<p>@Interficio Uhhh a little. They take beginners. It takes a long time to work up to being good if you start with no experience, I think, but it can be done. They’re a very close-knit community.</p>
<p>Question about math! I hear that 1b is the class for people who have taken Calc AB. I took Calc AB in sophomore year and scored a 5 on the exam; subsequently I took IB HL Math in junior year. So far so good… but the problem is, this year I’ve been in AP Stats and have forgotten a large chunk of my calculus knowledge. I don’t feel comfortable with the material anymore and am not sure whether I can relearn it properly before the fall semester. Should I still take 1b, or should I give myself a refresher and take 1a? </p>
<p>Best answered by someone with personal experience with one or both of those classes, but hearsay is good too :)</p>
<p>Hello, I’ve read about half of this thread and have conjured up a few of my own questions. I really want to go to Harvard and am going into 10th grade. I’ve seen other posts like my own and the responses have typically been “don’t start stressing” and such. However, my parents have been riding me to go since I was little, and it’s grown on me. The only other college I REALLY want to go to is Stanford.</p>
<p>I’m in a Humanitarian program in high school, which only accepts 30 kids from the county–I was immediately accepted. Also, my freshman weighted GPA is a 4.7, however, I do not know my unweighted GPA. I guess that it’s a 3.8. </p>
<p>Due to some changes in curriculum, I have to drop a class my senior year to take a Financial Economic class. I plan to drop what would be my AP Chem class, and continue with Italian and AP Calculus. The Humanities forces me to continue with various AP History classes (World Cultures, Modern History, etc.) How would this look to Harvard?</p>
<p>I’ve taken the SATs in 8th grade with only a 1550 (without tutoring, so I have mixed feelings about it, but won some John Hopkins Award for my math score) and was the Student Achiever Finalist. I am a black belt in karate (I’ve competed and won all my tournament divisions) and play piano, and have previously taken gymnastics. I am currently a varsity member of my school’s track team and am thinking about tennis. I also plan to join Mock Trial, Tennis, Honors Society and some other clubs. </p>
<p>I don’t want to stretch myself too thin, and honestly, I’ve never planned on becoming a workaholic to go to Harvard, but I’m considering. However, because the admissions don’t always take valedictorians and sometimes go for other qualities aside from academics, I don’t want to focus solely on academics.</p>
<p>I don’t have much community service, but hope to gain some. Also, if it helps, I’m half Greek and half Korean, but am a natural US Citizen. I also speak Korean and Greek (and read/write Greek) but not too fluently; I do plan to improve. I took French for three years in middle school but I’m not great at it. I’m just so anxious that it’s eating away at me and it’s really angering me off because I’ll most likely end up in debt if I do make it.</p>
<p>Sorry for the length, but any advice on how to “stand out”? When I was in, like, 1st grade I published two poems, but it’s nothing glorifying. My writing skills are great, but again, is that really enough? I hope to major in law or literature. Thanks in advance.</p>
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<p>Although I know that this may come as a bit of a shock to you, I am used to hard work, especially when it comes to cleaning bathrooms. In fact, I often hired my housecleaning services out to people in my neighborhood, and I can assure you that I got some very good recommendations to other employers as a result. What I am not used to is scrubbing the interior of toilets with sponges and alcohol-based products, and I don’t think I’ll ever accustom myself to that.</p>
<p>Here’s an MSDS sheet for one of the products we use if you’d like some further details about my dislike for Dorm Crew: [url=<a href=“http://msds.johnsondiversey.com/wercswv/jdiMSDS.asp?A=putHTM&RID=F_PDF\‘EN’\‘NAM’\‘MS0400191’\‘MTR’\‘ANSI’\{ts’2011-05-31+10:36:25’}]http://msds.johnsondiversey.com/wercswv/jdiMSDS.asp?A=putHTM&RID=F_PDF\‘EN’\‘NAM’\‘MS0400191’\‘MTR’\‘ANSI’\{ts’2011-05-31+10:36:25’}[/url”>http://msds.johnsondiversey.com/wercswv/jdiMSDS.asp?A=putHTM&RID=F_PDF\‘EN’\‘NAM’\‘MS0400191’\‘MTR’\‘ANSI’\{ts’2011-05-31+10:36:25’}]http://msds.johnsondiversey.com/wercswv/jdiMSDS.asp?A=putHTM&RID=F_PDF\‘EN’\‘NAM’\‘MS0400191’\‘MTR’\‘ANSI’\{ts’2011-05-31+10:36:25’}[/url</a>]</p>
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<p>If you don’t remember a good deal of your calculus, I don’t think it would hurt you to take 1a. I took 1b the year after I took Calculus AB, but the material was still in my head. I had a lot of friends who erred on the side of the caution and took Math 1a even though they had taken Calculus BC two years prior. It really just depends on how much extra work you want to end up doing. :)</p>
<p>In all fairness, though, 1b is not a difficult course, and if you do review in the first few weeks of the course, it should be fairly painless.</p>
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<p>I have a friend who does ballroom, and from what I can see, he has enjoyed the experience immensely. Technically, it’s a club sport, so it will be demanding and will require hours of practice; ballroom dancing is not for the faint of heart. Nevertheless, the levels of competition are go from beginner to amateur (the level before becoming professional, I believe) to accommodate people of varying skill levels, and I have yet to meet someone who regretted doing ballroom dancing after sticking with it (and by that, I mean not quitting halfway through the first semester).</p>
<p>@exultationsy: I notice you’re well informed, so can you elaborate at all on the situation with the drama clubs? Thanks a lot in advance!</p>
<p>@disneyloverx33: Wow. I’m Greek myself, and I can tell you Greek-Korean sounds like a very unusual and interesting ethnic combination. I live in Greece though so things might be different in the USA, but I wouldn’t guess so.</p>
<p>Are there any speechwriting classes? (It seems like Expos 40 is more about the “speech” than the “writing” aspect of it. I’m more interested in the latter.)</p>
<p>@Smacking, not really. There are *a lot[i/] of shows put on each semester, ranging from (bad) student written work in (janky) House theater(s), or other not-particularly-intense plays, to usually one professionally-directed play in a largely-professional theater. There are also House theaters, which are low-key and fun. Kirkland has a musical and a Shakespeare play, Cabot has…a musical? Currier has…a play? Maybe? Cabot also hosts occasional other work (the classics department play). I don’t know many drama-y people in any of the other Houses, so I don’t know their situations (nor do I know much about what they do in the fall/early spring semester, not having had a House at that point). Gilbert and Sullivan does Gilbert and Sullivan, if you’re into musical theater. I dunno, I don’t feel like that’s very informative, but I’m also not sure what you want to know.</p>
<p>Also, (almost?) all the shows cast at the same time in a week at the beginning of each semester, and the directors have figured out which shows their cast members will be able to co-exist with, and which have unalterable conflicts. That’s taken into consideration in casting, which is considerate of them.</p>
<p>@59sound I do not think so. Do you mean, like, political speechwriting? Or public-speaking-in-general-writing?</p>
<p>@Dweight Eisenhower, what is the degree you earn if you decide to take a concentration in Economics?</p>
<p>Does Harvard have a concentration in Finance?</p>
<p>Hi, everyone. </p>
<p>I’ve heard some people say resumes are not appreciated by all schools. Does anyone know if Harvard admission officers prefer not to receive them, or if they like you to elaborate in a resume?</p>
<p>i’m signed up to do dorm crew as my preorientation program and i’m thinking about sticking with it the entire year to keep up a steady income and try to become a captain. any suggestions/advice/opinions on this?</p>
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<p>Bachelor of Arts.</p>
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<p>No</p>
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<p>I sent Harvard a resume only because my high school required me too. I think 99 times out of 100 they’re not necessary.</p>
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<p>Good plan. You make a ton of money as a captain during spring clean-up. A few friends of mine are captains and it’s a pretty easy job.</p>
<p>How is the 19a/b math series compared to the 21a/b one? All I know is that 19a/b is aimed for life science concentrators. Also, is it recommended to take math 1b if one isn’t comfortable with series and such or just brave it out and take 2 semesters of math rather than 3 (I dislike math but have to take 2 semesters)…Also is taking 3 classes with psets too much first semester (LS 1a, EC 10, and math 19a)? Thanks.</p>
<p>Depends on why you need two semesters of math? If this is for premed requirement, then retaking math1b may be a good idea, especially you’re looking to spend more time on other subject areas. If you’re worried about concentration requirement, no life science concentration I know, other than possibly bio engineering, requires you to take anything above 19a. I took Calc AB senior year and went for 21a first semester of college, and that turned out to be tons of work.</p>
<p>Thanks for answering-yes, it’s for premed. I was just under the assumption that 19b would be helpful in future science courses. So is 1b/19a fine? I took Calc BC senior year and did well ( I just feel like I didn’t learn anything). By tons of work, how many hours did you work out of class?–and how many classes that give problem sets can one manage?</p>
<p>At least ten hours outside of class, more near exam times, and I didn’t feel like I learned anything or was really understanding the material. </p>
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<p>Depends on your background? I know people who seemed to have easily managed three pset courses at the same time (e.g. CS50, Physics 16, math 23), whereas someone like me needs to structure the schedule much differently to keep up with everything. Also, classes are not necessarily easier or less time consuming just because they’re in the humanities—check the QGuide for the number of hours people spend on average for each course and for the general tone of the comments, and be careful about taking too many time consuming classes all at the same time :)</p>
<p>What’s Steven Pinker’s class like?</p>
<p>what are the students at Harvard like?
On your resume sheet did you include everything or only highlight the most important information?
How much is the interview weighted? How was yours?</p>