What are the pros and cons of attending Harvard?

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Some Pros of attending Harvard College:

1. It’s a self esteem and confidence booster like you would never believe. Ultimate validation.
2. Everyone else in the world seems to agree. You get automatic legitimacy.
3. That means people assume that you’re smarter than they are. This works well for bluffing ;-)
4. It gets you in the front door of basically anywhere you want to go. You have to take it from there.
5. You can capitalize on people’s warped fantasy of the Harvard mystique by making a lot of money, because people want the best. Especially rich people.
6. As a tutor on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, you’re gold. If you don’t charge enough, they won’t want you as much. But if you went to Harvard, they want you no matter what.
7. That little gold digging gene deep down in at least one woman will find you even more attractive an investment.
8. You get to meet and converse with some of the most brilliant minds in the world while you’re there, and afterward if you want.

Some Cons of going to Harvard College:

1. People usually think that you are rich, privileged, and come from money.
2. Some people take an intense dislike to you once they find out that you went to Harvard. For most people, it will elicit some sort of reaction. Sometimes it’s not a positive one.
3. No matter what their reaction to finding out you went to Harvard, it’s like what we used to call that “H – bomb.” We dance around answering where we went to school until it’s inevitable. And no matter what their reaction to finding out you went to Harvard, no matter how you present it, people will react in an extreme way, of either “well la di da da,“ or with great surprise, awe, disbelief, and the list goes on.
4. If you don’t have money and don’t get a scholarship, it could be a bit expensive. Still, if Harvard wants you, they’ll find a way to get you there.
5. When people don’t take kindly to you having gone to Harvard for whatever reason, there can be hostility, too. During my leave of absence when I was waiting tables, the chef used to call me “Harvard.“ You could imagine how they would use that term more often when I messed something up ;).
6. I really don’t think it was as good an education as I could have gotten at a place like Amherst College, Williams, or other top smaller liberal arts colleges.
7. Arriving and being at Harvard can be incredibly intimidating. In my case, coming from a blue-collar household with parents who didn’t go to college, a complete lack of culture, and no ability to frame an opinion or make an argument, the three meals a day at Harvard were pretty rough.
8. I was pretty depressed most of the time, but I still think that most people had their guard up. Everyone was so amazing but I think that they were just as fragile and feeling incomplete inside. So for me, energetically it wasn’t easy to connect with people either.