<p>I've seen many threads, and articles across the internet call this school a black "harvard". I recently toured the campus a couple a weeks ago, and i wasn't really that impressed. The surrounding area wasn't that nice, and while the campus had a certain charm to it, it seemed pretty unkempt. Now my question is for anyone who has actually attended howard, or knows someone who went there, Is the "howard experience" really worth it?</p>
<p>Hahaha 
Anything labeled ______ Harvard is sure to disappoint. I have a a young relative at Howard and it is a fine HBCU. It was never meant to duplicate Harvard. It’s worth it if you find attending any HBCU worth it. </p>
<p>As for the neighbourhood, it’s obviously urban and not on the poshest blocks of DC. But it is still in DC, and very near some of the poshest blocks.</p>
<p>I go to Howard right now and I can tell you that the experience is definitely worth it. </p>
<p>Connections: The people you meet at Howard can be beneficial in ways that you can’t imagine. Now how is that different from any other school? Every other school has campus recruiters and prominent professors right? While this is true, you have to realize that the creme of the crop comes to Howard. </p>
<p>I don’t mean to downplay any other HBCU, but the top recruiters come to Howard to dip into our fine and sufficient pool of minorities. The stigma that Howard comes with is unmatched. Just speaking for the business school specifically, I have seen the BEST of the Fortune 500 companies come here to recruit my classmates (Google, Target, PwC, KPMG, Boeing, Chrysler, Bank of America, General Motors, United Bank, Deloitte, Prudential, etc.); of the 12 companies I just gave you, I know of people working/interning at 8 of them. Almost a third of the people that I know in the freshman class (2016) has an internship already. I’m sure another poster on here can attest to how it is in other schools.</p>
<p>There’s ton of events of campus too (resfest, movie nights on The Yard, sporting events aka turn ups lol).</p>
<p>Administration: I won’t sugarcoat it at all. The administration is pretty bad. Sometimes they lose things and say you never gave it to them, take forever to upload balances, direct you to dead lines/links, give you wrong information, etc. I haven’t really had an issues with the professors thus far (I have heard of a few people you would want to watch of for however), just an issue with registering for classes. I’m not sure if Howard needs to operate on a bigger and better server, but trying to log onto BisonWeb for something substantial is hell. Registration and housing starts at 9am, and by 9:00:01 you won’t be able to sign in. Then that eventually leads to you having to get overrides and courses unblocked and loads of other things. </p>
<p>Housing is worse. I had a friend who logged on to BisonWeb the day of housing selection and got signed out by the server. When she logged in again the housing was gone.</p>
<p>Social Life: One thing that I really admire about this school is the play hard work harder attitude. For the most part, the student body is well-rounded. The person you see out at the party Friday night with his/her cup filled to the top partying really hard will be the same person you see in the front of the classroom Monday at 9am maintaining his/her 4.0. Another thing about Howard is that people rarely go home on the weekends (if you’re dorming). Most of the enrollment does not live in the DMV so we can’t really go home Friday-Sunday; this equates to more fun. For the most part, everyone is approachable. Yes there are still those snobby people/cliques/knuckleheads but you don’t necessarily have to associate with them lol. </p>
<p>Homecoming: That speaks for itself haha</p>
<p>The campus: Howard is by no means the most aesthetically pleasing by any means; anyone driving through it can see that. All of the buildings are the same color and it’s lacking innovative design. However, we are currently building two new dorms as well as making renovations to other areas of the campus.</p>
<p>The surrounding area is really bleak-looking. Most students try to stay on campus at night, however, that isn’t always the way things work out. My advice is to just be thinking with your third eye at night and not to carry a lot of valuable things that may captivate anyone.</p>
<p>DC- As great as DC is, I still think it’s underrated. Everything is accessible, there are many opportunities here to be taken, great eateries, and a lot of overall attractions. Your connections will go a long way because here in DC you are pretty much at the epicenter of everything. And if you are African-American, keep in mind that DC probably has the greatest percentage of AA’s per 100,000 people.</p>
<p>Earlier I mentioned a stigma that Howard has that can’t really be matched by many schools, and one thing that can’t be denied is that Howard attracts a lot of people. Just being here kind of enriches your soul as corny as this sounds. Just take a second and think of the prominent alumni whom attended Howard; think about the legacy you’ll be carrying around because you know you go to Howard; think about the glowing faces you’ll receive when you tell people you go to Howard; think about how it feels to see your school’s name in tons of articles and magazines; just digest that for a few.</p>
<p>While you toured a few weeks ago, you want to tour when all the students are here trust me. I toured in June 2011 and then April 2012 and it was almost like night and day.</p>
<p>I should have used notion instead of stigma</p>
<p>It’s a good school but I would definitely not consider it to be like Harvard.</p>
<p>@908Kiddo Is the housing situation really that bad? On my tour, the guide told me that you have to get “rsvp” points to secure housing, can you explain what this is?</p>
<p>That bad lol? It sounds like your tour wasn’t that great at all haha. Howard’s housing process is one of the simplest and efficient I’ve witnessed.</p>
<p>Ok, so the truth about RSVP points lol</p>
<p>So you need RSVP points to secure your housing for the following year. 50 points/4.0 is the max (they essentially hold the same weight).</p>
<p>What they don’t tell you most of the time is the all that really matters your freshman year is your fall semester gpa and your distance from home. As a first year student, you get 10 points automatically. Next is your fall semester GPA: 3.8-4.0 is 20 points (4.0 is automatic housing), 3.5-3.79 is 18 points, 3.2-3.49 is 16, and I think 3.0-3.19 is 14, etc. The next and last substantial thing is your distance from home. Students who live within 25 miles of the campus receive 5 points and students who live outside of that radius receive 10. It’s not like there are thresholds within the 25+ miles however; the guy from Baltimore and the girl from Seattle are both receiving the standard 10 points. </p>
<p>ECs and CC points are also counted and the max is 10 points for that, but as far as I’ve seen, very few people really follow up with them. </p>
<p>Last semester I believe the cut-off for first day selection was 36/38 points. Cook Hall, the Annex, and the Meridian suites go the fastest (in that order). By the second day, the previously mentioned are essentially gone, and the Meridian singles/doubles are there. At around noonish, those disappear and then Slowe and Carver are there until the last day. (I’m not too sure about the Towers).</p>
<p>A lot of people don’t get the housing they would like, so they fill out applications to appeal their housing selections. They usually hear back around the end of June.</p>
<p>Anyone from that 30+ point range should have no problem with housing. And as a freshman that can mean only receiving a 2.6 gpa and living outside of the DMV.</p>
<p>Hahaha have you seen drew hall? What’s it like in there? (Amenities, the bathrooms, etc…)</p>