Harvard is a place where anything can happen, at least academically speaking. With the most funding and academic resources of any university in the country, Harvard has a lot to offer for anyone interested in academic exploration. Harvard has an interesting relationship with Cambridge, its host city, but this suburb of Boston is full of great restaurants and mildly friendly inhabitants (for the East coast, anyway). Boston itself is also close by, a walkable city full of history and culture. Winters here are hard to get through, but spring is rewarding and fall is beautiful. It's a small enough campus so that it's easy to feel familiar with a lot of people, but big enough so that you can establish your own niche and have elbow-room to follow your own pursuits with your own style. If you're interested, you can make connections with administration - and with anyone else on campus you feel like getting to know. The food is decent (they try), the campus arts scene is absolutely amazing, and the volunteering opportunities at Harvard are actually endless.

There's a lot of work to be done at Harvard. Just like any other university, actually, you can find classes to coast through or courses that will challenge you more than you ever thought possible! (The likelihood of those "coast" classes is probably lower here, of course...) Harvard students study, study, study, but at the same time it's pretty difficult to get a terrible grade if you do your work. The key to enjoying your courses (and challenging yourself) is, at least in my opinion, finding small classes -- which is almost always a possibility at the higher levels of any department. That being said, the huge intro-level courses are often well-taught, and help is always available if you're feeling lost.

Harvard's student body comes from all over the world, and that's a wonderful thing. Politically, students are largely liberal, though not necessarily as "godless" as you may have heard. The best thing about people here is that, whatever their persuasion, they're usually prepared to explain it to you and then listen to your own point of view with an open mind. Even conservatives can find a place at Harvard, though it may be hard to believe! You'll find that students here are very academic and well-informed on infinite topics of conversation, sometimes have trouble thinking beyond the wealthy/Harvard bubble, want to get to know you -or- want to move their sleeping bag into the library, and have probably traveled someplace that you've never been. Students do talk about job prospects, but rarely about grades (that is, more than generally) or family income.

Most people seem to make their best social connection to Harvard through a student organization. There are hundreds of them here, and getting involved in any group is the best way to meet new people and have Friday night plans from day one. Of course, there are also plenty of other social opportunities, as well: "final clubs" (still functioning dining clubs now more interested in drinking, girls, and interesting combinations of the two), House parties and regular dances (including IncestFest, the '90s Dance, and Fête), a handful of off-campus fraternities, and odd events the university occasionally tries to sponsor. There are concerts, shows, poetry readings, and more every weekend, and the Harvard name is able to draw a fantastic list of guest speakers annually. Boston has a social scene of its own, as well. Dating, however, has been said to be elusive on campus, so students looking for college love may look elsewhere.

The two main stereotypes that I've heard about Harvard students is that they're a) extremely wealthy and b) extremely intelligent (i.e., genius-quality). I've also heard that Harvard students never stop working or never leave the library, and that they don't know how to have a good time.

In terms of the first two stereotypes, it's true that many students here fit into one of these two categories (and a very few fit into both), but students are here for all sorts of reasons other than rich parents or supreme intelligence. With Harvard's massive financial aid initiative, the campus is becoming more economically diverse every year, and students are just as likely to be here for a special talent or ability as they are for a perfect SAT score. In terms of the balance between work and play, Harvard students do generally work too hard and too long, but it's something the place honestly requires of us -- and contrary to the stereotype, we do know how to get out of the library and have a good time. For many students, partying on the weekend is proportional to work during the week!

Despite all of the wonderful opportunities it provides, Harvard can have the tendency to make everyone feel insufficient. Next to students who are saving baby seals and starting AIDS research programs in Africa, it can be difficult to feel like you belong. If you're attending here, one key to success is shelving these insecurities early on by telling yourself you own your place in the class and finding a few good friends who will remind you of that when you're down. Hopefully, Harvard is ultimately a place that teaches you to stop comparing yourself to others and set your own standard as the goal.