Accepted Students Flock to Campus

High school seniors wielding red folders invaded the Yard this weekend for the College’s annual “April Visiting Program” for admitted students.

With the Admissions Office working 24 hours a day to accommodate its slew of new visitors, the approximately 1100 “pre-frosh” in attendance had the opportunity to attend organized events ranging from academic and extracurricular orientations to various social receptions and parties.

“There are like 1000 things to do,” said Gary D. Carlson, an incoming freshman from New Jersey. “It’s hard to decide what to do and so I have ended up doing nothing.”

“It seems like there are a lot of opportunities here at Harvard,” said Ruoyu Zhang, another prefrosh, from San Jose.

Billing itself as a “night of music, trivia, games, food, and a movie in Harvard’s very own movie theater,” one entertainment event—Saturday night’s “Pre-frosh Penthouse Party” at the Student Organization Center at Hilles—drew less-than-enthusiastic reviews from several attendees.

“The penthouse started out as a reception, then it was a party, and then it turned into some sort of comedy thing,” said Brandon M. Law, a pre-frosh from Minnesota, “I was really confused, I thought I was in the wrong place.”

But despite the confusion, many incoming freshman said they found the campus and its current inhabitants very welcoming.

“It’s a pretty campus,” Zhang said. “The people are really friendly.”

Newly admitted students and parents looking for more information on the college experience had the opportunity to attend a Sunday afternoon panel discussion about “What It’s like to be a Harvard Freshman.”

The panel-discussion, anchored by two students along with Katie W. Steele, the Freshman Dean’s Office director for freshman programming, and Sandra Naddaff, the acting director of the freshman seminar program, addressed questions dealing with freshman-faculty interaction, community growth, and the typical life of a Harvard College freshman.

“When I was pre-frosh, what blew me away about Harvard was that it seemed to me a like a community of intellectuals,” Ebrahim said during the event. “The teachers are passionate and the students are just as passionate.”

“One of the things that I’ve gathered here is that it’s a place that kids can come not knowing what they want to be,” said Cesar Alcantar, whose daughter Casey was attending the visiting weekend. “This place fosters exploration for areas that will fuel their passion.”

Several students interviewed by The Crimson over the course of the weekend said that they were surprised at how socially adept and diverse their peers seemed.

“Coming to Harvard, I felt everyone would fit into particular stereotypes,” said Luke M. Giveen, a newly admitted student from Lebanon, N.H. “But everyone here is completely different from everyone and it is an unexpected but pleasant surprise.”