<p>Hi there :)</p>
<p>For those of us who are lucky enough to get accepted, when should we actually arrive on campus come Fall? I know the official date is on the college calendar, but when would most people arrive in the area (assuming you don't live locally)? Are there activities held in the week before to get people to meet each other etc? I think my Dartmouth interviewer was saying they have like hiking/outdoor trips or something so you can make friends before you actually start! Does Harvard have something similar? </p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>Accepted students get information about pre-frosh week activities. FUP and FOP are very popular. FUP is the First-Year Urban Program. It is a week of community service in Cambridge and Boston (mostly Cambridge, I think). FOP is the First-Year Outdoor Program, which takes a group of students up to the mountains camping for a week. There’s also Dorm Crew, which students get paid for. I can’t remember what else there is.</p>
<p>Haha, FOP sounds AWESOME!</p>
<p>FAP and FIP. Arts and a special program tailored to internationals. And I would say that Dorm Crew is the most popular.</p>
<p>You’ll arrive on campus a few days before the upperclassmen, and spend some time just meeting each other before classes start. Lots of activities scheduled for that time period. The pre-orientation programs take place even before that----adding to what misterg said, I heard a lot of great things about FOP and FIP too :)! </p>
<p>Here’s some information from two years ago about the pre-orientation programs: <a href=“http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~fop/Documents/09%20Pre-O%20Brochure.pdf[/url]”>http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~fop/Documents/09%20Pre-O%20Brochure.pdf</a></p>
<p>Also, another good thing about Harvard, in case you haven’t heard, is that the first week of class is a “shopping period” for everyone during which you can basically sit in any course and see how you like them. A very non-stressful week to ease into the semester.</p>
<p>How about FUP and FYP? ;):p</p>
<p>What is FYP? Haha. That’s totally not a thing. Also, the general rule is that preorientations begin the week before move-in (FIP begins four days before).</p>
<p>I was just changing the middle vowel…lol</p>
<p>FUP was an amazing experience for my son. He met great people, and it got him started tutoring local high school kids every year during the school year.</p>
<p>I’m really looking forward to either Dorm Crew or FUP. Both sound like great experiences!</p>
<p>Haha, Gordon, I was confused because FUP is a thing…</p>
<p>My D loved Dorm Crew ,and she met some of her new best friends there ! Next year she will be a Dorm Crew Captain ,with a big salary increase .The skills she is learning to motivate others to clean bathrooms more efficiently will surely help her motivate others after college . I just never imagined my D cleaning BATHROOMS at Harvard !! Or other people’s bathrooms anywhere , for that matter.</p>