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<p>Harvard is perhaps the most over-rated institution of higher learning in America. This is not to imply that Harvard isn't a good school - on the contrary, Harvard is an excellent school. But its reputation creates an unattainable standard; no school could ever be as good as most people think Harvard is, no matter how well endowed.The most important reason for this is that institutions of higher learning are by their very nature fickle and subjective. Learning cannot be distributed as 'one size fits all', but each student has a certain sort of atmosphere in which he or she can learn best. For some it is in large classes, for others a small recitation. For some, it is from personal meetings with professors, for others the pages of a book (or many, many books). There may be numerous Nobel laureates, but many of them are not particularly approachable to the uninitiated. Students may often find themselves in large lectures with small recitations taught instead by graduate teaching assistants. Furthermore, there's little choice in this for students - the curriculum includes a large number of courses in a variety of subject areas that lack interest for many students. Academics at Harvard are not as rigorous as you might expect. It is much more difficult to get in to Harvard than to get out. Most students will finish their degree, since the university places a great emphasis on keeping their graduation percentage very high. It takes some effort on your part to fail a class here - not as much as at Stanford with its "gentleman's 'C'" but grade inflation is still rampant.</p>
<p>One myth about Harvard is that the professors are second to none. While it is true that many professors, to quote an oft used maxim in the Harvard admissions material are at the "top of the field", this raises the question of what does it exactly mean to be at the top of one's field? However, it sure does not mean professors holding more than two hours of office hours each week for classes that run over one thousand students; professors taking the time to learning the names of students; professors responding to student's emails and phone calls; and, professors taking the time to develop lasting academic relationships with students in their four years at Harvard. My nightmare classes have been taught by "big names" professors. These professors often leave for weeks to lecture around the country. They often never respond to emails, voice mails, or other forms of communication. Courtesy, for most of them, is something to be philosephized about on the podium; not practiced in real life.What is my point? Too many of us, myself included, choose schools based on the name, or reputation. How important is receiving faculty attention? Do I need guidance from above, or am I fine learning by myself? I have had too many frustrating and degrading experiences with faculty members to justify attending a school based solely on name alone.</p>
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