My first semester at Harvard from a current student

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

Hi,

I was accepted into Harvard in December last year, and I thought I would share some of my thoughts of Harvard thus far. It truly has been amazing, and I am really enjoying my time here.

How are the people here? They’re honestly my favorite part about Harvard. People here are sociable, friendly, attractive, and so INTERESTING! It honestly bewilders me just how talented these people are. Harvard really is a small school, so you get to know everyone really well. They’re always people that I can sit by in the dining hall. What really struck me about the other students here is just how normal they are, despite being really talented underneath. We’re all just normal college students really :slight_smile:

How are the academics? The professors and teaching fellows (same as TAs) are so approachable and nice and really helpful and funny. They goof off with us in class and laugh at their own mistakes. This week I’m even getting dinner with one of my professors. One thing you should know about Harvard is that Harvard is hard. These classes are incredibly demanding and nothing you have done before (APs, IBs) will prepare you for these. People accuse Harvard for having grade inflation, and they’re not incorrect, but somehow people conflate having grade inflation for it being “easy”? What, no. You will work harder than you ever would. I myself am working until 2-3 am weeknights in Lamont (a library). However, your work will pay off and Harvard will not let your GPA collapse. Bottomline, yes, everyone basically gets As-Bs, but they have put in a lot of effort. It can be a bit stressful, but that’s true at any top college. However, everyone is in it together and are so helpful. I can find anyone to help me on a problem set in the early mornings of the library.

How is the weather? I personally find it to be pretty nice. Granted, I come from northern Michigan, so Boston weather is not that much of a shock to me. Right now the air is a bit chilly, and it’s really nice walking through the Yard with the leaves changing colors, drinking a warm cup of coffee :slight_smile:

How is the social life? Pretty awesome. There’s always so much stuff to do, and there is always the entire city of Boston to supplement your social needs. I love partying and dancing, but if you’re not into that, there are SO many other outlets for social interaction. Opening weekend was basically all parties every night. I have such fond memories party hopping around the freshman dorms, passing around a bottle of vodka with strangers. I’ve been out every weekend and sometimes weeknights, and there are ALWAYS parties in the Quad (a group of upperclassman dorms).

Final clubs? Pretty irrelevant. They’ve been under attack by the administration, so they’re been pretty quiet. I don’t really care much about them anyways. The frats at MIT are pretty fun though :).

How are the clubs? All right. They’re pretty standard; some can get a bit cliquey and exclusive, but you learn to ignore them. I don’t know, I guess they’re pretty intense sometimes? What you should know about Harvard is that there are so many different clubs that you will find one that fits you. We got a beekeeping club even, so that’s pretty neat. Harvard is also very arts orientated; a lot of my friends do theater, improv, a cappella and such.

As with many of you, I was choosing between Harvard and Stanford. I always knew I needed to live in a city, and what really made the decision for me was that Harvard was right next to Boston, and I cannot stress how AMAZING Boston is! I pretty much have gone out to there every other weekend. There’s so much stuff out there, and in my time here I’ve gone out to concerts and music festivals and clubbing and other really fun stuff. Everything is just stops away on the subway. Stanford is in Palo Alto, and there’s pretty much nothing to do there. You stick inside the “Stanford Bubble.” If you are into that, that’s fine, but I’ve found it such a refreshing experience to just get out of my college and into the city every once in a while.

Stuff I wish I’d know before coming? I wish I knew that I would be bombarded with emails everyday. I need to figure of a better way to manage all that mess.

Other quirks of Harvard? The Science Center doesn’t really have that much science going on in it. It’s pretty much just math and statistics. The dining hall hours are inconvenient (why does dinner end at 7:15?). Why do I have to pay for drying? Why are staplers so hard to find? Why is setting up printing on your laptop so difficult? Why are the floors so squeaky? Why do tourists keep touching John Harvard’s foot even when we pee on it?

Biggest advice for anyone applying to college? Get that “dream school” mentality out of your head. Being dead set on a school will only give you false expectations. For all of Harvard’s amazingness, it’s really not that amazing. It’s just a regular college.

Harvard does has its flaws and there are times where I might get depressed and really turned off from this place, but that is true of ANY college you go to. Given the chance to rewind a year, I would still choose Harvard. I’m know I’m gushing right now, but it really is an incredible place. It’s like 5 am right now so I need to sleep ( I apologize for grammatical errors. I can elaborate more on anything if you want) . I hope what I wrote inspires you to apply :slight_smile:

2

@OmgHarvard, thanks so much for the informative email. I was also accepted last Dec but decided to take a gap year. BEST DECISION EVER!! (For anyone considering it).

I havr two ex-high school classmates in your class who are perhaps not having as easy a time adjusting as you, but they seem to be slowly finding their way. I can’t tell you how relieving it is to hear how “normal” and fun Harvard can be. I’m also very social and love to party and it’s wonderful to hear i’ll find plenty of people of my ilk.

I also want to mention that no one i’ve met during this gap year could really care about my Harvard acceptance. They just figure my parents are loaded (they’re not). I’m working an an internship in Africa with people from all schools and backgrounds. Harvard and the Ivies may be great schools but i’ve never been more impressed with the people i’ve met here, all of whom went to schools i’ve barely heard of, and many of whom are far more capable than i probably will ever be.

3

Thanks for this post, even though I do not want to go to Harvard this really motivates me to keep working in school. I Your writing is so effusive and lucid I almost feel as if I go there. Thanks a lot.

4

Wh-a-a-a-t? How much underage drinking is there at Harvard?

5

There is plenty of underage drinking at the vast, vast, vast majority of colleges. Absolutely no one should be shocked by this.

6

More than likely, on par with YPMS and just about every other college in the country.

7

“2 - 3am weeknights in Lamont…”

My younger son spent so much of his freshman year in Lamont at night that there were occasional pictures of him in the Crimson, curled up on a couch asleep, only recognizable by his ubiquitous fedora.

8

This fits very well with my daughter’s experience. Good job explaining the difference between grade inflation and the difficulty of the work.

9

The staplers… nowhere to be found. Could it be that students have taken leave of John Harvard’s foot and are now peeing on the staplers? I’d appreciate your view.

Also, you said that Harvard is “not that amazing” and yet it is “incredible”. Which one would you say it is more of, now that you’ve had time to sleep on it? That’s key for future applicants. That and the staplers.
:slight_smile:

10

The crimson does a profile of the average study habits of the students. Per the Crimson the average student spends 20 to 29 hours a week studying outside of class

11

I’m a freshman too and OmgHarvard’s report is pretty spot on! (Especially the 2 AM weeknights. I can’t believe I used to go to bed at 11 in high school.)

Also, just want to throw it out there that several of my friends used College Confidential as high schoolers and we all agreed that some of the crazy stats made us feel very inadequate! So if you’re a potential applicant who is daunted by the amazing students on here who are also applying, please don’t be! Everyone here has their own strengths to offer the college, and those strengths aren’t necessarily a bazillion AP classes and perfect SAT scores :slight_smile:

12

@OmgHarvard

Congrats OP. I am honestly very happy for you.
I may see you there next school year (transfer admissions) if I don’t mess up anymore this school year haha. Harvard sounds really really cool based on your description. Had I not messed up so badly (kind of like I had a split personality (forgetting I had a perfect SAT score)+ me being extremely stupid to the admissions committee) I would have been going there and I may have saw you.

13

Glad to see the youngsters at our little trade school down the river keeping up the grand tradition!
We were fun back then too!

14

It’s just so shocking after reading all those application essays from prospective HYPSM students.

I can’t remember even one of them talking about how they’d really like the opportunity to walk around campus swigging from a vodka bottle with all the other freshmen.

15

@JustOneDad: I thought you were being sarcastic in post 3. Lots of people study hard and balance that with playing very hard. Besides the very strict religious schools, alcohol is part of the fabric of all schools – Harvard and peers are certainly not immune. Heck, have you ever visited Dartmouth (the inspiration for “Animal House”)?

16

It is very refreshing to read a post by someone who is happy. :bz

17

From my older son, I am made to understand that Harvard social life revolves around heavy to very heavy drinking. Some other schools, apparently, have other drugs of choice.

18

@T26E4 Only partially. You don’t need alcohol to “play hard” and walking around in public swigging vodka is markedly different from having a red cup at the house party.

19

I believe the OP was implying that they were passing around the bottle within the dorm, not while travelling between dorms. However, to your point, the red cup is much more prevalent.

20

Regardless of whether or not it was on the street, “in public”, I think the phrase “swigging vodka” set the tone.