<p>^^PhD students in any scientific discipline at pretty much any research university in the US are expected to work hard and put in long hours conducting their research. But that the same time there is plenty of socializing. You grow close to the other people in your lab and the other grad students in the department. I’m guessing it’s much the same at Harvard as any other grad school.</p>
<p>Many PhDs that I know look back on grad school as the best time of their lives. The juvenile idiocy and the need to drink yourself blind every weekend typical of the undergraduates is mostly over. The general education courses you had no interest in are pretty much behind you. No one is there because their parents made them go. Everyone around you loves science and learning just as much as you do. It’s great.</p>
<p>I suggest you PM molliebatmit. She is currently in the PhD program at Harvard, although in a different department. She can fill you in on any Harvard-specific quirks or expectations.</p>
<p>On a more serious note, I have a small question: When you’re in your PhD program, you’ll be doing research with professors/other PhD students, correct? And those are the people you’ll socialize most with? Can’t exactly research on your own, can you? (I regard that as a good thing, by the way, just in case I implied otherwise by mistake.)
I have near zero info on any PhD program other than the fact that it’s mostly research so I had to ask :)</p>
<p>I’m impressed with the quality of this thread! Lots of great posts that really resonated w/ my Harvard experience (especially the one from JHS).</p>
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<p>I just want to clarify that it’s somewhat common for these students to drop out of the hard sciences. It’s very uncommon for them to drop out of Harvard entirely. And while the hard sciences aren’t easy - I think Harvard makes the “weedout courses” (intro chem, organic chem, intro physics) as friendly and open as possible. Lots of tutors/office hours/study groups as support mechanisms if you’re having a tough time. CS50 (the intro computer science class) is another great example of a potentially challenging class that has a ton of support available (in this case, office hours close to 24/7).</p>
<p>“When you’re in your PhD program, you’ll be doing research with professors/other PhD students, correct?”</p>
<p>Yes. I know less about how humanities PhD programs work, but in science you are typically assigned or recruited to work with one major professor and his/her research staff and the other grad students and post-docs in his/her lab.</p>
<p>“And those are the people you’ll socialize most with?”</p>
<p>Well, whom you socialize with is up tp you. But those are the people you TEND to socialize with since you spend so much time with them in the lab. Unless you are a hermit you will likely have friends from other sources as well.</p>
<p>“Can’t exactly research on your own, can you?”</p>
<p>Not really. Research costs money and often requires specialized (ie expensive) equipment. As an unattached grad student you won’t have your own lab or funding. So the key to success in a scientific PhD program is getting into a good, well-funded lab that is doing the kind of research you are interested in. But you’ll be surprised to find how quickly your personal interests can change to follow the funding.</p>