<p>In the course of my research I've heard a lot about how prestigious and affluent Harvard is. But what else is there? The three people from my area who have attended have really hated it. Is that common? Sure, no one transfers, but aren't most people who go there prestige obsessed, and maybe affraid to transfer? Not to be acusitory, just curious. Past US news, the endowment, and the famous alumni, what is so great about Harvard? And does anyone who goes there really LOVE it?</p>
<p>Read this thread:</p>
<p>That list famous alumni, financial resources and the prestige/ivy factor like three times. aaaand the list only goes up to 61, with about 5 repeats plus 10 more that are irrelivant. I feel like I've just been obsessing over a name. But does anyone LOVE the experience there?</p>
<p>I know 5 adults who went to harvard for either undergraduate or grad school. Although I cannot recall them talking about how much they LOVED their experience, they do love their lives. They all make 7 figures and have wonderful families.</p>
<p>I was supposed to apply to Harvard EA, but after hearing a number of disappointing firsthand accounts on the harvard experience and how over-rated the college actually was, i decided to do research on Princeton instead.
What I found out was that everyone generally loved their experience there. They were also convinced that they were getting the best undergrad experience at Princeton.</p>
<p>On the other hand, I didn't hear people rave about their harvard experience as much as those who attended Princeton.</p>
<p>So money after college is something to look forward to. But, is there anything outstanding that I would miss by going there as opposed to any of the other "top-ten" schools, besides location and endowment? It's really simple, does anyone love it while they are there?-not afterward when the degree gets them seven figures.</p>
<p>I just finished my freshman year at Harvard, and I love it. I find it kind of offensive that people would assume that the majority of Harvard students are the kind of people that would suffer through an unhappy, poor college experience just for a seven figure salary. I have met the best friends I have ever had and have been really happy there. Sure, I'm a generally happy person, but I think Harvard has special qualities about it that have made me love it. Is there anything you would miss by choosing another top-ten school over Harvard? Yes. You would miss meeting some of the kindest, smartest, funniest, most accomplished people you could ever find. Harvard takes great care in forming a student body of people worth getting to know. The people, coupled with the opportunities offered by the school (learning from Harvard professors, to name one), make Harvard the experience that it is. I can't think of a single one of my friends that wishes he/she were somewhere else, and it's not because they're looking forward to the consolation prize of a huge salary post-graduation.</p>
<p>People seem to LOVE bashing Harvard whenever they have a chance...
It's as if by hearing that people say that they don't love Harvard, they suddenly feel better about themselves. It's a rather amusing phenomenon.</p>
<p>That wasn't the point. The point was that everyone I have ever personally known to go to Harvard hasn't liked it. Some have hated it. I don't mean to be acusitory, as I originally stated, I just wanted to be discerning during the course of choosing colleges to apply to. I want to enjoy college for the sake of enjoyment. And I hadn't really heard of anyone doing that at Harvard through my personal experience. That is why I was simply asking, not bashing, the question "Does anyone love Harvard?" Thanks for the response.</p>
<p>Sneakypete, do you find that you get to interact with people from different backgrounds/religions/races on a regular basis, or is the student body very "clicky"?</p>
<p>And I do love the idea of going to Harvard, I am just trying to make sure it is for the right reasons.</p>
<p>Quoting WindCloudUltra from a previous thread he started, very similar to this one:
"I'm just wondering what motivates everyone to apply and hope for admissions into an Ivy school or other Peer Institutions like MIT and Stanford. Besides going for the diploma with a brand-name on it of course....</p>
<p>Can't another school that's less well known or cheaper offer the same things? Will you really make those fabled 'connections'? Are we really in it for the chance to meet 'amazing' and talented people? (Who by the way, exist everywhere else as well, lest we continue to pretend that's not true) Perhaps the true reason is we are a ton of egotistic people who really just want to make ourselves feel better than everyone else just by saying we go here or there..."</p>
<p>^ more or less true.</p>
<p>i've often wondered about this myself...though i was "happy" enough at prefrosh weekend and with the people i met there.</p>
<p>any input from current students?</p>
<p>And just how many people do you know that went to Harvard? Perhaps you could have them post their experiences for us, instead of the third hand reports we always hear about. It's always, "I know someone that knew someone that said....". Why would you prefer to believe that instead of all the current students that have posted how much the love it? My D is a junior and loves it so much she won't take a semester overseas. She's afraid she'll regret giving up the time in Cambridge.</p>
<p>My cousin transfered because she hated it. A friend who was a freshman this applied to transfer because it wasn't what she had expected, but is staying because she wants the degree. I have another friend who would transfer, but can't because of financial reasons. The final person I know with a Harvard affiliation is a close friend of my family who was accepted EA this year, but can't really tell me about the experience because she hasn't enrolled yet. </p>
<p>Perhaps your daughter could enlighten us, since we don't like third hand accounts and all. I havn't heard many current students talk about how much they love it, that's why I asked this question. If there are some really good threads where Harvard students discuss their experience, could you direct me?</p>
<p>My S and his friends would not want to post on CC, so you won't be hearing directly from them.
But they've been hanging at my house over the last ten days or so. Two of them are going home for the summer; the rest are staying at Harvard. None want to study abroad despite all sorts of encouragement by Harvard to do so. Granted, they're mostly math/science types who have less incentives to go abroad than students in the humanities and social sciences, but one big reason is that they are very involved in their ECs and don't want to miss out for a whole semester (that is why Harvard seems to push--and fund-- summers abroad programs as much as semesters abroad).
As with any school, what makes students like a school is not just the school itself but its more general setting. My S decided in favor of Harvard over Princeton because he preferred urban v.s suburban, he did not like the eating clubs and was turned off by the Street. But he knew he would have loved the academics at Princeton. Two chose Harvard over Stanford and one decided not to apply to Stanford after visiting. They could not really articulate what about Stanford they did not care for. And of course, they have not experienced Stanford.
Interestingly none are legacies, although one reports being strongly steered toward Harvard by a parent who'd done a Master's degree there (it does not qualify him for the legacy tip). The rest, however, have no prior connections with Harvard.
I don't know if my S and his friends would say they "love" Harvard; but they all seem pretty happy about being there.</p>
<p>Gee, how many do you want.....
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=194114%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=194114</a>
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=222872&page=2%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=222872&page=2</a>
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=225030%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=225030</a>
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=224502%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=224502</a>
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=210643%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=210643</a>
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=205879%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=205879</a>
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=204609%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=204609</a>
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=197428%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=197428</a>
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=170429%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=170429</a></p>
<p>Thanks! Finally. Proof people really enjoy it. That's all I needed. </p>
<p>Peace and love.</p>
<p>hey trackster,
i definitely get to interact with people from different backgrounds. i don't think i would be happy at a school where i didn't get to do that. my blocking group is about the most diverse combination of people you could form (ethnically, religiously, socioeconomically, concentration-ally (?), you name it...). this is one of the reasons i chose harvard. i observed pretty divided campuses on my other college visits. harvard's housing system is good for promoting interaction between people with different backgrounds. i obviously haven't attended other schools, so i don't know if my being happy at harvard is justification for choosing it over other schools where i could also be happy, but i am glad i came. hope this has answered your questions.</p>
<p>Thanks sneakypete. </p>
<p>How is the southern contingent up there? Noticed you were from NC. I'm from SC. Really, how are all areas represented? I know there are people from every state, but is that something you can feel signifigantly? or is the student body mostly comprised of people from Massachusettes, the New England states and California? How often do you meet people from Nebraska, Kansas or other states with smaller populations?</p>
<p>Naturally, there are less students from those states. Nonetheless, it's not an insignificant number.</p>
<p>S's blockmates all come from different states. including Nevada and Florida.</p>