Snobs?!?!

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
21

<p>No offense, Keasley, but this discussion is just plain silly. Of course Harvard is not full of snobs, and of course everyone there isn’t the same, and of course not everyone is “type A.” I don’t know where these ideas come from, other than the fact that Harvard is considered exclusive because admissions are selective. </p>

<p>Admissions intentionally sets out to bring a very diverse mix of people to the college, diverse in personality, interests, background, income, education, geographical origin, race, religion, talent…but everyone has a level of ability, presumably, to do the work and contribute to the community.</p>

<p>Many of the students we met were surprised to get in. Many of the students care more about learning than grades. It is true that extracurriculars are very important, and students tend to be busy, but they also relax, and I hear a lot of funny stories.</p>

<p>As for the campus, where did you hear the campus was awful? The campus is beautiful, and the location is great. Minutes to Boston, gorgeous riverfront, Harvard Square. The old brick buildings have a lot of historic “character.” The dorms are old but have lots of that charm too. The rooms I have seen have moldings, little built in corner bookshelves, big windows, things like that, but are not modern or spiffy, it’s true.</p>

<p>The absence of student union is a legitimate issue, that is not really related to the issue of snobbery, other than the fact that the finals clubs are one of the few locations where students gather. The finals clubs are not a factor in most students’ lives, but perhaps their existence lowers motivation to establish other common gathering spaces.</p>

<p>Students are organizing to create a space. I forget the name of their organization, but I think it is great that they are taking the solution into their own hands.</p>

<p>I don’t know why I am even posting here, except it really does get difficult to hear or see people’s reaction if you or your child goes to Harvard. It’s just a school. Maybe in the 1940’s it was a social class, but now, it really is just a school, and one that is very open to anyone who qualifies, regardless of money or background. Their financial aid is amazing.</p>

22

<p>Compmom put it very well. The campus is unique - it’s neither a bubble nor an urban campus, but a scattering of campus enclaves clustered around an area of about a mile radius in the heart of America’s original college town. I find it very attractive. And it is probably the most diverse school there is in terms of the broadest sense of diversity - racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, national, political, talent pool, etc. I’ve got a Type A daughter there who thrives, and a very laid-back daughter who doesn’t charge quite as hard in her ECs, but thrives just the same.</p>

23

<p>And yes, a BIG shout-out to their Financial Aid staff!</p>

24

<p>coureur -
it is actually quite the opposite. I LOVE Boston and the academics seem amazing. but it seems that around every corner there is someone telling me harvard is snobby and gross and not a good place to be. i was hoping that this forum would help to shed some light.</p>

<p>compmom -
I agree with gadad that you put it very well. i think what you said it very true. and i appreciate it. i still have a lot to think about. the snob issue seems to be off the table in my head now, but there are still a lot of factors to be thought out. i think i’ll have to visit the campus and just see for myself.</p>

<p>thank you all!!</p>

25

<p>"but it seems that around every corner there is someone telling me harvard is snobby and gross and not a good place to be. "</p>

<p>Is this from students at Harvard?</p>

26

<br>

<br>

<p>Coulda fooled me. Your clear trend on this thread is that when somone addresses your previous concern about Harvard you immediately replace it with a new one:</p>

<p>Post #1:“it is kinda snobby? And by kinda, I mean the most annoying stuck up snobs on the planet”</p>

<p>and: “Also, some people say the campus isn’t so great.”</p>

<p>Post #3: “i just dont want to go to a school where everyone is like completely stuck up and annoying about the fact that they go to harvard. for example, when i visited yale and talked to people, that were clearly just as smart and motivated as the people at harvard would be, but they were really chill and down to earth about it”</p>

<p>Post #13: “what exactly does “Type A” mean. It sounds like you mean very preppy and WASP-y and like all the same. Which I would not like. My high school is like that now and I literally can’t WAIT to get more diversity.”</p>

<p>Post #14: “So I still don’t think I’d like that. I’d call myself “Type AB” because I am definitely goal oriented and a hard worker, but when all is said and done, I just want to sit back and relax. So if everyone is all crazy anal around me, I don’t think I would like that.” </p>

<p>Post #24: "but it seems that around every corner there is someone telling me harvard is snobby and gross and not a good place to be. "</p>

<p>So we have: most stuck up snobs on the planet, not so great campus, annoying and not chill and down to earth like Yale, preppy and WASPy and lacking diversity, crazy anal, gross and not a good place to be, and back to snobby to boot.</p>

<p>See what I mean? If some fault or worry is dimissed it is immediately replaced with another. There is just no pleasing some people.</p>

<p>Just set your worries aside and wait for your visit. Then if you like the vibe of the place you can decide to apply.</p>

27

<p>

</p>

<p>As we all know, Keasley is right about this. There are a lot of Harvard critics around, and they’re often holding forth on something with which they have no personal experience. Some of it may be that claiming Harvard’s shortcomings is newsworthy in a “Man Bites Dog” sort of way, some of it may be self-justification from others who feel that Harvard is inaccessible to them. But frankly, some extent of Harvard naysaying is a reaction to the tendency of Harvard students to be frank and self-critical.</p>

<p>I’ve seen a number of threads cite a survey that said students at other highly-selective schools rated their campus quality of life higher than Harvard students (whose ratings were high, just not as high as elsewhere). The question that’s raised is usually "Why aren’t Harvard’s student ratings higher?</p>

<p>I think the correct question is “Why are other schools’ ratings so improbably high?” Though I left Wake Forest over 30 years ago, I’ll still hype it as much as possible to someone who’s comparing it to UNC. I’ll overpraise the good points and minimize or ignore the bad to make you think that Wake’s a better choice than Chapel Hill - just as Chapel Hill students will do when compared to U.Va., just as U.Va. students will do when compared to Cornell, just as Cornell students will do when compared to HYP, and just as Y and P students will do when compared to H. I have a “Students’ Guide to Colleges” in which current students are asked to describe their campus in exactly five words. The response from the Yale students: “So much better than Harvard.”</p>

<p>Harvard students, unlike any others in America, have no peer institution whose reputation they hope to equal. And so, they tend to tell it like it is about their school - the good and the bad. In fact, I sense that many take a degree of pride from being so coolly rational that they can point out Harvard’s flaws. And accordingly, Harvard’s ratings probably aren’t deflated as much as their rivals’ are inflated. I think that may be behind a lot of what Keasley is hearing.</p>

<p>But after a Harvard student is done analyzing and critiquing, ask her or him if s/he likes it there. My senior daughter is contemplating that it’ll all be over in May, and it chokes her up - the prospect of leaving Harvard so soon is painful for her to consider.</p>

28

<p>No, most of the people I’ve talked to don’t go to Harvard. Which definitely has effected their comments. I thought it was a trustworthy source, because all I’ve talked to have gone to great school other than Harvard or haven’t gone to college yet, but I suppose “jealousy” of some sort could be a factor in what they said. </p>

<p>I’m sorry if all of my comments have come off as negative. I just really want to make sure I like the school i go to, so it is my (somewhat annoying) nature to second guess and disagree and look for things I don’t like. I really do think I’ll like harvard and can’t wait to go see it.</p>

<p>I think I’ll just wait to judge harvard until after I’ve visited (which is this weekend, so I’ll be back soon with more comments)</p>

29

<p>Sounds like the OP needs to do some research for him/her self. Now, no one has to put much faith in things like the common data set, but if you look at Harvard’s, I believe around 60% of the students receive financial aid, and that the average award was around $40,000, or close to 80% of COA. This puts 48% of all tuition needs being covered by FA. Now I did not go to Harvard, and I have been on campus only a few times, so I am not intimately familiar with the students, but from where should all that WASP-y snobbery come? Clearly not everyone is from a rich, privileged background. It does not seem that the OP meant intellectually snobby- as in I’m so smart and you’re not, since I doubt a non smart person can get into Harvard. </p>

<p>I don’t even get the point of this thread, and agree with post 26 above. No one needs to be convinced to apply. They already get 27000+ applications and could fill multiple classes with qualified students.</p>

30

<p>keasley1: Your comments not only come across as negative but immature. Why anybody would believe comments from students at any university about any other university is beyond me whether its Harvard or Podunk U.</p>

31

<p>Ironically, attending Harvard tends to deflate, not inflate, the ego . . .</p>

32

<p>^^True. Most kids showing up on campus are accustomed to being at the very top of academic hierarchy at their high school. Most soon get taken down a notch or two at Harvard when it becomes abundantly clear they are merely middle of the pack ( or lower) in this new crowd.</p>

33

<p>okay, so i went to campus yesterday. i loved the surrounding area. the boston area just has such a great atmosphere. However, i personally felt like the area around where the freshmen are housed definitely looked a little old, not that it wasn’t expected. besides that, it’s hard for me to make any judgments because we werent allowed to go inside of any of the buildings. so i’m torn. i think i liked it and on a nicer day, (the weather wasn’t stellar), the campus would have been better. </p>

<p>one thing i did like was that although there was definitely a campus, it was kind of spread out throughout cambridge, which makes it more integrated. so i think i liked that.</p>

34

<p>Hi keasley,</p>

<p>Glad to hear that you checked out the campus. The idea of the yard looking a little old is interesting, and is likely because that area of the campus IS old :). For example, Massachusetts Hall, where the president and several freshman live, was built in 1720. Many other buildings in the yard are well over a century old.</p>

<p>This is a perfectly valid concern- people have different tastes in architecture. (I happen to think the old parts of the campus are among the prettiest). Like most other posters, I’m concerned much more about your other concerns about “snobs” at Harvard. I’m really interested in hearing whether, after hearing from posters on this thread and visiting the campus, you still have that impression.</p>

<p>For my input, I wholeheartedly agree with most other posters that the impression of Harvard students as snobs is entirely misconceived. I’ve had a wonderful time in my 3+ years here, and I have met basically no one I would characterize as snobby.</p>

35

<p>yeah, i don’t think the really old architecture is exactly what i’m into, but that takes a back seat to the academics, which i think are amazing.</p>

<p>our tour guide was fine. the one thing I thought was a little bit annoying was that she kept saying things like “because, it’s harvard” and “but it’s fine, since it’s harvard” etc… so although I agree that harvard certainly is harvard and that’s great, but i dont want everyone around me to always boast about that fact.</p>

<p>the rest of the people i met though were very nice and said none of those type things. in fact, a lot seem rather nice. so, i think overall, i liked it. but i;m not ready to start compromising for a college, because i still have a long time before I apply, so i’m gonna keep looking and just keep harvard tucked in the back of my mind.</p>

36

<p>Please do not pre-judge Harvard. The finals clubs are just social clubs with lots of money and lots of history. They “punch” sophomores they know and like. They choose people, in large part, based on whether or not they like hanging out and partying with them. Since finals clubs function similarly to fraternities, this makes sense. There is no elitist conspiracy. Many of the people who criticize them for their exclusivity would, ironically, not enjoy being in one.</p>

<p>People at Harvard are not snobby, though I can see how people can come across as such to people who think, for example, that anyone wearing a button-down Polo to class is a snob. This line of thinking is itself a form of snobbery. And if you think Harvard is too ‘snobby’ for you and decide to attend college elsewhere in the unlikely event you are admitted, rest assured that there are about thirteen other people who wanted to attend in your place. No loss to Harvard. - A Harvard student proud of his school, just like students at every university are</p>

37

<p>“if a student is unknown by the previous HP members he will never be invited to begin with, therefore his membership (or lack of) has indeed been predetermined before he sets foot on campus.”</p>

<p>It is true that you need to know people to be invited, but punch is not held at freshman orientation. To give a very common example, if you join crew at Harvard, you’re going to be rowing with people who are HPC members. If they like you, they will punch you, even if they didn’t know you “before you set foot on campus.” They GOT to know you…at Harvard.</p>

<p>I’m not claiming HPC meets some kind of egalitarian ideal, but this is BS.</p>