Is Harvard really this douchie? Forum

[mike7174]

Just came back from a visit that I had arranged with the admissions office at HLS and I cannot tell you how incredibly douchey/snobby/arrogant the students I met were. I sat in on a class and talked to a few people…they were very nice don’t get me wrong, but they are just HUGE snobs. You could just sense it from the way they talked, walked, everything. They were all like, “I go to Harvard, I’m the shit.” I mean, I expected a little arrogance (it is Harvard Law after all), but this just exceeded my expectations by a mile.

Huge rant, I know, but this was something that concerned me a bit because Harvard was by far my top choice before this visit, but now I’m having second thoughts….Did anyone else get this sense, especially people who went to the ASW?

[EijiMiyake]

Eh, I got it from some but not others (including, sadly, from people that I had previously known to be awesome).

I don't think this is going to be substantially different at any of the top schools, FWIW.

[legends159]

maybe it's your perception? We need details.

[Borhas]

Just came back from a visit that I had arranged with the admissions office at HLS and I cannot tell you how incredibly douchey/snobby/arrogant the students I met were. I sat in on a class and talked to a few people…they were very nice don’t get me wrong, but they are just HUGE snobs. You could just sense it from the way they talked, walked, everything. They were all like, “I go to Harvard, I’m the shit.” I mean, I expected a little arrogance (it is Harvard Law after all), but this just exceeded my expectations by a mile.

Huge rant, I know, but this was something that concerned me a bit because Harvard was by far my top choice before this visit, but now I’m having second thoughts….Did anyone else get this sense, especially people who went to the ASW?

go to Stanford

[PDaddy]

Just came back from a visit that I had arranged with the admissions office at HLS and I cannot tell you how incredibly douchey/snobby/arrogant the students I met were. I sat in on a class and talked to a few people…they were very nice don’t get me wrong, but they are just HUGE snobs. You could just sense it from the way they talked, walked, everything. They were all like, “I go to Harvard, I’m the shit.” I mean, I expected a little arrogance (it is Harvard Law after all), but this just exceeded my expectations by a mile.

Huge rant, I know, but this was something that concerned me a bit because Harvard was by far my top choice before this visit, but now I’m having second thoughts….Did anyone else get this sense, especially people who went to the ASW?

Go to Stanford or Yale. The students at those schools don't have anything to prove and they are so "above it all". To them, being at an elite school seems to be more par for the course.

[pleasetryagain]

uhhh..

1. Go to Harvard
2. Don't hang out with HLS kids
3. ?????
4. Profit

[Borhas]

uhhh..

1. Go to Harvard
2. Don't hang out with HLS kids
3. Transfer to Stanford
4. Profit

[Bronte]

uhhh..

1. Go to Harvard
2. Don't hang out with HLS kids
3. ?????
4. Profit

Not everybody has hoes in different area codes.

[DoubleChecks]

Just came back from a visit that I had arranged with the admissions office at HLS and I cannot tell you how incredibly douchey/snobby/arrogant the students I met were. I sat in on a class and talked to a few people…they were very nice don’t get me wrong, but they are just HUGE snobs. You could just sense it from the way they talked, walked, everything. They were all like, “I go to Harvard, I’m the shit.” I mean, I expected a little arrogance (it is Harvard Law after all), but this just exceeded my expectations by a mile.

Huge rant, I know, but this was something that concerned me a bit because Harvard was by far my top choice before this visit, but now I’m having second thoughts….Did anyone else get this sense, especially people who went to the ASW?

im sry to hear this, but at the same time, i wonder if this will be my experience there as well; yet the thing that worries me the most is just northeasterners being mean -- im from the south and generally everyone is nice and polite down here...my friends' and my own interactions w/ northeners havent led to the same results haha

[OperaSoprano]

uhhh..

1. Go to Harvard
2. Don't hang out with HLS kids
3. ?????
4. Profit

Not everybody has hoes in different area codes.

I lol'd. But seriously, if you don't have friends at other law schools in your city, you're doing it wrong.

Just for the record, not everyone at HLS is like that. I couldn't say for certain whether I know a representative sample, but my friends up there are very cool, thoughtful people.

[Herb Watchfell]

“I go to Harvard, I’m the shit.”

Put them in a room filled with YLS kids and watch 'em quiver. They're not "the" shit, they're just plain old shit.

[pleasetryagain]

“I go to Harvard, I’m the shit.”

Put them in a room filled with YLS kids and watch 'em quiver. They're not "the" shit, they're just plain old shit.

"awwww wassamatta?? couldn't get into Yale?"

[Herb Watchfell]

“I go to Harvard, I’m the shit.”

Put them in a room filled with YLS kids and watch 'em quiver. They're not "the" shit, they're just plain old shit.

"awwww wassamatta?? couldn't get into Yale?"

try again.

[Integrity]

You were having a bit of a culture shock, but you would get used to it (or, most likely, join them).

[englawyer]

i didn't get that impression at all. seemed to be quite a mixed bag of people.

[twistedwrister]

Just to pile on the H-bomb a little, one of the hiring partners I met during this OCI season actually told me he was tired of interviewing median students from Harvard who walked in the door like their sh*t didn't stink (he put it more politely, but just barely). I also met a bunch of associates who were recent Harvard grads. Some were great, some were douchie. No big surprise. Disclaimer: I go to NYU and didn't apply to Harvard.

[D. H2Oman]

Yes

[09042014]

Yes

Saw you had the last post ITT, and came to make sure you did exactly what you did. I shouldn't have doubted you brohiem.

[unknownscholar]

it's been my experience that when I've felt that most of the people around me were offputting, it was me. I don't say this to be facetious. it really was me. I tend to feel this way when I walk into an environment where I'm in the minority. like being the only URM in the class...every class. or coming into a school off the waitlist. for me, it was about needing more self-confidence.

[DoubleChecks]

it's been my experience that when I've felt that most of the people around me were offputting, it was me. I don't say this to be facetious. it really was me. I tend to feel this way when I walk into an environment where I'm in the minority. like being the only URM in the class...every class. or coming into a school off the waitlist. for me, it was about needing more self-confidence.

refreshingly honest, though in OP's case, i actually believe he met a lot of stuck up ppl

not saying HLS is full of them, but im sure they certainly have their fair share -- guess OP was unfortunate enough to only meet the stuck up ones? lol

[r6_philly]

im sry to hear this, but at the same time, i wonder if this will be my experience there as well; yet the thing that worries me the most is just northeasterners being mean -- im from the south and generally everyone is nice and polite down here...my friends' and my own interactions w/ northeners havent led to the same results haha

I can't speak for Harvard. But as for the northeast ... I spend a lot of time in the south, I enjoy my interactions with strangers in the south. Rarely feel the same way about the northeast. People are a lot more laid back, pleasant, cordial, and courteous in the south.

[ali & ali]

Crazy. I had a very different experience when I visited HLS. What I liked was that there wasn't a tension there about trying to be something else. They know they're not Yale, nor do they really want to be Yale. The kids I talked to mostly seemed really down to earth, ready to share the pluses and minuses of the HLS experience, and surprisingly relaxed about grades and life. Sorry you ran into some douchebags...then again, out of the 1,500 students at HLS, I'm sure you'd find at least a couple of kids that were bearable!

[HBK]

Law students are generally pretty douchey. I have a couple buddies who have become insufferable. And these are kids not even at T14 schools.

Attending law school seems to give some people an inflated sense of self-worth. I think this is most common among direct UG->LS students or kids who graduated college and didn't have a real career job prior to going to LS.

I am sure this is magnified by Harvard law. I bet they probably sniff their own farts.

[unknownscholar]

Crazy. I had a very different experience when I visited HLS. What I liked was that there wasn't a tension there about trying to be something else. They know they're not Yale, nor do they really want to be Yale. The kids I talked to mostly seemed really down to earth, ready to share the pluses and minuses of the HLS experience, and surprisingly relaxed about grades and life. Sorry you ran into some douchebags...then again, out of the 1,500 students at HLS, I'm sure you'd find at least a couple of kids that were bearable!

they aren't yale...but I mean, they're harvard. lol. #2 isn't too shabby.

[Xiaolong]

As a foreign friend in the LLM program at H once asked me: "Have you met any JDs who is not a complete tosser?"


IMO H kids are the most insecure breed. People who go to Y and S all got into H, but not everyone who goes to Harvard also got into Stanford and Yale. Put someone from Harvard in a room with a Yalie and the smell of insecurity becomes so thick, you can cut it.