<p>I tried to call the office of admission at Harvard last week, and apparently I got the wrong numbers and reached another office. Guess what happened? They blatantly laughed and made a fool out of me. This made me wonder, is this typical of the Harvard atmosphere? That everyone is hypercritical and if you even make the smallest negligible mistake, you are still the laughstock of the day? I know it's not fair to generalize from a single instance of dickishness, but I've heard similar experiences from others.</p>
<p>its certainly not the overwhelming majority, but Harvard definitely does have a culture of haughtiness that is a little difficult to avoid. I went in thinking it would be fine, it wouldn't be as bad as everyone said, but in reality it was just as bad. It was so bad in fact that I left halfway through the fall semester of my freshman year for an internship - anything was better than hanging around Cambridge feeling miserable.</p>
<p>Is it possible you misinterpreted their laughter? We used to have a number one off from a pizza parlor there was a lot of laughter when we'd answer the phone after someone had just said what do you bet that's another pizza call. I guarantee however, that if you go in with a chip on your shoulder you will find lots of instances of snobbishness and won't be happy.</p>
<p>I've called Stanford, Yale, Columbia, and Harvard for various things and must say that Harvard is certainly the nicest and kindest.</p>
<p>never judge a whole school by a single department.</p>
<p>don't worry about it, everyone who contacts them loses a piece of self-esteem. harvard has it's ups and downs too. i tried to contact a admin and got a very... unfriendly reply... ^^;</p>
<p>When you visit schools, go ask at least 10 students and ask how they like it there. My daughter only found two (Tufts, Vassar and Brown) where at least 9 out of 10 said "Great". Many others it was 7 or 6...If you want to be happy, take this into consideration. If you just want "prestige" than skip to the next messages.</p>
<p>hah. if you aren't smart enough to dial a phone number correctly why are you even bothering with an application.......</p>
<p>just kidding....:-) but in all seriousness, im not surprised that this happened to you. things are very bureaucratic and compartmentalized, and people can sometimes get haughty...but i think this is largely related to the administration, not so much the student body.</p>
<p>most people are nice, but there are a few meanies who make life difficult for everybody. i wouldnt take this one experience as largely representative of everybody at the school.</p>
<p>I've also called couple of other schools. My general experience is this: Admins at top schools are persistently cranky, while those at lower ranked/state schools are much friendlier (such as asking you how you day is going).</p>
<p>I think it's more college size than ranking. The nicest administrators of the four colleges dh and I have been intimately acquainted with were at Caltech. Or maybe it's west coast vs east coast?</p>
<p>Just out of curiosity, which department at Harvard did this to you??</p>
<p>OP</p>
<p>just curious</p>
<p>Are you talking about undergraduate or graduate schools? Given that you are applying to PHD programs, why would you be calling the admissions office for Harvard College?</p>
<p>I tried to call whichever office that does the graduate application (Graduate School of Arts and Science?). But the point is, I miss-dialed by one number and they considered it an act that sullied their image of perfection, so they shared me a piece of their mind.</p>
<p>And your point is?</p>
<p>Sheesh that's not nice at all. That's strange that you mentioned that though because I've called them and I talked to a couple of advisors and admins and they have all been so amazingly helpful and friendly. There was one kid working at the admissions office though that looked scared of me (I'm not scary looking at all...lol) Haha maybe he was a-social. I'm sorry that happened to you though. :(</p>
<p>I think the best thing to do when calling Harvard and other schools is to be very sure of yourself and confident (not conceited). That way they know that your time is valuable and you realize theirs is, therefore you should be taken seriously. Know what you want to ask...ask it, and be done. And if you make a mistake just laugh it off and move on with life.</p>