Harvard University
Responses from the Student Interview
From a student who identifies as Concentrations: Joint Concentrating, which is the same as double majoring, in Physics and Philosophy
Secondary Field: None
Student Self Identifies as: East Asian-American Heterosexual Male
Summary
I primarily do dance and activism. Specifically, I am involved in the hip-hop dance company on campus. I’m also involved in the Task Force on Asian and Pacific American Studies. We organize activism events.
Background
Gender Identity: Male
Race/Ethnicity: East Asian-American
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual
High School Experience: Public school in the suburbs of Boston, MA with a graduating class of about 300 students. There was a culture of going to college.
First-Generation College Student: No
Concentrations: Joint Concentrating, which is the same as double majoring, in Physics and Philosophy
Secondary Field: None
Extracurricular Activities: I primarily do dance and activism. Specifically, I am involved in the hip-hop dance company on campus. I’m also involved in the Task Force on Asian and Pacific American Studies. We organize activism events.
Did any of your extracurricular activities have a particularly big impact on your experience?
I think both of them have contributed a lot to my experience, even more over time. As a junior, a lot of my social circle comes from the members of those organizations because I spend a lot of time working with them.
Academic Experience
Can you describe the weekly coursework for your concentrations?
For Physics, I’m pursuing the Honors Track and I take two Physics-related courses per semester. For each of those courses, there are problem sets that can take anywhere from eight to twelve hours. Some classes have exams, but not every class does. I’ve found that as long as you ask around about which professors are more strict or less strict, you have a good idea of what the grading is going to look like.
For Philosophy, the coursework is different. I’m pursuing it as my allied major with Physics as my primary concentration. Harvard has a system where, although it’s a double major, Philosophy takes a lower role. I’ve only been taking around one Philosophy course a semester and those lectures are more discussion-based. The week-to-week coursework is just reading before each class session and there are about two class sessions a week. We have about three essays per semester, but I also found that keeping up with the reading and going to office hours makes the essays pretty doable.
Is there anything that you feel your concentrations’ departments do especially well or especially poorly?
For Physics, I really appreciate the collaborative culture of the setting. I like how the department formalizes by having Physics Night every Wednesday in one of the house dining halls. A lot of the Teaching Fellows will be in that dining hall to hold office hours and students just congregate there to work on the problem set there. Since most problem sets are due on Thursday or Friday, it’s a good time to start it or work on it. I’ve made a lot of friends through Physics and I really appreciate that collaborative culture.
A weakness of the Physics department is that not all professors are very good lecturers. Some of them are fine, but I think that’s the biggest issue. That also may be because the pace of the course is relatively fast so we can never cover enough material in the lecture to fully know what to do in the problem set. It requires looking into lecture notes yourself or going to discussion sections or office hours or just working it out.
For Philosophy, I’ve found there are many very engaging lecturers. There are both famous professors and younger hires who are very engaging and it’s evident that they care about their students. They structure the lectures to draw on students’ opinions and teach very concisely.
How would you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
It’s not too competitive. Maybe this is because of the concentrations I’m in because a lot of my courses don’t have an obvious curve. It doesn’t feel like you getting an A makes it so another person doesn’t. Physics is a very collaborative environment and I think Philosophy is good too. I will say that the non-Physics courses that I have to take for Physics, like Math and Statistics courses, are widely taken and it can feel pretty competitive. The bigger courses feel that way because there is a very distinct and explicit curve. But, as you get higher up in most departments, the smaller courses don’t feel as competitive.
How accessible are your professors?
I think all of them have been more accessible than I expected going in. It’s always super easy to see them during office hours and, in addition to that, they are usually pretty open to meeting outside of those times if you just email them.
Why did you choose your concentrations? Are you happy with your choice?
I came into college with a rough idea that Physics and Philosophy are what I want to do. I enjoyed AP Physics in high school and people told me that majoring in STEM makes you more employable because you learn quantitative skills. I did a lot of debate in high school and was exposed to a lot of philosophy from that. I found it really intellectually stimulating and wanted to learn more in college. I tried out some of those courses freshman year and ended up sticking with those courses. As a junior, I’m not 100% sure if I would choose the same concentrations again because I’m more interested in pursuing public policy and legal work, in which case Philosophy is relevant but Physics is not quite as much. If I wanted to keep something quantitative, I would do something that is less difficult, because Physics is difficult [laughs].
Reasons to Attend
1) Academically, Harvard is probably still one of the best universities in the country for almost any major.
2) If you’re looking to make a big impact in the world, Harvard sets you up to do that. If you want to make a ton of money, there are connections in finance and consulting and all of that, but also there are resources for politics and non-profits.
3) Harvard Square in Boston is a great location to go to college. It’s a fun place to be with restaurants, late-night food, and other college students nearby. You can even cross-register for courses at MIT.
4) There is a strong group of extracurriculars and a lot of people who care a lot about different things, whether that be dance, activism, consulting, or pre-med. The fact there are so many high-caliber organizations means that you can do some really amazing stuff with your time here.
Reasons Not to Attend
1) The weather. I hate it. I grew up here and it’s so much worse in college because you walk around so much.
2) The social scene can be pretty exclusive. You can definitely make your own space within it, but it is not as good as some schools.
3) The extracurricular scene, although I do think it’s amazing, it also can be exclusive in its own way. For some clubs, you have to apply, audition, or try out, and it can be a semester-long process and you still might not get in. There are some organizations that have [single-digit] acceptance rates. You can’t come to Harvard and do exactly what you want to do all the time because you have to compete against other Harvard students. [See The Crimson article, “Comping Harvard.”]
Around Campus
Where have you lived on campus?
Freshman: Stoughton Hall in a double
Sophomore: Lowell House but it went under renovation, so I’ve been living in swing-housing in different residential spaces that aren’t connected to the house. Sophomore year I lived in Harvard Winn in a double.
Junior: I’m in swing housing and live in an apartment on Prescott Street. It was a double bedroom and a common room.
Can you describe the level of safety you’ve experienced on and around campus?
I feel pretty safe. Both weekdays and weeknights you can walk around Harvard Square and feel alright. With that said, there are sometimes people who students feel less comfortable interacting with in Harvard Square or in Cambridge Commons, which is near Harvard Yard. I’ve never personally felt unsafe though.
Social Opportunities
What kind of nightlife or weekend activities do you participate in?
I like to go out to parties. Freshman year – and I think a lot of freshmen do this – I went to a lot of campus-wide parties that organizations or sometimes the college hosts. Starting sophomore year, it becomes a bit more separated into the different social clubs people are in, including Final Clubs. I don’t personally go to that many social club events, but I really enjoy hanging out in my extracurricular organizations. We’ll usually have more low-key socials around once a month. It’s a nice way to hang out with friends in a more relaxed small house party vibe. I occasionally like going to big parties, but I don’t go to those as regularly anymore.
Who hosts the big parties?
The social clubs will, but also the different cultural or affinity organizations, like the Black Students Association, will host big parties throughout the year. Those are oftentimes fundraising opportunities for them. There are also a decent number of dorm parties just hosted by friends and those can get pretty big depending on who’s hosting them.
What nights of the week do you regularly go out?
Usually just Friday and Saturday. Depending on the semester and course load, I’ll sometimes go out on Thursdays too because there are events those nights.
How happy are you with the weekend options at Harvard? Is there anything you would change about them if you could?
Overall, I’m reasonably happy with it. I do think the social club situation here is not ideal. It’s pretty closed off and it’s not easy for unaffiliated male students to get into social club parties. As an upperclassman, it’s a little easier because I do have friends in the clubs now. But, as a freshman and sophomore, it made it feel like if you wanted to go out there wasn’t a lot to go to. When I was younger, I definitely felt like there was a lack of options, but as I’ve gotten older, I don’t care as much for bigger parties. I’ve become a lot more content just hanging out with friends or people I do extracurriculars with. I think those are more meaningful and relaxing anyway.
Campus Culture
How did you meet your closest friends?
Most of them are through the different extracurriculars I do. I did the debate team freshman year and quit, but about half the people I live with now are from that and the other people are people I clicked with in the freshman rooming process. The other friends I have are from my extracurriculars.
How would you describe the social scene?
I’m content with it now. I don’t think it’s the best. There aren’t always a lot of open options for people to go out to. If you’re trying to go to a big party and want that to be a consistent option, the only way to guarantee that is to be part of some exclusive social club. Also, social clubs aren’t just Final Clubs, there are different groups on campus, like theatre companies and literary magazines, that function as social clubs. I think that can be annoying because they can be exclusive and also separate out on problematic lines, like being White, rich, male, and athletic. With that said, that’s only one part of the campus culture and there is a sizable group of students who are relatively content with their own friend groups and the parties that they host. [See Harvard Gazette article, “Report issued on inclusion, belonging.”]
To what extent do people of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
I think there’s a decent amount of mixing. One of the differences here is randomized housing. You can choose your blocking group who you group but outside of that is randomized and because of that I think it can be more diverse. Also, there are really racially diverse groups of people in different student organizations. With that said, there are also a lot of affinity groups on campus that have strong bonds with each other, so there can be a lot of Asian students hanging out with Asian students if those groups. It’s a nice balance I think. In terms of sexual orientation, I don’t know that much. There are a decent number of Queer people in my friend group but I don’t know what the rest of the social scene is like.
How would you describe the East Asian community on campus?
The organization I’m a part of is not one of the bigger Asian groups on campus, but I have been connected to the community through my own network of people through that. I think there are enough Asians on campus that it’s not as cohesive or tight-knit as the Latinx or Black communities because those communities are smaller and it seems like most of the students will be in [the major student association]. South Asians tend to be all involved in the South Asian Student Association. With the East Asians, it’s not as tight-knit, but there are still close communities within it. Like, the Asian American Dance Team is mostly East Asian and is a really close group. The East Asians I interact with are more involved in activism and community service programs. There are a lot of different groups that are not as cohesive. [In the Class of 2022, 12.8% of students are international, 15% are African-American, 22.9% are Asian, and 12.3% are Hispanic.]
How do you like the residential house system? How has that impacted your experience?
I’ve liked it a lot. The change from freshman to sophomore year is a little jarring because freshman year you’re with all of the freshmen, eat in the same dining hall, and you’re all in the Yard, and then it becomes very separated starting sophomore year with everybody in different houses. That took some adjusting to. But, I really like the house I’m currently in, the house committee structure that plans events, and the other resources in the house. It gives you a little bit of a smaller community which is more manageable to really get to know.
Careers
Has the alumni network helped you find internships or jobs?
Yes, this summer either alumni I personally know or alumni I have reached out to have helped me get interviews or provided me with more information about the different organizations they work with. I’ve also been given funding through the Asian-American Alumni Alliance.
What have you used the career office for? How helpful have they been?
I think it’s helpful. I personally don’t take enough advantage of it. When I was a freshman it was helpful because I didn’t know anything about it when I was going in. Just learning how to write a resume or a cover letter was all stuff they helped me with. They run a decent database for jobs that I still use and regularly host information sessions with employers.
Have you learned any computer programs or languages through your coursework that will be helpful to you professionally?
I’ve learned a bit of R in a Statistics class. Various Physics classes have given me a cursory knowledge of Python, Mathematica, and MATLAB. In my research this past summer I used a lot of Excel.