<p>I wanted to know your perspective on the social and educational aspects of Harvard compared to other prestigious schools such as Georgetown, Penn, Princeton etc. I have heard good things about all of these schools and I want to be able to compare them in every aspect.</p>
<p>Yale >>></p>
<p>Ok honestly it would be good to hear from someone with experience on this.</p>
<p>it's a little vague, ruff ryder. maybe if you narrowed your question to something more specific?</p>
<p>I envision Harvard kinda like Darwinian survival of the fittest.
Yale would be a Blues Clues kinda place. (Sorry bulldogs :P Hehe ;))</p>
<p>As good a place to start as any would be to go to PrincetonReview.com, look up Harvard, Gtown, Penn and Princeton, and read the "Students Say . . ." synopses on Academics, Student Body, and Campus Life for all three. Don't necessarily take everything there as gospel, but since the paragraphs are based on multiple student survey responses, they should be somewhat more reliable than individual opinions you might get on a forum.</p>
<p>Noitaraperp, what I wanted to know was the whether there is social life at these schools and how strong is it. Does everyone just study since they are top caliber schools? If there are parties, what are they like? I am a smart student but I enjoy parties and drinking and thats what I want to see at college. I know it seems wierd to ask if this exists at the schools I'm looking at but I want to go where I can grow in my education, yet have a social life instead of studying all day and night.</p>
<p>I know this may seem wierd too, but how are the chicks?</p>
<p>Go to Yale.</p>
<p>Smart yet not socially stunted...</p>
<p>can't say the same for Harvard....</p>
<p>Really, merkalicious? Which year at Harvard are you right now? Freshman, sophomore, junior, senior? Or if you're not currently attending, surely you're an alum. If so, when did you graduate?</p>
<p>The "chicks" are lovely intelligent young women who rightfullly do not like to be referred to as chicks.</p>
<p>Sister went to harvard. I've visited extensively. I speak the truth - or should I say "veritas"? Don't mean to Harvard bash; obviously it's a great academic environment. It just doesn't have a comparable social scene. Or even a scene for that matter - that is unless late night ego stroking counts...</p>
<p>@ twin mom: 'Lovely' and 'intelligent' are severe understatements. But yeah...don't upset girls that go there. They happen to be pretty darn sharp.</p>
<p>i second ruff ryders question about the parties. what is the social life/drinking scene like at harvard, if there is one? answers from any current students would be much appreciated</p>
<p>^ My interviewer was pretty informative about this one.</p>
<p>There aren't any Harvard approved frats..........And as a result, the drinking/party scene that IS at Harvard, while much less public than at other schools is MUCH more intense.</p>
<p>Quality over quantity, I guess.</p>
<p>merkalicious - It's not helpful to anyone for you generalize your sister's experience to make sweeping statements about the school - hers was one view. Plenty of people, myself included, have another. So yeah, it's your sister's "veritas," but saying everyone has the same unfortunate experience she did is just foolish. There are socially stunted people at Harvard, and there are also non-socially stunted people - I interacted with both. The same could be said of any college, including Yale. </p>
<p>Anyway, to answer people's questions ... Since I only went to one college, I don't know if the drinking/party scene is any more "intense" (what does that mean?) at Harvard than anywhere else. I can say it is present, and if you're interested in drinking and partying you won't have any problem finding plenty of like-minded people, and places to do so.</p>
<p>@ caramelkisses (actually.....Do Hershey Kisses come in caramel!?!)</p>
<ul>
<li>My interviewer is a grad student at a different Ivy now, and she was answering a question of mine about the social life at Harvard, versus that at the Ivy (Let's call it Schmarvard!) the interview was being conducted at.</li>
</ul>
<p>She has a lot of friends that are seniors (and in frats) at Schmarvard, as well as friends that are graduate students, and while she was at Harvard, she had friends that were grad students.
She said the parties at Schmarvard were much more spontaneous, and much more likely to be rowdy/have alcohol..........But that the few not stuffy parties that occurred at Harvard were WAY better/crazier. Ultimately, she said (I really want to make one of those jokes, but there's not a way to set it up..) that a student could completely box themselves in Cambridge if they REALLLY wanted to, but that if they interacted with the larger Harvard community/Boston area there was much fun to be had.</p>
<p>It's definitely true that you can stay inside the Harvard bubble REALLY easily, in terms of social scene. I personally did, and enjoyed it very much! :) But people do also go out to clubs and other stuff in Boston. </p>
<p>It's really hard to generalize, a lot of a person's social life is predicated on what community (or communities) they're a part of - what "scene" they're on, so to speak. I was centered in the black community, and that social scene is different from the arts scene, or The Crimson scene, the athlete's scene, or whatever other activities people were into. There's not even necessarily one cohesive "finals club" scene, contrary to what people think. For example, tarts of the black community scene overlapped with a few finals clubs, and not others, so speaking for myself and probably lots of other people - there were certain clubs I could be found in frequently, and others I never set foot in during my 4 years and couldn't even point out to you on a map.</p>
<p>I hope I'm making sense ... basically I'm trying to convey that there's really no huge overarching Harvard Social Life Experience. Aside from the big events that happen (Yardfest, and whatever that thing in the fall is called, etc.) there are lots of different scenes, and the experience you have depends on what you choose for yourself.</p>
<p>"there's really no huge overarching Harvard Social Life Experience."</p>
<p>^ Amen.</p>
<p>"@ twin mom: 'Lovely' and 'intelligent' are severe understatements"</p>
<p>(and their parents are modest!)</p>
<p>^ Fair enough. : )</p>
<p>Harvard v. Yale? If you really have to ask, then aim for Yale. The odds of getting in are better. You may never even know what you'd be missing...</p>