While the tirades against snotty Harvardians, over-hyped academics, or silly ratings systems may be amusing, they seldom have actual information to lend to people reading these reviews. In this epinion, I will try to distill what I think to be wrong with Harvard, after having a year to reflect on my four years there.

Harvard is certainly an incredible institution of higher learning. In a country that has the best colleges and universities in the world, Harvard is ranked among the top five or so on everyone's list. Whether by the professors' reputations or by the students SAT scores, these ratings often prove to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. When U.S. News and World Report ranks Harvard #1, more people apply, a smaller percentage get in, and another Harvard class of brilliant and unique people is ensured. I can't really say what life is like at other places, or whether the classes or academic environment is equal to or better than Harvard's. But I know from the people I met and the classes I took at Harvard, both the students and the professors contributed to make it academically stimulating for anyone at all interested in just about anything.

However, there is a real problem with Harvard, and I doubt that it will get any better in the near future. First, a few facts about Harvard. Harvard is one of the the oldest colleges, founded in 1636. Harvard has an endowment of over 13 billion dollars (making it not only the biggest university, but the biggest non-profit institution in the country). The next biggest university (I think) is the University of Texas at around 3 billion. Harvard University is run by the Harvard Corporation, which invests Harvard's money in real estate, stocks, etc. and advises the University.

Now, why is this bad? You would think that having so much money would certainly lead to a better student life, if not enormous amounts of available financial aid for deserving students. But this is not so. Why?
The Harvard mystique leads students to be grateful they were admitted for the first two years, and eager to cash in their Harvard diploma the last two years. They don't seem to care that much that a real student center with a large recreational area didn't exist until 1996. They don't seem to care that mental health services are painfully inadequate. They don't seem to care that large classes are the norm, and the research of professors is far more important than their teaching. Harvard can be content and do very little for the students, because the students, (and their parents) have been drooling over the Harvard name for almost 20 years, and any inconveniences are not the fault of Harvard. And indeed, once the student leaves Harvard, joins the local Harvard club, meets all sorts of powerful Harvard alums, and sees his employers eyebrows raise at the mention of his alma mater, it all seems worth it.
In my humble opinion, Harvard could probably stop hiring any people of merit, and not do anything to improve student life for years, and no one would notice, because the students would network among themselves, both socially and intellectually, and they would come out with a decent education, but having been fairly gifted in the first place, they would excel in the job whether they learned anything at Harvard or not.
I would say that many employers like Harvard grads not because they went to Harvard, but because they got in to Harvard.

But I ramble. Let me close by saying that by no means do I regret having gone to Harvard. I feel that I got a good education there. I chose to go there because I wanted to be around people who were excited about learning, and that is what I got. Many were too busy with learning to bother with putting any energy into social relationships, but I still found many good friends. Many people were snotty and elitist, but I still found down-to-earth people who shot pool, drank cheap beer and danced without inhibition. However, Harvard can be rather unresponsive to students' needs, and I urge prospective students to consider this before choosing to go there.




Recommended: Yes