Anonymous wrote:Is there a chance that DC may decline Harvard?

Anonymous wrote:my kid choose yale over harvard after bulldog/visitas revisits. he's super happy at yale and so am I. it was the right decision, but I think kids put way too much into these revisits. they're like tours - a good one doesnt mean a good college experience and vice versa.

if he has anyone from his HS or your social group with an older kid there, I advise trying to either stay over with them or at least having a meal. kids who are juniors and seniors generally really love harvard, but I think it can take a minute. I think for a lot of kids it's "I sacrificed everything to make this happen and here I am, still me". (like the Adam Sandler SNL skit about Italian tours)

But it's a huge accomplishment and I hope they genuinely enjoy their visit

Anonymous wrote:I am hearing that the scope of the remedial Math classes keeps expanding..
And the snowflakes keep protesting the idea of capping grades..
There are many mediocre kids who don’t want to get exposed … the whole facade breaks down

Anonymous wrote:Found it easy to know professors and was a research assistant for one of them, who encouraged him to get his PhD. Went into IB instead.

Anonymous wrote:Harvard sucks. - MIT grad didn't apply and would never go there.

Specifically why it sucks - social scene sucks. The kids I met were egotistical trust fund babies. Professors in the sciences/engineering were subpar. Then of course you have a rotten culture that allows professors like Larry Summers to continue to be involved because money talks louder than ethics.

Grad school at Harvard is a lot better than undergrad IMO. The only reason to go as an undergrad is for "connections" but the vibe of the people there is just way off IMO.

Anonymous wrote:my son's bestie is there. had a really terrible first term - hated everything about it. but so much of harvard is outside the dorms and classes (for good and bad). now he's involved in one of the major organizations (think crimson or lampoon) and is much happier. he did get into said organization via our nepo/connected high school. so as long as you're coming from similar, should be fine

Anonymous wrote:Clubs/orgs (not just finance ones) are very competitive; many spend a lot of time comping their first year and you have to be ready for a lot of rejections. Summer research/internships also competitive. Profs are top in their field, and it’s pretty neat to be in class with famous profs, but they don’t have much time or interest in mentoring undergrads, though this depends a lot on the size of the department— many humanities departments are small and you can get to know professors. Optional first year seminars are small and pass/fail, one way to get a smaller class experience with a prof. They do have an extensive orientation program (you can choose a theme— arts, community engagement, etc) that helps you meet first years with similar interests. Grading curve policy might be coming fall 2027, it’s still being debated— that might change the current focus on ECs over classes, at least that’s the theory. If enacted it would make it harder to get top GPA for law/med schools. You should read the crimson articles to see the current proposal. Trump funding cuts have greatly reduced entering PhD students, which will eventually reduce number of TAs— it’s unclear how they are going to address this. Currently TAs teach some courses themselves, and there is an army of them leading discussion sections for big classes like EC10; I have no idea what that is going to look like with fewer grad students on campus. Many of these features (other than grading policy) apply to some extent at most elite research universities. Harvard students are probably a bit less focused on classes (profs have taken to taking attendance and including that in the grade) and a bit more focused on resume building than some others, and some T10s have fewer grad students and seem a little more undergrad focused (Dartmouth, Brown, Princeton), but these are all matters of degree. I think Harvard is a good fit for someone who is confident, outgoing and polished, a go-getter, and happy to be in a less intellectual and more pre-professional environment.