Harvard’s campus and vibe is underwhelming

[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.

You’re replying to me here. (And I know which “their” to use; just a wretched proofreader.)

I know that the divisions you’re talking about exist, but the Russians or whoever are definitely hyping the divisions up. None of the document dumps I’ve seen mention this site, but it seems as if the same things that happen on Twitter happen here.

And, think about it: There are a ton of reporters here. There seem to be many people who’ve worked for the CIA or the like. There are tons of regular immigrants here.

It seems logical that, if there are some Russian or Chinese intelligence people, they’d be here, too, if only because, if they live in the DMV area, they need information about where to take their dry cleaning 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

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.

+ 1

I was about to post exactly this.

Signed,
Another Yalie

+2

-Another Yalie

[Anonymous]

One of the houses at Harvard is Mather. It is so ugly, inside and out. No grass either. Just a concrete jungle.

[Anonymous]

Can someone please immediately link the reddit thread

[Anonymous]

OP here --

another thing that was surprising is if you work with gen z/gen alpha, have kids, are going on campus visits, and/or interact with academia you've all noticed how tall these kids are these days.

that's not the case at Harvard -- it's jarring to go from a meeting at UVA to Harvard.

Harvard kids are quite short

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here --

another thing that was surprising is if you work with gen z/gen alpha, have kids, are going on campus visits, and/or interact with academia you've all noticed how tall these kids are these days.

that's not the case at Harvard -- it's jarring to go from a meeting at UVA to Harvard.

Harvard kids are quite short

Lol. People’s heads are about to explode at this one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Harvard’s grass is fine. I don’t believe it has a sprinkler system. It’s all organic. Most of the houses have been remodeled. It’s very nice inside.

The inside of Harvard buildings are gorgeous. It’s quaint in that way.

like the science building in the heart of campus? 70s horror that leaks buckets

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The campus has always been underwhelming. I remember the first time I was there a gazillion years ago and thinking that I somehow missed the "real" Harvard. That it was around here somewhere, but clearly I couldn't quite find it.

Same experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Harvard’s grass is fine. I don’t believe it has a sprinkler system. It’s all organic. Most of the houses have been remodeled. It’s very nice inside.

The inside of Harvard buildings are gorgeous. It’s quaint in that way.

like the science building in the heart of campus? 70s horror that leaks buckets

Have you been to the $1 billion Science and Engineering Complex (SEC)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One of the houses at Harvard is Mather. It is so ugly, inside and out. No grass either. Just a concrete jungle.

So?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here --

another thing that was surprising is if you work with gen z/gen alpha, have kids, are going on campus visits, and/or interact with academia you've all noticed how tall these kids are these days.

that's not the case at Harvard -- it's jarring to go from a meeting at UVA to Harvard.

Harvard kids are quite short

The crux of your gripe is that you're probably uncomfortable with the changing demographics and diversity in these colleges that you once held to a certain ideal (ie being overwhelmingly white). Time to move on and find where you and your kids feel more comfortable fitting in.

[Anonymous]

It's amazing how defensive people get about these schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm from England and the bad grass is the first thing that struck me about Harvard as well. I was expecting a campus that looked like Oxford or Cambridge and sadly it was anything but.

I applaud Harvard for not using chemical fertilisers - terrible for the environment. Beautiful green grass comes at a high environmental cost

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's amazing how defensive people get about these schools.

Because they’ve made attending these places their whole identity and personality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's amazing how defensive people get about these schools.

Because they’ve made attending these places their whole identity and personality.

Sad