<p>Hey! So I am going to be a freshman here this fall and I am feeling somewhat nervous about the size of Harvard and the number of people attending it. Though I love my share of studying, I am a really outgoing person and though I didn't party too much in high school I think I'd be into going out once in a while in college, you know, that kind of stuff. I had met all my high school friends because we just happened to be in the same classes and realized we had similar interests. But I'm just worried that that won't happen in college. For example, what if my roommate isn't into the same stuff I am at all? Do I just like introduce myself to random people in the yard and hope we like each other? Haha, I know this is lame prefrosh ranting. But if someone could I guess like talk about how people meet each other or whatever that would be amazing. Thanks!!</p>
<p>Do you not get out much?</p>
<p>Relax. It happens naturally. But please clean up your posts. YOu sound imbecilic.</p>
<p>“But if someone could I guess like talk about how people meet each other or whatever that would be amazing. Thanks!!”</p>
<p>Read this out loud. It’s painful.</p>
<p>Welcome to Harvard; it is after all the school where Zuckerberg wrote a computer program so he could talk to the girls in the next room. As T26E4 said, relax . . . and start reading the Crimson for a few clues: [Freshman</a> Week: Accepting Your Awkwardness | News | The Harvard Crimson](<a href=“http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2009/8/20/freshman-week-accepting-your-awkwardness-chances/]Freshman”>Freshman Week: Accepting Your Awkwardness | News | The Harvard Crimson)</p>
<p>Sit with people you don’t know in the dining hall- they will be happy to meet a new person.</p>
<p>Chat with people before and after in class. Say hi to people in your residence hall. </p>
<p>Don’t be worried if a few people give you the cold shoulder. There are groups which like to look down on others. Ignore them. </p>
<p>These groups might include: the local New England prep crowd who want to tighten their social circle (via the private club Hasty Pudding), not expand it; unfriendly New Yorkers who want to believe their NYC years give them carte blanche to sneer at others; Euro hipsters who, once they arrive at Harvard, proceed to condemn all things American (government, music, food, drinking age, clothes).</p>
<p>Yes, this is a generalization, but nonetheless you will notice these types.</p>
<p>Yowch, T2, were you ever a teenager? Going to college can be scary; I’d never been away from home for more than 3 weeks on end before. It’s especially frightening if you were a little awkward in high school which, TV tells me, is a bit of a common problem. High school for me, possibly like the OP, didn’t involve a whole heck of a lot of normal socializing, which I would have hoped would inspire compassion or pity, not such contempt. Jeez.</p>
<p>OP: This thread is largely directed at academic doubts, but you should have a look at it for general zen: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/harvard-university/1260889-harvard-class-questions.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/harvard-university/1260889-harvard-class-questions.html</a></p>
<ol>
<li>Everybody sits with everybody in Annenberg for the first month ish.</li>
<li>Find the Facebook group.
2b. Do not remotely believe that the Facebook group’s posts are representative of your class as a whole. From looking at 2014’s posts, I was like “gee, this is 50% IOP wonks and 50% musical theater singy people. I am neither of these things.” While there are a lot of governmentals, sure, there are not that many. The MT kids over-represented by like 1000. It was pretty random.</li>
<li>They do a pretty great job with roommates, generally; if they don’t, you’ll meet your hallmates and that will be good.
3b. That said, they might not be the roommates you picked for yourself, so give it time: mine were all in the prep / New York crowd, while I am neither of those things. First couple weeks were awk, but it worked. We aren’t the closest now, but we’re still pretty close and I’m quite happy with the room I got. (My hasty pudding club friend is among my favorite people on campus, although I royally do not fit in with most of her friends. They’re perfectly polite to me in groups, though.)</li>
<li>If you’re planning on taking freshman classes (ec 10, e.g., or fall expos), or you just find other freshmen in a section, you can make friends through that.</li>
<li>Extracurriculars. Join them. Think about joining more than you do join.</li>
<li>If you can still register for a pre-orientation program, do! Usually you don’t stay lasting friends, but it makes heading to Annenberg less scary.</li>
</ol>
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<p>Yes! pre-orientation (FOP, etc) is a great way to bond with a group of your classmates prior to the start of classes.</p>