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Harvard University Visit Report by silentorchestra

Visit to Harvard University in August 2006 by silentorchestra
(Other, HS Class of 2009)
(Member since January 05 2007 with 87 posts)
 
13 of 21 people found this visit report helpful

Visit Activities:


Campus:


Friendliness/Courtesy of Students:
3 - Good
3 - Good
didn't see many students, but there were TONS of prospective students and their parents


Friendliness/Courtesy of Staff:
2 - Fair
2 - Fair
Some of the staff looked rather cranky and bored. One lady slammed the door in my face the second I stepped outside.


Appearance of Campus:
4 - Very Good
4 - Very Good
the buildings were gorgeous, but a bit old-fashioned. But I prefer harvard's architecture over MIT's modern-crap buildings.


Building/Facilities Maintenance/Cleanliness:
4 - Very Good
4 - Very Good
Everything was nice and clean


Dormitories:
didn't get to see any


Security/Safety:
3 - Good
3 - Good
with all those visiters roaming around, you never know...


Overall Campus Impression:
4 - Very Good
4 - Very Good


Off-Campus:


Area Immediately Around Campus:
4 - Very Good
4 - Very Good
havard square was very nice. My dad's friend owns a restaurant near Harvard, which is a plus because i get free food =)


City/Town/Community:
4 - Very Good
4 - Very Good


Campus Visit Notes for Harvard University


Visit Description:

My family and I went to Boston, NY, and Cape Cod last summer. (I live in Canada, so it was a pretty big deal lol) Being Asian, they wanted to check out Harvard, P-ton, Yale, MIT, and the likes. At the time, I was 14 so I really didn't care about life after grade 12.
When I got to Harvard, I could NOT believe how many tourists there were. I mean there were parents dragging their 9 year olds into Harvard.
Harvard (not just Harvard Square), to me, was an exploited tourist attraction. I guess you could argue that it didn't really matter since was summer, and the students were back home, plus Harvard is a public university, therefore people can visit if they want to. But still, it didn't have the homely, comfortable feeling that i think a university should have.
The lawns were not as well-kept as Princeton's, and there was just something off about the atmosphere. The students seemed a little arrogant and impersonal. But I guess they have the right to be that way. And most of them didn't even look smart.
All in all, Harvard didn't live up to my expectations. Being the #1 university in the world, i thought that the campus would be even nicer than Princeton's. I was mistaken.
To be honest, I don't see what makes Harvard so special. Maybe its the 20-some billion dollar endowment, or the geniuses that graduated from there (although I doubt they would be any less successful had they attended Yale or Stanford). I honestly think that its overrated.

Other Comments (Transportation, local attractions, parking, etc.):

parking was hard to find, and the space is very small.