<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I have a question about Haverford College.</p>
<p>Is it true that most people at Haverford are full of complaints and speak in dispraise of other people and school? One of my friends who used to go to Haverford said that he wouldn't recommend Haverford to anyone because he had a bad experience there.
I am asking this question because HC Alum's posts prove what my friend told me about Haverford.</p>
<p>Really? I don't see that at all. Am I missing something?</p>
<p>S's close friend adores Haverford. I have been very impressed by my visits.</p>
<p>hmm, your friend's response is the first negative one I've EVER heard about Haverford, and I'm not an alum or anything so I don't have any special interests. Honestly, I find it reassuring. I was beginning to think that maybe all the ranting and raving was a big conspiracy. =)</p>
<p>Um… What? Que? :)
1) Please let me know how I complain about HC. My purpose here is to give an accurate picture of the college (with its pros and cons) so the HC experience can speak for itself. I have no problems saying that the Honor code isn’t perfect and that the performing arts are so-so because, well, they are (like I said, there are great learning opportunities with trying to deal with imperfection and frustration). The last thing I want to do is sell HC by making up things about the college or other colleges… the end result would be getting students to come to HC who are uninformed and unprepared to deal with very real issues. </p>
<p>2) Regarding your friend… yes. Not every student loves HC and some have valid gripes. I’m sure there are students/alums at other schools who disliked their experiences as well and, if you were friends with them, I hope you wouldn’t judge the entire experience based on that one vantage point. If they had a good experience, I also hope that you wouldn’t just generalize that as well. People shouldn’t just listen to me as I’m just one opinion… but, if you notice, I often provide links to stories and examples that support any opinions I have. </p>
<p>3) A culture of “dispraise about others and school”? I think that is a complete misrepresentation. Do kids complain? Yes. I was a complainer as well in college but I didn’t just whine. I, like many students, thought through our gripes, the pros/cons and then acted to make a change. <strong>That</strong> is something wonderful about an HC experience… the empowerment taught to students because of HC’s culture and size. As one example, the current president (Steve Emerson Yale MD/PHD and HC’74 who was the head of Heme/Onc at Penn) has a weekly informal open office hour for kids to come in without appointment to sit (in rocking chairs) and chat about anything, including complaints they may have and to then reason out how those problems can be addressed. Don’t think that this happens at other places that are more hierarchical. </p>
<p>4) I think HC fosters students to be more tolerant, understanding and good-natured if anything. Clearly, this can’t happen over night though (hey, you come in with 17/18 years of outside baggage to overcome).</p>
<p><a href="http://www.biconews.com/article/view/6353%5B/url%5D">http://www.biconews.com/article/view/6353</a>
<a href="http://www.biconews.com/article/view/6666%5B/url%5D">http://www.biconews.com/article/view/6666</a>
<a href="http://www.biconews.com/article/view/6665%5B/url%5D">http://www.biconews.com/article/view/6665</a>
<a href="http://www.biconews.com/article/view/6613%5B/url%5D">http://www.biconews.com/article/view/6613</a>
<a href="http://www.biconews.com/article/view/6551%5B/url%5D">http://www.biconews.com/article/view/6551</a>
<a href="http://www.biconews.com/article/view/6075%5B/url%5D">http://www.biconews.com/article/view/6075</a>
<a href="http://www.biconews.com/article/view/6019%5B/url%5D">http://www.biconews.com/article/view/6019</a>
<a href="http://www.biconews.com/article/view/6131%5B/url%5D">http://www.biconews.com/article/view/6131</a>
<a href="http://www.biconews.com/article/view/6230%5B/url%5D">http://www.biconews.com/article/view/6230</a>
<a href="http://www.biconews.com/article/view/5872%5B/url%5D">http://www.biconews.com/article/view/5872</a>
<a href="http://www.biconews.com/article/view/5643%5B/url%5D">http://www.biconews.com/article/view/5643</a></p>
<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/haverford-college/241199-weighing-s-s-size-honor-code.html%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/haverford-college/241199-weighing-s-s-size-honor-code.html</a> Edit: HC has 160+ faculty, not 120 like I wrote.</p>