|
Current freshman here:
Almost everyone with whom I have spoken has the same initial reaction: they feel like the admissions mistake. At first, everyone is still in high school mode, by which I mean they are super competitive and eager to prove themselves. SAT scores will be casually exchanged. Kids in section (sections are for large lecture classes - they are broken up and taught by a TF, they meet generally once a week) are careful to craft every statement such that they sound as smart as possible. Also, most kids take what they think they should, rather than what they want - Life Sciences 1A comes to mind. People in LS may sneer slightly if you are in Life and Physical Sciences (which is regarded as easy) but once the midterms start coming back - and the B-'s and Cs - suddenly being in LS doesn't automatically make you cool.
With all the tourists and events in the beginning, it doesn't feel like school. By October or so, things start to settle down. You start to succeed on your own merit. No one cares that you got a 2350 on the SATs, now it is about grades on midterms, that sort of thing. Your self-confidence will be shaken. Your roommates may be ridiculously good musicians or artists or multilingual, but you will find your niche. There is plenty to do here, so join something.
There really is a lot to do here. So much, you will only experience a very little bit. Unfortunately, much of your time will be devoted to class work and a few extra-currics. Sure, some famous politician may be on campus, but you have a problem set to do. Besides, in all honesty, politicians come here every week. If you tried to attend every event, you would probably flunk out.
On that note, your email box will be spammed with more event emails than you thought imaginable.
Overall, the coolness of being at Harvard wears off pretty quickly. From there on out, the college experience will be (as cliched as this sounds) what you make it. If you focus only on academics, isolate yourself (which many do) and don't socialize, you may find the experience empty. On the other side of the coin, if you party all the time and don't focus on your work because you are used to coasting, you will be in for a nasty surprise come grading time. You can graduate here and feel absolutely miserable, or perfectly content.
Once you accept that the paradigm has shifted and the average IQ is a whole lot higher than before, you get used to it very quickly.
| 
![bbtitle]](/images/misc/cc_logo.gif){kind=logo}
