<p>Curious77 - Most students are competitive with themselves and not with others. As stated above, there are study groups and a lot of students do problem sets together. I would say that ECs are more competitive than academics.</p>
<p>^^^ Agree completely with this post.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info. twinmom and Hanna: would you mind elaborating on how the ECs are more competitive? Is there a scramble to get in the ârightâ EC?</p>
<p>^^I donât know if ârightâ EC is the right word. Iâd say that Harvard kids often strive to get into the âbestâ EC and do very well at it. âBestâ depending on their own definition, be it a capella (Hanna can tell you all about that), or HRO, or intramural sports, or the Lampoon, or whatever - even the âbestâ final club for those who are into that.</p>
<p>And if you cannot find a group that caters to your very specific interests, you go ahead and found one. My S was part of a trio that did so. The group is now recognized as one of the 300+ clubs at Harvard and the founders recently passed the baton to a new leadership, ensuring its continuity as they graduate. Heâs had a lot of fun.</p>
<p>Unlike most other schools, you canât just join many clubs or organizations. Instead, you have to âcompâ them. And of course, in terms of vocal/instrumental groups, you have to audition (though I honestly know nothing about that - Hanna does.)</p>
<p>Silversuz- to answer your question about student activities at Prefrosh the schedule (in 2007) for students was: </p>
<p>Saturday: breakfast at Annenburg, athletic facilities tour, financial aid open house, welcoming address, symposium of current students, campus tour, library tour, museum tour, lunch at Annenburg, student panel on âMulticultural Perspectivesâ, panel on Freshmen Seminars, dinner at Annenberg, regional receptions, ice cream bash, âlate night socializingâ at Queenâs Head Pub at Memorial Hall basement (under 21 have special no-alcohol bracelets).</p>
<p>Sunday:similar schedule with different panels on: undergraduate research opportunities,
âBalancing Autonomy and Community in Collegeâ, âNew Ventures in the Life Sciencesâ, âConsidering Grad and Professional SchoolsâŠâ, A Cappella Jam, âLate Night socializingâ at The Penthouse Coffee Bar at the Quad.</p>
<p>There will be plenty of social time at meals, and night activitiesâŠhave fun!! And there also was the Leverett House annual 80âs dance.</p>
<p>twinmom: What does âcompâ mean?</p>
<p>Comping refers to the process of trying out for an extracurricular group. For example, to be accepted onto the staff of The Crimson newspaper, you need to write extensive sample pieces for an entire semester, then you are evaluated by the staff of student editors.</p>
<p>But then many ECs are just there for the asking. D1 is involved in Harvard Model Congress, D2 in Tae Kwon Do. All they had to do was express some interest and there were immediate invitations to join in.</p>
<p>Campus EC life has been my career for 30 years but Iâve never seen anything like the Harvard EC scene. I donât think it would be overstating the case to say that itâs the defining characteristic of H undergraduate life. Plays are off-Broadway quality, student-initiated homeless shelters and immigrant tutoring programs are run with total professionalism, concerts sell out and blow your mind despite the fact that H hasnât historically taught music performance. Students get a mind to sponsor Model Congress programs around the world and HS gifted student symposia in China, so they work up a plan, get it funded, and do it spectacularly. But thatâs not the unbelievable part. They usually do all this without any faculty or professional assistance, unless they seek it. What the students pull off in their spare time, on their own, with no outside help except seed money defies description. They seem to absorb an ethic in which they canât tolerate the notion of letting their friends down, and then go out and give their ECs everything theyâve got. Frankly, I would think that the long-term impact of living in a culture that expects that level of passion and effort is for most students, greater than the impact from the classroom.</p>
<p>âIs there a scramble to get in the ârightâ EC?â</p>
<p>Depends on what your priorities are. If you just want to sing/write/campaign/row/whatever, you can. Thereâs always a noncompetitive way to participate. But thereâs also somebody doing it at the highest possible level, possibly a higher level than anyone else in the world. If you want to do it with them, you better bring your A game. (And not your ego â my junior year, someone got into my a cappella group on his sixth try.)</p>
<p>Re comping: Sometimes you are also asked to learn the âropesâ of a specific organization before you can officially join.</p>
<p>Thanks again for the information. I have tried to look at the various student organizations on the website but really do not get a good idea about them from the information listed on there.<br>
My kid would not be interested in a cappella, or the newspaper, he is more of a social activist. Would those type of activities involve âcompingâ? What are final clubs? And does anyone have experience with the research grants program? Thanks</p>
<p>Your son should look up Philipps Brooks House. Thatâs the umbrella organization that coordinates community service. If he is more interested in politics, there are plenty of organizations he could join, whether the Harvard Republicans, Harvard Democrats, HPAIR (which stands for Harvard Program in Asia and International Relations and organizes conferences in different Asian cities as well as in Cambridge every yearâafter raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for the purpose) and all sorts of other organizations.</p>
<p>curious, if your child is interested in social activism they might want to look into Christian Impact, my son is involved with this group and there is always lotâs going on. Also you can try Institute of Politics, again my son is involved with this group. There is so much at H and not necessarily on a website.</p>
<p>Thanks for the resources marite and guitars101. I am making a list for him to check out online and when he visits campus. Do you know anything about the Harvard College research grants program?</p>
<p>Being involved in ECs wonât be an issue. Having enough hours in the day to participate in all the once-in-a-lifetime EC experiences is typically the greater concern.</p>
<p>Curious 77- Wikipedia has a good description of Harvard final clubs, their history, and current tendencies. You can also find info here if you do a search.</p>
<p>Curious 77 - Your son might also want to try to get into FUP - Freshman Urban Program which is a great social activitism program which takes place the week before freshman orientation begins. Itâs a great place to meet like-minded people, but itâs competitive to get into. Hereâs the link: <a href=âhttp://harvardfup.blogspot.com/2009/03/apply-to-fup-2009_31.html[/url]â>http://harvardfup.blogspot.com/2009/03/apply-to-fup-2009_31.html</a></p>
<p>I donât know specifically about the Harvard College grants program. I know there are tons of grants available to undergrads. For example, over spring break several chums of my S traveled to Asia, one to Seoul, another to Beijing, courtesy of Harvard. There are study abroad programs in several countries, as well as individual travel grants. I think that a major grant was given for that purpose by David Rockefeller a few years ago. But various centers for area studies also have their own grant programs.
For students who are more interested in the sciences, there is a summer program called PRISE. Students in some concentrations are also given a stipend if they take some summer seminars, even though these will not count for credit. Finally, there are unpaid internships during the summer with free Harvard housing.</p>