suites of 4-5 people, chances are you’ll have a core group of friends right out of the starting gate. I personally have 4 other roommates with whom I’m great friends.</p>
<p>As you become a Sophomore, Junior, and Senior, housing centers around the “house system” identical to Yale. Houses become very close environments and you are able to create “blocking groups” of up to 16 friends you’ve made. Houses have common rooms straight out of Harry Potter, hold almost daily events, and have their own libraries and dining rooms.</p>
<p>Harvard has a great campus and a great class size. I just walked back from getting Dunkin Donuts coffee and saw three separate friends and one professor I know. I know that can be said of a lot of schools, but combined with the environment, it’s a special place to go to school.</p>
<p>Okay, thanks. 
I knew about the Harvard Yard freshman housing, but I just felt (and heard) that Harvard was less socially-oriented than what I’m looking for. </p>
<p>I just submitted my app yesterday, though. Can’t wait for late March/early April!</p>
<p>Kinda creepy, VDC. Surely you have something to offer other than an attempt to insult a helpful and caring parent.</p>
<p>^Agreed! We like you here, gadad! You are very helpful and supportive. :)</p>
<p>Hey Ace, are you from the Denver area? If so, I may have met you this summer…</p>
<p>Yessir, Denver area it is.</p>
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<p>The house system may be great, but it is definitely not identical to Yale’s college system.</p>
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</p>
<p>Enlighten me please. Same residential, academic, eating enviroments. Huge house pride. courtyards, sports teams, etc…The only difference I see is in the name.</p>
<p>Yale students are assigned to houses before they get on campus, and have a sense of house community freshman year. Harvard students don’t “get housed” until the end of freshman year. </p>
<p>I don’t think there are any major differences beyond that (at least, in terms of the structure).</p>
<p>Just a few questions for Harvard students/alumni,</p>
<p>Regarding the houses - did you feel that it was better to have a blocking group of your choice, or do you think that perhaps a randomly assigned grouping might have been better?</p>
<p>(ie, mingling more)</p>
<p>and also, did you feel that the houses have a really distinctive spirit and identity?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>hi ace:
how true is the ivy’s reputation of not knowing how to party?
thnx</p>
<p>dude why the hell do you care</p>