Wow, is it time already for class of 2020?!? where did the time go? Congratulations to the students and the parents. I hope this thread is informative and helps you with questions about student life and parent life as a Harvard Crimson.
@Jt128a my daughter is attending Harvard but was accepted at 10 other non-ivies where she would have been just as happy. Donât focus on one school. Work your hardest in HS, of course, but also spend time getting involved in activities you enjoy. I truly donât think it was just great grades and scores that got my daughter in, but how she had spent her time out of school. Having interesting things to genuinely talk about in all the essays and interviews made the difference in one twinâs acceptances and the otherâs non-acceptances. But both are very happy where they are 
Bumping this thread, hoping that some new parents might see it. Iâd love to see this group be as vibrant as it has been in the past. Congrats to any new Harvard families!
Hi everyone! DS was just accepted early today, and we are so excited to be here! I will take my time over winter break reading through this thread (so as not to waste anyoneâs time with redundant questions), but just wanted to stop by and say hooray!
Same here â looking forward to meandering through this thread-- but a special thanks to @EastGrad for being so welcoming!
I peeked in on the Yale Parent Threadâthey share a lot of great info. Hope we can make this one as relevant. Feel free to read through the posts, but this thread was started a while ago, and some the answers may be different anyway. If you have a question or discussion topic, feel free to post it.
Iâm so glad to see this list! My son was accepted yesterday and is excited to learn more, as am I. Welcome, everyone!
Congratulations to those recently accepted! Itâs an exciting time for you all. Iâm thrilled to see that this board is being utilized exactly for the reason I started it back in 2008 when my son was accepted. My son has since graduated from Harvard, graduated from Harvard Law (HLS), gotten married, and started his adult life in the business world⊠whew! where did the time go? ENJOY EVERY SECOND BECAUSE IT REALLY DOES GO BY SO FAST!
Mazal tov, @guitars101, to you and your son! And thanks for starting the thread.
@guitars101 â wow, is the time going to go by that quickly?!! As DS is our youngest, we want to savor every moment. Excited for this all, and looking forward to experienced guidance!
DMV301, Yes, unfortunately, it does seem to go by that quickly. We have become friends with our sonâs freshman roommateâs parents. My suggestion would be to attend all the events that include the parents. We are from California so we had to plan ahead to make the events. We made a mini vacation out of them
Our Son loved having us share in his life in Cambridge and showing us around Boston. He met his wife during his Freshman year at Harvard. Fun!!
Can anyone tell me when freshmen generally move in? I see classes will start on 8/30. Is orientation right before that?Or at some other point in the summer? TIA!
Please check out http://fdo.fas.harvard.edu/pages/incoming-students for information about move in, etc. lotâs of fun stuff that weekend. Youâll also receive a large envelope with a brochure of all the activities scheduled for move in
Perfect â thank you!
There are five different optional pre-frosh activity weeks, too. Last year, our freshman left home on August 16th for a week of camping followed by a week of freshman orientation before classes started. The Long Goodbye begins now. :-S
So, it sounds like the freshmen go on up there, do their camping thing for a week, leaving the parents to lug up all their stuff? :-? Clever!
Our son chose not to go the week prior on the camping trip. Heâs not much of a camper and wouldnât have enjoyed it. We all went together to Cambridge. Since we were traveling across the country (from California) we ordered school supplies from staples, bedding/dorm furniture, etc. from Bed Bath & Beyond and Target. We had it all delivered to school. On move in day all his boxes were already there and we only had his suitcases. EASY PEASY.
My D also did a pre-frosh program that involved camping, but a little less rustic bc they stayed in a very large house. The other options include a clean up crew (this pays participating students), a community activism program, and an arts/theatre program. I highly recommend that your kid consider doing one of these programs â it lets them develop their own community, allows them to bond with others, and itâs just fun.
Harvard makes a very concerted effort to have Freshman acclimate and feel comfortable.
The pre-orientation programs, orientation week, the house within a house entryways. The entryway proctors are great, they are grad students or doctoral students living in the Freshman houses that are there to assist and guide your children.
There are also Upperclassman that are assigned to each of your kids to be available to assist them as they are finding their way.
The support network is excellent. Congratulations to your children and to your families! Harvard is a very special place. We are fortunate in that we live a little over three hours away. Our daughter who is a Junior there is our only child. We visit quite often.
Thanks for all info. Iâm working my way through this thread slowly, but hereâs a quick question: do parents attend any part of Visitas? Or do we just send kids up there on their own? If weâre available that weekend, we might just consider our own little getaway to Boston but curious what the norm is.