Welcome to Harvard! (and useful hints) - from Harvard 2011 student

<p>You can always audit a fifth course. I did that nearly every semester. It works especially well for lecture classes where the prof is known for good lectures, but you don't really want to do all the reading or write the papers. My favorite courses to audit were art history ones.</p>

<p>Has anyone gotten an e-mail with results from their expos placement test/what semester they have expos? I was wondering about this for scheduling purposes...but I had the impression we find this information out during orientation/shopping week, a few days AFTER the freshman seminar application deadline.</p>

<p>Harvard 1636, yea I don't know what I was thinking when I suggested that. I looked at my schedule and forgot to include expos. If I have to take expos in the fall, I don't want to ruin that schedule because most of those classes are offered in the fall only.</p>

<p>"You can always audit a fifth course."</p>

<p>That's a good point. In larger courses, you don't even have to audit regularly; you can get the syllabus during shopping period, then crash the lectures when the most interesting topics are on the agenda.</p>

<p>Well...the way it's working out I'm gonna need to double up in chem classes sometime after frosh year (junior year - advanced orgo + intro p-chem? Maybe...) so I'd have to take 5 somewhere down the road either way.</p>

<p>I've just read through the past 13 pages, and thanks so much to everyone who post here!</p>

<p>my slew of questions:</p>

<p>are courses in the same "decade" supposed to be on the same level? like, French in the 30's are for one level, and French in the 40's are supposed to be more advanced?</p>

<p>What are tutorials? </p>

<p>are classes for "undergrads and graduates" more advanced than classes "primarily for undergrads"?</p>

<p>what would you say is the average number of extracurricular activities people do?</p>

<p>How quickly does Boston get cold and start snowing? Like, should I leave my snow boots home and get it when I go back for the Winter break?</p>

<p>Waitwhat--Cold and the first snow flurries generally arrive around Halloween, and certainly by the first week of November. You may or may not need boots before T-giving, but you'll need warm coat, hat, gloves or mittens. And alot of girls wear cute, long scarves with their winter wear.</p>

<p>Courses are grouped by decades or centuries (I like the way you put that, actually, although I've never heard anyone else use it). Psychology and some other departments use centuries (or even millenia) but departments like math, science, and languages usually use decades.</p>

<p>Classes for undergrads and graduates are definitely more advanced than undergrad classes (but sometimes the competition is actually less).</p>

<p>Most people will try several extracurriculars and then focus down on one or two that they really like. If it's worth doing it usually has a pretty big time commitment with it.</p>

<p>Boston will be cold by thanksgiving, and start snowing by Christmas (usually).</p>

<p>Can someone tell me the comparison in time requirements for JV v. Varsity sports?</p>

<p>Much much less. But a lot of the JV teams are being phased out in favor of club teams.</p>

<p>Hi, I am a sophomore in high school and I am trying to get into Harvard
but I got one B last year in math. If I predict that I get all A's for the rest of high school, then my unweighted GPA will be 3.9 something
and my weighted GPA will be 4.8
Do I have a chance? (assume perfect scores on all SAT's and beastly extracurriculars)</p>

<p>You don't have to have a 4.0 or perfect SATs, but it does help to be interesting. A B as a freshman will definitely not be what keeps you out of the running.</p>

<p>Hi, Char6_0!! I am a senior girl in high school, and two summers ago I visited Harvard College. There I met a charming and interesting student named Moshia (spelling?) who is orginally from Russia and is very active in dramatics (and tour guiding). Through these years and in this application process, she's been somewhat of an inspiration to me, though I never spoke with her after our conversations in Cambridge. Do you by chance know her? If so, how can I get in touch with her?
Thanks!!</p>

<p>luvtodance07, you by no means have to be a straight-A+ student. A single B in math cannot possibly outweigh the merits of a strong record, especially if you are aiming towards a non-quantitative field. Showing improvement and challenging yourself with advanced math classes later on can also prove beneficial on your transcript. I was particularly worried after receiving a C+ in gym my sophomore year, but it doesn't seem to have affected my acceptance =)</p>

<p>bumping for potential usefulness to Harvard 2014ers.</p>

<p>hey,
i really need to know if harvard is a good place for international students ?
and i have heard that the students there, are highly competitve and i worry about that kind of stress, do you have to be like a “genius” to succed at harvard</p>