Welcome Class of 2019

Congratulations on your admission to Harvard! We look forward to talking and corresponding with you, and hope that we will have the honor of greeting you in August and introducing you to some of the exciting first-year traditions at Harvard.

The Freshman Dean’s Office (FDO) is responsible for the well-being of students in their first year at the College. The Dean of Freshmen works closely with four Resident Deans who have special responsibilities in academic and co-curricular affairs. With the support of 70 resident Proctors, the Deans advise students in four designated dorm clusters—Crimson, Elm, Ivy, and Oak Yards. The Freshman Dean’s Office also coordinates orientation (Opening Days) for incoming first-year students and oversees pre-orientation programs. All staff members welcome the opportunity to discuss your questions and concerns, academic or personal.

Helpful information for the Class of 2019 can be found on the FDO website at fdo.fas.harvard.edu. Staff members are also available between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., each Monday–Friday (Eastern Time) at (617) 495-1574 or fdo@fas.harvard.edu. If we don’t know the answers to your questions, we will work hard to find out who does.

Please carefully review the enclosed materials, paying special attention to the Important Deadlines for the Class of 2019 inside this newsletter listing deadlines that you and your family need to meet.

May the remainder of your final year of high school be happy and productive. Again, congratulations on your admission.

Sincerely,

Tom Dingman Dean of Freshmen

Freshman Dean’s OfficeFaculty of Arts and SciencesHarvard University

Freshman Dean’s Office Harvard College 6 Prescott Street, Cambridge, MA 02138(617) 495-1574 | fdo@fas.harvard.edu

A Sampling of First-Year Traditions at Harvard

Freshman Convocation

Intramural Field Day

Community Conversations

Freshman Talent Show

Through the Gates

FAP Pageant

First Chance Dance

Freshman Seminars

Pumpkin Carving Contest

First-Year Faculty Dinners

Costume Catwalk

Dean’s Open Houses

Freshman Formal

Housing Day Eve Celebration

Housing Lottery Day

Advising Fortnight

Freshman Musical

Battling for the Yard Trophy

Student Initiated Programs

fdo.fas.harvard.edu

Submit a Family IntroductionWe invite family members to join in a time-honored tradition at Harvard: introduce their student to the Freshman Dean’s Office (FDO) by letter, email, fax, informal note, or voicemail. Background information provided in these introductions helps senior members of the FDO staff set the stage for a successful transition to Harvard. Frequently asked questions include:

What might you address in your introduction? Certainly, the staff appreciates knowing about experiences that have significantly shaped a student’s personality or academic world: frequent family moves; a recent divorce or remarriage; serious illness or a recent death in the family, for example. Knowing how a student responds to new situations is extremely helpful: for some, adaptation is quick and painless, but others like time to explore, test, and settle in. Some students seek help easily from adults; others pride themselves on going it alone. Some never become ill; others are bed ridden for days by every cold. Some see setbacks as challenges; others are easily discouraged and impatient with themselves when things are not going well. We ask families to judge what is most important for the FDO to know.

What is the recommended length of the introduction? Written introductions are ordinarily between one and two pages, though, we welcome submissions of any length – one paragraph or more. For voicemail, family members should speak between one and four minutes, though again, any length is helpful.

Who should compose and submit the introduction? Anyone – parents, guardians, siblings, aunts, uncles, etc. – may submit the introduction, but note that we typically only need one submission per student.

We welcome family introductions at any time during the summer, but those received by May 29 will be most helpful to the staff in making rooming assignments for entering students. Family introductions will be included among other advising documents in student files. While the family introductions are highly recommended, this exercise is optional.

Updating Your AddressHave you moved recently? Are you spending the summer at a different address? Let us know where to send your summer mailings by updating your contact information online. You can update this information as often as you’d like using the online Directory Update form available on my.harvard.edu. Simply select “Campus Resources” “FAS Directory Update: View/Edit Official Information.”

Please visit this site to review/update your information and provide parent contact information by May 29.

Freshman Family Information Form The Freshman Family Information Form provides the Harvard Alumni Records Office with preliminary information to ensure that you and your parents receive important College updates and mailings beginning your freshman year and continuing after you graduate. A link to the form will be available on the FDO website beginning April 1 and the deadline for submission is May 30. Please note: information provided on this form is not shared with the Registrar’s Office, so it is also necessary to provide your parent information through the FAS Directory Update tool as indicated under “Updating Your Address.”

You may submit Family Introductions by

Mail:

Thomas A. Dingman

Dean of Freshmen

6 Prescott StreetCambridge, MA 02138

Email: fdo@fas.harvard.edu

Fax:

(617) 496-1624

Voicemail: (617) 870-3729

Getting StartedImportant Deadlines for the Class of 2019Please be sure to complete the following tasks by the deadlines listed. In order to complete these tasks, you will need your unique Harvard University Identification Number (HUID), which all admitted students will receive via US mail in early April regardless of whether they were admitted early or regular decision. This is a personal number intended only for your use within Harvard University. Items marked with an ! are required of all students.

Reply to Admission offer by May 1 !Fill out and return the postcard included with your Admissions materials or reply online at admissions.college.harvard.edu/admitted/reply_online.

Return Foreign Student Visa Survey by May 1 (if applicable)The Admissions Office will contact students by e-mail in April with instructions about this process.

Register with the Accessible Education Office by May 1 (if applicable)Required for students seeking housing or academic accommodations due to a physical disability or medical condition. See interior right page for more information.

Apply for one or more pre-orientation programs by May 4 (if desired)See the Pre-Orientation at Harvard brochure for information about all five programs.

Request PIN and set up Harvard email account by May 15 ! See the Get Connected with Computing @ Harvard enclosed. (For Early Action admits, this flyer will be sent separately in April.)

Update your Address & Contact Information by May 29 !See back page for information and instructions.

Complete the Housing and Advising Questionnaires by May 29 !See interior left page for information and instructions. Note that you will not be able to access these forms until your acceptance has been received and processed by Harvard. Please allow five business days for processing acceptances submitted online and 10 business days for acceptances sent by mail.

Submit Family Introduction to the FDO by May 29See back page for information and instructions.

Submit photo and bioform for the Harvard Freshman Register by May 29See harvardyearbook.com/forms/facebook for more information.

Submit the Freshman Family Information Form to the Alumni Records Office by May 30 See back page for information and instructions.

Submit required medical forms to HUHS by June 15 !See interior right page for information and instructions.

Complete required online writing test and placement exam in mathematics. ! Complete optional online placement exam(s) for chemistry, biology, French, Spanish, German, and/or Italian (if desired). See interior middle page for information.

Submit Final School Report by July 1 !See enclosed form.

Contact the College Board and request a complete AP score report by July 15 Using school code 3434, AP score report includes all AP scores taken during secondary school, which Harvard uses for placement purposes.

Evaluate the Student Health Insurance Plan and decide whether to waive by July 31 !See hushp.harvard.edu for more information.

Complete NCAA Eligibility Center registration by August 1 (if applicable)Required only for freshmen wishing to compete on a varsity or junior varsity intercollegiate team. See interior middle page for information and instructions.

Pay your fall term bill by August 10 !A link to your billing statement will be sent to your Harvard email address on July 15.If you would like your parents or others to be able to view the bill and make e-payments to your account, you must set them up as Authorized Payers. See sfs.harvard.edu/student-accounts for more information.

Complete Athletic Interest form by September 3 (if desired) See interior middle page for information and instructions.

Planning AheadSummer Communications

You can expect to receive mailings – both hard copy and electronic – from several University and College offices this summer to let you know about opportunities and upcoming deadlines for incoming students, including detailed move-in information.

Hard copies of the Freshman Seminar Program catalogue and A Guide to the First Year at Harvard for Students and their Families, a resource providing academic, extracurricular, and practical information helpful for your transition to Harvard, will be mailed to your home in June. Included in the Guide is a specific section offering parents an introduction to the College’s programs and services.

Throughout the summer, you will receive email communications about, among other things, the housing and advising questionnaires (May), online placement exams (May), move-in instructions (July), paying your fall term bill (July), and housing/roommate assignments (early August). As such, please be sure to set up your Harvard email account by May 15 and check it regularly throughout the summer.

Arriving at Harvard

Most freshmen will arrive in Cambridge on Tuesday, August 25. Members of the Class of 2019 participating in any of the pre-orientation programs will arrive in Cambridge on dates specified by the program and should note carefully the dates listed in program materials mailed during the summer. All students must be in residence by 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, August 25. Because students are fully occupied with orientation events beginning at 8:00 p.m. that night, families should plan to depart Cambridge by Tuesday evening.

Freshman Register The Harvard Freshman Register is a hardcover book published in August of each year that contains the pictures, addresses, and secondary schools of the incoming freshman class. This book will enter the Harvard Archives and you, your classmates, and University officials will refer to it for years. Do not miss the opportunity to be a part of the Register for the Class of 2019!

Freshman Parents’ Weekend Freshman Parents’ Weekend will occur Friday, and Saturday, October 23-24, 2015.

Housing at HarvardFirst-year students live in the Yard, Apley Court, and the Union Dormitories, at the geographic and historic center of the College. Facilities range from eighteenth-century buildings, which housed the earliest Harvard students as well as George Washington’s troops, to Canaday Hall, the newest dorm at the College, completed in 1974. Proctors (academic and residential advisers) live in the dorms and are responsible for building community in the entryway. An “entryway” is a group of 20 to 40 first-year students, sharing a floor or designated area within a building. Classrooms and libraries are immediately at hand, and Annenberg, the freshman dining hall, is only a short walk away.

Most dorms have suites for three to six students. Suites contain from two to four bedrooms and a common room. A few have their own baths, though most share a bathroom with other suites. The FDO assigns students to suites rather than to particular bedrooms, and in almost any suite students should expect to share a bedroom for at least part of the year. Some dorms contain doubles, usually one fairly large room with a shared bath. Very few singles are available. All freshman dorms are smoke-free.

First-Year Housing Questionnaire

A link to the online housing questionnaire will be available on the FDO website beginning May 1. Senior staff members in the FDO use the information you provide on this form to match roommate and entry groups. Please describe yourself, your habits, and your preferences frankly and completely. The housing questionnaire is due May 29 and housing assignments and roommates are emailed in early August.

Please note that Harvard does not honor requests for assignment to particular dorms or particular roommates. The FDO staff will respect your preference regarding the size of your rooming group whenever possible, but the College cannot guarantee assignment to a particular type of room.

If you need a housing accommodation due to a physical disability or medical condition, please note this when completing your online housing form. In addition, be sure to review the information on academic and residential accommodations on the right-hand page. Documentation of the need for housing accommodation is required and must be submitted to the Accessible Education Office by May 1.

Athletic OpportunitiesAs a first-year student you will have the opportunity to use Harvard’s athletic facilities for intercollegiate, intramural, or recreational participation in various sports, or to exercise for pleasure. In addition to informal, self-programmed recreation, the Recreation Department offers a wide variety of formal classes including dance, sailing, yoga, and pilates. Undergraduates receive free use of athletic facilities and, with some exceptions, free admission to all contests on University grounds within the limits of available seating. Information about athletic opportunities available at Harvard can be found by visiting gocrimson.com and information about the intramural program is available on the FDO website. We encourage you to participate fully!

Athletic Interest Form

If you are interested in establishing contact with a varsity coach, please complete the athletic interest form located at athletics.harvard.edu/prefrosh. The coaches are happy to discuss your athletic interests at any time. Please note that you will need your Harvard ID and PIN to access this site.

Requirement for Varsity and Junior Varsity Athletes

Any freshman who wishes to compete on a varsity or junior varsity intercollegiate team must be certified by the NCAA Eligibility Center. Freshmen who wish to compete for men’s crew, women’s rugby, men’s squash, and men’s and women’s sailing do not need to register with the NCAA Eligibility Center. The Eligibility Center is an agency that provides initial eligibility certification for all prospective student-athletes wishing to compete as freshmen at NCAA member institutions offering Division I Athletics. It takes at least two weeks for a freshman to receive certification from the Eligibility Center once the office has received the required documentation. Therefore, it is imperative that incoming freshmen register with the Eligibility Center prior to coming to Harvard in the fall. Failure to do so may result in a freshman being withheld from practice or competition. For information about the certification process and requirements, visit ncaaeligibilitycenter.org.

Your Advising TeamEvery first-year student at Harvard is assigned a team of advisers: a Freshman Academic Adviser, a Resident Dean of Freshmen, a Proctor, and a Peer Advising Fellow. (For some students, their Proctor also serves as their Freshman Academic Adviser.) These individuals will serve as your chief sources of academic and non-academic advice during your first year at Harvard.

Advising Questionnaire

The Advising Programs Office (APO) is responsible for assigning you both a Freshman Academic Adviser (who may be a faculty member, administrator, or graduate student), and a Peer Advising Fellow (a current Harvard sophomore, junior, or senior). In order to facilitate the adviser matching process students are asked to complete an advising questionnaire. The questionnaire encourages you to comment on academic areas you may wish to explore, on challenges you think you may encounter in your transition to college, and on education and career plans, after Harvard, you may be considering now. In addition to helping the APO match you with your advisers, your responses will allow your advisers to learn about you prior to your arrival on campus.

You will find a link to the online advising questionnaire on the FDO website beginning May 1. The deadline for completing the questionnaire is May 29.

You will receive an email in late August letting you know how to log on to your Advising Network Portal to view the names, photos, and contact information of your advisers. In the interim we encourage you to visit the APO website (http://apo.fas.harvard.edu/) to seek answers to advising questions you may have and to learn about important advising resources on campus.

Placement ExamsIn order to receive recommendations for the level of courses to take during your first year at Harvard, you will need to take the appropriate placement exams. All freshmen are required to take the writing and the mathematics placement exams. If you are interested in studying chemistry, biology, or the life sciences or physical sciences at some point during college, you should also take both the chemistry and biology exams. Finally, it is recommended that you take the placement exam in any language in which you have experience and that you plan to study at Harvard.

The writing, mathematics, chemistry, biology, French, Spanish, German, and Italian placement exams will be administered online over the summer; these exams are not offered on campus. An email will be sent to your Harvard email address in May with information on when and how to take these exams.

Additional placement exams in music and other foreign languages will be offered on campus during Opening Days.

My classes have really changed the way I approach learning

and writing in a positive light. I am not just a student, but also

a contributor to the conversation. —Member, Class of 2017

The freshman experience, in its unique-ness and separation from the rest of the upperclass Harvard community, fosters a sense of class community that is (what I would believe to be true) unparalleled at other universities. —Member, Class of 2015

Harvard University Health Services Harvard University Health Services (HUHS) aims to support you in all aspects of your health care while at Harvard. Please take a moment to visit the HUHS website, huhs.harvard.edu, for information about required immunizations, services, and resources available at Harvard University Health Services, including primary and specialty care, mental health and counseling services, urgent care, radiology and physical therapy.

Required Medical Forms

Compliance with Massachusetts immunization regulations is an enrollment requirement for all students – you will be unable to register for classes without the required Massachusetts immunizations. Students should receive required immunizations and submit a complete immunization history, along with the required medical forms, to Harvard University Health Services by June15. All required forms are available on the HUHS website. You are encouraged to review the requirements promptly to allow time to obtain and submit documentation. Incomplete or overdue forms will affect your registration. If you have questions, please contact the Harvard University Health Services representative for Harvard College at (617) 496-9917.

Required Student Health Insurance

Massachusetts law requires that students enrolled in an institution of higher learning in Massachusetts participate in a student health insurance program or in a health plan with comparable coverage. All Harvard students are automatically enrolled in and billed for the Harvard University Student Health Program (HUSHP). Students who meet certain requirements may be eligible to waive the Student Health Insurance Plan portion of HUSHP. You are encouraged to review the plan benefits and waiver conditions on the HUSHP website, hushp.harvard.edu, before making a decision to waive coverage. Waivers are not automatically renewed and must be submitted for each term and/or academic year. If you do not waive by the deadline, the charges will remain on your student bill. If you have any questions, contact Member Services at (617) 495-2008 or mservices@huhs.harvard.edu. Visit hushp.harvard.edu for the waiver form, deadlines, and other specific information.

Optional Student Dental

An optional dental plan will be available for students and their eligible dependents. Enrollment and renewal is not automatic. Rates, enrollment, and benefit information will be available at hushp.harvard.edu beginning June 15, 2015.

Students are eligible for a special preventive service package price and a discount on all specialty services at the Harvard Dental Service if they choose not to enroll in the optional student dental plan.

Residential and Academic AccommodationsServices for persons with disabilities or health conditions are available to Harvard students who qualify for them. With information from you, along with proper confidential clinical documentation, the Accessible Education Office (AEO) can provide reasonable accommodations in academics, and can recommend appropriate residential accommodations to the Freshman Dean’s Office. If you anticipate the need for accommodations for academics, housing, or other activities, you must register with the AEO and provide current clinical documentation by May 1. Please visit the AEO website at www.fas.harvard.edu/aeo for more information about the accommodation process along with the registration form and guidelines for clinical documentation. If you are unsure whether a medical condition warrants any accommodations, please inquire with the AEO by May 1. We cannot guarantee consideration of requests for accommodation that arrive without the appropriate clinical documentation after May 1.

The people I’ve met have impacted me most during

my first year at Harvard. This has created a community

that makes campus life incredible and that feels like

home at the same time. — Member, Class of 2017