my interview made me not want to go to harvard.

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

<p>ok, maybe i'm exaggerating, but a lot of the stuff he said made me frown (in my head, of course). i just wanted to see if any current students could confirm any of the stuff he told me. he was great, friendly and funny and all (and for the most part i think the interview went ok), and i guess you have to consider that he was older and went to school during the kennedy era, so things might have changed since then. but anyways:</p>

<p>-Since many Harvard students come from the top of their class (and with amazing stats blah blah), there is considerable competition (especially in first semester freshman year) as many students are trying to make a name for themselves and stand out from the crowd. [this was in response to when i mentioned that i was interested in attending a school where students were more interested in cooperating and helping each other out than competing. oops.]</p>

<p>-professors focus more on working with the students who participate/ask questions/comment excessively during lectures (something that i absolutely hate) and care very little for the rest of the student body. </p>

<p>-the food is bad. :( </p>

<p>-harvard's clubs are completely student-led (which is great but ..) to the point where there is no faculty liaison. if you would like to have a faculty liaison/advisor, your group may have to pay that staff member (what?!). </p>

<p>-the atmosphere is very demanding, not laid-back in any sense. </p>

<p>sooo, comments? i'm sure things have changed a bit since then, but i just wanted to get some feedback too.</p>

2

<p>the food is good now. i had some for a week. and if you don't like the food in the dhall, go to pinocchio's -- cheap, delicious, and open late.</p>

<p>everything else -- from what i've seen -- still applies. except for maybe the faculty thing, that is screwed up. i have never heard anything like that before. but hey, the kids there are smart enough to handle their own clubs, i guess.</p>

3

<p>well the food thing is a relief. it is literally by fourth most important factor when choosing a college, hahaha. </p>

<p>sucks about the demanding environment though.</p>

4

<p>I expected Harvard to be cut-throat. Oh well. Find a few good, close friends and build a decent support group. </p>

<p>If you reach out to others, you can find help. Not everyone is the stereotype.. OR ARE THEY?</p>

5

<p>
[quote]
-Since many Harvard students come from the top of their class (and with amazing stats blah blah), there is considerable competition (especially in first semester freshman year) as many students are trying to make a name for themselves and stand out from the crowd. [this was in response to when i mentioned that i was interested in attending a school where students were more interested in cooperating and helping each other out than competing. oops.]

[/quote]
</p>

<p>There are definitely a lot of laidback frosh that don't really care about grades now that they're in Harvard and most of the frosh population don't obsess over grades. Pretty much everyone is cooperative (even if some of them are competitive people)..I'd say competitiveness doesn't exclude cooperation--to sort of steal an idea from the expos placement test, if you work together as a small group you and your group may perform better in the class than if you just studied individually so even if you are ubercompetitive it may still be in your best interest to cooperate. Sounds kinda like collusion in oligopoly...</p>

<p>
[quote]
-professors focus more on working with the students who participate/ask questions/comment excessively during lectures (something that i absolutely hate) and care very little for the rest of the student body.

[/quote]

I'd say no to the "excessively" part but yes of course professors will focus more on the students who speak up than the ones that don't. This is college, and the professors aren't there to babysit you--if you don't want to take advantage of having the opportunity to speak to brilliant professors that would love to help you out/advise you in class and other aspects of life, they won't and shouldn't chase you down. The professors try to improve the class for everyone by asking students to fill out online polls and surveys and leaving comments about the class and encourage participation and seeking help when you need it, but if you don't speak up about something then how are they supposed to know you need attention? And speaking up "excessively" is definitely not encouraged--in lectures I haven't seen anyone ask more than three questions in an entire lecture, yet the professor [if the class is a decent size] will still be able to know that kid's name..</p>

<p>
[quote]
-the food is bad.

[/quote]
Can't really argue here...there's good days and there's bad days, and then there's always the Square.. </p>

<p>
[quote]
-harvard's clubs are completely student-led (which is great but ..) to the point where there is no faculty liaison. if you would like to have a faculty liaison/advisor, your group may have to pay that staff member (what?!).

[/quote]
I'm not too sure about this but I don't think it's that hard to get faculty help for a club since the faculty are so approachable and usually quite eager to help students out, and I've seen several clubs that have more than one faculty member they could approach easily for help with events and stuff..</p>

<p>
[quote]
-the atmosphere is very demanding, not laid-back in any sense.

[/quote]
So false. Of course this is Harvard so most people here are going to be pretty serious students, but they are also pretty chill and know how to have fun. No one stays cooped up in their room in every hour they have outside of class just studying...people here hang out, chat, attend student events and activities together, explore Boston with each other...</p>

6

<p>^ This.</p>

<p>Harvard is a large place. There are lots of different types of people. There are hardcore people, and there are laid back people. My roommate just spent like three hours playing video games. He is laid back.</p>

<p>
[quote]
-the food is bad.

[/quote]

veritaffles.</p>

7

<p>I felt the exact same way about my interview, but for different reasons.
It wasn't so much what he said, but moreso how he said it. He came off as arrogant and entitled because of his Harvard diploma. I mean, the way he talked about other schools (from Yale to my local public flagship). Afterwards, I realized that his statements were a reflection on him, rather than Harvard, but it still left a bad taste in my mouth.</p>

<p>:/</p>

8

<p>should have smacked him.</p>

9

<p>hmmm, i did expect to take everything he said with a grain of salt. </p>

<p>i guess the best thing for me would be to ditch college and make a great new invention or something.</p>

10

<p>My interview kind of made me not want to go to Harvard either. My interviewer was fairly apathetic, couldn't tell me anything valuable about Harvard beyond "it's Harvard", and she had me drive an hour so I could meet her at a coffee shop she could walk to from her house instead of meeting anywhere closer. And she showed up to that coffee shop 10 minutes late, and didn't write anything down. </p>

<p>She was nice, but if interviews are meant as recruitment tools she didn't do very well.</p>

11

<p>The best thing to do is be polite to your interviewer, no matter how they act, since they are the one reporting the interview to admissions, NOT YOU. Also, no college, including Harvard, is perfect. I think many would agree with me that is does come pretty close though lol.</p>

12

<p>Out of all my interviews (Cornell, Brown, Princeton, UPenn), I definitely had the worst impression of Princeton. The interviewer for Princeton was cocky and arrogant; he didn't even bother to sit straight. He came to the interview straight from work (I could tell since he wore a full suit), but didn't bother to be on time, which left me sitting at the coffee shop like some dumb loner. When he finally arrived, he slumped in his chair with his legs spread wide and lazily took notes by taking a full second to write every letter, which made for awkward silences in between. I guess one could say that he asked questions of a degree that tested if I was "Princeton material". On the other hand, one could have easily interpreted his questions to be rude and insulting at times. Afterwards, he did not allow time for questions, which goes against the fact that interviews are primarily designed to let the student learn more about the university. Ironically, he held an extremely high office in government, and objectively speaking, had the "best" job out of all my interviewers. Still, the fact that he so poorly represented Princeton makes me wonder what kind of culture exists there.</p>

<p>I guess Harvard, Yale, and Princeton show the least humility, perhaps rightfully so, but it doesn't excuse them from acting in such a manner.</p>

13

<p>You can't represent Harvard, Princeton or Yale based on an interview. My favorite interviews out of the 7-8 I have had are definitely Harvard and Princeton Both of the guys were very nice and we had great discussions. It is really up to the interviewer on how they act and what questions they ask. The school really can't change that.</p>

14

<p>My guy was a *****. Seriously. Sounded like he despised his years at H, he was arrogant, and was basically preparing me for immediate and automatic rejection (I hate to come off as arrogant, but that's not cool, that he doesn't give me a chance, because I gots into MIT).</p>

<p>There is no way on earth that the interviewers really represent Harvard.</p>

15

<p>Well my interviewer went to Harvard for graduate school and Columbia undergrad so it may be different. But she was nice and even commented that UT was a good school. But by far my Yale interviewer was much better, but she was really kind and it was at her house. She had been interviewering for a while so she did not write things down so it seemed alot more like a conversation. It was really enjoyable, but she barely mentioned Yale I diverted the conversation back to the college.
Hmm the Harvard one in comparison was much lower. I have my Princeton interview next week and then I will have to compare the three.</p>

16

<p>My anecdotes: I interviewed with Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, and all three were great. If I had to rank them, I'd probably say the Princeton guy was the one I'd most want to be friends with, then the Harvard guy, then the Yale guy, but they all seemed like really nice and interesting people. (The Princeton one was the most overtly nice, the Harvard one was probably the most interested in discussing/pursuing ideas and "deep thoughts" -- although he was in his late forties and the others were mid-twenties, which probably affected my perception of him -- and the Yale one gave off kind of a jock vibe [even though he's an ex-financial analyst]. Their personalities, funnily enough, fit in pretty well with the stereotypes I'd had of their respective schools.)</p>

<p>After meeting all three I feel a lot more confident in saying that there are a lot of people you'll want to be friends with at all good schools.</p>

17

<p>Harvard- interviewer was pleasant but rather boring and uninteresting. She told me that she DID NOT like Harvard when she attended. I had googled her and found out she graduated Magna Cum Laude. It was my first interview, I was nervous but actually came out very disappointed about the school because of her.</p>

<p>Yale- casual, Starbucks, no pressure. The guy told me not to worry that I was IN.</p>

<p>Dartmouth- Loved the guy. High power financial broker. Loved the interview.</p>

<p>Brown- "Awesomeness personified". We had a picnic.</p>

<p>I am not sure how much weight interviews carry. I have a feeling that NONE. But, they certainly give you a certain predisposition -favorable or not, towards the particular school.</p>

<p>When I went to my visits- guess which one I loved the most? Brown. Needless to say, I hated Harvard.</p>

18

<p>I sure hope that all you applicants who have become so down on Harvard are withdrawing your applications. It will clear the decks slightly for those who love the place - and there are plenty of those left. Withdraw your app and both you and they will be happier.</p>

19

<p>sounds like if you get into all of them, you should pick Brown!</p>

20

<p>Do not judge a potential school or evaluate your chances based on an interviewer. The fact is, there are arrogant alums from every school. I had an interview for Yale in which the interviewer basically said that it is nearly impossible to be accepted into Yale, so when I am not accepted, I should not take it personally. However, I was accepted into Yale early action. Interviews are a very small part of the interview process. So, if you are lucky enough to get a receptive interviewer, by all means ask as many questions as possible. But if your interviewer happens to be a jerk, do not take it out on the school. Visit each school, talk to students and professors, and judge each school as a whole. </p>

<p>That said, it is very disconcerting to hear how Harvard was portrayed. Although I am interested in Harvard because of the general strength of the math and sciences compared to Yale, I am worried about the competitive and stressful environment at Harvard. Not good to hear at all.</p>