<p>I have frequented this board for a while now, and I have been bored by the dominance and the ubiquity of Chances threads. It seems that we are more preoccupied by getting in to Harvard than what we would do once in, why we want to get in.</p>
<p>So, taking a cue from the Yale (gasp!) board, why do personally want to go to Harvard?</p>
<p>I'll start. I love the "let-er-rip" atmosphere, how Harvard holds all its possibilities but dares you to claim them.</p>
<p>that i'm not going</p>
<p>not sure if i'm eligible for this question:</p>
<p>but there's a lot of amazing + really nice people at Harvard, Cambridge + Boston are awesome, and you can always visit people from other colleges in the area</p>
<p>pawn_H7 speaks truth.</p>
<p>:List complied from an earlier thread:</p>
<ol>
<li>Cambridge/Boston</li>
<li>Prestige</li>
<li>best for South Asian Studies and Sanskrit (my personal reasons)</li>
<li>Awesome Ivy League goodness (1st college in America)</li>
<li>duh, Elle Woods went there</li>
<li>I look darn good in crimson</li>
<li>You can go to Estonia and people will know what Harvard is. lol but seriously, its true</li>
<li>Conan O'Brien</li>
<li>The people.</li>
<li>The exposure/different opportunities.</li>
<li>The fact that you can do ANYTHING here. Literally. (Providing that you can find time in what is guaranteed to be a rather packed schedule for most people.)</li>
<li>Natalie Portman, lol</li>
<li>New England attitude....love it!</li>
<li>PHENOMENAL art museums right on campus.</li>
<li>Um... because along with all of these, it's actually a pretty good college?</li>
<li>The House system</li>
<li>Connections</li>
<li>Annenberg Hall: <a href="http://www.fas.harvard.edu/%7Ememhall/images2/annen1.jpg%5B/url%5D">http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~memhall/images2/annen1.jpg</a></li>
<li>Math 55</li>
<li>Living in the same dorm that John Adams and John Quincy Adams did</li>
<li>Roland Fryer (Prof. in Economics Dept)</li>
<li>work hard play hard mentality</li>
<li>Opportunities for an Edward Gorey experience</li>
<li>The Harvard Lampoon</li>
<li>For the Money (for the presence and future).</li>
<li>LIBRARIES! BOOKS! BOOKS! BOOKS! OLD BOOKS! ANCIENT BOOKS!</li>
<li>Sanders Theater: <a href="http://www.fas.harvard.edu/%7Ememhall/images2/sanaudg.jpg%5B/url%5D">http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~memhall/images2/sanaudg.jpg</a></li>
<li>To actually park your car in Harvard Yard the day you move in</li>
<li>The incredible glass flower exhibit:The Fragile Beauty of Harvard’s Glass Flowers, The Journal of Antiques & Collectibles Feature Article February 2004</li>
<li>The Hasty Pudding Awards</li>
<li>>>>>>>>>>>>TO BEAT YALE IN "THE GAME"!!<<<<<<<<<< WOOT</li>
<li>Dropping the H-Bomb (except really you "go to a school in Boston")</li>
<li>Adams House</li>
<li>Prof. Dan Gilbert</li>
<li>natalie portman gets a second vote</li>
<li>Just to be able to actually write A.B (Harvard) on my resume for real!</li>
<li>beautiful campus</li>
<li>the Crimson</li>
<li>Primal Scream</li>
<li>The IOP</li>
<li>the annenberg hall looks like something from a harry potter movie</li>
<li>Harvard University Band</li>
<li>Great Arabic program, as far as I can tell.</li>
<li>The constant flow of amazing and famous guest speakers every week</li>
<li>Because it's Harvard!</li>
<li>Prof. Robert Langton</li>
<li>The hilarious IgNobel Prize ceremony every year</li>
<li>The many a capella singing groups</li>
<li>The Head of the Charles</li>
<li>Its a good back up.</li>
<li>Pinnochio's (best pizza place in New England)</li>
<li>When your professor says, "Sorry I have to miss class next week. I'm getting a Nobel Prize in Physics. You guys will have a guest lecturer though."</li>
<li>Larry Summers dancing with Elisa New at the President's Study Break over reading period.</li>
<li>Because you managed to get in!</li>
<li>The Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra</li>
<li>FOP</li>
<li>Because it rhymes with success</li>
<li>awesome commencement guest speakers</li>
<li>clam chowder</li>
<li>Cause second best just won't do</li>
<li>HARVARD SOCCER</li>
<li>forget that, how about HARVARD FENCING, 1st place last year! =D</li>
<li>Cross register courses at MIT.</li>
<li>All those great restaurants in N. Boston especially Dom's!</li>
<li>The Diversity</li>
<li>Knowing that when you go there, you WILL become something, even if you don't feel it now.</li>
<li>Museum of Natural History (Can you say "George Washington's pet pheasant?!")</li>
<li>Harvard Din & Tonics (<a href="http://www.dins.com/main/music;%5B/url%5D">http://www.dins.com/main/music;</a> McDonald's Girl)</li>
<li>Harvard Forest (just think of all the microfauna just <em>begging</em> to be discovered!)</li>
<li>Cross-registering with MIT (a repeat...I know)</li>
<li>Who doesn’t want to dress up as a colonial American man for all of the football games?!</li>
<li>I can slack off but still maintain a B average thanks to Harvard's Gentleman's grades policy!</li>
<li>The Harvard Figure Skating Club!!!</li>
<li>Because Rivers Cuomo went there.</li>
<li>Being able to cross register with MIT and take a linguistics class with Noam Chomsky.</li>
<li>Because you can talk for literally years about the reasons to go to Harvard.</li>
<li>Because you had to sell your soul just to scrape by admissions</li>
<li>Because it's not to far from RI (yay.)</li>
<li>Because I just came up with a killer idea for Primal Scream! AND---></li>
<li>Because of the "3 Things to do before graduation" are awesome.</li>
<li>Philip Streich class of 2013</li>
<li>Lou Dobbs went there</li>
<li>The Boston THREE PARTY</li>
</ol>
<p>My friend has a thing for Dan Gilbert as well haha. I personally love the amazing professors who love to talk with students for hours, my amazing advisor who happens to be really important in her spare time, and the endless dorm conversations.</p>
<p>Hmm tough one... I think its between Social Analysis 10 and Life Sciences 1a</p>
<p>The opportunities. From the brilliant professors to the innumerous school organizations, everything you could possibly ask for in a college is right outside your dorm room. Personally, if I were accepted I will most definitely be joining the Harvard Crimson; I am a newspaper junkie and always will be. That and, maybe, one of the informal thespian troupes (I have, secretly, wanted to be in at least ONE drama production during my lifetime). </p>
<p>The tradition. As the oldest college in the U.S., there is something tear-jerkingly special about even APPLYING to Harvard. There were probably millions before us who have undergone this same admissions process, from future presidents, future senators, future editors-in-chiefs, future Chief of Justices, future peace leaders. They were sitting in this same position, with a large manilla envelope in their hands, hoping and praying they would get into the college of their dreams.</p>
<p>I don't want to be too much of a jerk (and perhaps you were kidding?), but if your best Harvard experiences are "Social Analysis 10 and Life Sciences 1a" you're really missing out!</p>
<p>Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra!</p>
<p>what's the "Boston THREE PARTY"</p>
<p>The newspaper! /newspaper nerd</p>
<ol>
<li><p>that Bush didn't go there (sorry, I had to)</p></li>
<li><p>that they have, what, 7 museums?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Actually Bush did go to Harvard, for business school.</p>
<p>Oh, and, I forgot : Adams House!</p>
<p>Re : Bush - Yeah, he went, but he trashed Harvard during 2004 (or 2000?), going on about 'Harvard mentality' and when he got knocked for it because he was a Yalie he said Yale wasn't elitest. <em>eyeroll</em> So, I guess he doesn't consider himself a Harvie? (Totally cool with me; Yale can have him. We'll keep Gore and FDR.)</p>
<p>Financial Aid and Grade Inflation.</p>
<p>Dude, I didn't know Noam Chomsky taught a course at MIT. I'm so impressed</p>
<p>He teaches courses from time to time I believe. His wife just died though, so we'll see if he teaches a course in the near future.</p>
<p>And don't forget Kennedy! Who's father lived in my room.</p>
