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Harvard University

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DON"T BE FOOLED BY THE HARVARD NAME - Anonymous employee Harvard University Employee Review

1.0
30 Jun 2016
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Benefits and perks but for perks if you end up miserable there, aka working every minute every second and OT, you WILL NOT even get the time to explore those perks.

Cons

Again, don't be fooled by the Harvard name. They lure you in with fair compensation but when you step in, you find the work/life balance, good culture and flexibility they pride themselves about are all not true. Yes they largely depend on the school/department you work in and who you work for etc. but my experience has been nothing short of a nightmare. Extremely high politics and lots of backstabbing. No documented training for new hires, very poorly managed processes, cumbersome system to maneuver through, unrealistic expectations out of you giving you tons of meetings barely can chow down your lunch while you try to work your way through orienting yourself to get up to speed. Up to speed them means as a new hire you are treated as though you should perform like you've worked there for at least a year already. Don't kid yourself to stay or even step into those Harvard doors if you want any kind of quality of life.

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5.0
9 Jun 2026
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CEO approval
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Pros

Working at Harvard as a teaching fellow is Intellectually stimulating.

Cons

Working as a Teaching Fellow is not financially rewarding.

5.0
3 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
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Pros

You work with experts from every field possible in science from Mechanobiology to Metallurgy and working as a ML intern along with scientists from different fields gave me a lot of exposure and how to work in a research department.

Cons

One challenge encountered was maintaining a clear focus on training objectives, as the evolving parameters required continuous reassessment of the model's learning priorities. Additionally, the absence of established ground truth for the domain presented a limitation in validating and guiding the approach effectively.

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