Learning is not the priority of most Harvard students, writes Aden Barton in Harvard Magazine. Going to class and doing classwork as “simply another item on their to-do list.” Earning good grades is easy. Resume polishing requires more effort.
“Harvard has increasingly become a place in Cambridge for bright students to gather — that happens to offer lectures on the side,” he writes.
Students will do whatever it takes to earn an A, writes Barton. But they know professors’ expectations are low.
He took a seminar with three friends. “Although we knew hundreds of pages of readings would be assigned each week, we were excited about the prospect of engaging with the material. As time went on, the percentage of readings each of us did went from nearly 100 to nearly 0.” All received A’s.