Perhaps the Most Over-rated Institution of Higher Learning
Written: Jan 30 '00 (Updated Mar 03 '00)
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Pros: Reputation
Cons: Not what you would expect
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| ErgoPropterHoc's Full Review: Harvard University |
Harvard is perhaps the most over-rated institution of higher learning in America. This is not to imply that Harvard isn't a good school - on the contrary, Harvard is an excellent school. But its reputation creates an unattainable standard; no school could ever be as good as most people think Harvard is, no matter how well endowed.
The most important reason for this is that institutions of higher learning are by their very nature fickle and subjective. Learning cannot be distributed as 'one size fits all', but each student has a certain sort of atmosphere in which he or she can learn best. For some it is in large classes, for others a small recitation. For some, it is from personal meetings with professors, for others the pages of a book (or many, many books).
The university is somewhat uniquely situated right in the middle of Cambridge and just a short walk to Boston, yet still insulated from the city - at least in part. Walking inside the gates of Harvard Yard doesn't actually protect you completely from the crime or noise of the surrounding city, yet you still get a feeling of separation between the two domains. The historic nature of the Yard helps to set it apart from the rest of the world.
Most (nearly all) students will find Harvard intimidating, especially during freshman year. There may be numerous Nobel laureates, but many of them are not particularly approachable to the uninitiated. Students may often find themselves in large lectures with small recitations taught instead by graduate teaching assistants. Furthermore, there's little choice in this for students - the curriculum includes a large number of courses in a variety of subject areas that lack interest for many students. Even if you find one of these core courses interesting, the lack of interest on the part of so many other pupils will drag the class down.
Academics at Harvard are not as rigorous as you might expect. It is much more difficult to get in to Harvard than to get out. Although the university may have a few notable dropouts (Bill Gates), most students will finish their degree, since the university places a great emphasis on keeping their graduation percentage very high. It takes some effort on your part to fail a class here - not as much as at Stanford with its "gentleman's 'C'" but grade inflation is still rampant.
Athletics are, if not rigorous, at least very extensive here. Despite Division I standing, the football team cannot appear in any bowl games due to Ivy League rules (not that they would qualify anyhow) but the breadth and depth of the rest of the program is outstanding. The men's Ice Hockey team has a fairly recent national championship [as a Cornell alumnus, it is necessary that I note here that Harvard sucks], and it's rare to see the Squash team lose. Even beyond the inter-collegiate level, club and intramural level sports involve nearly every student on campus.
Overall, the administration is not particularly concerned with the life of the students. With more than fourteen billion (with a 'b') dollars in the endowment and plenty of professors with big research money, the institution thrives mostly for its research, and not for its education, especially undergraduate. As a result, concessions to student life are few and long in coming. This really doesn't matter to most students, though. They're not there for a college experience - they're there to pick up a degree.
Recommended:
No
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ErgoPropterHoc
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