<p>I'm a senior and am considering applying to Harvard. One question/fear that I have is that say I do attend Harvard (or any top school) that I'll get there and face plant, not be able to handle the classes. I understand that your peers will be on average "smarter" than your average State U, but how difficult are the classes, how hard is it to maintain a good GPA 3.8~, and is there fierce competition? Basically, I'm just afraid that if I go to Harvard I'll be thrown into a 4 year long impossible classes/crazy competition marathon!</p>
<p>Do any current students have any insight? I bet everyone is a little nervous coming from their little no name high school to frickin Harvard, I guess I'm just freaking out a lot more than the average person...</p>
<p>Harvard is infamous for its “Gentleman’s B”: grade inflation. Major, major grade inflation. Also, keep in mind that the name “Harvard” will make up for a few tenths of a GPA point.</p>
<p>Based on written accounts, the pre-med path is “nasty and competitive” (in the words of Michael Crichton in this case). The pre-med individual will have to work much harder and will struggle to get the grades of a student in a more easy concentration.</p>
<p>From my experiences at Yale thus far (which I assume would be similar to that of a Harvard student’s), it’s relatively easy to get A’s IF you work as hard as you can. There are many people here who got by in high school BSing and think that college is the same - be warned, it is not.</p>
<p>Additionally, there are many people who are like “lolz I already got into Yale so I’m set for life.” These are the people who don’t try and generally do not live up to their potential. Don’t be one of those people.</p>
<p>I’ve also found that college presents a choice for people. You can effectively devote 50% of your time to two of the following things: Academics, Social Life (ie. partying/drinking/things that have nothing to do with extracurriculars), and Extracurriculars. But it is important to realize early on that you cannot successfully do all three. If you devote 50+% of your time to academics, then you should be more than able to succeed at Harvard (assuming you’re the type of person who can get in).</p>
<p>Crichton went to Harvard College and got in Harvard Med so I guess he did really, really well under the “nasty and competitive” environment.</p>
<p>If you want a bunch of As doing Premed don’t go to Harvard. Isn’t that what he means? Competing against the smartest people from across the country for an A isn’t worth it if you aren’t the smartest of the smartest (wow, two -est words)?</p>
<p>Put it this way: here it’s hard to get A’s, but it’s even tougher not to get B’s. Grades often depend on the class. For example, the larger classes live and die by the curve, so naturally theres not very many As, but there will be a lot of As. In other smaller classes, it’s easier to get As. Pre-med is competitive just because so many people do the track.</p>
<p>I have heard the same thing about grade inflation. Once you’re in, it is almost impossible to fail. If you’re pre-med and looking for a 4.0 though, then you’re in for a real challenge.</p>
<p>I don’t think any of these students actually attend Harvard. The idea of grade inflation, for starters, is false. I dare you, dare you, to get an A a course here. It involves not just “hardwork” instead, sheer determination with a pinch of luck. For example, I spend over 15 hours on a paper in Lamont library, only to receive a B. I thought I was just an idiot. Nope. The comments were: “Great job overall. This is flawless, etc.” For pre-med courses, like Life Sciences 1a, I thought it was pretty easy overall. Yet, I got a 100 on the first mid-term and 60 on the second =/ The final is on Monday, but I presume if I get a 90, I should end up with an A- (3.66). Yes, Harvard is addicted to giving out B/B+, but that’s not inflation. A 3.33 isn’t going to get me into law school, unfortunately.</p>
<p>I am an actual Harvard student, and I can see you are too- all my friends got destroyed by the second LS1a midterm.
It seems to me, that if you can get it you can make it through. You won’t do WELL without really working. And while sometimes it isn’t too difficult to get a B, getting A’s requires either working hard and being smart or just being a freaking genius. We have some of those too, but luckily they aren’t too common. On the up side, going to Harvard undergrad does give you a bit of a boost for later programs, even if your GPA isn’t 4.0.</p>
<p>I don’t think you should be worrying about this now. Focus on getting in. It’s not impossible to get A’s. Like everyone has already said, you have to either work hard or be a genius by Harvard standard (if you’re not, chances are that you probably won’t be in Math 55 and competing with them either). Bottom line: manage your time and schedule and you should be fine. Remember you don’t need a 4.0.
Speaking of the grading system, I’m not sure whether you should call it a grade inflation. True, most people do not get anything below a B-, but that’s because people here work their heads off. Yes, even when they “brag” about procrastinating and being unproductive etc. </p>
<p>-Banjo: High-five for being above the influence and not taking LS1a. XD</p>
<p>The premeds here aren’t necessarily the smartest Harvard subgroup, just the most hardworking, cutthroat one. As long as you have a decent brain in that head of yours, you shouldn’t have a problem in the standard “premed” courses. It’s the courses that most premeds avoid (basically anything beyond the intro-level sciences) that will get you. For instance, you can take one of three tracks to fulfill the physics requirement: PS 2/3, 11a/11b, and 15a/15b. PS and 11 get all the premeds, but 15 is still the hardest class to do well in. If you want to skip PS1, by all means do (no one is going to stop you). Take Chem 40, or Quantum Chem. Harder? Considerably. But you won’t see many premeds in these classes. Same goes for the math requirement and the bio requirement, more or less.</p>
<p>In general, though, I had the same fear before my freshman year, but it really hasn’t been as bad as I’d thought. Just read the Q guide carefully and select courses that you will be able to manage each semester. If you aren’t at all comfortable with the subject (e.g. physics), pick a course with a stellar professor and TFs, where you know you’ll get a lot of support. Don’t pick more than a couple of courses with psets that take 15+ hours/week a semester. Try to do one Gen. Ed. per semester, have at least one paper-writing class sprinkled in with your pset classes. Take into account section and lab hours, especially if attendance is mandatory. I find ~15 hours/week of class most comfortable, though it’s probably closer to 20 with labs and such.</p>
<p>As for competition, I find it to be fun more than anything else. Most of us are competitive by nature, so we need to compare ourselves against others in order to strive to be better. It’s more of a personal thing, though - it’s not like anyone tries to sabotage other people’s grades or anything. We work together on psets, share study guides, etc. </p>
<p>Your GPA will be highly dependent on the major you choose. I don’t know the specifics, but the sciences, especially math, physics, applied math, cs, and chem generally have more difficult classes than certain majors in the humanities. This is not true across the board, though, and certainly not for all people. You can choose classes strategically to slack off and do well in any major here. You can also choose classes that truly challenge and interest you and do well (assuming you put in the work), or you can overload on hardcore classes and do poorly. A 3.8 is not infeasible, but it’s definitely above average around here. Remember, however, that quite a few people here are more concerned about their extracurriculars and (sometimes) social life, so if you focus more on grades, you’ll be able to hit that average pretty easily.</p>