Congrats! Insert the obligatory wow, you made it through the crapshoot etc. etc. etc., now don’t choose Yale blah blah blah, yadda yadda yadda.
Welcome to Surviving Harvard.
If you’re new, read through The Guides, where I’ve grouped all of my informational articles by category.
I’m a junior economics concentrator in Glorious and Fair Leverett House. I started up this community blog to better help others and myself deal with the ridiculousness that Harvard can toss at you.
Right now, the blog covers a comprehensive set of topics, ranging from the almost annoyingly pragmatic Most Commonly Overlooked Things When Choosing Classes to the somewhat more self-reflective The Negative Cult(ure) of Over-Committing. It also entreats you: Don’t Be THAT Boy or Girl: What Not To Do Amongst Other Smart People.
If you’re so inclined, more introductory-esque stuff, and if you want an answer to the “I CAN’T DECIDE!!” question…
1) I CAN’T DECIDE!! HELP ME. PLEZE.
Well, there are worse decisions to be making, honestly.
2) PRETTY PLEZE?
On a more serious note, do your research. Go to prefrosh weekend if you can. If you can’t, talk to people over the internet about the culture/workload/mood at these schools.
Keep in mind that Surviving Harvard is written for the imminent or current Harvard student. It doesn’t sugar coat things for applicants or prefrosh. Keep, also, in mind that Surviving Harvard is written by a -ahem- certain personality type for those of a certain personality type.
And most importantly, the entire POINT of this blog is not to talk to death about all the fantastically great things about Harvard (which are many). The purpose of the blog is to figure out how to deal with some of the lame things that come from being a) a college student b) an over-achieving college student c) a Harvard College student d) me (some things are just my own pet peeves).
So, keep things in context. No flipping out on the blog. That’s uncool.
More posts maybe to come, geared towards potential prefrosh.
3) Comments are good.
Let’s me know posts are getting read, let’s me know which posts are popular, let’s me know your thoughts, gives me ideas for more posts (always helpful).
Feel free to point out my idiotic spelling mistakes b/c I don’t feel like editing before I press publish. Feel free to bring up cool, relevant articles, or offer your insights etc.
Make this a community. (Be courteous. I still hold veto power. This ain’t a democracy yet.)
4) Questions are good.
I like questions. It makes me feel like I know something about something
I don’t include my email on this site for a reason, so just put it down in a comment with an email address I can reach you at. I screen all comments, so if it’s something that’s obviously one-to-one, it won’t be published, and I’ll just shoot you a reply.
5) Wanting to write for this blog is good.
Second-semester freshmen and above, shoot me an email if you want to write for this blog. Could be a one time thing or a regular thing. Just make sure what you want to write about is in the same general arena of what’s been covered on this blog. You choose your own topics. I’m just an econ concentrator, so I’d love insights from other concentrations.
As for the potential pre-frosh audience reading this, I’m gonna ask you to wait a semester at Harvard before you can write about “surviving” it. (No, summer classes don’t count.)
6) Disclaimer:
All articles are the opinions of their individual authors, not in any way reflective of the actual University, College or formal/informal student organization, business etc. etc. Obviously, take all advice given at your own risk.
Harvard’s always been my top choice, so when it came to choosing which school I wanted to go to, I had no doubt in mind. However, when I went to the reception for admitted students, all the alumni talked about was about the prestige and name. It was a huge turn off. When I went to visit Harvard, it was a bit better. However, Boston’s not as laid back as so cal is. Maybe it’s just a culture shock? The impression I got from Harvard was that many are antisocial or arrogant. I’m hoping I’ll be proven wrong. I understand that people won’t necessarily go out of their way to help but can you give me advice on this issue?
Hey AN,
Sorry for getting back to you so late, but Boston is a culture shock according to some people I know from the West Coast (Cali). Things are much faster, more brisk.
People are definitely NOT antisocial. People are doing things with other people left and right, joining clubs, volunteering etc. etc. There is some sense that the social life per se has been dampened, but if you allow yourself to have a social life, you will in fact have a social life.
As for arrogance, there’s definitely a sense in certain concentrations of hyper competition. A lot of the pre-med filled concentrations and the economics/business inclined concentrations can be much more competitive. On the other hand, a lot of other concentrations are much more relaxed with students who are much more chill about academics and careers.
If you’re seeking advice, you should look up rather than across. In other words, reach out to upperclassmen. They’re full of advice and because they’re not really in direct competition with underclassmen ever, very very very willing to help out. There’s a lot of support that foster this type of interaction too. The Peer Advising Fellows program for freshmen for instance is a good way to get to know upperclassmen. Even if said upperclassmen is not in an area you’re interested in, ask, and chances are they know a friend who’s willing to help answer your questions.
Once you hit the Houses, there are also House Tutors and other sort of academic advisers who can help steer you towards guidance and advice.
And of course, end of the day, if you have good friends, good friends will obviously be willing to help one another out. For instance, I exchange career related strategies (haha) with a few of my close friends even though they are in competition with me sort of.