Harvard: The Big Picture
Harvard is quite simply Harvard, old, bureaucratic, elitist, diverse, one big mix of everything. I feel like I came from another world sometimes, even though I came from a prep school, it wasn't a Northeastern one. It is not necessarily that obvious, but if you have a wide variety of friends it becomes clear that there are divisions according to who's a legacy, who went to which elite prep school, who plays what sports. The most obvious example is the Hasty Pudding Social Club which initiates freshmen based on if they are legacy or were part of an elite secondary school network, or if they are abnormally "cool" (mainly the former two). They are instantly a broad clique, or a network that will maintain wealth and power in America. The rest of the people are either aware of the divide, or do not even notice it. Either way, finding friends is key at Harvard I believe. Whether it be a network of high class kids with the best of facilities or people who enjoy doing science together, its all about the community you build among your peers.
Harvard Academic Life
I feel like academics is important for many people but the real movers and shakers on campus are those who can balance decent academics with a lot of meaningful extra-cirriculars. Even among peers it is much more impressive to be heavily involved in the IOP rather than spend all of your time studying. I think a large part of it has to do with the fact that grade inflation allows students to do so.
Harvard's Student Body
There is a clear socio-economic divide for the elite students, as I mentioned in my earlier entry. For the rest, its fairly ambiguous.
Harvard Student Activities + Social Life
The IOP, Crimson, and Women in Business are probably the most well respected organizations on campus. On top of that there are clearly the varsity sports, most notably crew. Varsity sports are obviously reserved for recruits and the truly talented. However other organizations rely heavily on dedication, time commitment and creativity.
The dating scene is practically non-existent, at least among freshmen. People seem to feel that once they come to Harvard a relationship will mean a huge long-term commitment, especially because so many people believe they will find their spouses here, or at least should. So either there are alot of drunken hook-ups or serious dating. Not too much in between.
