<p>No school, not even Harvard can live up to its own “cult like” reputation. The reality vs perceived high expectation accumulated over the years through media over-hype is what we see here. The fact is that, as we all know, it is a great school and so are 20 other schools in US for undergraduation; It is just that simple.</p>
<p>I agree that the author comes across a bit whiny, but my main takeaway from the article is that Harvard just wasn’t the right place for him. It’s not for everyone, and people should go there because they decide it offers what they’re looking for, not because of the name or the prestige or anything else. The author seems to have been looking for another four years of high school, and Harvard is not that. Harvard makes available to its students an incredible array of resources, but the key words are “makes available”. You have to take the initiative. The author would probably have been better off at a good LAC where the atmosphere is more like Andover. And he would have freed up the spot for someone better able to appreciate Harvard.</p>
<p>^Another thing is, I can’t imagine how much initiate he must be lacking because all of my professors literally beg students to come to their office hours :o. One of them actually sat in the freshman dining hall once every week just to make the process even easier: after all, you have to go there anyway to eat right?</p>
<p>Which Prof is this? He/she is either really cool or has a lot of time spend, so it seems.</p>
<p>I believe most, if not all, professors who are teaching a course are required to hold office hours. A few may do this “by appointment”, which is the functional equivalent of not doing it at all, but the vast majority have a set time at least once a week and often twice a week. And they generally really are grateful to have a student or two come by to chat. I’m surprised that more students don’t take advantage of this. It is available if you want it.</p>
<p>I’ll PM you the name. All the professors I’ve had hold office hours at least once a week, more whenever an exam approaches. </p>
<p>Harvard also has this feedback system where students rate the course/quality of teaching of the professors/etc at the end of the semester, so bad courses or inaccessible profs are exposed very easily so that, in addition to the noble idea of wanting to better enrich the learning of one’s students, a prof also needs to ensure his/her own course have a reasonable rating… 
A bit of complaining about how a course is taught is usually enough to effect enough change.</p>
<p>*logged out</p>
<p>To the author of the US News piece–1) If that is how you write, I would ask Andover for your money back–you didn’t learn very much, The piece is poorly structured and is full of stereotyping rather than trenchant analysis. 2) If you went to PA, or PEA or another school of that quality, I darn well hope that you had learned to think and write there (cf point 1). If you had already learned to write at PA, the by the time you came to Harvard you already knew how to write–so did you expect that they would re-teach you, or that you would become devoid of what you had learned at prep school and so have to learn it–or did you pretend not to know so you could do a comparative analysis? I’m a bit confused by your logic.</p>
<p>Schools like PEA or PA (but I’m biased toward PEA–and Eton of course) are where the formation of one’s ability to be a critical thinker, and therefore a critical writer. Harvard is not remedial education. It’s professors are not prep school teachers and you are no longer a kid requiring a teacher’s “there-there, I know it is soooo tough, but let me make it all better…” Harvard expects you to be an adult and take control of your learning. If you didn’t got to office hours, that is your problem. (BTW, I have been a non resident tutor at a House for 20 years and not infrequently when I come into the dining hall, I hope some students would ask me to join them-- most of the time they don’t and I sit with other faculty–which is too bad.)</p>
<p>I suppose the writer of the article will have a career in advertising or pop fiction, because he knows how to write an article which “sells”–as someone above has noted on April 1st, 33,000 families will read that article feel better about the rejection, and 2000 families won’t care.</p>
<p>As far as office hours go, this very recent article in the Crimson seems to establish that they mostly go unused:</p>
<p>[Office</a> Hours Draw Few Students | News | The Harvard Crimson](<a href=“http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2011/3/3/students-hours-office-faculty/]Office”>Office Hours Draw Few Students | News | The Harvard Crimson)</p>
<p>Availability of office hours is quite a different thing from a culture marked by strong dedication of faculty to undergraduates.</p>
<p>Just seems to underscore the relative lack of meaningful interaction between students and faculty at Harvard (undergrad), even if Harvard’s faculty is packed with superstars. I think this is – and has for long been – the primary gripe of students who are less than blown away by their academic experience at Harvard, and there are many.</p>
<p>Probably why H ranked near the bottom of a student survey of satisfaction with academic life sponsored some years back.</p>
<p>[Student</a> life at Harvard lags peer schools, poll finds - The Boston Globe](<a href=“http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2005/03/29/student_life_at_harvard_lags_peer_schools_poll_finds/]Student”>http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2005/03/29/student_life_at_harvard_lags_peer_schools_poll_finds/)</p>
<p>Interestingly, Harvard has never released that study to the general public nor has anyone “leaked” it. They’re no dummies.</p>
<p>Do most students, in your opinion, not go to see professors because they’re so wrapped up with extracurrics? Or what?</p>
<p>No…I mean, think about it. Just because someone is busy doesn’t mean he can’t make time to meet a professor. Secondly, there is usually no reason to meet with professors (I DON’T KNOW WHY PEOPLE IDEALIZE THIS STUDENT-PROFESSOR RELATIONSHIP). You don’t just show up to the office to say “SUP!!!” and leave. I’m not a current student, but it seems to me that RARELY are you truly going to be compelled to talk about something with a professor. But if you feel the need to, then you can always make time – I mean, it’s gotta be important right?</p>
<p>kaira07
thank you for your supportz. i’m thrilled to possibly be classmates with youz. we think alikez. [edited for privacy]</p>
<p>ahh well. Share in return?</p>
<p>Like others I am puzzled by this fetish for professor/student kumbyia time. College, especially at a place like Harvard, is so much more than the chance to shoot the bull with some guy or gal who is a several decades older than you. As has been alluded, if you have a question, or are puzzled by something in the course’s or the professor’s ambit, you can seek them out and as someone who has taught at Harvard can say they will, if they can, find time to meet. Now, one has to make allowances that professors have research to do and other obligations which may not be the case at a LAC or other universities in which professors are high school teachers for college aged students and so sometimes an appointment has to be made. But it is the rare as hen’s teeth professor that does not welcome questions from a student–undergraduate and graduate–who is engaged with the material.<br>
If you are looking for a BFF, that is what your amazing classmates are for. If you need someone to give you advice qua advice-- Harvard has multiple layers of advisors both formal and informal who are delighted to fulfill that task. And who knows, if you and the professor hit it off, maybe the relationship morphs too. </p>
<p>The writer of the piece would be surprised at the number of professors who would be delighted to have students come by–but they aren’t going to make the first move-- you do.</p>
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<p>This is what my D (H student) told me, beginning in her freshman year.</p>
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<p>I agree with this. It seems to me that one would meet with his/her prof if s/he was having trouble understanding the material. If the profs are top-notch, and the students are some of the brightest in the country, how often would this actually occur?</p>
<p>At a top university a professor’s primary job is to research and publish. They teach undergraduates on the side. (That is fundamentally different from a teacher’s job at a secondary school, so any comparison is ridiculous.) </p>
<p>Professors frequently engage students to collaborate with them in their research. However, such opportunities are most often provided to graduate students because only an advanced student would have the knowledge base necessary to contribute to cutting-edge research. The fact that it is harder for undergraduates to get these types of opportunities is natural.</p>
<p>The benefit of going to a university like Harvard is to be taught by the greatest thinkers of our day. It is a whole process of analysis that comes through the lectures and has application to whatever field you might ultimately pursue. </p>
<p>There are colleges that are more like high schools in that they focus specifically on student instruction. If you think you need that type of handholding then you shouldn’t be applying to a top research universiy.</p>
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<p>Agree with you that the amount of student-faculty interaction at Harvard needs improvement and should be criticized, but I don’t see that as the fault of the faculty, who in my own experience makes a lot of effort to reach out to students, to get them comfortable to coming to office hours and just interact with the top notch professors on an one-on-one, more personal basis. The Deans hold open houses to invite students to come and chat, House masters are easily reachable, etc. It is important that this exchange occurs, because knowing and liking the faculty on a personal basis does enhance the overall undergraduate experience. The resource and the faculty attention are there, but the problem is that they’re not being properly utilized, IMO.</p>
<p>I think the fault lies in the students who are not used to going the extra mile to seek out help from faculty or see no incentive in doing so. College is different from high school—there is no one here to give specific instructions on what to do. What’s there is presented to you, but if you don’t take advantage of it, no one cares. This may be different at a small LAC or a top private boarding school, where there are people who hold hands and guide you for a little longer. Also, Harvard students tend to want to be very independent, and most do an enviable job managing and navigating everything on their own.</p>
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<p>Over-filled schedule can definitely be a part of the reason. I think it’s also because there is little incentive to seeing professors-----I’ve never been to an office hour, because it’s so much more convenient to talk to my teaching fellows instead, or easily have a problem explained by a fellow student. I have so many other resources on hand: readings that explain the concepts perfectly, problem sessions, upperclassmen acting as peer study leaders, TFs reachable in minutes by email----when I’m already busy, I get lazy and take the easier route instead, even though all of my professors tell us repeatedly to come to them.</p>
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<p>It’s actually impressively easy to do research here with faculty. Again, the resources are all there, but you just need to know to look for them…</p>
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<p>This is basically how it is for me too. I haven’t had a pressing need to get extra help in academic matters from them, and I feel like it’s kinda weird to just go to office hours to chat with professors about random stuff.</p>
<p>^Seconded.</p>
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<p>So… no one likes to talk to have intellectual discussions with their Professors–chatting purely for the sake of exercising their minds and exploring a fascinating topic in depth with a master scholar?</p>
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<p>You can’t use a word like “no one” to describe the Harvard student body, but I’d hazard a guess that a majority of Harvard students doesn’t consider one-on-one intellectual discussions with Professors outside of class a priority. As others have said, this is simply because most students are satisfied with the (often) excellent discussions that occur in class already. However, I would bet that certain disciplines are more conducive to this than others, like philosophy vs chemistry. But also consider that just because many students don’t do this doesn’t mean that you can’t. Like others have said, most professors would be delighted for students to come to office hours.</p>