Haverford College Top Questions

They are probably underrated to the casual observer. It's easy to say a place is a "nerd school." It's entirely different to walk on a campus where people lack the social skills to make eye contact or smile on a path.

Mostly.

Not all of them, but some.

They are all found somewhere on campus to some degree or else the stereotype would not exist in the first place. But they are not all completely true. There are many girls/guys that break the stereotype all the time.

We might not be the warmest person to pass on the sidewalk, but everyone is so nice.

yes and no. I was really surprised when I realized that there are a lot of people that go out and have fun and party. And they're all really smart, too (but not that obnoxious, condescending smart that you get at places like wakeforest or some of the other elite "small, liberal-arts schools"). That said, there are still a lot of people that don't go out at all. They're called the phantom 500 and if you do the math that's almost half the school. So it makes for a really small social scene (but a fun one nonetheless).

Only somewhat. Once we get past being awkward and nerdy, we're friendly and can have a great time!

To some extent: Most people are smart but the classes seem to be getting dumber as we go along. To tell the truth I expected to find more quirky nerdiness and smartness at Haverford than I do. Although a lot of people are modest though, so that may be why. We don't talk about grades and it's not competitive in that way, but everyone is a super-perfectionist and fiercely competative with themselves; there are a lot of closet eating disorders and stuff like that that comes from the Type-A personality culture. That said, everyone IS really nice and genuinely friendly, and un-pretentious. You do get the oddball "should-have-gone-to-an-Ivy-League" snob, but for the most part everyone is great. There is a hook-up or "Haver-married" culture in which dating doesn't really take place. This frustrates a lot of people, but so far it hasn't changed. As for the awkwardness, some students are, most really aren't, but it's in a good way if they are - an interesting way. If you have an open mind and like to just chat you can have some really fascinating conversations.

More or less, yes.

Absolutely!