<p>Hello,</p>
<p>Thanks for the replys. I’ll see if I can find out more on the ring ceremony. My would like a ring from college. Probably more of a keepsake than something he would wear. His girlfriends grandfather attended Harvard many many years ago and he has one. It’s very nice for his granddaughter to have it now. </p>
<p>Thanks for the input, it’s appreciated as always.</p>
<p>Did anybody attend this past weekend? We just got back,and wondered if other CC people also went.I found almost all the freshmen I met to be very friendly ,as well as their parents.The welcome activities were excellent,and I loved the improv group .</p>
<p>Re: Class Rings - There are all kinds of Harvard class rings available, but no common tradition around one. A few years ago, a group of students took on the role of trying to designate a common class ring (a relatively modest one) and embed a tradition around it. Our D1 asked her friends about it a couple years ago, none were doing it, and our Junior Parents’ Weekend came and went without any evidence of large-scale participation in a ceremony. D1 passed on our offer to help pay for one. However, I like the idea and I hope it’s something that takes root. D2 is a junior this year and we plan to ask if she’d like to get the common ring and participate in the ceremony. I’d do it if I was the student, but I believe there’s that typical fear that wearing an item to declare that you attend(ed) Harvard may appear ostentatious. I understand that, but I don’t know why Harvard students should have to forego the opportunity to represent their Alma Mater when grads at places like MIT (across town) do it proudly.</p>
<p>Fauxmaven - When my wife and I go to Jr. Parents Weekend this March, it’ll be our 11th trip to campus in the past five years. We’ve taken numerous students out to dinner, gone to dinner with other parents, had students home with us for Spring Break, attended all kinds of performing arts events, played the Harvard wannabes to the hilt - we’ve really had a pretty extensive Harvard experience. We’ve found Harvard students, parents, faculty and administrators with very few exceptions to be very friendly and very welcoming. I used to pursue a personal mission on CC to try to convince posters that there’s no oppressive sense of elitism or arrogance apparent - in fact it’s probably less so than anywhere else I’ve been, because the experience of being an individual within the Harvard community must be one of the most humbling experiences anywhere - but I’ve tired of it because it’s apparently not the mental image of Harvard that the world wants to have. (Compare that haughty image with the humorous post that D1, who graduated in May, just got on her Facebook status from her former House Master - one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People!) But I think you’ll find the interpersonal interactions that you have over the next three years to be consistently delightful. And, you’ll find the student performances of all kind to be nearly professional-quality despite being produced by amateur students.</p>
<p>My D has ordered a class ring as a Senior. Many of her friends (male and female) have or are ordering them. There are lots of styles, some more understated than others.</p>
<p>The ring company informed D about the “ring ceremony” in Spring for Juniors, but D said she had never heard of it before and her friends who bought rings as Juniors did not participate in it. I agree with whomever said it sounds like a marketing ploy by the ring company to increase sales.</p>
<p>Apparently there is a common ring at MIT and the ring ceremony there is a cherished and long-standing tradition. The effort by Harvard students to create their own ceremony seems to be a product of “pageantry envy.”</p>
<p>Or possibly a marketing tool for the young entrepreneurs at the Harvard Student Agencies, which sponsors the “One Ring” program and ceremony, to up the ring orders.</p>
<p>DH is an MIT grad and wears his “brass rat” often when traveling for work. The rings are very distinctive, featuring a beaver (nature’s engineer), and different for each class. He would not hesitate to strike up a conversation with someone he saw wearing one. S1 is now a grad student at MIT and I would like to get him a grad ring (though they don’t have quite the tradition the undergrad rings do) when he finishes. (He is the sort of guy who won’t wear any Harvard gear except his house sweatshirt, which makes no reference to the school.)</p>
<p>Wow, I just don’t know what to say about the “hiding you went to Harvard” that some students do. I think they should be as proud as any athlete for their accomplishments. I got a Harvard car sticker which I have blazing on the back of my Volvo as I drive the Autobahns! Sure hope I don’t embarrass anyone</p>
<p>On another note, do sophomores have to decide on a concentration at the end of this semester or next? My daughter is strongly leaning towards physics, but says she also really loves the neuroscience elective she is currently taking and is thinking about some way to incorporate the two. I have given her no guidance, because I don’t really know anything about either. The only thing I’ve said is that it seems she would do well as a woman in the physical sciences. I would appreciate anything anyone wants to add here. I don’t get into what she’s studying, but if she asks again, I would at least like to say, “I heard you should think about…”</p>
<p>Yes, I believe the sophomores have to declare the concentration at the end of this semester. </p>
<p>Encourage your daughter to talk to an advisor, and read the course requirements carefully for physics. There may be enough electives available in the program for her to do a “secondary field” in neuroscience. </p>
<p>And, although the sophs declare their concentration, it is not impossible for them to switch majors at the end of soph year or in junior year–as long as they have space for the required core classes and concentration classes.</p>
<p>In addition to talking to the normal advisors, she might want to seek out one or more of the profs that are involved with biophysics to discuss how she might combine both interests. They are:</p>
<p>Experimental Biophysics
Berg, Cohen, Desai, Golovchenko, Hau, Kiruluta, Levine, Mazur, Manoharan, Park, Samuel, Weitz, Walsworth, Westervelt, Zhuang</p>
<p>Theoretical Biophysics
Desai, Levine, Nelson</p>
<p>I think the concentration declaration is mid-November. D contacted me about it about a week and a half ago because of the paperwork she must do that is associated with it. She is wanting to brainstorm beforehand. We have yet to fit that discussion in. All her attention is on her next orgo test at the moment.</p>
<p>The only thing I’ve said is that it seems she would do well as a woman in the physical sciences.</p>
<p>I am not sure being a woman is a good reason to choose a concentration in the physical sciences (or any field for that matter). I would think ones level of interest and aptitude in in a given field would be the primary factors driving the concentration decision.</p>
<p>I agree, ws59. That was my point. I have NO idea what to say to her, other than that little quip. I majored in French literature! I try not to say anything to discourage her from what she wants to do (physics or basket weaving- it doesn’t matter to me), but I have nothing really positive to pass along to her, either. It makes me feel somewhat useless when she is asking for a little guidance. </p>
<p>I thank those of you who have provided productive feedback, which I’ll pass along. This is really a great forum. I appreciate that I can always count on your help.</p>
<p>Right Ronsard-m’aimait.</p>
<p>What I would suggest is that for each possible concentration scenario, you have your daughter map out the courses she would be taking (concentration, Gen Ed, and electives) over all four years.</p>
<p>She can then compare each concentration scenario to see if she thinks the curriculum truly meets her interests and work load expectations (particularly under any joint concentration) and can have a more realistic idea of how the next few years might play out.</p>
<p>I would also suggest doing this before her conversations with the various department advisors, so that she can ask the most relevant questions about each concentration. The joint concentrations or the addition of a minor can be particularly “tricky” and demanding as are the honors levels within concentrations.</p>
<p>You also might want to consult the current student handbook which outlines each of fields of concentration requirements to get some sense of what is involved before you chat next with your daughter.</p>
<p>Having said all that, from what I have heard from my kid, the H sophomore advising program seems to be quite good, and the advisors are working very closely with students on their upcoming concentration decisions.</p>
<p>Thanks so much ws59. I hadn’t thought to go to the course/concentration descriptions. That’s such a good idea. </p>
<p>I think she said she already has a minor in physics once this semester is over. Don’t know that will mean in the end. And I feel better thinking she should be getting some good guidance from advisors. </p>
<p>I’ll be heading her way for a week at Thanksgiving and hope to know enough to say something more than, “I really don’t know, honey.” when she bounces thoughts off me.</p>
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<p>R-m, imagine what a blank slate I was when D2 said she was going to concentrate in Gender Studies. :)</p>
<p>Okay, Gadad, I’m still chuckling over that one!</p>
<p>Any parents going to The Game. It’s on my “bucket list” and because this will be the last year that it is home for Harvard while my son’s there (Junior), I am going.</p>
<p>@Hat - I’d be mortally embarrassed if I saw my parents during The Game (i felt it was one of the few times I got a taste of state school debauchery at Harvard). But it certainly is an experience.</p>
<p>We are going to the game and went last year at Yale. It was definitely worth the trip. Ivy League football is very different from that of scholarship universities, which we have attended on a regular basis. It is very “pure:” There is no advertising or commercialism; the half-time show is charmingly amateurish, the rivalry is good-natured. Harvard invented football (altho Princeton tries to claim it), and the stadium is so historic - I think Harvard’s was the first ever built.</p>
<p>jfm,
Given how you feel about your parents’ visit, I suppose I should feel flattered that my Ds invited us to join in their tailgate parties!</p>