<p>I can answer that question: most people don’t take Advanced Standing because precisely because it decreases the amount of time one will spend at Harvard. You have less time to pursue various avenues of exploration, socially, academically, and extracurricular. Harvard just isn’t the type of place where one takes as many classes as possible and tries to get out as quickly as possible. By staying one or two fewer semesters, I personally think you’ll really lose out on lots of opportunities…ESP extracurricular-wise. </p>
<p>Academically, you’ll also basically be forced to make a decision regarding your concentration immediately as opposed to having some time to mull over your choices. Frankly, it also makes doing things like joint concentrations or even secondary fields more difficult.</p>
<p>I received a second interview. To this day, I am not sure of its purpose, but I surmised that it was because my first did not go well and the admissions office was on the fence about my final decision as a result. There are a few threads floating about with people inquiring about second interviews (from a few years back), so you might want to check them out.</p>
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<p>I have found that Harvard’s “religious scene” is mostly confined to certain student organizations (InterVarsity, Harvard College Faith and Action, et cetera), and that overall, the campus is not overwhelmingly friendly towards active practicioners of their faiths. To be sure, individuals are tolerant of people of all faiths and creeds, but that is where it ends - do not expect open and widespread acceptance of your persuasions.</p>
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<p>There are a variety of churches to be found in Boston and Cambridge; I’m sure you’ll be able to find one that suits your needs. Various groups often forward long lists of available places of worship over their email lists, and there’s nothing stopping you from asking your upperclassmen about their preferred churches as well. Inside of Harvard, there are a variety of types of ministry (I’m assuming you’re Christian, but if you are not, then there are still plenty of opportunities available), from volunteering at homeless shelters to engaging your peers in frank discussions about the nature of religion and religious belief. As far as resources go, there are books galore to be found in Harvard’s collections, and people at the Divinity school are quite friendly - I know several who have engaged me in interesting conversation regarding my beliefs before, and I’m sure you’ll have no trouble finding someone in the goodly-sized number of groups who can do the same. </p>
<p>I hope that (somewhat) answered your question. I’m not entirely sensible right now - three midterms in one week followed by three problem sets in one day can turn your brain to mush.</p>
<p>How competitive are the students at Harvard in regard to eachother. In other words, how would you describe your stress level on campus and the behavior, helpfulness, and general nature of the other students and/or faculty?</p>
<p>As a source of information it can be good or bad. You have to use a discerning eye to see if someone is conjecturing (bad) or citing their sources (good). For example, in this topic you should afford me some degree of credibility to speak about current affairs at Harvard (if you believe I’m actually a Harvard student, which you don’t necessarily know for sure), but you should also keep in mind that I am only one Harvard student in one concentration with one personality and one particular set of interests. </p>
<p>As for chance me threads, I think they’re stupid. They’re good for pointing out if you’re in Harvard’s ballpark range or not, but you should be able to figure that out for yourself anyway.</p>
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<p>6 hours a night on average. In high school I would get 4 or 5. I’m by no means a typical sleeper though.</p>
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<p>Students aren’t competitive with each other academically. Maybe people are a tiny bit more competitive with respect to competing for the same internships and career-related stuff, but not really even that either. There are no “class rankings” so even if being ultra-competitive weren’t inherently obnoxious, it would still be futile.</p>
<p>If i don’t have stellar SAT scores (2050), do you still think I have a chance if I have extremely strong EC’s? How much do you think admissions weighs standardized test scores?</p>
<p>Hey,
I got a 33 on the ACT, which I thought was pretty ok since it’s in Harvard’s range… but whenever I see people who get accepted through the “Official Decisions” forums, the ACT’s are always 34+. How come the range says 31-34 for Harvard when all I see are scores higher than those? I mean I know that these people represent a small number of accepted students, but still… it should be a good representation.</p>
<p>Are you guys in relationships? Do you know many classmates with relationships? How do they tend to fare academically? Do the cream of the crop students date?</p>
<p>Late interview means a lot. It means more if you are from a limited-interview area. Most of these candidates are either accepted or waitlisted; rarely are they rejected.</p>
<p>They seem to do just fine, as far as I can tell. As for their academic performances, I can only speak regarding the limited group of individuals I am extremely familiar with, and they are performing well.</p>
<p>None of us has the data to say “students at Harvard in relationships do better/worse than single students” so this is all anecdotal. I don’t think that having a relationship has any…relationship…with doing well academically. If you date someone at Harvard, they’re probably busy too and you figure out something that works. If you’re dating someone from back home, well, they’re back home.</p>
<p>“Late interview means a lot. It means more if you are from a limited-interview area. Most of these candidates are either accepted or waitlisted; rarely are they rejected.”</p>
<p>However, I’m fairly certain that if you’re in the US it means that your interviewer procrastinates. =P For example, all the applicants in my town had the same interviewer (we live in Nowhere, USA) and none of us got contacted until last week. </p>
<p>But like Dreams said, if you’re in a limited interview area it sounds good for you!</p>