The Harvard Freshman Experience

Starting your first year at Harvard can be daunting. With a new campus comes a multitude of questions about academics, extracurriculars, recruiting, and all the other aspects of student life that await you. Check out our Q&A with Harvard students of all backgrounds to get your questions answered so that you can take charge of your own freshman year experience!

Getting the Most Out of Your First Year

How should I choose what clubs to comp/join?

Even before you get on campus, dozens of clubs will reach out to try to get you to comp or join their club. While you will certainly have a lot to choose from, you unfortunately can not join them all. Take a look at some advice from current students about picking what organizations to join below!

STAY INFORMED

"The Activities Fair is a great way to hear about all the clubs when first coming on campus, and I personally just joined clubs that I was just genuinely interested in. I was really involved in journalism in high school, so I knew I was going to comp The Crimson. Many clubs also have introductory meetings in Facebook groups and house email lists, which is how I heard about other clubs. It's also never too late to comp clubs— I've joined a lot of groups after hearing about them from my friends!"

— Economics Concentrator '23

How can I balance assignments with extracurriculars?

Your experience at Harvard will be a combination of academic and extracurricular commitments. Especially as a freshman, it is easy to get overwhelmed by the number of dedications you have to attend to. Read some students' advice for balancing your assignments with extracurriculars!

REFLECT ON YOUR PRIORITIES

"When I first came to college, school and grades were really big priorities, but I think that they can shift; some people consider extracurriculars to be their classroom, for example, or some people prioritize social life. It's important to reflect on your priorities and how you want to balance things and just know that you don't need to like always do the most at everything because giving yourself time is also extremely important."

— Computer Science Concentrator '22

How can I connect with upperclassmen?

The Harvard community is full of students of all ages who are open to helping you with classes, recruiting, or social life in general. Here is some advice on how to connect with upperclassmen from current students:

JOIN CLUBS!

"Especially at Harvard the best way to do that is to join clubs. The club culture at Harvard is that upperclassmen— particularly sophomores and juniors— are the ones that are really involved in clubs, particularly leadership. So, as a freshman, you have a good chance to meet sophomores and juniors just by going to open house events, going to activities fairs, and getting on email lists. I found that people were very generous with their time when it came to asking them about what they're doing or just saying hello."

— Computer Science Concentrator '23