Harvard’s campus and vibe is underwhelming

[Anonymous]

Everybody hates Harvard Yard be lcause it's overrun with tourists.

The real Harvard is inside the gates that check id -- the Houses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Harvard yard’s grass is terribly maintained considering the resources available.

The buildings are copy and paste Georgian brick and not done well.

Cambridge is nicer than New Haven or Providence but Yale and brown have way better campuses

As for the vibes and kids — a lot of convergence with MIT

I don’t remember the difference between Harvard kids vibes/look being this different from BC kids 20 years ago but in 2024 they seem to be starkly different

uh, those buildings are authentic, built in the 18th century for Harvard's growing community of students. Most consider it an honor to be living in them and in the Yard. What freshman enjoy at Harvard - unlike the Yale house system - is that all freshmen spend one year together in the Yard. So,by the time you have finished freshman year, you know everyone in your class. Then you pick one of the beautiful river houses for the next three years. At Yale, freshman go directly into a house and miss the Harvard bonding experience.

My rooms at Harvard were huge and comfortable. I had a shared suite with an enormous living room and working fireplace. A neighbor even managed to bring his baby grand up five flights of stairs

I'll take you at your word about Harvard, but your info on Yale is completely inaccurate. Most Yale first years lives together on Old Campus, then live in their residential college for the next 3 years. Unlike Harvard, Yalies are randomly assigned to their residential college, which is more egalitarian than Harvard. There is no rush or selection process. I had great rooms at Yale too with fireplaces and charm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I couldn’t get over how touristy the whole place felt. Mind you, I was one of them 😂

Me too. It also felt too congested with people and traffic and too high end commercial. And, all the colonial architecture just made me feel like suburban Virginia! DD liked it way more than I did, but maybe that's because we don't get as much colonial in MD as in VA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I couldn’t get over how touristy the whole place felt. Mind you, I was one of them 😂

Me too. It also felt too congested with people and traffic and too high end commercial. And, all the colonial architecture just made me feel like suburban Virginia! DD liked it way more than I did, but maybe that's because we don't get as much colonial in MD as in VA.

Harvard Square is so much more corporate than it used to be, and that is a giant bummer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Harvard yard’s grass is terribly maintained considering the resources available.

The buildings are copy and paste Georgian brick and not done well.

Cambridge is nicer than New Haven or Providence but Yale and brown have way better campuses

As for the vibes and kids — a lot of convergence with MIT

I don’t remember the difference between Harvard kids vibes/look being this different from BC kids 20 years ago but in 2024 they seem to be starkly different

WTH is going on with DCUM lately? There is a thread that trashes all the ivies as being run down and filled with geeks and/or asians, there is one that has a Vandy alum or two or 3 going off about the nerds and asians there. Someone went off that the Duke 2028s "look different" and look "not fun". This has to be coordinated. I have three kids , two at ivies and one at one of these others: the kids "look" the same as they did when the oldest started 5 yrs ago versus the freshman we just moved in --sure there is some geeks and nerdiness and there is a great diversity of ethnicities. It is not new. Why is this bad? The only difference in look between now and 25 yrs ago is less white. Is that your issue? If somehow you mean truly nerdiness not race, what in the heck do you expect? These kids are overwhelmingly very smart kids, the top 1% mostly, which is a significant shift from 20 years ago when the majority were not top 1-2%. These schools are also more filled with financially needy kids than they have ever been, with 50-65% on aid and a high % pell grants. They are not going to have the same fashion /makeup / demeanor as the way southern country club culture is. If it is "too geeky" (or "too poor" or "too asian") don't apply! The so-called geeks who are there and the new ones who get in this season do not need your kid or your attitude. My white mildly quirky to very geeky kids are having a blast and enjoying the huge opportunities, and my bank account is grateful for the aid we get.

I think what happens is that some kind of social media manipulation school sends the students out to practice here. Trolling us is just there homework.

I think this may be the death throes of all the hyperfocus on race.
It's not the kids, the kids are all right. It's the adults.

-Black and hispanic parents feeling like their kids are being targetted when they lose their racial preferences in college admissions, while ALDF preferences that overwhelmingly benefit white people remains largely untouched. So they characterize anyone that opposes affirmative action a racist, often these people are asians and so you have a bunch of black and hispanic people calling asians people racist.

-White parents feeling like they have to protect a system that benefits their kids because they see them being crowded out of even mid tier schools because the competition has gotten so tough now that more kids (especially more non-white kids) are applying to college. The competition at the high end (that DCUM is concerned with) comes largely from asians and the white parents justify their position by claiming that asians only "appear" to be more qualified, when in fact it is all the result of cheating (because asians lack integrity) while white kids don't cheat (because they are honorable and chock full of character).

-Asian parents feeling like their kids are being targetted because there seems to be an active attempt to limit the number of asian kids on campus. THe racism seems palpable when you have white people saying that too many asians would cause the white people to leave the institution, a very similar sentiment to what Lawrence Lowell said about the effect of too many jews causing the white people to leave harvard when he created holistic admissions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I feel like the 1960s to 1990s was the golden age of bad architecture.

At both Harvard and Princeton, the campuses look great until you run into some STEM (it always seems to be STEM) building built in this area and they look like garbage and out of place.

Just a small pet peeve. The newer buildings are now built in the style of the 18th and 19th century buildings.

But that's true of all campuses building then (hate bauhaus)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I feel like the 1960s to 1990s was the golden age of bad architecture.

At both Harvard and Princeton, the campuses look great until you run into some STEM (it always seems to be STEM) building built in this area and they look like garbage and out of place.

Just a small pet peeve. The newer buildings are now built in the style of the 18th and 19th century buildings.

The point about 1960s-1990s architecture is true of a lot of universities. At my undergrad, the information science building (which looked like a concrete space invader) and another ugly modern 1970s research building have already been torn down and replaced. The pre-WWII buildings get renovated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Harvard yard’s grass is terribly maintained considering the resources available.

The buildings are copy and paste Georgian brick and not done well.

Cambridge is nicer than New Haven or Providence but Yale and brown have way better campuses

As for the vibes and kids — a lot of convergence with MIT

I don’t remember the difference between Harvard kids vibes/look being this different from BC kids 20 years ago but in 2024 they seem to be starkly different

WTH is going on with DCUM lately? There is a thread that trashes all the ivies as being run down and filled with geeks and/or asians, there is one that has a Vandy alum or two or 3 going off about the nerds and asians there. Someone went off that the Duke 2028s "look different" and look "not fun". This has to be coordinated. I have three kids , two at ivies and one at one of these others: the kids "look" the same as they did when the oldest started 5 yrs ago versus the freshman we just moved in --sure there is some geeks and nerdiness and there is a great diversity of ethnicities. It is not new. Why is this bad? The only difference in look between now and 25 yrs ago is less white. Is that your issue? If somehow you mean truly nerdiness not race, what in the heck do you expect? These kids are overwhelmingly very smart kids, the top 1% mostly, which is a significant shift from 20 years ago when the majority were not top 1-2%. These schools are also more filled with financially needy kids than they have ever been, with 50-65% on aid and a high % pell grants. They are not going to have the same fashion /makeup / demeanor as the way southern country club culture is. If it is "too geeky" (or "too poor" or "too asian") don't apply! The so-called geeks who are there and the new ones who get in this season do not need your kid or your attitude. My white mildly quirky to very geeky kids are having a blast and enjoying the huge opportunities, and my bank account is grateful for the aid we get.

Glad your kids qualify for aid. Makes a huge difference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Harvard yard’s grass is terribly maintained considering the resources available.

The buildings are copy and paste Georgian brick and not done well.

Cambridge is nicer than New Haven or Providence but Yale and brown have way better campuses

As for the vibes and kids — a lot of convergence with MIT

I don’t remember the difference between Harvard kids vibes/look being this different from BC kids 20 years ago but in 2024 they seem to be starkly different

WTH is going on with DCUM lately? There is a thread that trashes all the ivies as being run down and filled with geeks and/or asians, there is one that has a Vandy alum or two or 3 going off about the nerds and asians there. Someone went off that the Duke 2028s "look different" and look "not fun". This has to be coordinated. I have three kids , two at ivies and one at one of these others: the kids "look" the same as they did when the oldest started 5 yrs ago versus the freshman we just moved in --sure there is some geeks and nerdiness and there is a great diversity of ethnicities. It is not new. Why is this bad? The only difference in look between now and 25 yrs ago is less white. Is that your issue? If somehow you mean truly nerdiness not race, what in the heck do you expect? These kids are overwhelmingly very smart kids, the top 1% mostly, which is a significant shift from 20 years ago when the majority were not top 1-2%. These schools are also more filled with financially needy kids than they have ever been, with 50-65% on aid and a high % pell grants. They are not going to have the same fashion /makeup / demeanor as the way southern country club culture is. If it is "too geeky" (or "too poor" or "too asian") don't apply! The so-called geeks who are there and the new ones who get in this season do not need your kid or your attitude. My white mildly quirky to very geeky kids are having a blast and enjoying the huge opportunities, and my bank account is grateful for the aid we get.

mid white people mad that their children aren't special like they've been told their whole life

Mid white people mad that the standards are no longer shifting to accommodate them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Harvard yard’s grass is terribly maintained considering the resources available.

The buildings are copy and paste Georgian brick and not done well.

Cambridge is nicer than New Haven or Providence but Yale and brown have way better campuses

As for the vibes and kids — a lot of convergence with MIT

I don’t remember the difference between Harvard kids vibes/look being this different from BC kids 20 years ago but in 2024 they seem to be starkly different

WTH is going on with DCUM lately? There is a thread that trashes all the ivies as being run down and filled with geeks and/or asians, there is one that has a Vandy alum or two or 3 going off about the nerds and asians there. Someone went off that the Duke 2028s "look different" and look "not fun". This has to be coordinated. I have three kids , two at ivies and one at one of these others: the kids "look" the same as they did when the oldest started 5 yrs ago versus the freshman we just moved in --sure there is some geeks and nerdiness and there is a great diversity of ethnicities. It is not new. Why is this bad? The only difference in look between now and 25 yrs ago is less white. Is that your issue? If somehow you mean truly nerdiness not race, what in the heck do you expect? These kids are overwhelmingly very smart kids, the top 1% mostly, which is a significant shift from 20 years ago when the majority were not top 1-2%. These schools are also more filled with financially needy kids than they have ever been, with 50-65% on aid and a high % pell grants. They are not going to have the same fashion /makeup / demeanor as the way southern country club culture is. If it is "too geeky" (or "too poor" or "too asian") don't apply! The so-called geeks who are there and the new ones who get in this season do not need your kid or your attitude. My white mildly quirky to very geeky kids are having a blast and enjoying the huge opportunities, and my bank account is grateful for the aid we get.

I agree with you - Dcum has gotten more ugly. Posters in the College forum want to cut down the colleges or institutions that refused them or one of their children. Many are jealous so post negatives. Many posters are here just to be nasty. Many posters are argumentative or contrarian just for the sake of being an a@@. Many posters are disturbed people who get a temporary positive rush by dumping on other prople and their problems and dreams.

I've shared a lot of college admissions knowledge here and wisdom on other topics, but the ugliness of the website is disconcerting. I can find much better ways to improve myself and share what I know than staying here.

DCUM can be maddening and some posters willfully obtuse, but pushback on the Ivies doesn’t come solely from rejected applicants. Rather, it’s that those who push the Ivies and WASP can be extremely provincial and close-minded about great schools in other parts of the country, so much so that you really wonder if they’re as bright as they claim. Any elite school in the South or Midwest never gets fair credit among this crowd. In fact, it is this smug, provincial attitude that encourages smart, more open-minded kids to go to other great schools. Both of my kids were Ivy-qualified but applied to none of them. They’re both attending elite schools in the South.

They also don’t want to hear any criticisms ever. But the reality is that Harvard’s campus is average at best.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Harvard yard’s grass is terribly maintained considering the resources available.

The buildings are copy and paste Georgian brick and not done well.

Cambridge is nicer than New Haven or Providence but Yale and brown have way better campuses

As for the vibes and kids — a lot of convergence with MIT

I don’t remember the difference between Harvard kids vibes/look being this different from BC kids 20 years ago but in 2024 they seem to be starkly different

WTH is going on with DCUM lately? There is a thread that trashes all the ivies as being run down and filled with geeks and/or asians, there is one that has a Vandy alum or two or 3 going off about the nerds and asians there. Someone went off that the Duke 2028s "look different" and look "not fun". This has to be coordinated. I have three kids , two at ivies and one at one of these others: the kids "look" the same as they did when the oldest started 5 yrs ago versus the freshman we just moved in --sure there is some geeks and nerdiness and there is a great diversity of ethnicities. It is not new. Why is this bad? The only difference in look between now and 25 yrs ago is less white. Is that your issue? If somehow you mean truly nerdiness not race, what in the heck do you expect? These kids are overwhelmingly very smart kids, the top 1% mostly, which is a significant shift from 20 years ago when the majority were not top 1-2%. These schools are also more filled with financially needy kids than they have ever been, with 50-65% on aid and a high % pell grants. They are not going to have the same fashion /makeup / demeanor as the way southern country club culture is. If it is "too geeky" (or "too poor" or "too asian") don't apply! The so-called geeks who are there and the new ones who get in this season do not need your kid or your attitude. My white mildly quirky to very geeky kids are having a blast and enjoying the huge opportunities, and my bank account is grateful for the aid we get.

I think what happens is that some kind of social media manipulation school sends the students out to practice here. Trolling us is just there homework.

I think this may be the death throes of all the hyperfocus on race.
It's not the kids, the kids are all right. It's the adults.

-Black and hispanic parents feeling like their kids are being targetted when they lose their racial preferences in college admissions, while ALDF preferences that overwhelmingly benefit white people remains largely untouched. So they characterize anyone that opposes affirmative action a racist, often these people are asians and so you have a bunch of black and hispanic people calling asians people racist.

-White parents feeling like they have to protect a system that benefits their kids because they see them being crowded out of even mid tier schools because the competition has gotten so tough now that more kids (especially more non-white kids) are applying to college. The competition at the high end (that DCUM is concerned with) comes largely from asians and the white parents justify their position by claiming that asians only "appear" to be more qualified, when in fact it is all the result of cheating (because asians lack integrity) while white kids don't cheat (because they are honorable and chock full of character).

-Asian parents feeling like their kids are being targetted because there seems to be an active attempt to limit the number of asian kids on campus. THe racism seems palpable when you have white people saying that too many asians would cause the white people to leave the institution, a very similar sentiment to what Lawrence Lowell said about the effect of too many jews causing the white people to leave harvard when he created holistic admissions.

White people always say this. Look at the DC public schools forum. White people don’t want their kids attending public schools that are majority black.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I couldn’t get over how touristy the whole place felt. Mind you, I was one of them 😂

Me too. It also felt too congested with people and traffic and too high end commercial. And, all the colonial architecture just made me feel like suburban Virginia! DD liked it way more than I did, but maybe that's because we don't get as much colonial in MD as in VA.

i gather you don't like colonial? But you need to learn your history. Colonial architecture was the predominant style from the 17th - 19th centures in ALL of Northern America (which includes Maryland). Colonial architecture is all over the south too!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Harvard yard’s grass is terribly maintained considering the resources available.

The buildings are copy and paste Georgian brick and not done well.

Cambridge is nicer than New Haven or Providence but Yale and brown have way better campuses

As for the vibes and kids — a lot of convergence with MIT

I don’t remember the difference between Harvard kids vibes/look being this different from BC kids 20 years ago but in 2024 they seem to be starkly different

WTH is going on with DCUM lately? There is a thread that trashes all the ivies as being run down and filled with geeks and/or asians, there is one that has a Vandy alum or two or 3 going off about the nerds and asians there. Someone went off that the Duke 2028s "look different" and look "not fun". This has to be coordinated. I have three kids , two at ivies and one at one of these others: the kids "look" the same as they did when the oldest started 5 yrs ago versus the freshman we just moved in --sure there is some geeks and nerdiness and there is a great diversity of ethnicities. It is not new. Why is this bad? The only difference in look between now and 25 yrs ago is less white. Is that your issue? If somehow you mean truly nerdiness not race, what in the heck do you expect? These kids are overwhelmingly very smart kids, the top 1% mostly, which is a significant shift from 20 years ago when the majority were not top 1-2%. These schools are also more filled with financially needy kids than they have ever been, with 50-65% on aid and a high % pell grants. They are not going to have the same fashion /makeup / demeanor as the way southern country club culture is. If it is "too geeky" (or "too poor" or "too asian") don't apply! The so-called geeks who are there and the new ones who get in this season do not need your kid or your attitude. My white mildly quirky to very geeky kids are having a blast and enjoying the huge opportunities, and my bank account is grateful for the aid we get.

I think what happens is that some kind of social media manipulation school sends the students out to practice here. Trolling us is just there homework.

I think this may be the death throes of all the hyperfocus on race.
It's not the kids, the kids are all right. It's the adults.

-Black and hispanic parents feeling like their kids are being targetted when they lose their racial preferences in college admissions, while ALDF preferences that overwhelmingly benefit white people remains largely untouched. So they characterize anyone that opposes affirmative action a racist, often these people are asians and so you have a bunch of black and hispanic people calling asians people racist.

-White parents feeling like they have to protect a system that benefits their kids because they see them being crowded out of even mid tier schools because the competition has gotten so tough now that more kids (especially more non-white kids) are applying to college. The competition at the high end (that DCUM is concerned with) comes largely from asians and the white parents justify their position by claiming that asians only "appear" to be more qualified, when in fact it is all the result of cheating (because asians lack integrity) while white kids don't cheat (because they are honorable and chock full of character).

-Asian parents feeling like their kids are being targetted because there seems to be an active attempt to limit the number of asian kids on campus. THe racism seems palpable when you have white people saying that too many asians would cause the white people to leave the institution, a very similar sentiment to what Lawrence Lowell said about the effect of too many jews causing the white people to leave harvard when he created holistic admissions.

One universal truth about legacy...anyone that has it wants to keep it (of any and all races), and anyone that doesn't have it wants it to go away.

Minorities are actually big defenders of legacy because they fought so hard to get into the schools the first time, so they want their kids to benefit from it...especially with racial preferences going away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I couldn’t get over how touristy the whole place felt. Mind you, I was one of them 😂

Me too. It also felt too congested with people and traffic and too high end commercial. And, all the colonial architecture just made me feel like suburban Virginia! DD liked it way more than I did, but maybe that's because we don't get as much colonial in MD as in VA.

i gather you don't like colonial? But you need to learn your history. Colonial architecture was the predominant style from the 17th - 19th centures in ALL of Northern America (which includes Maryland). Colonial architecture is all over the south too!

You’d think with all the $ the ivies could have already torn down all those “ugly” colonial buildings and put up new shiny ikea ones instead to get with the times!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Harvard yard’s grass is terribly maintained considering the resources available.

The buildings are copy and paste Georgian brick and not done well.

Cambridge is nicer than New Haven or Providence but Yale and brown have way better campuses

As for the vibes and kids — a lot of convergence with MIT

I don’t remember the difference between Harvard kids vibes/look being this different from BC kids 20 years ago but in 2024 they seem to be starkly different

WTH is going on with DCUM lately? There is a thread that trashes all the ivies as being run down and filled with geeks and/or asians, there is one that has a Vandy alum or two or 3 going off about the nerds and asians there. Someone went off that the Duke 2028s "look different" and look "not fun". This has to be coordinated. I have three kids , two at ivies and one at one of these others: the kids "look" the same as they did when the oldest started 5 yrs ago versus the freshman we just moved in --sure there is some geeks and nerdiness and there is a great diversity of ethnicities. It is not new. Why is this bad? The only difference in look between now and 25 yrs ago is less white. Is that your issue? If somehow you mean truly nerdiness not race, what in the heck do you expect? These kids are overwhelmingly very smart kids, the top 1% mostly, which is a significant shift from 20 years ago when the majority were not top 1-2%. These schools are also more filled with financially needy kids than they have ever been, with 50-65% on aid and a high % pell grants. They are not going to have the same fashion /makeup / demeanor as the way southern country club culture is. If it is "too geeky" (or "too poor" or "too asian") don't apply! The so-called geeks who are there and the new ones who get in this season do not need your kid or your attitude. My white mildly quirky to very geeky kids are having a blast and enjoying the huge opportunities, and my bank account is grateful for the aid we get.

I agree with you - Dcum has gotten more ugly. Posters in the College forum want to cut down the colleges or institutions that refused them or one of their children. Many are jealous so post negatives. Many posters are here just to be nasty. Many posters are argumentative or contrarian just for the sake of being an a@@. Many posters are disturbed people who get a temporary positive rush by dumping on other prople and their problems and dreams.

I've shared a lot of college admissions knowledge here and wisdom on other topics, but the ugliness of the website is disconcerting. I can find much better ways to improve myself and share what I know than staying here.

DCUM can be maddening and some posters willfully obtuse, but pushback on the Ivies doesn’t come solely from rejected applicants. Rather, it’s that those who push the Ivies and WASP can be extremely provincial and close-minded about great schools in other parts of the country, so much so that you really wonder if they’re as bright as they claim. Any elite school in the South or Midwest never gets fair credit among this crowd. In fact, it is this smug, provincial attitude that encourages smart, more open-minded kids to go to other great schools. Both of my kids were Ivy-qualified but applied to none of them. They’re both attending elite schools in the South.

They also don’t want to hear any criticisms ever. But the reality is that Harvard’s campus is average at best.

You didn't see the River houses, Widener Library, the Law school library, the museums on campus, Memorial
Chapel, the boat house, the B school, the ancient but cool stadium, etc