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Harvard students fall into two stereotypes: geeks and rich kids. While there are certainly many people that fit those two descriptions, the student body overall is remarkably well rounded. The super genius' are personable and the rich prep school kids are oftentimes quite brilliant. The notion that you can buy your way into the school is mostly untrue and being very smart is not enough on its own to guarantee admission. Everyone is very active outside of class. I would say that for the majority of students place their academics at #2 or lower on their priority list. Nearly every student has some sort of unique story or experience to share.

Classes are Harvard are usually described as impersonal, "taught by grad students", etc. In my experience those claims are untrue. There are some large lecture classes but any class with more than 20 students in it is required to hold smaller, break-out weekly sections (these are usually taught by grad students). Professors are incredibly accessible, because they are required to hold office hours each week (these regularly fill up). Outside of the structured access, I know many students who get coffee with TA's and professors.

The quality of the education is another matter. I don't think the content or quality of the academics at Harvard are that much different than another other top-tier American university. Moreover, the liberal arts nature of the academic requirements results in many students graduating having gained no practical skills from their education. That lack of training is supplemented heavily by students' extracurricular pursuits instead.