What is dormitory life like at Harvard University?

What are the dormitories at Harvard University like? Harvard’s dormitory system has been quietly launched before the freshmen set foot on campus. In the summer before enrolling, freshmen fill out an accommodation application form, which includes information about how many roommates they would like to have, their academic characteristics and social habits, and a bunch of other personal questions to help the freshman director arrange accommodation. Harvard College's dean of freshmen spends the summer hand-sifting through these applications, carefully matching students with different interests and backgrounds rather than lumping together students from similar backgrounds. This is an artistic work. If not, how could a Christian child who was home-schooled in Tennessee have the opportunity to live with an Orthodox Jewish child from the best public high school in New York? A Chinese family in Washington state seeking increased socialization and education How is it possible for my daughter to communicate with a white girl from Asheng who loves Latin every day? How is it possible for an international student from Myanmar to become friends with a girl who immigrated to Los Angeles from Mexico for the first time in her life? Every freshman has several friends. Two roommates lived together in a house in one of the 17 freshmen dormitories in Harvard Yard. Only freshmen can enter these dormitories. Each building has several unit entrances, and each unit has a dormitory for management and supervision. This warden is often a Harvard graduate student or staff member and lives in the room at the entrance of the unit. The main responsibility of the housemaster is to create a harmonious group atmosphere by organizing social gatherings and providing life and academic guidance. As a result, housemasters become part of the student body from the first day they step into their rooms, and students have a Lifestyle Advisor who lives with them 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can also make a small fortune by cleaning dormitories. There are orientation week activities before the start of the new semester. Freshmen can selectively participate in various orientation activities. The optional orientation activities are rich and colorful, including art activities for freshmen who love art, urban activities for freshmen who like community service, and outdoor activities for freshmen who are keen on outdoor sports; for international students, there are also compulsory participation for international students. Activity. Students also have the opportunity to join the dormitory hygiene team and earn a small amount of money by cleaning the dormitories. Orientation Week, also nicknamed Harvard Camp by us, provides new students with an opportunity to get to know each other, adjust to the dorms, and learn about Harvard. For example, what should I do if I’m going to fail my class? What if I’m homesick? How do I use the library? Of course, we also have lots of social events, like ice cream bashes and “first time” dances (the first time freshmen are looking for opportunities for boyfriends and girlfriends, and a Final Fantasy prom at graduation). In fact, the entire year of freshman year feels like one continuous orientation because there are always a variety of social activities to keep everyone engaged. Deepening understanding. The weekly gatherings in each dormitory unit also strengthened the collective sense of identity in the dormitory circle. Coming from a small town high school that was almost all white, I made many African-American and Latino friends for the first time in my life. . I got to know not only young ladies who grew up in Manhattan on the Upper East Side of New York, but also international students who came to the United States for the first time and received full financial support because their families could not afford the tuition. I was lucky enough to be admitted. A small and cozy dormitory, Greenough. I like to hang out in the hallway in my pajamas and go to the boys' dormitory to discuss economics or chat with my friends Ashiwen and Matt. Ashiwen is an Indian American from New York. Matt is from a small town in New Hampshire. I like to spend 4 hours in the Freshman Dining Hall (which is almost the same as the one in Harry Potter) discussing politics, professors, or Principal Summers. How could I get into a confrontation with all the professors? I like to sit in the living room with the dormitory and roommates, taste freshly baked cakes, and complain loudly about midterm exams. These are unforgettable memories of my freshman year. It was the time when I had to regroup at the end of my freshman year. At the end of my freshman year, the students freely chose to form a group with 7 other classmates and participated in the lottery system for allocating new dormitories. Each group was randomly assigned to one of the 11 upper-class dormitory buildings by lottery to spend the remaining three years at Harvard. In the early hours of the morning, the mysterious envelope that determined our future dormitory fate was quietly stuffed into the dormitory door. The day when the building allocation results were announced was a grand ceremony. The first-year students celebrated wildly in the restaurant. Each dormitory building gave a special floor shirt to the "freshman graduates" to welcome the new members. Our group danced around the dining table, wearing floor flags, floor shirts and floor hats. “Welcome to Elliott Hall, Harvard’s best dormitory. "A senior girl shouted to me as she threw me a floor shirt. At this point, I was not only a Harvard student, I was also a member of Elliott House. Harvard's residential system is influenced by the Oxford and Cambridge university systems. Inspiration. The difference is that each building only serves the function of accommodation and is not an academic branch of the university. Most of the residential buildings were built in the 1930s when President Abbot Lawrence Lowell decided to create. A new undergraduate accommodation system can not only enrich students' life experience, but also give every student the opportunity to be equally assigned to various accommodation buildings through lottery. Each building has its own distinctive characteristics. At Harvard, there are more than 100 residential buildings. 97% of undergraduate students live in the dormitory building. Elliott is famous for its extremely beautiful view of the Charles River outside her window and its luxurious spring dance.

Each building has its own characteristics and advantages, but every student feels that his or her dormitory is the best. It’s unforgettable to stay up late coding in the dormitory restaurant. The charm of this accommodation system is that it allows students to have a strong sense of identification with their dormitory building. Each building has two "Masters" - a tenured Harvard professor and his partner. My "parents" were Reno Pertile and his wife Anna Bensted. Reno is an Italian who is a professor of Italian literature; Anna is English and works at a radio station in Boston. That summer, Reno memorized the names and faces of 100 new students. Because of this, on the day we dragged our suitcases into Elliott, he was able to stand at the entrance, call us by name one by one, and greet us warmly. Reno and Anna lived in a small building next to Elliot, where they often held wonderful tea parties. There are also a group of live-in tutors in the building. They are usually doctoral candidates from various graduate schools at Harvard. Their role is to give us advice and guidance on undergraduate studies, applying for postgraduate studies and finding jobs. If I plan to apply for a law school graduate program after my undergraduate degree, I can seek out a pre-law tutor; if I want to apply for a grant to intern in France, I will seek out a financial aid tutor. These mentors were also our friends—we often dined together in restaurants. The above is a comprehensive answer to the question of what Harvard University's dormitories are like. I hope it will be helpful to applicants.