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…
Read more…
Hello everyone!
I hope you survived reading and finals period. I know I was driven a little crazy (in part due to blockles).
I just wanted to let you know that I’ll be studying abroad in Shanghai! Surprise!
I needed some time off from this crazy place and decided that, based on my lack of real desire to participate in this particularly blood-thirsty round of e-recruiting, I might as well explore a different country and finalize my language skills.
I’m about to ship out. I make no promises about posting (seriously, there should be enough stuff on this site already to help guide you through the second semester), but who knows? I could discover the meaning of life while staring down a chipmunk in the market.
And if you’re really bored, or whatever, go start a silly little Harvard blog of your own. And I’ll be more than happy to link you, generally. :)
I should be back to a semi, more normal posting schedule come June.
After talking with other juniors who are relatively happy with their concentrations, I’ve slowly realized that there is one common trait:
You enjoy the work you’re supposed to do for your concentration
This should perhaps be a “duh,” but it can be fairly easy to ignore this preference when you’re juggling other concentrations based on say, future prosperity. I’m an econ major because I really enjoyed doing the problem sets in Ec 10 (and fancy that, Ec classes have a fair amount of problem sets). I am not a math concentrator because I absolutely dreaded each problem set. I am not a philosophy concentrator (despite really liking philosophy) because I couldn’t imagine myself writing philosophy papers for the rest of my time here.
My math concentrator friends generally really enjoy their math problem sets. My CPB friend really enjoyed orgo. My history concentrator friend would happily check out a 2 foot stack of books from the library whenever she had to write a paper.
Pay attention to your mood when you’re doing homework. If you’re happily reading about linguistics or happily writing papers about social norms, then you probably know already what would be a major that would make you happy.
It’s super easy to be interested in many, many subjects (and enjoy lectures on many of said subjects), but chances are, you probably actually enjoy doing the work in just a few of them.
That’s all folks!
Sometimes you just aren’t interested in tri-colored rotini or chicken. Other times you just need a break from dining hall food, but don’t want to fork over the cash for grub.
Fortunately, college students — including Harvard ones — are very easy to persuade with the promise of free food.
If you’re smart, resourceful and just a little bit lucky, here are a few ways to keep you feasting like a king without using your boardplus.
Read more…
Published .
Tags:
economics,
exam,
grades,
grading,
Harvard,
incentives,
midterms,
Mind Hack,
Productivity Hack,
professors,
studying,
testing,
TFs,
time management
If you’ve just gotten your midterms back, perhaps you’re not too happy with your performance on some of them. Many people at Harvard are in fact disappointed with at least one midterm grade (or two). Sometimes, the midterms just don’t test what you thought you should know. Other times, you just didn’t attend lecture. Then there are those times, when the midterms cause mass damage to an entire class’s morale.
Regardless, it’s useful to sit back, relax and reflect a little, now that the crunch period is over.
Whether you want to pull up your grades or keep them strong, taking a few minutes to figure out what the hell your courses want from you will, maybe, save your arse in the long run.
Read more…
Published .
Tags:
advice,
food,
guilt,
Harvard,
health,
illness,
Mind Hack,
sick,
sleep,
tips,
tricks,
UHS
My apologies for the silence these past two weeks, that’s what being sick for the better part of a month is like.
I always get really really sick for a ridiculously long time each semester. Granted, it usually ends up being the end of the semester when my body is about to crash from the mental stress of finals.
Because of my numerous encounters with the common cold and the flu, I feel like I’m particularly knowledgeable about the ways to deal with these sicknesses.
Inside, you’ll learn more about the quirks and tricks of keeping healthy at school, ways of minimizing contagion and other wondrous things.
Read more…
I remember I would get side whacked by this interview question, “So why did you choose Harvard?” By golly, why did I choose Harvard? I’d fumble and talk about something or other involving academics, nothing particularly compelling.
As I’ve gotten older and perhaps slightly wiser, I realized what they were really asking was, “What is your story?” Stories are funny. If you’ve ever read The Things They Carried, you learned that half of a story are the narrative choices. Other times, you need to fudge things in order to keep the story “real” to its meaning.
No, I’m not telling you to lie.
But, when someone wants to open up your skull and swim around and then make a judgment on your person, a good story about how you got where you are and where you’re going is the key to making a lasting impression and forming a connection.
Read more…
Commentary: SAT Changes Policy, Opening Rift With Colleges
Tags: admission, college, Commentary, Harvard, SAT, tests
NY Times article: SAT Changes Policy, Opening Rift With Colleges
While I see this as a sly business tactic, allowing students to choose which scores to send will probably reduce stress all around, especially since the SATs are now a what… 4-5 hour long test with a 15 minute snack break? However, perhaps, more inequality and inefficiency?
Having only one more set of Standardized Testing to go through and repressing my memories of the SAT, I would deem my reaction as slightly positive, but mostly neutral.
Overall: Upgrade! Colleges supposedly consider just the top scores anyway.
Your thoughts? Yay? Nay?