Academics
Harvard. Just the name brings to mind images of prestige, and
its reputation is perhaps one of its most valuable assets. This
reputation, in part, accounts for the large number of top applicants
the college receives each year for a couple thousand spots,
making it the most selective school in the Ivy League. But stereotype
and image aside, Harvard truly does live up to its reputation
of academic excellence. The student body is immensely talented
and extremely motivated, making Harvard quite competitive. Students
will have a very hard time failing out, but stardom is virtually
impossible to achieve at this high-powered school where nearly
everyone had been used to being at the top of their high school.
Even more brilliant than its students is Harvard’s faculty,
composed of some of the foremost scholars in the world. Several
Nobel laureates, presidential advisors, and professors who have
written the authoritative work in their field can be found teaching
in Cambridge. In fact, virtually every professor is well-accomplished,
the result of Harvard’s “star” system, under
which it only grants tenure to extremely accomplished scholars
rather than promising—but not yet fruitful—young
ones. Perhaps Harvard is confident that as soon as they do blossom,
they’ll want to teach there as many do. But while professors
may be academic stars, sometimes they are about as easy to catch
as a shooting star. Because they are such prominent scholars,
many are deeply involved in their own work and research and
have little time for most undergraduates. There is no hand holding
at Harvard. Teaching Assistants and Fellows often serve as surrogates
for busy professors, so many undergrads will probably have extensive
contact with grad students in their classes. Of course, there
are always exceptions, and some major professors even eat in
the student dining halls with their pupils.
Harvard does have a form of core requirements; each student
must select eight courses from offerings in six different “modes
of inquiry:” foreign cultures, historical studies, literature
and arts, moral reasoning, sciences, and social analysis. There
are also quantitative reasoning, foreign language, and expository
writing requirements. Classes range from huge lectures to very
small seminars depending on the level and popularity of a course.
Some are actually limited in their enrollment, and students
are entered in a lottery for placement.
Student Life
Some people may joke (or seriously believe) that Harvard students
are simply bookworms who have no social life what so ever. This
is most definitely false. While students don’t party hard
all week long, Thursday through Saturday is bubbling with moderate
gathering in the dorms, and many students take advantage of
Cambridge’s vibrant theater and dining.
Harvard’s extracurricular scene is almost as busy as
its academic one, with undergraduates involved in a variety
of activities from college publications to dance groups. Political
organizations and community service are also fairly popular
among other things.
For those seeking a more extensive party scene, several other
colleges are nearby (after all, the surrounding Boston is the
ultimate college town). Fraternities and sororities do not exist,
but there are some elite Finals Clubs, which are essentially
closed social societies with loads of money.
Although most people don’t associate Harvard with an athletic
giant, it has the largest Division I sports program. Many students
don’t even comprehend the depth of Harvard’s athletic
program, nor do they take advantage of its world-class facilities,
which are located across the Charles River, near the business
school rather than the college, where undergrads spend most
of their time. Football gets the most attention, and the annual
Yale game is a major spectator draw, with the fans’ and
bands’ antics as entertaining as the players.
Campus Environment
Located in Cambridge, which is virtually a part of Boston, Harvard
is in the center of a sophisticated urban center. Harvard Square,
aside from the students themselves, draws thousands of tourists
and shoppers each year as well as a varied group of intellectuals.
In fact, tourists are a persistent part of Harvard’s environment,
with many curious sight-seers dominating the campus tours. If
Cambridge itself isn’t enough, students can hop on the
T (like an above ground subway) and ride anywhere in Boston.
Dorms are rich not just in history but also collegiate luxury.
They are entirely red brick in authentic colonial style, with
some actually built during colonial times. Many are in surprisingly
good shape for their age thanks to consistent restoration and
maintenance effort that Harvard’s huge endowment affords.
Freshmen all live together in the historic Harvard Yard, a quadrangle
near the center of campus, while upperclassmen live in one of
nine residential “houses.” The houses are essentially
groups of dorms that house around 400 students and provide resident
tutors, affiliated faculty members, and special facilities such
as small athletic or arts facilities.
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