<p>Sorry, I have deflected the thread from that topic (#39)–if the OP is still hanging around for the reminiscence and dis-fest, I would be interested in the OP’s specific course of study, too.</p>
<p>This is my off-topic observation as a non-high-achiever surrounded by people who are at the very tops of their fields. Every honor makes the next honor more likely. After a while it does start to seem like a given and no one is jumping up and down anymore. For those who aren’t in it for the honors and glory, it probably is rather meaningless in a personal sense. In fact, I’m sure it is for some. That doesn’t mean those honors don’t help them professionally and perhaps help further their scholarly pursuits.</p>
<p>Quantmech: that is such a sweet story and I can so understand why this was meaningful to you. And I always enjoy your QMP asides.</p>
<p>If PBK doesn’t work out, you can always join MENSA and put that on your resume. ;)</p>
<p>My roommate was PBK and a serious academic. I actually had slightly higher Latin honors than her, but I think the PBK folks recognized that I wasn’t an academic, though I did do an academic type thesis in my major, which was not required. (I did have to do a project of some sort.) No one has ever been particularly impressed by the honors as far as I can tell either!
To the OP, it sounds to me like he/she has good reasons to spend a semester at Harvard and it doesn’t sound to me like a sure thing that PBK would be out of the picture though it might be.</p>
<p>Sorry for not responding sooner. I think that one reason I’d even thought of the question is that, like so many other college students, I have very little idea of what I want to do after graduating (immediately or in the far off distant future). Consequently, I am trying to do as much as possible to minimize the chance of my not having a job post-grad. QuantMech and mini: I am a sociology and environmental studies major. I’m hoping to take some environmental classes at Harvard, and for that field, it certainly is a better place than my LAC. One of my goals is to have a variety of experiences and I do think that Harvard would be a good experience, so I will be applying.</p>