<p>I have a question about languages. Has anyone had experience with any of the anglo-saxon languages such as Welsh, Scottish, Old Norse? Can we really use these to fill our language requirement? How many students are in these classes and how hard is the work? I CUE guide doesn't seem to have info on them.</p>
<p>no<strong>mans</strong>land</p>
<p>well i was considering of entering Harvard..heard that u will need a bunch whole lot of points to get in there right?
what are the requirements?
maybe u could give me some couple of advice
xpeace
tq</p>
<p>I will say that I posted this on another forum:</p>
<p>"I will say that I am not the best person to answer your questions. I started this forum to give advice to incoming freshmen with questions about Harvard. I am not the best person to give advice about getting in, especially for people interested in Pre-Med.</p>
<p>All that I can say about college is to follow your passions. I did what I loved most in high school, and Harvard recognized that. If you love what you do, you will do well in what you do. It's a simple concept that people sometimes don't get.</p>
<p>If you want a breakdown of numbers and information about my personal resume I can give you that. I was probably admitted for my extracurricular involvement in Business, Politics, and Law. I started a variety of clubs and projects in my high school: Political Action Group founder - spearheaded student initiative against budget reform, Vice-Chair Teenage Republicans. I also worked at a large amount of very interesting internships throughout high school - legal assistant, business internship, Congressional Page, a bunch of other political campaigns (some paid internships), and earned some political recognition in my local community. I also have a pretty typical set of Harvard testing and GPA credentials (4.0 UW GPA, 4.3? 4.4? W GPA, 2300? SAT I - taken once pretty early, PSAT 238 - National Merit Scholar, 3180?/3200 SAT II, 5's on a few APs, a few other minor awards in speech and debate). I also dance ballet.</p>
<p>If you are interested in Harvard, don't be daunted by the numbers. Everyone at Harvard has suffered many failures, etc. in their lives. My parents always wanted me to be very good at Piano and math. As it turned out, piano and math were never as much an interest for me as ballet and politics. I followed what I felt more drawn to (with the tacit support of my parents) and earned far more what one could qualify as achievements than if I were to force myself to work on something that I just felt no passion for.</p>
<p>Finally, ask yourself, why do you want to go to Harvard? Is it the experience? It is the academics? Or, is it Harvard's world-renowned name? If you want to go for the wrong reasons, realize that you might not find what you seek. I personally love Harvard because it offers culture, people, diversity, and the self-defined education that an autodidact like me seeks. If you do not feel a fit for Harvard, Harvard might not be best for you. Also, it is the student who defines the college, not the college that defines the student. If you have intelligence, if you have ambition, the name on your degree will not stop you from succeeding."</p>
<p>For more concrete information, look at Harvard</a> College Admissions Office</p>
<p>Please note that I am not the best person to go to with questions about admissions. I started this forum to help incoming undergrads by relating my own personal experiences. Admissions for me was a while ago. More importantly, my own admissions was very personal and unconventional. I am not the most familiar with application conventions.</p>
<p>I hope that that helps.</p>
<p>Char6_0-</p>
<p>Have you read anything about the Celtic Languages?</p>
<p>Hey White_Rabbit:</p>
<p>Sorry for not responding. I don't actually know anything about those language departments, and was hoping that someone else would answer. They are rather obscure language departments. I do recommend that you look at the registrar and the CUE guide (sorry if it hasn't been much help thus far). If you cannot find anything, don't worry about it. There will be language department open houses when you get here. Just make sure to check out those particular open houses during Freshmen Week (i.e. Camp Harvard)</p>
<p>I actually couldn't find anything in the CUE guide, maybe the classes are too small.</p>
<p>^White_Rabbit, in the 2008-2009 Q Guide, there is one Celtic related class (Celtic Mythology) on page 266 (or if you search by PDF its actually page 286 or something because of the coverpages that are not numbered, if that makes sense)</p>
<p>Could anyone give a sense of extracurriculars at Harvard? I know that there are hundreds to choose from, but which ones actually have a presence on campus? What are some of the most popular? The most/least time-consuming? The most difficult to get into or to become leaders in once you're in? etc.
And what are the first-year UC elections like?</p>
<p>Any anecdotes or advice would be wonderful. Thanks!</p>
<p>I don't know if this has been answered but: what's tested on the math placement exam? Anything on multi-variable or linear?</p>
<p>sunshower, extracurriculars really depend on a person-to-person basis. Certainly, there are some that might be more well-known to the general student body, but a lot depends on who you are and what you care about. That being said, perhaps some of the most "popular"/well-known are the Crimson (daily newspaper), a-capella groups in general, the IOP (institute of politics), Crimson Key, Hasty Pudding...I'm sure there are more that I'm forgetting. As for extracurriculars that are time-consuming, a lot of that depends on what you want to get out of it. Comping anything generally requires a little more effort since there are specific requirements you need to fulfill, but even then you can sometimes stretch comps...and of course, there are tons of clubs you don't even need to comp. Something like the Lampoon or the Advocate would probably be considered difficult to get into...some people find the Crimson's comp difficult...it all depends. And then there are sports too, of course, which are a whole different beast. In case you couldn't tell, what I'm getting at is that it's really hard to define anything with extracurriculars because it's so dependent on each individual person...</p>
<p>Question about advising...how many students are there to one proctor in the building? Do all proctors live within a single suite, or are they dispersed throughout student floors?</p>
<p>Once we know who are academic advisors + residential proctors are, how do we set up an appointment with them to discuss course options? How great of a role do these individuals play as one goes through the four years?</p>
<p>Also, I'm confused about course schedules...there seems to generally be the MWF or T/TH class arrangement, but then some courses say that there is an additional required section....others list multiple times for the course...some mention a lab requirement not included in the general time. Are students allowed to choose which time they want to take a course if there are multiple meetings? Does one choose that extra session at the same time each week, or can you just attend any additional hour of instruction? Are labs always held on the same day? How can one arrange a schedule, keep all of these things in mind, and not have courses overlap? If this will all be answered during the first week, feel free to just say that...I know its a pretty complex question--it will be fine to just let me know it will eventually be explained at some point =)</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Each proctor has his/her own entryway, so in dorms with vertical entryways (Canaday, Grays, Matthews, Stoughton, etc.), your proctor will live in a suite somewhere in that entryway (usually on the first floor) and will advise all of those people who live there (maybe like 35 people? I could be way off but I think it's around there). For dorms like Thayer and Weld, there will be a proctor on each floor but he/she won't necessarily be your proctor (especially applies to Weld, where entryways are made up of different floors). Same general number of advisees, though. </p>
<p>You don't need to set up appointments with anyone now--relax! :) When you get on campus, you'll have entryway meetings during freshman week with your proctor. Your academic advisor should be getting in contact with you...depending on how prominent he/she is, you might need to set up an appointment to meet with him/her outside of that (especially when you need your study card signed). If your advisor is a professor, you should just be able to stop in during office hours to chat (I always emailed ahead, though, just to be safe). Proctors are a bit more casual--I guess you could set up appointments to meet with them (once you get on campus!!) but generally, you can just knock on their doors whenever. They can play whatever role you want--you can use them at your discretion. I personally never really talked to my advisor or proctor about course options (I did talk to my PAF, however, who I found far more useful). I guess I'm sort of independent and know what I want, so it was more like, "Hi, these are the courses I'm taking, could you please approve them?" These two individuals change after freshman year, though. Once you're in a house, a whole new advising system picks up that is more specific to both your house and your concentration.</p>
<p>Scheduling I think is discussed during freshman week but I'll ease your mind anyway. If you haven't played with the courses page on my.harvard, you should, because you'll see that you can view the classes on your shopping list on a graphical chart that will immediately reveal if anything overlaps. Classes are generally MWF (some are just MW) and T/Th. Section is what other schools call recitation--when your big lecture class breaks down into smaller discussion groups taught by TFs (that would be teaching fellows, aka grad students, aka TAs at other schools). Some classes automatically meet in section (like languages), which you work out on the online sectioning tool where you can list your preferences for time and day. For the big lecture classes, they tend to section after shopping week (again online, where you list your preferences with what works with the rest of your schedule). For more humanities-based classes (like English), you generally need to go to the same one each week, or email your TF if you have a conflict one week. Math and science ones can be optional (more like review sessions, so you can stop by any you want), but make sure to find that out ahead of time, since some math/science might be mandatory as well. As for figuring out your schedule, everyone has a different system to stay organized. I make a list for shopping week, narrow it down as I attend classes I like or don't like, and then make a spreadsheet on Excel. When they start sectioning, I keep a list of what I selected as my preferences for each course so that I can keep them from overlapping.</p>
<p>Harvard1636, thank you so much for taking the time to write up such a comprehensive response! The explanation is much better than anything I found on the net thus far...it's comforting to know that there are such thoughtful, considerate students at Harvard =)</p>
<p>I have a question about banking at Harvard. I'm going to be a freshman, and I was wondering if the Harvard University Employees Credit Union is the best place to bank or if the Bank of America is better?</p>
<p>bank of america</p>
<p>^ They have a free checking account for students right? How convenient is this? Can you have a linked account with your parents?</p>
<p>EDIT: NVM to the last question...Whoa, you can chat online with an agent from BoA..Cool!</p>
<p>I might have missed this in the barrage of information I have received in the mail thus far, but is there a cap to the number of classes freshmen can take in their fall semester? I plan on doing five, so I want to make sure it gets approved. Also, when do we find out what semester we take expos? What did you guys think of it?</p>
<p>In the first-year guide it says you have to talk your "Resident Dean of Freshmen" into letting you take more than four courses.</p>
<p>Likewise, can I do 2 letter-graded courses + a seminar first semester? I mean, they don't want us overloading at the beginning so I don't see how this would be a problem.</p>
<p>kyzan, why do you want to take 5 courses fall semester? I'm 99% positive that no freshman is allowed to take 5 courses in the fall no matter what unless you have some bizarre extenuating circumstance, which I can't actually think of any. The 4 course-limit is supposed to ease your transition into college and allow you to also focus on extracurriculars and meeting people. You still have 7 other semesters..why the rush to take the extra class? I just can't imagine that they'll allow you to do that, and I've certainly never heard of it being done before.</p>
<p>You find out about expos a few days after you take the written test--they email you.</p>
<p>piccolojunior, I've also never heard of anyone taking 3 courses, but I guess you can? Again, I don't see why you would want to (might as well throw in an extra, easy core class or something) because then you might be behind on cores or have to take more classes to make up for it another semester. Personally, I'd want to leave the option of taking 3 courses for my senior year, when I really might want the break.</p>