What exactly is the deal with the Harvard social scene? (from an admitted student)

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
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<p>So, I was admitted EA to Harvard. And full disclosure, I will likely attend regardless of the answers given here, I am just genuinely curious.</p>

<p>I have read so many articles on the Crimson from the past few years by Harvard students complaining about how there's no room to be social at Harvard. I could link at least six, but here's one: The</a> Cult of Yale | FM | The Harvard Crimson</p>

<p>They talk about how there's no time for parties etc., because of all the work, but even if they had time, there's nothing fun to do anyway. It sounds like the administration is incredibly strict re: alcohol (I can't believe they actually have things called "Beverage Authorization Teams"), especially compared to places like Yale, where they look the other way from underage drinking. </p>

<p>I obviously want to learn in college, but I'd also like to be able to relax from time to time.</p>

<p>So, for current students/parents, is any of this true? It could certainly be that all the students actually out having fun just aren't writing articles for the crimson about how they don't have any fun, but I'd just like as many opinions as possible. Thanks!</p>

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<p>To gibby (sorry I can’t PM yet):</p>

<p>Wow - thank you for the reply. So as a Jewish male (i.e., not finals club material), my options are pretty limited. You’ve given me a lot to think about, I just hope my GC doesn’t freak out if I decide to also apply to Yale RD. Thanks again, and I guess either way I’ll end up at one of your kids’ schools.</p>

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<p>Gibby! Could you PM me the answer to this question? While I’m 99 percent likely to attend, I’ve also been extremely curious about this too.</p>

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<p>could you message me too Gibby?</p>

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<p>I come at this from a weird angle, because I haven’t actually met very many of these people who are always complaining about the lack of “social space.” Maybe I and all my friends–across a bunch of social groups–got lucky with the people we met late freshman/early sophomore year and are now our good friends, but I’ve been happy and a little oblivious to all the ruckus that appears in the Crimson sometimes. I don’t really know where it’s coming from…I can’t tell if I have my head in the sand or if it’s only a fairly small segment of the College that feels that way.</p>

<p>I have tons of fun with my friends and I haven’t gone to a finals club since three times freshman year and once last year. And I’m a woman, so I could have gotten in more than that if I wanted. Not all the time, but more. </p>

<p>While I don’t seek out places with lots of alcohol every weekend, neither do I avoid the crazy parties with tons of alcohol. I like going to those sorts of more energetic parties maybe 3-4 times a semester. (Regardless of my own consumption of alcohol in those places.) Now that I’m older, while room parties/chiller hangouts could feel a little awkward freshman year, I just like hanging out with a group of 3-4 close friends and 2-3 others who are closer to somebody else in the group most weekends.</p>

<p>Some non finals-clubs solutions exist at Harvard, their success for you to determine: If you want to rush a frat, they’re pretty accepting and, while definitely “fratty” for Harvard, not so much on the larger scale of things. If you’re interested in joining a property-owning not-so-exclusive organization (primarily the Crimson. They did cut me when a power-mad comp director decided that the board I was comping would go from accepting everybody to cutting 2/3s without any warning, like two weeks from the end of the comp. They went back to accepting 2/3s the semester after, because she was crazy. That one board’s one semester exception aside, they’re welcoming.), that/those are also very helpful. Otherwise, people hang out with their social groups. Some of those–ballroom dancing, theater, MUN, Mock Trial, the ethnic-interest organizations, as just a few examples I’ve heard of–are very tight-knit and do a good job integrating younger and older members. If they host parties, which they often do, they’re usually in older members’ rooms. Whether any of those sound like compelling solutions is up to you.</p>

<p>(Also, if you’re looking for someplace more rage-y where people party more than twice a week, Yale might not be the first place I looked. Some of the small differences between us, like Cambridge vs. New Haven, may make a difference in your undergraduate experience, but our levels of dedication/neuroticism are not such a difference between us. We are very, very similar schools.)</p>

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<p>My daughter has had a great social life at Harvard from day one. There’s been room parties, dinners out with friends, exploring Boston with roommates, video games in room across the hall and lots and lots of games to go to at Harvard and BC. She’s been to the final clubs and is pretty meh about them – sometimes fun, sometimes not. She doesn’t find them to be the center of social life at Harvard as they are sometimes advertised to be. She plays a sport at H, but she still feels like there’s more time to have fun and meet some people than she ever had in high school.The students are by many accounts the best part of Harvard.</p>

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<p>this is all good to know, thanks.</p>

<p>@exultationsy - yeah maybe those 6 articles were written by the 6 students without lives…</p>

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<p>There’s definitely a social scene at Harvard. It won’t knock you over the head but if you seek it out, it’s there. </p>

<p>With respect to the alcohol sort of parties, final clubs make it somewhat easier for freshman girls to go to parties than freshman guys, but that’s easily avoidable by joining organizations, as exul said. It also becomes generally easier as you get closer to 21, i.e. you’re more likely to have friends who are 21, i.e. you’re more likely to find booze.</p>

<p>If drinking’s not your thing, you’d also have plenty of company there too.</p>

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<p>Hilarious. Good writing.</p>

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<p>Agree with everything exultationsy said.</p>

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<p>My son, a freshman, has a very active social life. And his is less active than many others.</p>

<p>The primary impediment to his social life this semester has been his workload. There have been weeks when he’s pulled two or three all-nighters, and that isn’t conducive to social life.</p>

<p>Nonetheless, he’s found time to go to concerts, movies, dances, sporting events, out to restaurants with new friends, write for an on-campus periodical, join and become an officer in a fraternal organization, attend Mass weekly and become involved with the Catholic Student Association, go jogging, go to the gym, attend student-faculty events, work a part-time job, and explore Cambridge (and a little of Boston). </p>

<p>The school appears lenient toward alcohol use. Friday nights witness lots of drinking. Beer, wine, and other alcoholic beverages are not difficult to obtain, and much drinking is done in the open. Before the beginning of the term, we received a letter regarding Harvard’s views toward underage drinking, which can be summed up as, “We can’t approve of this behavior (it’s illegal), but unless your son/daughter does something that is otherwise illegal, extremely dangerous, or threatening, especially to others, we’re not going to make a big deal of it. However, please encourage your son/daughter to drink responsibly, if he/she is going to engage in this behavior.” And then, the letter spelled out actual, practical suggestions of how to drink responsibly (“set your limits before you start,” “eat while you drink,” etc.).</p>

<p>Some part of his social life is tied to his studies. Students spend a lot of time in study groups, which apparently have evolved into club-like entities that provide both academic and social functions. Apparently, there is a general get-together of physics students once a week before problem sets are typically due where students can come for a little extra peer help. But often, food and drink are also served, and the once a week get-togethers are as much low-key parties as they are academic sessions.</p>

<p>Folks looking for a typical party school will likely be disappointed. The student body shapes social life in its own image. Students at Harvard are bright, hard-working, self-motivating and self-directing. The social scene reflects this, with small clutches of students pursuing nearly any interest imaginable. The students who come to Harvard don’t typically seem interested in a four-year bacchanalia.</p>

<p>But there is a social life to be had there, and it appears to fit most of the students for whom Harvard fits academically.</p>