<p>What is our course load and daily homework like? After you were admitted, did you receive free accessories like clothing, wrist bands, caps, etc?</p>
<p>Course load depends completely on which concentration you decide to pursue. I know students that pick the easiest classes they can, barely attend lecture, do the required paper assignments (so like 5-10 hours per essay, 3 essays per class typically), take a final exam (that they cram for the night before), and come out with anywhere from a A minus to B depending on their talent level. </p>
<p>I also know students that never leave the library, take vicious amounts of Adderall and Vyvanse, and feel awful when they dont achieve a 4.0 - these are usually premed students. </p>
<p>The average student falls somewhere in the middle. If you attend all of your classes, and spend 3ish hours in the library to work on various things most days, you can easily keep up with stuff mostly. It gets easier as you get old - since you learn how to prioritize your time and work on the most important things. In practice, most Harvard students spend a significant amount of there time pursuing extracurricular interests. I would say that academics are rarely students’ #1 priority.</p>
<p>Also, I don’t remember receiving much when I got in. I think a lanyard maybe? We got a Harvard pin during our freshman week. You do get a discount at the COOP though, with your Harvard ID.</p>
<p>Soon, I will be starting my senior year of high school and a new practice of my school is having a senior signing day and senior academic signing day. Therefore, if accepted, I would like at least a shirt to show my acceptance to Harvard when my time comes to speak on the spotlight.</p>
<p>Are there any free clothing items or do you have to purchase those at your own discretion?</p>
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<p>This is accurate in my experience too. Especially the bolded. For most people, it starts off as Extracurriculars > Academics, then as they go through the years it becomes Career Aspirations > Extracurriculars > Academics. Of course there are many exceptions (some on these forums) who would object to my rash generalization, but that’s why I’m admitting it’s a generalization and not a rule. </p>
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<p>I think you get a shirt during your orientation. I think I’ve averaged 1-2 free shirts a year ontop of that.</p>
<p>Is it true that you can pay online professionals to do your essays without being scrutinized?</p>
<p>Chris00656, why would you ask a question like this? I see I’m going to have to keep you in check on CC! 
Any person who does not have the confidence or the ability to write his or her own application essays should not apply to elite colleges, or noncompetitive colleges for that matter! It is easy for Adcoms to discover plagiarized essays!</p>
<p>Are the classes greatly different than less prestigious schools other than the amazing faculty? Like, do you feel you’re learning more than if you had gone to say uc Berkeley?</p>
<p>No dascholar, that’s not what I meant? I asked that question because I actually know a couple of Harvard and Princeton Juniors that have gotten by this far by doing that. Personally, I would never do that. I will most definitely write and conduct my own essays because those services are only for insecure and weak people, in my opinion.</p>
<p>^^Okay, Chris00656!</p>
<p>This concerns the application process:</p>
<p>Would you advise against writing an essay with a light, humorous, and slightly immature tone? Whenever I am talking or writing about myself, I tend to go off on tangents about fluffy rainbow giraffes and whatnot, but I’m not sure if that’s acceptable for admissions officers (I ask because I had written my essays like I usually do for an internship and I was flat out rejected because of it…). I’ve heard that self-expression is good, but would it be better to write my essays with a more serious tone?</p>
<p>Also what is STEM? I know this doesn’t really pertain to Harvard, but I’ve heard so many CCers talk about something called STEM and I have no clue what it is (didn’t even know what APs, SATs, MOSP, USABO, TASP, etc were until this year)</p>
<p>Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics.</p>
<p>Is it a competition like USABO or is it a program?</p>
<p>I have responses to more of these, but it’s also my bedtime. More later.</p>
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<p>Emphasis added. For anything ever, that is a bad idea, yes.</p>
<p>Do you need to tell me something Extraordinarily Life-changing that is so heart-wrenching that Lifetime will roll up to your door for the movie rights? No, of course not. A successful college essay at the colleges that weight essays tells us something about you. I find it difficult to imagine how fluffy rainbow giraffes might do that, but you could surprise me. If you did, that’d be interesting. </p>
<p>One of my own college essays (not sent to Harvard, but my only big essay for Columbia and my main essay for UChicago, to both of which I was admitted) was about jellybeans at the pool. My thesis was that I’m a curious person open to trying new things–revealing something about myself! even if it wasn’t an extraordinarily deep insight given the 500 words I had–because when I was little I loved the thrill of red jellybeans. They could be cherry, my favorite, or cinnamon, which hurt my mouth. All of the thrills, clearly. Then I was disappointed when I got older and cinnamon turned bland, and so now I have taken xyz extracurricular/academic risks that often paid off in rewarding experiences. Light? Yes. Possibly slightly silly? Oh definitely; but immature? I don’t think so. Very 18, but not immature within that. I was silly, but I told you something about what I as a person would bring to an incoming class. That’s the difference.</p>
<p>Ah I get it, thank you.
I was planning to talk about how at times, I’m immature and spontaneous, but how that has helped me understand myself and those around me better, so I guess it will be alright if I don’t make my essay complete gibberish.</p>
<p>Would appreciate a current student’s perspective…</p>
<p>Son is an incoming freshman. Is there any need for him to have a suit freshman year? He will have a blue sports coat, but I was wondering if there were occasions as a first year student where more formal attire was needed. Thanks.</p>
<p>Yeah…do you guys have to wear a suit at all times?</p>
<p>Suit no, tux probably. There are black-tie events every semester that he will likely want to attend.</p>