<p>Last year the pre-frosh program was great…it really gets the kids psyched about Harvard before school starts. It also is an opportunity for administrators to convince last minute kids who have several ivy offers and are undecided that Harvard is the best option. Personally I can’t imagine a better choice. My D has never been happier. The college also announced a large grant from David Rockefeller at the pre-frosh weekend last year to undergraduates wishing to do research abroad…needless to say it swayed a lot of kids from choosing another college over Harvard. My daughter who is thinking of becoming a doctor took advantage of this opportunity and will be working this summer at a clinic in Chile while taking Spanish classes at the Catholic university in Santiago. She had the option of either doing research or working in a clinic. The opportunities are endless.</p>
<p>I agree with gadad…the extracurriculars are outstanding. Some of them you have to interview for because H students are soooo interested in volunteering and organizing different activities. My D is on social committee, does tutoring for impoverished students,and is applying to be a tour guide next year. She also works part-time. Four of her five roommates are studying abroad this summer in Ecuador and Chile…</p>
<p>More for my son’s list. That FUP looks great.</p>
<p>FUP IS great! There are other programs too including FOP - others will know more … but FUP is the social activism program.</p>
<p>FOP is wonderful. My daughter was a FOP leader for her Jr. and Sr. years, and she loved it. One of the major highlights of her year.</p>
<p>My daughter had been early accepted to Yale in December, and she also applied to Harvard and Stanford for the sake of comparing financial aid packages. Now she’s been accepted to both Harvard and Stanford, too. It seems that Yale has given the best financial aid among the three, and Harvard’s offer is close, just about $3000 away from Yale’s. Now my daughter is seriously deciding only between Yale and Harvard and will go their three-day on-campus events for new admits respectively. My question is–which one of these two schools would you choose as parents? Any specific reasons will be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much.</p>
<p>As a parent, I would choose whichever my child liked more, as I think the differences in setting and campus culture outweigh any differences in academics.</p>
<p>Zeng ^Not a Harvard parent yet but…I called the FA office last night and they are amazingly helpful and right away want to take what you say to “committee”. So I suggest taking money out of the equation for your daughter and call Harvard today and tell them about Yale’s award package. They may match it. Then she can just choose between the two on the basis of fit. I called at 7 pm and there was not wait to speak with a financial aid officer. I was very impressed.</p>
<p>Good advice from Curious77 - I’ve not asked Financial Aid to match another school, but they’ve pretty much done everything else I’ve requested. Myohmy, I’d bet your D and my D1 know one another. D1 does a tutoring program for immigrant children and is getting a Latin American certification to her Government concentration. She’s traveled to Peru, Argentine, China (to teach Latin American politics), and this summer to Brazil, getting generous financial assistance each time from the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies. She also got aid for 3/4 of the cost of FAP (Freshman Arts pre-frosh Program), a major stipend for outside voice lessons, and gets paid as a Peer Advising Fellow and a tutor. We’ll have to see how much the current economic situation impacts things, but whatever your bottom-line cost to attend Harvard may be, it usually winds up being an even better deal after you factor in all the available stipends and travel assistance.</p>
<p>gadad, my son is deciding between Government and Social Studies. He tutors adults studying to get their citizenship. I wonder if they might know each other. Harvard has been very generous and easy to work with.</p>
<p>Harvard matched another Ivy’s offer for my daughter a few years ago. They are indeed very pleasant to work with.</p>
<p>My D is also deciding between Govt and Social Studies. She is traveling to Buenos Aires this summer for an internship.</p>
<p>lousyanamom, what year is your dtr in now? my son is a freshman this year and really enjoying H. How did your dtr find the internship? is it through Harvard? My son would like to study abroad in the future.</p>
<p>guitars,
My D is a freshman, just like your son. She will be traveling to Argentina this summer. She just found out yesterday that she received funding for this internship.</p>
<p>My experience was like that of ^curious. My D – like zeng19888 - has multiple great offers. I must say that when I talked with FA at H the experience was absolutely tops: I got a human being on the phone immediately. I was talking with a FA counselor within two minutes. She immediately spotted an aspect of income that had resulted in a higher EFC. Answers to questions were very, very thoughtful, very clear. </p>
<p>I’m really, really trying to stay hands off about this decision but, wow, the differences with other schools are enormous. Just to compare H and Y: Y has done well at marketing to students with their glitzy admit site, but H is actually quite serious about wanting to attract the best of the best, at least in D’s fields of study. Last night DD found that she could (with her H pword) find where all H courses have put their syllabi up on the web and she’s droolin’ over the courses in her area. Will this compete with the bonhomie that is Y’s glitzy admit site or Y’s warm and fuzzy ED welcome? </p>
<p>APRIL is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring</p>
<p>@EngProfMom - Could you post the link your D used to see the syllabi, for the benefit of other admitted students?</p>
<p>If I understand her instructions correctly:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Go to [Harvard</a> University FAS Registrar’s Office: 2008-2009 FAS Courses of Instruction](<a href=“http://www.registrar.fas.harvard.edu/fasro/courses/index.jsp?cat=ugrad&subcat=courses]Harvard”>http://www.registrar.fas.harvard.edu/fasro/courses/index.jsp?cat=ugrad&subcat=courses)</p></li>
<li><p>Click on the Department that interests you. This will bring you to a listing of courses in the department, many of which are hyperlinked. If you click on the hyperlink, you will get an authentication page. If you are already authenticated when you go to that hyperlink you can see course syllabi, again, organized by department.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>How many days after the finals are you flying out your freshman? I was wondering how much time should I give my D to pack and move all of her stuff into storage? Her finals get over on Friday and I was thinking of flying her out on Monday.</p>
<p>Not sure, but I think students are expected to vacate their dorms the day after the last finals (not theirs, but Harvard’s).</p>
<p>EDIT: This is what I found on the FDO site:
Spring Exams and Move Out</p>
<p>Spring exams are scheduled May 14 through May 22.
Freshmen are required to vacate their dorms by noon on May 24.</p>
<p>My son will be a sophomore in Sept. and he’s been assigned to Quincy (very happy!), my question is… Do parents help students move in after freshman year? I would love to be there and see the house and meet the rest of his roommates etc., but I don’t want to embarrass him if this is not what parents do. He’s happy for us to come and see Quincy and doesn’t mind at all if we are there. He’s looking forward to showing us around. </p>
<p>Just curious what you experienced parents think.</p>