Stole these questions from a Yale thread because I couldn’t find one from a Harvard one (so full credit to whoever came up with these questions). I received a likely letter from Harvard about 2 weeks ago and truly have my heart set on attending. Before I finalize my decision, I’d really appreciate if a current or former Harvard student or parent of a current or former Harvard student could please answer these questions. Thank you!!
How many hours do you spend studying/doing homework?
How difficult is it to maintain a good GPA?
Do you know anyone on academic probation?
How difficult is it to fail?
Does the student atmosphere lean competitive or collaborative?
How stressful was/is your workload in comparison to your high school workload?
Would you say it is harder to get into Harvard or to stay in Harvard?
** 2. How difficult is it to maintain a good GPA?**
My daughter didn’t receive one grade below an A- at Harvard, but she spent a lot of time studying to get those grades. Some of her friends though received B’s.
5. Does the student atmosphere lean competitive or collaborative?
Harvard students are more in competition with themselves, and their expectation and desire to be the best-of-the-best for themselves. This Crimson article does a good job of explaining it: http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2013/1/24/stress-type-a/
6. How stressful was/is your workload in comparison to your high school workload?
Harvard was infinitely EASIER than my daughter’s high school (Stuyvesant), which is a pressure-cooker of an environment where exams were handed back in reverse-order, so everyone knew who was at the top of each class. As in: “Sheila got a 96, why is the class average a 54? The rest of you must be slackers.” That kind of environment doesn’t exist at Harvard. So, I think it very much depends on what high school you attended and the experiences you had there.
1. How many hours do you spend studying/doing homework
My daughter, who graduated with honors in 2014, had enough time to hold an on-campus job for about 10 hours a week, plus be in involved with extracurricular activities and do well in her studies. Problem sets for Math, Statistics and Computer Science probably took longer than papers, but I have no idea, quantitatively, how much time she spent doing homework.
7. Would you say it is harder to get into Harvard or to stay in Harvard?
MUCH harder to get into Harvard than to stay in.
@gibby Wow, this is very informational and certainly helpful. Thank you so much for taking the time to answer these questions in detail, I really appreciate it.
There is a lot of reading in humanities courses, and some of it is quite dense and difficult. Some students will say the main skill they learned was figuring out what not to read.
Harvard is pretty dedicated to its students once in. I was going to give some amazing examples but have privacy concerns. Let’s just say they stick with students through thick and thin (and they want a high graduation rate too).
I think the controversy about grade inflation is a bit old. Efforts have been made to address it but it is a talented group of students, and the majority seems to graduate with honors.
Some people are quite competitive, but many aren’t. Some are very chill. Just like any school.
I also tire of the grade inflation discussion. It is not like all you have to do is show up to class and you are assured of getting a B. Our daughter never received less than an A in any class in High School and was the Valedictorian of her class and has worked extremely hard to get B pluses in some of her classes at Harvard.
In addition to having a demanding academic schedule she is in a Sorority, a Harvard woman’s leadership group, an international scholars organization and Co chairs two very significant student organizations on campus. Oh, and I forgot her couple of hours a week working in the admissions office as a tour guide.
Everyone’s experience is what they make it.