What are the worst things about Harvard?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

<p>I need to have a good idea of what the worst things are that I should expect when I go to Harvard. I would prefer the response of current students or alumni. My intended major is probably engineering sciences or chemistry/physics.</p>

2

<p>Ohhhhh I'd definitely like to hear some answers to that. I'm trying to decide where to go to school.</p>

3

<p>Things I don't like about Harvard, in no particular order:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>The discipline system ("Ad Board"). There's basically zero student input. Now, I don't know that a student-run board would necessarily make more lenient decisions -- the 100%-student disciplinary board at Bryn Mawr is far tougher than the Ad Board -- but the process isn't very transparent, and I think there ought to be more of a student voice.</p></li>
<li><p>The tourists. It really gets old when you're late for class and you have to wait because otherwise you'll walk across somebody's photo.</p></li>
<li><p>They need to do a better job of making sure that people in big concentrations get good advice from the first person they go to. I was in psychology, and it took me about a semester to figure out that Person A had no clue and I should always go to Person B with my questions.</p></li>
<li><p>The parking situation is such a disaster; undergrads don't need cars, but it's a real pain when someone wants to come visit you and they have to park like a mile away.</p></li>
<li><p>Final clubs. Big waste of space IMHO. I never went to any as an undergrad and didn't miss them at all.</p></li>
<li><p>If you ask me, there are too many varsity athletic teams (41) and too many athletic recruits. I buy the argument that having a good football team is good for the whole school and we all benefit, so it's OK to give a huge admissions break to football players. I buy this argument for crew, basketball, and ice hockey, too. I do not buy this argument when it comes to field hockey, or skiing, or what have you.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>I'm sure I'll think of others, but I have to run to dinner...</p>

4

<p>Hanna,</p>

<p>I find it interesting that on your top-6 list, you didn't include things like </p>

<ul>
<li>large class sizes</li>
<li>overuse of TFs (consequently, less student-teacher interaction)</li>
<li>competition for attention with graduate students</li>
<li>discontent student body (it's only one survey, but it does support a common stereotype)</li>
<li>weak on-campus sense of community (in comparison to a place like Yale)</li>
<li>minimal school spirit / pride</li>
<li>no business concentration offered (closest seems to be Econ)</li>
<li>Funky, inconvenient calendar (i.e. finals AFTER break)</li>
</ul>

<p>As an admitted prospective student, the above are my chief concerns about attending Harvard. Apparently, none of them were an issue for you. I'd love to hear why the above issues didn't make your top-6 list, as I REALLY DO WANT to like the place!</p>

<p>Until I can get past my reservations, though, it's hard for me to get excited about going to school at Harvard...</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

5

<p>"It really gets old when you're late for class and you have to wait because otherwise you'll walk across somebody's photo."</p>

<p>love this one.</p>

6

<p>My daughter (current student) has commented on the tourists. She said in one instance she was up early one Saturday morning to go running, and she was the only student out and about in Harvard Yard. A tour group of Chinese tourists came over and openly stared at her from only a few feet away --> an actual Harvard Student.</p>

<p>But in general she LOVES Harvard as do a large majority of her dorm mates. She hasn't complained about any of the items in post #4. So far they just haven't been issues. In fact she recently experienced what she called the biggest and most amazing outpouring of school pride/spirit she has ever experienced anywhere. The day after the residence college house assignments were made, about 20 - 25 upperclassmen from each of the 12 Houses were dressed alike and were waiting for the frosh in Annenberg (freshman dining hall) to welcome them into their Houses. She said you could hear a roar in the distance as you approached Annenberg. She didn't know what it was. Here are her words describing it:</p>

<p>"actually walking into annenburg was my favorite part of the day/month/year. upperclassmen standing on top of tables and chairs created a huge screaming wall of school spirit and matching t-shirts and bullhorns and tuxes and paint and posters and chanting and gongs and cowbells that was totally overwhelming and...surreal? maybe that's the word i'm looking for. my mouth was open for a good 10 minutes as i tried to take it all in." </p>

<p>Doesn't sound to me like Harvard lacks school spirit.</p>

7

<p>Different things are going to bug different people. Everything that you mentioned that's actually true of Harvard just didn't trouble me much.</p>

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<p>I think TFs are used about the right amount (they lead weekly discussion sections and labs in courses with over 35 students). However, like professors, they're not all equally good. I only had one bad TF, and it was because I got lazy senior spring and didn't make the effort to switch sections that I had always made before. You have to be pro-active at Harvard, and I learned my lesson. There are choices available; you must take advantage of them.</p>

<p>The weird thing is that people believe that there's some kind of magic that emanates from professors and it's important to bask in the glow. Many professors are great. Some suck. And that's true both at research universities and tiny LACs. I just don't see it as poisonous to have extensive interaction with a <em>good</em> TF. It's not like they just walked in off the street (they're generally PhD candidates in the field). But that's my take on it -- if it's offensive to you to have some of your papers graded by a TF, don't go to Harvard (or Yale, for that matter).</p>

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<p>The student body is not discontented as a whole. Even that "one survey" found a 93% satisfaction rate among seniors. Note also that Harvard has the third highest alumni giving rate in the country.</p>

<p>The one thing that did bug me (and other transfers) sometimes is that we felt that non-transfers could be kind of ungrateful and had no clue how good they had it. Like people would complain about this or that, and transfers would respond with amazement, like, what are you complaining about, don't you know that Harvard does a better job with that than Georgetown/Cornell/MIT/Wellesley/Stanford/wherever, where I came from? And then we'd realize that of course, they didn't know -- they have no way to know. Only the transfers know.</p>

<p>I think there are a few reasons for this. One is that no human institution could ever live up to Harvard's reputation. The reputation is for superhuman perfection -- no matter what, if you come into a group of mortals looking for perfection, it's going to fall short. Transfers don't compare Harvard to perfection; they compare it to their old schools. Another is that from the minute you're accepted, outside of your family you're going to be attacked if you say positive things about Harvard. People have an absolutely bizarre level of reaction to that name; they act like you're rubbing their face in their own failings by going there, and then if you have the audacity to be happy on top of it? The result is, it's a minefield to talk about Harvard, and it's always safer to say something negative.</p>

<p>At any rate, the dominant feeling is not a negative one.</p>

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<p>This goes straight to an issue I raised above. You're not going to see Harvard spirit/pride anyplace but Harvard (and admitted student events) because people react so badly to it. There's no other school where just wearing your college T-shirt causes so many people to feel envious/insecure or make negative assumptions about your character (that you're an arrogant bastard, mainly) and to act weird or obnoxious toward you because of it. It's like taking pride in your school is something to be ashamed of where Harvard is concerned. I've never worn my class ring in public because I just don't want to deal with the crap.</p>

<p>Actually, let me add this to the list of things I don't like about Harvard. I bleeping hate the assumptions people make about me because of it.</p>

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<p>Eh, it made very little difference to me. I had half of college under one system and half under this one; it just doesn't affect your daily life much. I actively liked having a long reading period. If you're going to ruin your Christmas break stressing out, that's bad, but that's a choice. Just don't stress about it. ;)</p>

8

<p>Hanna - As I'm late for a meeting, I don't have time to write out the response that your post deserves, but WOW. </p>

<p>That is perhaps the most well-articulated "defense" of Harvard I've seen (and I've read a ton). Thanks for helping me keep it on the map, because like I said, I really want to love Harvard!</p>

9

<p>raven, my brother attends Harvard and issues like low student satisfaction, minimal sense of community, and non-existent school spirit are things that he definitely identifies with. However, this might not be true for all people, as different people do react differently. </p>

<p>I talked recently to a friend of mine who is a current Harvard student, and she specifically said "Harvard is not a happy place." She happens to be one of the kindest, most genuine and inspirational people I've ever met. Also, she's always very careful with her diction so as to not accidentally give false impressions- that's why I was particularly surprised by her bluntness about Harvard. She did go on to say that the atmosphere forced her to grow, and now she's happy as a <em>person</em>, not because of her environment.</p>

<p>If you're trying to decide between Harvard and another school, I would suggest you to consider what type of person you are. Do you normally get caught up in school spirit at your high school? If so, then you'll probably do the same at Harvard. If not, don't expect Harvard to change anything about that. </p>

<p>I could be wrong on this point, but I'll go ahead and say it anyways. I think that if you're studying a field that's particularly competitive, you'll be under much more stress, and things like school spirit just cease to be that important. Examples would of course include pre-med, and possibly econ. The majority of the people who I've met from Harvard were pre-professional; they wanted to do either business or medicine and hedged their bets by doing econ/pre-med. For these students, school spirit ranks pretty close to bottom of the barrel on their priority list. </p>

<p>When you visit Harvard, go around and talk to as many different people as possible and get their views. Try to listen to people who seem to be as close in personality to you as possible; if you went to Harvard, you would probably feel similarly to them. One last piece of advice: don't go into Harvard with huge expectations of how it's going to be a perfect university with people who are just like you, etc, etc. If it does turn out to be like that, great. But if it doesn't, then there's the potential of it being a terrible disappointment.</p>

10

<p>Econ is one of the most competitve departments? I did not know that... thanks....</p>

11

<p>Talking to a friend from my school who is currently at Harvard, I also got a comment from her saying that life at Harvard was pretty stressful and not much fun. Then again, we both sort of agreed that it was a burden she was willing to face to get a Harvard degree. Maybe you feel the same way. Maybe you don't.</p>

12

<p>Honestly the only one of these issues that is going to be of concern to me is the calendar... which I do find a bit odd, but I can live with it... :)</p>

13

<p>The weather. It snowed yesterday! It snowed! Yesterday! April 12!</p>

<p>The meal plan. Do you enjoy eating (more accurately: paying for) every meal for the next four years in the dining hall, at hours more suitable to a nursing home than a college? You'd better. (They are changing the hours, hopefully.)</p>

<p>The housing system, in some respects. Say goodbye to your friends in the quad; you will NEVER SEE THEM AGAIN. Say goodbye to your friends in Dunster; they will be EATEN BY GIANT COCKROACHES. Oh yes, they're moving the quad to Allston; Allston, the new quad which will be just as inconvenient as the old quad AND surrounded by auto body shops and decrepit factories.</p>

<p>The core. Which they're getting rid of, yay.</p>

<p>Section for most humanities classes.</p>

14

<p>I wore flip flops and shorts in New Haven yesterday and wasn't too cold (I generally complain if the temperature drops below 50 degrees). FYI.</p>

15

<p>I've read that Harvard has the highest graduation rate of any college in the country. Does this mean that students are actually content with Harvard or is there some type of psychological barrier that prevents a student from transferring out of Harvard?</p>

16

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<p>Groups of friends (up to about 6 or 8) from the freshman year in Harvard Yard can block together and get assigned to the same house. You will never see them again only if you don't want to, or they don't want to see you.</p>

17

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<p>But the sad truth is that most of us have more than 7 friends. For instance, me and my friends had to split into 2 blocking groups. Luckily though, neither of us got quadded. </p>

<p>Fortunately they're considering changing blocking group sizes and allowing sets of groups to be put in the same "zone" - i.e. houses near each other. Let's hope it works out.</p>

18

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<p>Well, I've known three students who transferred, if that's what you mean. One decided she'd made a mistake going to a big school and left for Swarthmore; another had transferred IN with me and didn't like the change and went back to his first school; the last one was a Massachusetts native who left for Stanford after freshman year (though she was my roommate at our 5th-year class reunion, which suggests that there were no hard feelings on either side). So it does happen; it's just rare.</p>

19

<p>Regarding the happiness thing at Harvard...reminds me of something my Harvard host's friend said to me when I visited. He said something along the lines of: "Harvard isn't for everyone. There are people here who are miserable. There are people who come here because of the name. However, if you have researched the school well and you know what you want and are motivated enough to go after that, then there are no better place than Harvard." Basically, Harvard isn't going to hold your hand for four years. You need to be proactive.</p>

<p>BTW: everyone who I talked to during my visit seemed to love the school. But my host did say that she knows a few people who are unhappy and are thinking of transferring. So my conclusion: not everyone at Harvard is happy but most people are.</p>

20

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<p>Ugh, the only way this would ever happen is if you're not very friendly with those people in the first place. The quad is a 10 or 15 minute walk and 5 minute (if that) shuttle ride from the center of campus. Shuttles run every 20 minutes and have improved tremendously since my frosh year. </p>

<p>Furthermore, the center of campus will always be the Yard. On most weekends, the Quad throws pretty big parties that attract a ton of River people. The bars, restaurants and larger masss of people around the River also attract Quadling who often finish up the night by in that area. </p>

<p>The Quad is a small inconvience, but in no way is it a huge barrier to maintaining friendships</p>