The Crimson, the Harvard University student newspaper, has published the results of its annual "senior survey," which offers a glimpse into the professional, social -- and personal -- lives of students at one of the world's most prestigious universities.
The survey, conducted between May 11 and May 21, asked 780 respondents in the senior class a range of questions, including questions about personal details of their time at Harvard. Among the survey's findings is that this year's Harvard grads aren't as excited to work on Wall Street as the pre-recession class of 2007, which sent nearly half of seniors into that field; and that 20 percent of this year's class hopes to end up in the health field in the next 10 years.
As for what seniors have been up to in the meantime, a majority of the class of 2013, or 72 percent, said that they began their college career as a virgin; but far fewer, 27 percent, said they'd receive their diploma in the same condition. Forty percent of senior women at the Cambridge, Mass., university said they had sex with two or more partners, 7 percent with 10 or more partners. Among men, 53 percent had two or more sexual partners, and 12 percent said the number was 10 or more.
The survey also revealed that few victims of sexual assault report the incident to authorities: Forty-five of the survey's 780 respondents said they had been sexually assaulted, but only eight said they'd reported it to university officials, and one went to police. The Crimson has in the past raised concerns about sexual assault on campus, in part because victims have claimed the school didn't properly handled its response. Harvard officials told the Crimson a change was unlikely any time soon.
Among the class' more whimsical feats, only 4 percent of students accomplished the "Big Three," which includes having sex in the Widener Library, running the "primal scream" -- a biannual streaking event -- and peeing on the shiny foot of John Harvard's statue.
The survey found 13 percent of students had had sex in the library (perhaps aided by Harvard Crimson advice). That statistic was divided fairly evenly between male and female respondents, more than any other "Big Three" item. Meanwhile, 41.3 percent of men admitted to having peed on the statue, while just 9.9 percent of women said they had done so.
Slightly more than a third, 36 percent, said they had smoked pot, the survey found, and 16 percent had taken a harder drug, like LSD, cocaine or magic mushrooms. Nearly 1 in 10 said they had taken Adderall or Ritalin, which college students increasingly use to focus on studying.
Overall, Harvard seniors reported being pretty happy, with an average "happiness" rating of 3.87 on a 1-to-5 scale, and 93 percent said that, given the chance to do it over, they'd still choose Harvard.
Related
Before You Go
