Seems strange to write an article complaining about the Harvard bubble when the only reason it's getting printed in the Paris fucking Review is that it's about Harvard in the first place. People have weird/terrible/difficult college experiences all the time, but the guy who went to Iowa State never gets a similar forum to talk about himself.
A lot of people at Harvard were uncomfortable there. I wasn't. I loved the place and made great friends. It was a safe place where I could challenge myself intellectually. And the plurality of Harvard students aren't wealthy legacies, they're striver upper middle class kids that worked their asses off in high school.
This author sounds like a poor fit for Harvard. Nothing wrong with it. But after two years should have really looked at transferring. Sure it's "Harvard", but you can still do quite well at other schools like Berkeley (where you get to stay a year on campus at best, and then you're off to fend for yourself).
The author admitted not being ambitious, and it really felt like he just took what was handed to him, rather than really seeking uut what would really click with him.
"And the plurality of Harvard students aren't wealthy legacies, they're extremely lucky middle class kids."
Need I remind you that there are a ridiculous amount of kids who take ridiculous courses for high schools (e.g. even college courses), get extremely high testing scores, and loads of extracurricular and get rejected on the basis that Harvard has a quota for each school and a quota for ethnicities.
Otherwise, Ivy Leagues' demographics would probably turn into the fair-and-balanced UC schools ...
As an aside: I don't recognize the Montreal he is talking about at all.
Lived there my entire life, but never really encountered the sorts of interesting people he mentioned at the start. I wonder how much has to do with having contacts through the older Jewish Anglo community as opposed to the newer Pakistani-Canadian Anglo community.
I am envious that he had such awesome experiences at 18. I only had situations like that after I turned 28 and found myself on the other side of the world.
I've lived in Paris (12 million people) for 10 years - but I grew up in Montreal (3.5 million people). Montreal has better nightlife than Paris, and it's no contest.
i guess it's a bit too late to ask, as this is sliding off the front page, but why the animosity here? the article rings true with my experience of yale (lived in new haven last year) and, a little less so, of cambridge (where i worked for 7 years).
surely you're not all offended alumni (especially since i suspect alumni would recognise the truth)? is this the same wannabe attitude that makes americans defend tax cuts for the rich? it's not that you are benefiting from the cronyism, but you sure would like to be?
I thought most of the article was painful to read as it resurfaced the same set of stereotypes as in the Social Network movie or the Mezrich book.
I felt the did article make a valid point at the end - about the lack of elite university-based social networks in Canada. While having gone to Harvard (or another elite American school) makes you stand out in Canada, I didn't feel it gave people the same rolodex advantages as being in NYC. I have a sibling who went to a top ranked American school ... I had to stop wearing the t-shirt she gave me in NYC because people would stop me and start having conversations (assuming I went to school there)!
Caveat: I went to school in Canada so this is all from an outsider's perspective.
In one paragraph, the limit seems to be two. That said, having gone to another similar school, it is a weird place. Not bad, necessarily; quite enjoyable, once you learn to accept the quirks. But certainly weird. And to the extent that there is an upper class in the US (even if it isn't entirely hereditary), it does largely seem to be populated by Ivy Leaguers.
I don't know what the Paris Review is, but that's pretty shit poor writing. I hope it's not a classy, intellectual magazine.
That said, minus the wealth and power parts, he pretty much described my experiences at "generic american land grant university". I think he's maybe having American culture shock?
A lot of people at Harvard were uncomfortable there. I wasn't. I loved the place and made great friends. It was a safe place where I could challenge myself intellectually. And the plurality of Harvard students aren't wealthy legacies, they're striver upper middle class kids that worked their asses off in high school.