<p>Thanks, Fauve. We are lucky that we don’t live too far away. When he is junior I will just have to tie him down so I can go!</p>
<p>Was thinking this morning about how fast these 4 years have flown by and that I can’t believe my daughter is a senior! She is sad that it is going by so fast! Just thought I’d again thank Guitars for starting this thread and letting us all share the past 4 years with each other!</p>
<p>^^My daughter spent much of her senior year often taking longer than necessary routes across campus so that she could walk through the Yard “one more time.”</p>
<p>Let’s keep it going for the class of 2015 – and beyond! :)</p>
<p>Crimson15mom, I am sure it will keep going, I also have a younger son at Harvard. Plus its such a great resource for parents. Those of us with graduates will just live on vicariously through your posts!
Coureur, My Daughter is actually feeling sad and trying to cram all the things she wants to do before she graduates! I remember just wanting to graduate. Tells you how great Harvard is if your kids don’t want to leave!</p>
<p>My son managed to extend his Harvard time a little by having a girlfriend who graduated the year after he did and choosing a graduate school that is within spittin’ distance. Maybe there should be a Parents’ Weekend for parents of alums.</p>
<p>You are welcome EAO. It’s been my pleasure reading and getting wonderful information on this thread. I have learned so much from so many of you. My son is also a senior (I can’t believe where the time has gone). It’ bittersweet. </p>
<p>Harvard has been wonderful to my son and our family. I hope to continue to read this thread for valuable insight.</p>
<p>THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!</p>
<p>My d will be going to Germany as a part of the Harvard Europe program in January. She will be abroad till late July or August. Any suggestions related to communication (cell phones, etc) while she’s gone?</p>
<p>Lynda7 - Skype will probably be your best bet. You should also get your daughter a cell phone that will work with the German cell phone networks. Cell phones in Europe work with local (country-wide) SIM chips, so you have to change them when you travel to another country. Generally, it will not cost your daughter anything when you call her, but calls to you will be cost prohibitive. You can buy international calling cards to call her, but the cost/minute will be significantly more than the advertised rate (which only applies to calls to “land lines”). IIRC, it cost us about $.35/minute to call our son in Italy two summers ago. There are costs associated with texting and internet surfing that are different than here in the States. Read the fine print.</p>
<p>We had a son do a junior year in England about ten years ago, and phone calls were an expensive nuisance. But in recent years, Skype has worked very well for calls between the US and various countries in Europe as well as US-China. Costs/minute are very reasonable.</p>
<p>Definitely Skype. That’s how we communicated with our daughter when she spent a semester abroad in Austria. I don’t think it cost anything more than the just the internet connection.</p>
<p>@Lynda7 We live in Germany, so I can give you a few tips. Skype is the way to go, but your daughter might want to call at a time when Skype is not convenient. There is a way to use a special prefix to call the USA for under 1 cent per minute. </p>
<p>As for cell phones, have your daughter buy a cheap cell phone here, with a prepaid card. She can get a very basic model with 5 euro preloaded for under 20 euro. I don’t know if she will be able to buy a monthly plan without a bank account. Cell phone costs much, much less here and coverage is fantastic, even in elevators and subways. You do NOT have to buy a new SIM card for each country, but when you cross a border, rates go up substantially from the country where you have your plan. You may want to buy a chip if you go to another country and expect to use the phone a lot. I have a separate plan for France because I go there often. We have TMobile and Vodaphone prepaids for our phones and both are fine. Incoming calls are free, and texts are cheap. You can buy more minutes online or in many, many stores. I am not a heavy cell phone user, but I do use it when I need to. I rarely spend more than 70 euro ($100) per year for my prepaid cell.</p>
<p>Using your US cell plan here is outrageously expensive.</p>
<p>PM me if you need more phone details or information on Germany in general.</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>This sad story in Crimson about the passing of a MIT freshman ([MIT</a> Freshman Satto Tonegawa Dies at 18 | News | The Harvard Crimson](<a href=“http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2011/10/28/satto-tonegawa-MIT-death/]MIT”>MIT Freshman Satto Tonegawa Dies at 18 | News | The Harvard Crimson)) triggered a lot of snapping in the comment section. The student reporter touted the “oustanding statistics” and “extensive mental health services” at Harvard, which was considered to be in poor taste by many. However, my concern is that I am not convinced that similar situations would not occur at Harvard. Will a Harvard student disappear for a week unnoticed by the dormmates, RAs etc?</p>
<p>Fortunately, in this case, there are few singles at Harvard for freshmen. Once in the houses, single bedrooms are mostly connected to suites, or shared bathrooms or common spaces. One would hope that the suitemates would take notice, but H students are very busy, very focussed on their own ECs and futures, so it is conceivable it could also happen at Harvard. </p>
<p>RAs are busy graduate students who juggle courses, teaching, and research, often assigned multiple floors to “advise”. My DD never saw her frosh RA after orientation. There were sporadic pizza or cookie gatherings at the RA’s room to which students were invited. Once in the House system, contact remained rare. </p>
<p>We did once have to contact an RA about a medical emergency, and the RA was conscientious, helpful, and attentive to the situation.</p>
<p>this is so sad. my prayers go out to this young mans family. we must all embrace our kids with their own individual talents and strengths given to them by God.</p>
<p>Well said, guitars101. Thank you.</p>
<p>recently made reservations for sons graduation. Wow, where did the time go? lot’s of wonderful memories of Harvard.</p>
<p>People are very busy, but I find it hard to imagine someone but a real loner would go unnoticed, and even at that, there are plenty of supportive people who would probably notice…</p>
<p>I would never say it couldn’t happen at Harvard, but it would be much more likely to happen in the upperclass system than in the freshman dorms. It’s possible to be an upperclassman and not know anyone in your entryway; that is not possible in the Yard.</p>