Turning Down Harvard!

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
21

<p>As there is no way for me to convince people that I was/am serious about this over the internet, I'll let it drop. Please take my word for it though, that I did think long and hard about my choice to attend Harvard over going into a skilled-labor profession, and that it really was a close call (you can make over six-figures once you open your own business). </p>

<p>And no, I don't consider myself a blue-collar martyr from the few summers I spent actually doing the work (as opposed to the lifetime of being around it). But one of the few advantages of coming from where I do is that absolutely no one would have looked funny at me if I had chosen to go into a so called 'blue collar' profession instead of coming to a place like Harvard where apparently I can't talk about any of those things without coming off as 'pretentious' or 'hilarious.' You don't have ANY idea where I'm coming from, so please don't presume.</p>

22

<p>I speculate that Harvard's yield this year will be 85%+.</p>

23

<p>^^ why?
10char</p>

24

<p>^^ probably because of the new finaid policy.</p>

25

<p>i have a friend who left harvard after his freshman year because he said it was full of people who were there for the name. I'm sure it wouldn't have been so bad as the years progressed because it would have most likely been crushed out of the naive frosh, and he was aware of that, but he said that his freshman experience with all the "name-grubbers" as he put it put him off the school for good.</p>

26

<p>I plan on turning down Harvard for my local community college.</p>

27

<p>^Where is he transferring? Somewhere less prestige-centered like a LAC?</p>

<p>I'd turn down Harvard for a good LAC and a scholarship. =O</p>

28

<p>I was at Harvard just a month ago. I met happy students who had been admitted to lots of other good colleges and are glad they chose Harvard for the education. I don't think anyone claims that Harvard is the ONLY good college in the country, nor does anyone claim that Harvard is the best fit for everyone. If you think you might like it, apply. If you are sure you wouldn't like it at all, apply to the places you think you would like. That's pretty simple.</p>

29

<p>yes, I am bemused by the number of people who have applied to Harvard and then make unflattering comments about the place. If you don't think you will enjoy the experience, you shouldn't go through the pain of applying. But applying and then running it down is an excercise in contradictions, at the least. I can appreciate this is a stressful week for students (I'm just a mom) but it's not a good way to work off the stress!</p>

30

<p>of all the people that I know went to harvard (and there are quite a lot) I only know of 1 person would goes there not for the name but because that person truely loves the school.</p>

31

<p>sure, if you think there's a better school for you (to which you were accepted), enroll in it. but why come on this board and advertise against matriculating to what many consider the best school in the country?</p>

32

<p>When hell freezes over, and I am accepted, the following will be the body of my graceful refusal of acceptance:</p>

<p>"
Dear Hah-vahd,</p>

<p>No, thanks.</p>

<p>Yours truly,
kwu
"</p>

<p>It will be glorious. I can feel a cold front coming in already.</p>

33

<p>I would question the integrity of anyone who enrolled in a school and then advised against others against enrolling. If you truly dislike it, transfer first and then provide advice. Otherwise, you are certainly not a trustworthy advisor....
I also would point out that it's disingenuous to apply somewhere and claim your only goal is to turn them down....</p>

34

<p>my friend took the year off and i think is transferring to UVA. It's instate for us, plush he got Echols and College Science, so it's a pretty good deal.</p>

<p>I would like to point out that he chose Harvard because of what he liked about it, not because of the name. He just became "disillusioned" as he put it when he saw what sort of people populated the place. He did make a few friends, and conceded that the kids he disliked for name-grubbing were merely a plurality, not a majority. His biggest issue was how huge a percentage of the senior class went into i-banking or finance on the coattails of the school's name and alumni connections. It just seemed really seamy to him. I'm really proud of him for making that decision, and most of our group of friends respects him for it.</p>

35

<p>Ailey, I agree with you in some respects. People who have an axe to grind should try to cool it before giving advice. But having been in the position that you describe, I don't see how someone's unhappiness necessarily leads to their giving false or misleading advice. Often the best advice I've gotten during the college process is from people who were really unhappy, and who told me what to watch out for.</p>

36

<p>
[quote]
What's the purpose of being facetious in an online forum?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>That's the only purpose of being online actually. Internets =/= srs bizness.</p>

<p>And turning down harvard may sound cool, but honestly when you have a harvard acceptance at hand...will your conviction be the same?</p>

37

<p>^ If I also get into Princeton and they give me more moolah, yes. ^_^</p>

38

<p>dangermoose raises a good point. The prevalence of i-banking/consulting here can get a little depressing at times, even if you're planning on going into the next most popular track (pre-med). I don't even want to think about how the art-history kids feel.
That being said, I still don't know where all these kids who 'only chose Harvard for the name' are (unless that definition expands to include kids who came for the alumni network, which changes things up a little).</p>

39

<p>
[quote]
^ If I also get into Princeton and they give me more moolah, yes. ^_^

[/quote]
</p>

<p>boldface = big IF lol</p>

40

<p>"No one dares suggest Harvard has the best undergrad education or happy students b/c they lose on both front"</p>

<p>Herewith I suggest that Harvard has arguably the best undergrad education (in some areas) and the happiest students as well :)</p>

<p>Many of your friends feel they sold 4 years of their lives? How come? Do they get paid for going to Harvard? I don't think so, therefore, even if they don't like it there, they didn't sell 4 years of their lives, they bought 4 years of their lives. Do you maybe mean "wasted"? Well, how should that be the case? </p>

<p>Option a: The classes are so easy and boring that they have a lot of free time. If that is the case, they have tons of opportunities for doing things on their own. How, then, could they waste 4 complete years if they have almost no work to do for college?</p>

<p>Option b: The classes are challenging (and therefore assumably interesting, fun etc.) In this case, I don't see how they can waste 4 years either. </p>

<p>If you should really have an army of friends at Harvard that is completely unhappy, please instruct them to leave immediately. There are thousands of people that would like to go for Harvard for reasons other than the name.</p>

<p>Harvard has many things to offer besides the reputation and the name. I find it quite funny how Harvard is often being criticized for something good - for having a great reputation. Yes, it has a great reputation. Yes, it is great for monetary success. Okay. Where is the criticism? Let's assume your beloved Berkeley had the reputation of being the best school in the world, would you turn it down because of that? I think you're possible a little bit frightened of Harvard's name. Some people criticize Harvard for that, but, guess what, Harvard doesn't care. Only the player with the ball is being attacked; that Harvard is attacked for this rather subjective and unscientific reason doesn't do anything but show that Harvard has the ball. Don't you think there are some reasons why Harvard has such a great reputation? </p>

<p>Also: For many people (including me), Harvard is much cheaper than UCBerkeley because Harvard has much better financial aid. In fact, I probably couldn't even afford going to Berkeley, with Harvard it's no problem. I'm not saying Harvard is the best school for everyone (for you it's obviously not the case), and I'm also not saying that it's perfect, but your 'criticism' is ridiculous.</p>