<p>reception was really nice 
</p>
<p>anyways FOP? FUP? Dorm Crew or FAP??</p>
<p>Dwight, </p>
<p>I was wondering besides the obvious high GPA and SAT/ACT and extracurriculars help a student get it. Because I was researching and at Harvard and many other Ivies, theres always that tiny percentage of students who have GPAâs from like 3.0-3.5 that get in. And I believe it said 4% had GPAâs in that range. And SAT scores of 500-599 per section. And getting to the main point, I was wondering, how do those people get in? What do they do that helps them be as competitive as that 91% of students with GPAâs 3.75+. Like how big are GPAâs, AP/IBâs, extracurricularâs, and all of those other factors? Because I feel like my chances of getting into Harvard at like basically impossible but seeing that information gives me a glimmer of hope. What can I do to stand out and be as competitive as those brainiacs that are total athletes in every club? </p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Fb0mbb, I know someone who is a student at Harvard and had a GPA of ~3.4 at a good high school. The student was nationally prominent in an important sport for Harvard, and actively recruited by 20-30 colleges, including Princeton, Yale, and Stanford. (One of those colleges actually rejected the student EA, however, after giving a favorable âearly readâ, much to the coachâs embarrassment.)</p>
<p>@Fb0mbb</p>
<p>I would suspect that the low end of the GPA spectrum is recruited athletes. Also keep in mind that you canât easily compare one high school GPA to another. There are some schools where the valedictorian gets a 3.8 and others where the top 10 all get 3.98s or something. GPA itself is meaningless to admissions officers without a school report and without class rank and the transcript itself to put it in context.</p>
<p>@StarcraftMasterz</p>
<p>I donât think you could go wrong with any of them. I did Dorm Crew because it was the only one that paid money. Some find it to be hard work, especially if theyâre not used to manual labor, but I didnât find it particularly draining. Like the other programs, itâs a great way to meet your fellow freshmen but with the added advantage that you make money doing so.</p>
<p>What are the traditions for the freshman formal? Do most people ask others to go? If they do, is it like high school prom where people did it elaborately, or is it more of a âwanna goâ low-key kind of thing?</p>
<p>Also, did most people go in tuxes or were suits and back tie common? Basically, overall what was the dance like? Thanks for your time!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I hope youâre an accepted student because it absolutely makes me cringe when students who havenât been accepted get fixated on a school and start asking questions like this, and âwhatâs the best dorm?â and âhow is class X?â</p>
<p>Freshman formal, along with almost every formal in college, is more low-key than high school proms. Most go in suits. Most probably go as dates but a not insignificant number of people go as groups of friends.</p>
<p>Iâm a freshman there haha. Thanks for the quick answer!</p>
<p>@Dwight</p>
<p>I know that, but that wasnât necessariliy the whole question. I was just wondering what I could do to stand out and be as competitive as those super well-rounded students besides just grades. That was the questionâŠ</p>
<p>^Oh okay. I donât really know how to answer your question. You need excellent grades, excellent extracurriculars, excellent recs, excellent everything. Once you have that, you still have a very low chance of getting in, because a lot of other applicants have that too. The most you can do is do everything as well as you can and apply to a lot of good schools and not get fixed on any particular one. If that sounds vague, sorry, but thereâs no cookie-cutter steps to take to get in.</p>
<p>my D just got assigned to Cabot house in the Quad today. any thoughts?? Iâm a little concerned with how far it is to campus</p>
<p>No, but not reading what Harvard puts on their admissions website might.</p>
<p>
[Harvard</a> College Admissions § Applying to Harvard](<a href=âhttp://www.admissions.college.harvard.edu/apply/index.html]Harvardâ>http://www.admissions.college.harvard.edu/apply/index.html)</p>
<p>mom3mom-
No worries, thereâre a shuttle that run frequently between the Quad and the Yard, even at night. You can track the arrival of the shuttle on [The</a> Harvard Shuttle](<a href=âhttp://harvard.transloc.com/]Theâ>http://harvard.transloc.com/) or through text, so thereâs no need to ever wait long at a stop for the shuttle. Also, a good percentage of the students does live in the Quad so your D will be with company even if sheâs over in Cabot. Plus they also have much more space at the Quad Houses than around the River.</p>
<p>Itâs only about a 10 minute walk to your first step into Harvard yard. I can do it in 8 if Iâm in a hurry. It feels far the first 2-3 times you do it, but after time 4+ Iâve barely noticed. (And thereâs the shuttle for when itâs dark, raining, or Iâm running late.) The walk is fairly pretty.</p>
<p>A lot of the river houses really arenât that much closer to the Yard, actually, though. Theyâre closer to each other, but 3 more river houses are about 7 minutes from the Yard, while 3 others are about 10 minutes away on the other side. That leaves only Adams, Quincy, and Lowell as being Really Significantly Closer. Plus Cabot may have the nicest rooms on campus! Sometimes I get a little jealous :3</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I echo what the others have said. The Quad is actually closer to some of my classes than my river house is, particularly those north of the Science Center. Plus it has the added advantage of having a direct shuttle to the Yard, whereas for people in say, Winthrop, there is no shuttle route so walking is the only option.</p>
<p>From what I have gleaned, Visitas will be April 20-22. Apparently, Harvard learned from last yearâs debacle NOT to have it the same weekend as Yardfest (which will be the weekend before). Yardfest is the weekend when everyone gets trashed and a bad band plays in the Yard, so some genius decided that this would be a good introduction to prospective freshman. From what my son heard from some of his younger friends (S graduated in 2011), it was embarrassing, and many of the comments from last yearâs prospective freshman and parents echoed that sentiment.</p>
<p>Not sure if this has been posted but can you show what have you taken during your high school ? Also if you donât mind can you post your ecs that you had</p>
<p>Dwight,</p>
<p>How did you describe yourself in the essay? Did you add your own sense of humor or did you use philosophical ideas to make you essay really stand out? Thanks Dwight and best of luck at Harvard!</p>