<p>What did you guys think of it?</p>
<p>I don't think Byerly could handle such a thorough critique. </p>
<p>Did you read Douthat's explication of the Harvard "core" curriculum in The Atlantic?</p>
<p>I read it. The author is pretentious. Despite his multiple statements to the contrary, he is really preoccupied with becoming part of something elite and exclusive. Although he mocks the idea of "privilege," he spends most of the book talking about how tough it is to be part of the upper class and dwells on the few occasions he spends rubbing shoulders with the poltical elite (seriously, he spent 50 pages about one such experience). His attempt at joining a finals club is worth a few laughs. I think Hanna may agree with me on some of this...</p>
<p>I did enjoy one column he wrote when he was on the staff of the Harvard Crimson:</p>
<p>He seems like a person who will always complain about something. I remember reading a column he wrote while still in Harvard that praised the school and lambasted Yale. Eh, he's just that kind of person.</p>
<p>Perhaps this is the amusing column you remembered, captioned "Harvard Syndrome:"</p>
<p>"...a mental disorder so pervasive and persistent that it defies any quick-fix cure. Call it, if you will, the Harvard Syndrome.</p>
<p>This disorders symptoms vary widely, needless to say, based on individual constitutionsbut fortunately, the symptoms are easily recognizable to the trained (i.e., Harvard-educated) eye. For one thing, the Harvard Syndrome causes otherwise sincere people to lie, with almost pathological zeal, about their motives for not attending Harvard. The lies can range from the banal (lousy undergrad education, as my Legal Seafood chum insisted) to the breathtaking and patently unbelievable (I really liked Yale better). But however involved and intricateor charmingly clumsythe lie may be, the truth is always the same. The Harvard Syndrome sufferer was denied admission to Harvard...." </p>
<p>The arrogance of the elite certainly cannot be understated.</p>
<p>It's only a matter of time before we knock you from the top of the mountain.</p>
<p>"breathtaking and patently unbelievable (I really liked Yale better)."</p>
<p>Haha. Cute line.</p>
<p>84.3% ocachoy, after all</p>
<p>I know a lot of people who know him, and it's very simple. Basically this guy is a giant douche. You'll find them at Harvard as you'll find them anywhere, and it shouldn't surprise anyone that a giant douche fails to get laid in college. The only way Harvard comes into the story at all is that it's the sole reason why a giant douche's story about not getting laid ever made it into print.</p>
<p>Douthat may be an elitist, but that doesn't entirely discredit him. While I agree that his courtship of the social climbers limited his contact with those who really did care more about academics than alcohol access or membership in the Porc, there is no reason to doubt that his social critique does apply to a significant portion of the student body.</p>
<p>Douthat clearly believed that his experience was typical of students attending any elite school, and I don't doubt that, to an extent, it is. However, the culture he describes may also be a negative manifestation of Byerly's oft-repeated claim that Harvard has the ultimate brand name and the best students, as evidenced by their large cross-admit edge over rival schools. If Harvard is the ultimate brand name, then it stands to reason that it would represent the pinnacle of achievement for the smart (and, in the case of Suzanne Pomey, felonious) social climber. In fact, the social climber is less likely than the truly remarkable student to carefully evaluate two elite schools on a level that probes deeper than brand name.</p>
<p>I think Susan Pomey got into her "dream school" without a doubt. Your critique is wide of the mark if you think otherwise.</p>
<p>The same is true for most Harvard matriculants, left or right, rich or poor, potential philosophers or potentisal captains of industry.</p>
<p>No school loses fewer matriculants via transfer.</p>
<p>There is no evidence, really, to support your clearly partisan view that Harvard matriculants are shallow and matriculants elsewhere (ie, YOUR favorite school .. Princeton, I assume?) are thoughtful and noble of spirit.</p>
<p>No, being an elitist doesn't discredit him. Being a douche discredits him as a commentator on the social scene. This is like a book about junior high penned by the wannabe who was always crying because the snotty cheerleaders wouldn't sit with her at lunch -- in other words, the only person in the school with a complete lack of perspective.</p>
<p>This book is an accurate picture of what it's like to be at Harvard when you are a loser who thinks you're too good to hang out with 95% of your classmates. If you think only the Porc guys are worth your time, then you deserve what you get. I'm happy to say that that attitude, and the isolation that rightfully follows it, is rare at Harvard, to say nothing of other elite schools.</p>
<p>Douthat's been a facebook member since March 11, and he still has no friends..Hmmmmmm....</p>
<p>Hmmm ... that may actually be a point in his favor.</p>
<p>What's the deal with Suzanne Pomey? Who is she?</p>
<p>She was a Harvard student who (along with a friend) stole like $100,000 from the Hasty Pudding Theatricals, where she was an officer. Both students were expelled. There was a criminal prosecution, but they didn't get any jail time (much to the chagrin of a lot of their classmates).</p>
<br>
<blockquote> <p>Hmmm ... that may actually be a point in his favor.</p> </blockquote>
<br>
<p>At Harvard? The home of The Facebook?!</p>
<p>I thought TheFacebook was based in Palo Alto. </p>
<p>Ocachoy Byerly? What is that?</p>
<p>If anyone has read Douthat's work in The Atlantic, especially his critique of the non-existent Harvard core curriculum and the massive flaws in the undergraduate education there, which I presume none of you have, he is an extremely fluid writer and mind. Judging from his work there, he must at least have some valid points to bring forth. They may turn out to be overstated or ridiculous, but their validity must be assessed, but not dismissed. </p>
<p>God forbid he criticize Harvard! It MUST be above reproach, because cross-admits pick it above SYP, right Byerly? God forbid someone take apart an eminently shallow and politicized institution! He MUST be denied his fair day in academic dialogue! He is a douche! We can't listen to him! </p>
<p>Hanna, your ad hominem criticisms of this guy are ironic, because that's the kind of shallowness and lack of intellectual rigor that he's criticizing. You have absorbed too much Harvard I guess. A true scholar wouldn't term him a "douche" (certainly a teenage insult and vaguely chauvinistic at that) and dismiss his arguments out of hand.</p>
<p>Hanna trashes him because she is an ultra leftist and he is a conservative; not surprising.</p>
<p>To Zepher: 84.3% ocachoy = "84.3 % 0f common admits choose Harvard over Yale."</p>