Visit Report by drummerdude_07 (Member since April 24 2005 with 1316 posts) Visit Date - July 2006
Visit to Harvard University in July 2006 by drummerdude_07 (Student, HS Class of 2006)
Visit Activities:
Admissions Interview:
Yes - Really excited young lady. No hard questions, lots of talki ng about "stuff", much of it totally unrelated to admissions or Harvard. She was frank in saying that Harvard's $$$ and name are huge resources other places don't have. Aft Information Session:
Yes - Pretty boring and general. Students talked about residential life, houses, and other stuff. Admissions officer talked fin. aid and admissions. Nothing I didn't slready know from internet, CC, and the campus tour. Blatantly lied about their not be Campus Tour:
Yes - Very informative and funny guy. We went in a dorm, which was good sized IMO. Cool architecture. Large campus, but undergrad stuff fairly concentrated. Guy told about getting hopelessly lost in Widener, and how his freshman seminar class got to look fo
Harvard University Campus:
Friendliness/Courtesy of Students: 4 - Very Good -
Very talkative. Answered questions, enthusiastic about school. Knowledgeable about most topics (imagine that, at Harvard).
Friendliness/Courtesy of Staff: 4 - Very Good Appearance of Campus: -
Georgian architecture. Gates, house buildings, all beatiful. Annenburg hall is very Harry Potter like, though they don't let you go into the main hall.
Building/Facilities Maintenance/Cleanliness: 4 - Very Good -
Immaculate. Amazing.
Dormitories: 4 - Very Good -
Good sized, nice bathrooms. And the one we went in was supposedly on the small side.
Security/Safety: 3 - Good -
A very busy place, but I don't see crime happening there much, not on campus at least, perhaps in Cambridge proper though.
Overall Campus Impression: 4 - Very Good -
Extremely busy and confusing streets. Feels very city-like. Not necessarily good or bad, especially for a small town kid like me. But so busy, and considering it was summer break, it might be worse during the year.
Off-Campus:
Area Immediately Around Campus: 3 - Good -
Didn't get there much, but seemed like an average near-city town.
City/Town/Community: 4 - Very Good -
Boston was really cool. Historical sites, great restaurants (try the Union Oyster House), and fairly friendly for all the stereotypes. You have to love the Boston accent, and there are TONS of colleges in the greater area.
Campus Visit Notes for Harvard University:
Visit Description:
Appealing in general, lives up to most expectations. The only thing that I didn't like is that they didn't really talk about academics or how much a Harvard student actually learns, whereas academics was the primary focus of my UChicago visits. Harvard does seem to be all about the connections one gets and the life one lives, rather than the intellectual stimulation, which troubles me somewhat.
Hotel/Lodging Recommendations or Comments:
Stayed in Framingham, about 20 miles out, to save $$$. You can take the train from Harvard to downtown Boston for $1.25, but if you have a car the roads are not bad at all at most times in Boston, but the Cambridge streets are confusing and brutal.
Dining/Restaurant Recommendations or Comments:
Go to the Union Oyster House in downtown Boston. There's also the bar that was the inspiration for Cheers. But in Cambrdige/Harvard, I couldn't really tell you.
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Very talkative. Answered questions, enthusiastic about school. Knowledgeable about most topics (imagine that, at Harvard).
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Georgian architecture. Gates, house buildings, all beatiful. Annenburg hall is very Harry Potter like, though they don't let you go into the main hall.
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A very busy place, but I don't see crime happening there much, not on campus at least, perhaps in Cambridge proper though.