Harvard University Top Questions

I found professors to be much more approachable than I'd been warned they'd be. The biggest obstruction to close student-professor relationships, I think, is students' feelings of inferiority and insecurity. In many classes, and even smaller sections, students are afraid to ask any questions in class that aren't ubersophisticated and perfectly worded, and a sense of relief is almost palpable whenever somebody does ask a basic question. I did form some close relationships with professors, but it took a while to get comfortable enough to feel like I could be myself and that I didn't have to be impressive and well-poised all the time. Students are generally so extracurricularly involved that they really don't study all the time, but they somehow manage to do great work anyway. Many are somewhat closeted perfectionists who actually do manage to get great grades, run homeless shelters, have romantic partners, and run 3 miles a day.

Professors know your name if you make an effort to meet them (go to office hours), or if you take a seminar class. One favorite class was a seminar with Prof. Steven Levitsky. Least favorite class was a core, "First Nights" -- big waste of time. Class participation always happens in section, sometimes in lectures. Some students have intellectual conversations outside of class, but I'd say it's a minority. Most students are not too outwardly competitive, except for pre-meds. Most unique class - I haven't taken it, but I'd have to say it's the wine-tasting seminar. My major was Social Studies -- interdisciplinary social science, fantastic. Rarely spent time with profs after class. Academic requirements were fine, though they are changing (Core is being replaced by Gen Ed). Education is mostly geared toward learning for its own sake. Preprofessional training happens extracurricularly, and those programs are very good.

Academics at Harvard...difficult but worth it in the end?

People study a lot in order to do well. The curve usually sucks. Classes are hard. Professors are generally decent, but most of the time I find myself just studying the book and doing just fine. I don't see professors outside of class. The academic requirements are reasonable.

No, my professors don't know my name--but my section leaders do, which works for me :) I think also your class size and relationship with professors depends on what type of classes you are taking (your concentration) and how involved you make yourself in the class. I personally participate in class a lot, but student participation varies. Yes, harvard students have intellectual conversations outside of class, but that's not ALL we talk about :) Sadly, I think much of the students' personal investment in their own education is motivated by the desire for a job, not learning for its own sake There are billions of cool classes!! and some really boring ones you have to take--the CORE system kind of sucks.

Students are fairly competitive. But, at the same time, there are loads of students who just say something for the sake of saying something. It's very unfortunate that a lot of class time is wasted on people talking nonsense.

Certain intro science classes are too large. Students are very competitive, sometimes cutthroat.

The professors of some of my smaller classes do know my name (math 25), and it's kind of nice. The large classes are sometimes too large, I feel; and the TF quality varies widely. Students here tend to be competitive in a sort of passive way; I feel like everyone works hard on their own and there is a lot less voluntary helping among students.

Harvard's academics are pretty difficult. Everyone is so smart and driven that you feel pressured, in a way, to work harder than you may otherwise ever have. Let's say Person A decides to study for a few hours. As he's finishing up, Person B sees Person A studying, and decides that she'd better study, too. So, Person B begins studying...and Person A sees her. Though he was going to stop, he figures that because she's studying, he'd better study more, too. Now, time passes and Person B wants to end, but sees Person A studying. ...So she studies more, too. Pretty soon, everyone is studying all the time.

Academics can get pretty aggressive at Harvard. Being premed, those courses are extremely competitive. People are very smart and some are capable of studying very efficiently. If you don't get it right, you lag behind and it's hard to catch up because other people are getting smarter and better. I know maybe one professor somewhat well but only because I took a freshman seminar and two semester courses with him, in addition that I will soon be a course assistant for one of his courses. I feel like if you make it happen, you will get a professors attention but you have to work for it. Class participation is very much integral in sections but not so much in lectures unless they are very small. The math department, my department, has very smart people and it can get quite intimidating. You have to find your niche though and work hard to understand things, even if you feel you've come from a strong calculus background.