Yo Yo Ma's view on Harvard

cosar
Mon, 05 Jan 2009 00:35:43 +0000

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.

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.