<p>Hi everybody,</p>
<p>I am not starting to look at colleges for next year. What is your opinion on the overall atmosphere of these colleges? Are they super competitive, laid-back, nuetral, etc.?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Wait, you are NOT starting to look at colleges for next year?</p>
<p>I have always felt like it was hard to generalize colleges like this. The kids are diverse. There are super competitive people and there are people who are not.</p>
<p>Hi everybody,</p>
<p>I am “NOW” starting to look at colleges for next year. What is your opinion on the overall atmosphere of these colleges? Are they super competitive, laid-back, nuetral, etc.?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>the atmosphere is overcast.</p>
<p>Overcast as in gloomy and depressing?</p>
<p>New England weather</p>
<p>Haha, sorry, I meant how are the students at Harvard. Are they competitive or are they willing to help each other? Is there anything else I should know about Harvard?</p>
<p>@bobbyjones
are you a golfer by any chance?</p>
<p>A parent’s observation, on which his kids concur:</p>
<p>Harvard has the luxury of essentially getting first choice of the most accomplished and interesting candidates from each year’s global applicant pool. Most of the applicants are fully qualified academically but Harvard only has room to accept 7%, so from among those qualified academically they select the most accomplished, the most talented, and the most interesting. They also select appropriate proportions to fill the needs of a vibrant campus life - a critical mass of musicians, actors, athletes, politicos, entrepreneurs, writers, etc.</p>
<p>So you might think that in this setting, everyone may be haughty or arrogant. Actually, most are remarkably humble and normal in social interactions. It turns out that however big one’s head may have been in HS, freshman orientation at Harvard is one of the world’s most humbling experiences.</p>
<p>golf001, yeah. Haha, not many people these days actually know who he is.</p>
<p>gadad, thanks for the input, Your last sentence sounds reaffirming.</p>
<p>Speaking of humble geniuses, Bobby Jones did, in fact, rock. In the world of athletic heroes, he was perhaps as admired and loved as any we’ve ever had. During the time that he was golf’s greatest celebrity (and one of the world’s leading celebrities), it was his custom upon entering a social event, to scan the room and find the one apparent wallflower who appeared to be the most left-out. He would walk immediately to that person, introduce himself, and engage them in conversation. Of course, everything else in the room had screeched to a sudden halt when he’d entered, so that the entire room took notice of the fact the quiet person in the back of the room was apparently a friend of Bobby’s. Inevitably, for the rest of that evening, the wallflower became a minor celebrity as well.</p>
<p>Wow! That’s really cool!</p>
<p>@ bobbyjonesrocks - i’ve definitely heard of bobby jones!
@ gadad - very cool comment. thanks!</p>
<p>For the record, I realized what you were asking. I was just born without a sense of humor.</p>
<p>@bobbyjonesrocks, how exactly is the freshman orientation humbling to the Harvard students? Do they tell you about what other harvard people have done?</p>