Not Bad, but No Attention

Within the Ivy League, Harvard does very well for itself. That said, it's not a sports-oriented school, and compared to other universities is definitely the small fish in the ocean. The one big sports event that brings everyone together is the Harvard/Yale football game. Other than that, it's pretty rare for a sports event to get much attention from the student body at large.

That's What I Came for

People already know that Harvard stands for academic excellence, but what most generally don't know is that the academic support system here is designed to make sure that you get the most out of your time here. Professors are not only the best in their fields, but most of them are more than willing to talk to you outside of class and work with you on independent projects. Beyond even academic and career advisers, not to mention a support network of deans and peer counsel groups, there's an entire organization called the Bureau of Study Counsel designed to help students with any school-related issue that might have, including battling procrastination, learning to read more efficiently, dealing with learning disabilities, and much more.

Parties Are Go, School's Not a Game

The Administrative Board, the entity that currently determines the fate of students not meeting academic standards or otherwise breaking campus rules, can be kind of shady, but that's currently going under review. Parties need to be registered in advance, but an unregistered party will just get shut down without any real consequences. Theoretically underage drinking can be punished, but this is usually enforced mainly in the freshman dorms. There's also an amnesty policy at the University hospital so that drunk students and their friends who go there for help won't get into any disciplinary trouble for it. The most important thing is just not to do anything academically dishonest and try to keep your grades up, because the Ad Board nearly always tells a student being disciplined to take a year off (and work/do something deep while on leave).