The first consideration is- will he particapate in FOP, FAP, or FUP, the freshman orientation activities which are held the week before move-in?
If not, the move-in is simpler- you can arrive in the morning by car, move him in, and by 5pm he will want to be off with his new roommates, and then be at the obligatory dorm/proctor meetings (students only --parents not invited) around 7pm.
You are fortunate to be within driving distance, so you may just need a hotel room for the one evening. If you plan to buy him some supplies in Cambridge, that is easily done the morning after move-in, when you know which roommates are supplying which items, or if there is a need to furnish a common room.
There is a large tent sale run by the Habitat for Humanity student group which sells used furniture, lamps, wastebaskets, etc., which were left behind by last year's seniors. The Coop (student bookstore) and the nearby hardware store sell tons of dorm supplies, too. The Staples store is a block from the Yard and offers all the office supplies, printers, desk lamps, even fans I seem to remember. (And September can be very hot and humid in the freshmen dorms.)
You can also mail boxes to the Freshman Yard mail center(in the Science Center) by post or UPS, and they will be held for pickup. Dollies are available with an ID to wheel heavy boxes to the dorms. The Freshmen Dean's Office will send you your son's mailing/shipping address in late July so you can ship boxes a few weeks before arrival.
Be forewarned that once your car is in Harvard Yard, you will only have about 20 minutes to unload it. Once your car is moved to the longer tierm parking ,you can return to unpack all day. If your student is in Greenhough, Hurlbut, or Pennypacker, the Union dorms, there is on street parking and you have more unloading time.
Good luck!
P.S. The FDO website has all the logistical details of Freshman move-in, and Freshman life in general, such as the dates of Freshman Parents' Weekend.
Thanks Fauve,
He is on the waiting list for the cleaning week. Do you know when they will be asigned roommate and how soon can they move to their room? We were thinking driving on Thursday, arriving Friday, getting to know his roomates and Boston buying things on Saturday and leaving on Sunday morning.
Quick Question: I applied for FUP and they have a rolling application until June 15; I sent in my application around the end of May but I haven't heard anything. When can I expect notification of whether or not I can participate in FUP?
My son will also be a Freshman in the fall. I thought I read that Freshman move-in day is Monday, August 27th. If anyone knows otherwise, please let me know.
Quillabee, if I remember correctly from last year, my son was notified mid June that he had been waitlisted for FUP, then he got off the waitlist in mid July. I would email FUP to inquire, just in case your application got lost in the shuffle. (Never hurts to reiterate your interest/enthusiasm!)
Thanks Crimson15mom! I just got my FUP acceptance today! I am super excited! Can you tell me more about your son's experience and any tips you may have to make the most out of pre-orientation and move-in week?
Congrats, Quillabee! My son loved FUP and in fact will be a FUP leader this year. I don't have a lot of details about his experience to share but I know he really valued getting to know other incoming H students and also getting a preview of the Harvard campus/neighborhood and of Boston, in all its diversity. I'm not sure there's any way to truly prepare for the experience, but be assured that you won't have too much free time to worry about -- everything is well scheduled and programmed, so all you have to do is be open and engaged. The only hard part, as I recall, was figuring out the luggage situation, since you can't bring everything for the year to pre-o. If your parents are coming to help with move-in, they can bring the bulk of your stuff, and if they aren't you'll have to ship stuff.
My son will be a freshman this fall. I am wondering when he will choose his classes and when will his tuition payment be due? It seems that we have not received much info yet...
Ah, YOU won't your S will. My S seeing the bill thought it was a "courtesy copy" to him and deleted it. When I called in late July the accounts receivable they told me that the bill went to him so he would have to send it-- but as he had both trashed it and he was on a holiday out of the country at the time that wasn't possible. I replied to the person on the phone that if Harvard expect him to pay from the gifts he got from graduation he will be able to afford through the middle of September--at best. That I was the guy paying the bills and if I didn't get a bill, they would get no money.
Finally the light went on in her head--she put a supervisor on who asked me for my email and said that "even though this is irregular" she would send me a copy of his bill.
I wonder how many other families have found themselves in the same situation. When my S got back from his trip, it was as I had said-- he figured--understandably--that he was just getting a copy of the bill but that I would get the real bill and so he had no need to keep it in his mailbox.
I realize that Harvard is following the law but as Charles Dickens famously wrote "The law is an ass..."
All you have to do is have your student set you up as an "authorized payer" on his/her term bill account and you will automatically get email alerts when bills are sent.
Last year's first bill was emailed on 7/7, so I imagine this year will be similar, momofmykids. Your son won't actually choose his classes til he gets to campus, after "shopping" week. Don't worry, you'll start getting lots of information soon!
Also, momofmykids, I recommend bookmarking the Freshman Dean's Office website, which has almost all the info you need about logistics and schedules, as well as a to-do list for incoming students. As mailings come out, copies of those mailings are also linked at this site.
espinlh- Your student will receive his room and roommate assignment at the end of July or beginning of August.
Ditto the need to setup an "Authorized Payers" account on his term bill. You will need all the current charges and payments record. It offers online payments as well.
Be aware that many outside scholarship payments are slow to arrive and slow to show up on the current account record, so you may have to pay charges yourself until the outside $ arrives.
Harvard is very good about promptly reimbursing you when they do finally receive outside scholarship money, IF you request it by phone or email.
but only the student can make you an authorized payor so make sure s/he does that before s/he bins the email or goes on holiday-- bc harvard doesn't like releasing the bill w/o it!
