Harvard University Top Questions

Popular groups/organizations/clubs/teams: I think it's really to each their own. People tend to get involved in their own Houses (House Committees), and athletics (especially crew) are pretty popular. Other than that, people tend to join things that will make their resumes look good, as well as things they enjoy. Group I'm involved with: The Harvard University Choir is the only salaried music group (that I know of) on campus; we sing every Sunday in The Memorial Church and do other special performances as well throughout the year. Athletic events: I don't really know. Harvard-Yale is the only thing lots of students care about. Guest speakers: pretty popular. Often the IOP (institute of politics at the Kennedy School of Government) Forum has to lottery tickets to speaker events, which can include world leaders (I saw Queen Rania of Jordan). Theater: for those who are interested, there is a great theater scene here, both for audience and performers. Dating scene: hook-ups or "almost married", in the words of my friend. Not too good, unfortunately. How did I meet my closest friends? In the freshman dining hall. Like I meet everyone (in the dining halls, that is). On 2 am on a Tuesday, if I were awake (unlikely) I would probably be either writing a paper due the next day, on YouTube because I'm not really tired, or talking to friends. Traditions/events each year: depends on the House. University-wide events include Commencement (of course), Harvard-Yale, Freshman Parents Weekend, Junior Parents Weekend, and more. Partying: People party every weekend and during the week as well, depending on how much work they have. Houses host Stein Clubs (beer and pizza parties) weekly. Fraternities/sororities: I think we have one or two of each; they don't have their own residences and primarily are service organizations, from what I understand. The "frats" are called finals clubs and are elite male clubs that tend to be severely sexist and disrespectful towards women. What did I do last weekend? Went to a conference for my job/organization and did lots of homework. I'm going to a performance and a huge afterparty this weekend. Saturday night/no drinking: party without drinking (haha), go into Boston, rent a movie, hang out with friends, go to BerryLine or Herrell's or another ice cream/tea/etc. shop, etc. What do I do off campus? Usually I go into Boston or go walking with friends.

There's lots of dancing and music. The IOP is the big political center and PBHA is the hub for community service. Smaller groups are largely discovered by word of mouth. A number of people play IM or varsity sports, but it's a small group. The athletes stand out as almost separate from the rest of the student body, while the IM sports players are scattered, with most people only playing a few games, or a season, or intermittently. Theater is fantastic and common, guest speakers are always coming and going for variousl groups, there are few fraternities/sororities, such that they're activity is peripheral to the social scene here. Off campus, I generally will be going to a restaurant or out shopping or to a museum or such.

HRO (orchestra) is completely wild, not your average nerdy musicians. HRO afterparty involves heavy drinking (HRO punch = 1/2 vodka and 1/2 sugar), lots of dances and grinding. Awake at 2am on Tuesday or any other night, I'm working on my pset or cramming for midterms (btw are not MIDterms, I have 2-3 "midterms" per class). Saturday nights - going to concerts. Classical concerts, dance concerts, choir concerts, Chinese banquet, there are million things to do on the weekends. Off-campus, working with MIHNUET - performing music in nursing homes and hospitals around Boston.

Latino groups, community service groups. In HIMC we play videogames. NO. Don't know, never go. I heard of them, don't go neither. Do we have theater? Harvard girls are more difficult to understand that regular girls (and regular girls are already impossible to understand, so...) Roommate. Finishing a paper. Freshman week, Housing day, Commencement. I've heard that frequently. We don't have. Study for a midterm. Finishing another paper. I don't recall leaving campus.

There are many people here with active social lives. I have never been one of them.

The last time I saw the number, the count of student organizations on campus was above four hundred. There is seriously something here to interest everyone, and something exists to respond to every student need. There are groups that teach you how to be successful (Women in Business), political organizations (Institute of Politics, Dems and GOP), a cappella groups, dancing troupes, volunteer missions (PBHA), pre-professional clubs, advocacy groups, ethnic organizations, publications, etc. (I’m sure I’m leaving a hell of a lot of things out). A professor of mine once compared students here to those of a rival institution (let’s call it Winceston) by saying that while we were intellectually similar, Harvard students were involved with so many more activities and found so much more to do in our spare time. College is the time to meet new people and try unfamiliar things out, and a lot of students take this to heart. This weekend I attended a Cultural Rhythms dance show, where performers representing traditions all over the world shared dance, music, and food with the school. Not only was the breadth of the show impressive, but many of the performers were not actually from the culture they were presenting, having only picked it up for fun while at Harvard. Parties here widely vary in shape and size, from private gatherings to Happy Hours to dining-hall extravaganzas. People throw parties because they feel like it, clubs and sports teams throw parties all the time, small (and not so small) groups of friends get together to drink, and the College subsidizes the large, official parties that are excuses for students to mass-gyrate in different dining halls. Socializing is also where finals clubs and sororities come in (fraternities and female finals clubs also exist, though they’re slightly less-well-known). Greek life at Harvard is popular, but restrained, since the House system means people don’t actually live with their sorority sisters, etc. And partying in finals clubs is said to be classier and more fun than hanging out at larger parties, but it comes with political connotations given the elitist and sexist nature of said clubs. For those neither interested in partying nor drinking, there are theatrical/musical/dance performances happening just about every weekend, for affordable prices and in support of student groups. Boston is always a short T ride away for those willing to commute. And some of my most fun weekends have been spent just sitting around our common room, watching a movie, playing a game, or just laughing with roommates. The story of the dating scene is probably encapsulated by, “what dating scene?” This is not to say that people don’t have significant others—many do (2/4 of my suite, for example). Love lives on campus, however, tend to only encompass the “marrieds”—longstanding couples who spend a good deal of their time together—or the “hook ups”—people who meet each other at parties, hook up, and don’t really bother to see each other again. Between these two categories and the fact that Harvard students often have their mind on other things, people don’t really date (i.e. get together occasionally and see how things work out) around here. Lastly, I feel that any mention of social traditions should include a uniquely Harvardian one—blocking. The freshman-year concept of choosing the seven people guaranteed to share your House for the next three years is an infamous—and unnecessary—one. Every year, tears are shed, blame is leveled, and relationships ruined as friends unfortunately discover that their friends don’t want to live with them. Just about every blocking group has some harrowing story of the drama that went down before blockmates were picked. Blocking forces freshmen to constantly gauge and re-gauge their friendships as they hope that those they like, like them back. Freshman year is enough of an adjustment, and Harvard students are often already overstressed. While giving students the choice of who they want to live with is commendable, I feel that the Yale system of housing (where Houses are assigned before college starts, and everyone in your freshman dorm is also in your House) is the superior one. Many students block with freshman-year dormmates anyway, and being spared such an inevitably-offensive-but-necessarily-strategic choice would be beneficial to a lot of Harvardians.

I am in the Mozart Society Orchestra, and we put on concerts about 4 times a year, playing mostly middle/late classical music for small orchestras. I like classical music, and I go to hear the Boston Symphony pretty often. There are quite a lot of events on campus, such as music shows, or cultural shows, or always something going on on a saturday night. Most likely several events at the same time. We do have pretty famous speakers, Daniel Barenboim, the conductor/pianist, and I am sure many others that I don't know. Tuesday night at 2am, most definitely sleeping. I go to bed pretty early, 1am at the latest. But right before that, my math problem set.

I'm involved in this really low key game development group that I love. It's perfect for people who like programming and game development. The events at Harvard are pretty popular -- especially the ones that are well-advertised. The most popular groups/organizations are the ethnic ones (Asian American Association, etc.), Women in Business, and the Harvard Crimson. Fraternities and sororities are not allowed technically but a few do exist. Instead, we have Finals Clubs...but most people don't participate in these, only a select few. An event that happens each year is Primal Scream -- in which about 20 or so students strip naked and run through Harvard Yard. Everyone can participate but don't ask me about the details -- I'd never do it! You can do a lot on Saturday Night -- play games with friends (poker, Wii, PS2) or, my favorite, go to Boston to go shopping! There are also lots of great places to eat. Unfortunately, Harvard Square is lacking in good Japanese food but has a good assortment of Indian, Thai, and Mexican food. Boston is famous for great food. If I'm awake at 2am, unfortunately, I'm probably trying to do my Problem Set or doing some other sort of work. I wish this wasn't the case, but it's true -- most students have to study and work very hard.