<p>Can someone comment on this? In comparison to schools like Berkeley, Princeton, etc--just how friendly and laid-back the student body is, how exclusionist it is, what parties are like, how much or little stress takes place on a day-to-day basis, what the city offerings are like, etc.</p>
<ol>
<li>Not laid back</li>
<li>LOTs of exclusion (finals clubs are basically member only, the lampoon, hasty pudding, etc). Harvard students tend to segregate off into elite groups. There isn't much overall camraderie. There are big residential house parties however that are open to everyone.</li>
<li>Not that stressful academically</li>
<li>Cambridge is a nice town with shops and restaurants</li>
</ol>
<p>Tell us Slipper, what year are you at Harvard? My D is 2nd year.</p>
<p>1) quite friendly but not laid back.<br>
2) finals clubs are not an issue for the vast majority of the campus. You can search here for a discussion of the actual numbers. Most students participate in ECs so comping is the norm. That's not exclusion. There is alot of overall camraderie especially among section study groups and in some majors like History and Lit.
3) can be stressful academically but doesn't have to be. If you get in you can handle it.<br>
4) ditto, if you like the city.</p>
<p>As a current sophomore my experience has been 100% in line with bandit_TX's description, slipper1234's sounds a little off to me</p>