<p>Some more notes while I’m still thinking about all of this … the C section seats for guests of undergraduates are pretty good but fill up very fast. We chose seats where we could see all of the processions but also in viewing distance of one of the two big screens. We were very glad that we had the screens to see the details of what was going on at the podium. Also, the screens are closed-captioned which was so helpful for the grandparents.</p>
<p>The acoustics were terrific in the entire Yard.</p>
<p>There is free parking in Allston all weekend with shuttles. We did not use it but many did.</p>
<p>If you think you will need extra tickets for the morning for family, put in a request with reason (grandparents coming from out of town, etc.) to the Commencement Office. They will not let you know if they will honor it until about two weeks before graduation, but they often do.</p>
<p>Move-out day after graduation was a lot more work than any move-in day ever was. It took us all day. Because there was no over-summer storage this time, everything had to be either packed up and shipped home or thrown out. Plus the girls themselves kept disappearing for an hour or two at a time for another “One last…” event. One last blocking group pizza lunch together. One last blocking group photo. One last Berryline together, etc. </p>
<p>Part of the problem was all the extra stuff my daughter bought at Harvard that she never had owned at home - a full-size marimba for example that had to be disassembled and carefully packed up and shipped. I must have schlepped a load of boxes over to either the post office or UPS store and waited through their long lines at last 5 or 6 times that day.</p>
<p>fauve, Thanks for your reply. The Residence Inn near MIT doesn’t accept reservations until a year before, so we’ll wait. With Scipio’s experience of all the packing, Berryline trips, and last minute goodbyes, I wonder if we should plan on staying back on Friday as well?</p>
<p>Scipio - You raise an important point. We drastically underestimated the workload of the move-out, and spent many hours buying and packing boxes and getting them to FedEx and UPS to ship home. It took a lot of the time that you might think would be spent in celebration, and the intense heat didn’t help. The graduating seniors have a week and a half between the end of finals and start of Commencement Week - they need to spend an hour or two on each of those days sorting and developing logistical plans for how they’re going to move some things and dispose of others.</p>
<p>I was wondering if you would like to share what path your seniors have chosen for the fall and their future? Are most of them heading to grad school or are they planning to work a few years before heading to grad school?</p>
<p>We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express in Cambridge, which is right at the Lechmere T stop. In that area, there is also a Hampton Inn, which might also be worth checking out. From there, the 69 bus goes right to H Square. It’s walkable in comfortable shoes and less than 90-degree weather. (But not late at night or at 6 a.m. either.) </p>
<p>It sounds like I may have been unreasonably impatient with my D, who was not fully packed and ready to move out when we pulled up Friday morning. We ended up making a run to UPS Friday morning with a number of boxes and still had more stuff to carry down from her room and shoehorn into the car. (I had thought she could have taken a box to UPS each day during senior week, but apparently that was not a reasonable suggestion!) Total move out time, including the run to UPS, took about an hour and a half. Sounds like it could have been much worse.</p>
<p>We actually enjoyed Souter’s speech, but then my husband and I are lawyers and are probably more interested than most in the subject matter. My D had taken a course at H on the Warren Court, and while she is not interested in law school, she was interested in what Justice Souter had to say.</p>
<p>At my daughter’s House diploma ceremony, the House Master announced each graduate’s plans. They were all over the map. Some were headed to law school, some planned to study for the LSAT or MCAT this year or next. Others were headed to medical school, graduate school, or planning to do research. Some were traveling to the far corners of the world, teaching English in other lands, or participating in Teach For America. And some students had no idea what they were going to do next.</p>
<p>We stayed at the Cambridge Inn on Mass Ave for $170 per night. Its our understanding that a lot of places were not only more expensive but required a minimum of 3 nights. We stayed two - Tuesday and Wednesday nights. We took the bus to Harvard square for $1.50 per trip.</p>
<p>Has anyone heard about FA for returning students? My soon to be sophomore daughter says she has not received anything, but the FA office said the information would be sent by now. Any idea where to find it, if not her Harvard email account? </p>
<p>How about jobs? My daughter will need to work this year as she did not receive as much in scholarships as she did last year. How do they go about getting a job?</p>