Article by Harvard student on the institution's academics

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you square this with the kids so stressed about schoolwork that they are having mental health breakdowns?

humanities vs real majors. Notice how it's readings that are being ignored with no consequences, not Psets.

Humanities are real majors unless critic is a trade school grad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did you think it was going to be any different? That is every college everywhere.

Not true - Harvard has a special flavor of - the hardest thing is to get in the door. It's also "hard" for them to break from the life long habit of mentioning they went to Harvard or name-dropping of what their classmates achieved.

Haters gonna hate!

[Anonymous]

I thought the article was interesting. I wonder if it's a function of the ways that admissions now screens for people who are "leaders". I was quite nerdy and did all the reading and then some. I read the things that were listed in the footnotes -- basically behaving as an undergrad the way you are supposed to behave in grad school. So did most of my friends. I assume that we are the people who wouldn't have gotten in today because we didn't have a "compelling personal narrative". I think the real scholars probably go somewhere else today.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did you think it was going to be any different? That is every college everywhere.

Not true - Harvard has a special flavor of - the hardest thing is to get in the door. It's also "hard" for them to break from the life long habit of mentioning they went to Harvard or name-dropping of what their classmates achieved.

Seems like certain people who didn't go to Harvard talk a lot more about Harvard than Harvard grads do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What's weird is that this is so exciting for you, OP. I did not attend anything resembling an Ivy, but at least I don't have a huge chip on my shoulder about it. The same description could apply to many colleges and universities. Why would you hoist Harvard on a hated pedestal and expect those students to behave differently?

Check yourself.

+1. OP's reaction to a student tale is very weird. The green-eyed monster got ahold of OP and it's interfering with her judgment

DP. I think one can both be impressed by Harvard’s brand influence and impressed with other schools having more rigor. Even if Harvard is someone’s first choice and they’re rejected, it’s good for them to know the silver lining might be they actually learn more academically elsewhere. It’s probably for the best that one or a couple schools aren’t tops in all respects.

If you can only learn when a teacher is leading you by the nose and threatening you with a grade, Ivy League or T20 school might not be for you. These schools expect self-motivated students who are future leaders.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I thought the article was interesting. I wonder if it's a function of the ways that admissions now screens for people who are "leaders". I was quite nerdy and did all the reading and then some. I read the things that were listed in the footnotes -- basically behaving as an undergrad the way you are supposed to behave in grad school. So did most of my friends. I assume that we are the people who wouldn't have gotten in today because we didn't have a "compelling personal narrative". I think the real scholars probably go somewhere else today.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What's weird is that this is so exciting for you, OP. I did not attend anything resembling an Ivy, but at least I don't have a huge chip on my shoulder about it. The same description could apply to many colleges and universities. Why would you hoist Harvard on a hated pedestal and expect those students to behave differently?

Check yourself.

+1. OP's reaction to a student tale is very weird. The green-eyed monster got ahold of OP and it's interfering with her judgment

DP. I think one can both be impressed by Harvard’s brand influence and impressed with other schools having more rigor. Even if Harvard is someone’s first choice and they’re rejected, it’s good for them to know the silver lining might be they actually learn more academically elsewhere. It’s probably for the best that one or a couple schools aren’t tops in all respects.

If you can only learn when a teacher is leading you by the nose and threatening you with a grade, Ivy League or T20 school might not be for you. These schools expect self-motivated students who are future leaders.

Future leaders should also be learning; that's why they go to college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What's weird is that this is so exciting for you, OP. I did not attend anything resembling an Ivy, but at least I don't have a huge chip on my shoulder about it. The same description could apply to many colleges and universities. Why would you hoist Harvard on a hated pedestal and expect those students to behave differently?

Check yourself.

+1. OP's reaction to a student tale is very weird. The green-eyed monster got ahold of OP and it's interfering with her judgment

DP. I think one can both be impressed by Harvard’s brand influence and impressed with other schools having more rigor. Even if Harvard is someone’s first choice and they’re rejected, it’s good for them to know the silver lining might be they actually learn more academically elsewhere. It’s probably for the best that one or a couple schools aren’t tops in all respects.

If you can only learn when a teacher is leading you by the nose and threatening you with a grade, Ivy League or T20 school might not be for you. These schools expect self-motivated students who are future leaders.

I wouldn’t want my kids thinking that not doing coursework is a shortcut to leadership. It appears the Harvard student who authored the essay sees a problem with that too. What stood out most about the Harvard-bound students we knew from our school wasn’t their academic motivation but the extent of their hooks.