Lol. The social life is definitely different. There were lots of parties on the weekends, and the university looked the other way and allowed lots of drinking and partying in the dorms. But people studied so much and worked on extracurriculars so much that there was only so much time. It was kind of concentrated into high levels of drunkenness on Friday and Saturday nights, whereas at a state school people might have partied on Thursdays or even earlier in the week. But when parties happen, some of the nerds go wild and get blackout drunk.

Another dynamic is that there are only a couple of college bars next to campus. It's a medium sized to small undergrad, and lots of people are nerds who don't go out, so it's only so big of a market for the bars. But the kids who are social party a good amount and keep the few college bars busy.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5542856&forum_id=2#47760919)

There's a lot of bitterness regarding the social scene at Harvard, because the number of spots in the clubs is limited, which is ultimately a function of the limited amount of real estate space for clubhouses in Harvard Square. Lots of guys who would be solid frat bros at a regular college get left out in the cold.

Another dynamic is the population of recruited athletes. DHA Tux will loudly disagree with me, but a lot of the recruited athletes only got in because of lowered standards. At the same time, some of the teams have very strong pipelines into the clubs. So you have this weird dynamic where some kid from Canada is admitted to play hockey due to lowered academic standards (and with extensive financial aid) and waltzes in the Owl, when your garden variety son of a doctor from Kansas City gets nothing.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5542856&forum_id=2#47761013)

Food is subpar, as I found it to be throughout the Boston area.

It was an amazing experience. I can nitpick here and there, but I don't regret a thing. The group of people that they put together, overall, is incredible.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5542856&forum_id=2#47761054)

It didn't take long to realize the most elite Girls were sucked into the ambit of the HBS vortex - dominated by chill athletic fratty bros who had worked at places like Blackstone and Carlyle, just to name a few.

They Girls weren't hanging out in Cambridgey. They were going to Vegas, Greece, Brazil. Pretty much everywhere they wanted.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5542856&forum_id=2#47761001)

There's still a sense that the UGs look down on the HLS folks. Not in like a snooty way (I don't think), but probably the inverse of how the LS students at, say, florida state feel about the UGs at florida state -- awareness of an objectively true state of affairs that one group is not-insignificantly more dynamic/intelligent/likely to go places than the other. Which is funny because I actually bet the average HLS student is substantially smarter than the average HUG and has higher career earnings. But even the HUGs who're nothing super-special themselves know and hang out with ppl who are -- so the girl you're trying to date who's the daughter of a cardiologist from delaware and majoring in biology with hopes of going to a SUNY med school, after which she'll undoubtedly match into a lifestyle specialty and practice in northern virginia, still *knows* super-impressive ppl who will style on future Weil Gotshal associates, and she evaluates her self-worth and social status accordingly.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5542856&forum_id=2#47761106)

Dad - UG class of 1969 - hated it, said it was full of commies, got the fuck out of there

Cousin - UG class of like 2020 - hated it, said it was full of commies and assholes, got the fuck out of there

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5542856&forum_id=2#47761074)