<p>I was reading an old article about Yo Yo Ma and he mentioned his unhappiness at Harvard. I just thought it was interesting and that people would like to know his feelings of the school.
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<p>Wow. I read OP’s post just as I am about to take my sophomore D to the airport for her return to H. Ma’s opinion of H is so completely at odds with my D’s feelings and experiences that I almost don’t find it credible. My D has never been happier in her life than she is now at H, and I say this with all sincerity. She cannot wait to return to her friends, her house, her ECs, her classes (even with finals looming!) - she calls it returning “home.” Ma should have transferred, and given his spot to someone else who would have appreciated it. What a waste.</p>
<p>The education that he got 30 years ago is VERY different from the education that we receive today. I wouldn’t worry about his experience there, though I imagine it was common. I friend of mine’s dad was one of Ma’s good friends at Harvard, fun fact!</p>
<p>Things are very different now in my opinion. In fact, Santa Cruz would be a much, much less personal education then you get here in my opinion, as I have a number of friends who go there.</p>
<p>The education that he got 30 years ago is VERY different from the education that we receive today. I wouldn’t worry about his experience there, though I imagine it was common. I friend of mine’s dad was one of Ma’s good friends at Harvard, fun fact!</p>
<p>Things are very different now in my opinion. In fact, Santa Cruz would be a much, much less personal education then you get here in my opinion, as I have a number of friends who go there.</p>
<p>Are you sure the information is valid? It is coming from a blog. Either way, I would agree with rabbit. The undergraduate education system at Harvard has been under scrutiny for some time, and it is probably better now than it was in the past. That doesn’t mean that you couldn’t get a similar or even better education at a LAC.</p>
<p>I was there when Ma was there and I loved the place (including the experience of listening to Ma, Lynn Chang and Richard Kogan performing trios in my House commons room). As did my friends. My son is there now, and based on what he tells me, I don’t think I’d say that the education is so VERY different today. Still intense, still cutting edge, still amazing group of students, still best suited to people who will proactively take advantage of the incredible resources the school has to offer. It’s not for everyone, and there are some who are unhappy there. But based on my experience, and that of my son, the vast majority are quite happy they went/go there.</p>
<p>I would also note that Ma is not quoted in the article as saying he didn’t like Harvard. Only the author’s conclusory statement. But the fact that Ma would send his two kids there undermines the author’s conclusion. And while clearly the author did not like Harvard, I wonder more generally about the accuracy of his reporting about others. E.g., this comment, “All four of my roommates from a five-person suite freshman year left and never returned.” Given that Harvard’s graduation rate is 99% (and was back then too), either the statement is simply false or the author had the most aberrational freshman roommate group imaginable.</p>
<p>Ma cannot have been so unhappy at Harvard. His D is either there right now or graduated very recently. And he is quite involved at Harvard with his Silk Road project and fairly frequent concerts (together with fellow alum Lynn Chang).
Of S’ five freshmen roommates, four are still together; his current blockmates lived across the hall in his freshman dorm.
I recently asked S what he did not like about H. He said the food (but then he does not like everything I cook, either).</p>
<p>Ha, he says the “people you suffer with” (fellow undergrads) are the only bright point of H, when in fact the opposite is true.</p>
<p>If Ma hated Harvard so much why is he steering bright, young cello prodigies such as Bong Ihn Koh to attend there?</p>
<p>[The</a> Harvard Crimson :: Arts :: Bong Ihn Koh ?08](<a href=“http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=523386]The”>http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=523386)</p>
<p>[Harvard</a> College Admissions Office: Experience Harvard](<a href=“http://www.admissions.college.harvard.edu/experience_harvard/video/index.html]Harvard”>http://www.admissions.college.harvard.edu/experience_harvard/video/index.html)</p>
<p>He seems to like it in this vid.</p>
<p>I was at Harvard at the same time as Ma, and agree one of the great pleasures of my time there was hearing him play. I had a mixed experience at Harvard, but always felt the fault was more with me, not taking advantage of what it had to Harvard. I did do some things right though - especially picking a small major you had to apply to. Everyone in my department knew me by name. I think I would have felt limited at a smaller school.</p>
<p>Currently a senior at Harvard and couldn’t agree more with Yo Yo Ma. The only bright part of Harvard is the people you meet because they are some of the most amazing people in the world. The institution itself, aside from the name, is fairly disappointing. Professors could not care less about you and administrators deal with you only to the extent that it does not inconvenience them. I’ve had friends suffer severe depression at Harvard as a result of the environment, and then, when they tried to commit suicide in a cry for help, Harvard responded by institutionalizing them into a psychiatric ward of a hospital for a week and then kicking them out of school for a year, just to avoid liability issues. The administration treated them as if they had leprosy.</p>
<p>People? Haha, someone’s delusional.</p>
<p>And someone apparently has no friends.</p>
<p>Not quite, but to say the weakest link is actually the sole bright point is just…wrong. And you’re just further proving my point by acting that way.</p>
<p>“The only bright part of Harvard is the people you meet because they are some of the most amazing people in the world. The institution itself, aside from the name, is fairly disappointing.”</p>
<p>IMHO: One of the bright parts of Harvard is the people you meet. The institution itself is sometimes disappointing.</p>