‘Uplifting and Welcoming and Inclusive’: Admitted Students of Class of 2029 Visit for Visitas

Admitted students to Harvard’s Class of 2029 flocked to Harvard Square on Sunday for Visitas, Harvard’s annual admitted students’ weekend.

Over Sunday and Monday, prefrosh attended events ranging from a welcome speech from Harvard President Alan M. Garber ’76 to sitting in on Harvard’s flagship courses with current students. Admitted students could attend lectures in several of Harvard’s introductory courses including Life Sciences 1A, Economics 10B, CS50, and Humanities 10.

In a break from almost seventy years of tradition, the admissions office did not release any data or demographic information on the Class of 2029 with their admissions decisions. Instead, data will be released this fall, according to the admissions office. The deadline to enroll at Harvard for admitted students is Thursday.

Joshua M. Daniels, a student from Georgia interested in concentrating in economics, math, or statistics, said he found the academic offerings for admitted students helpful.

Saron G. Elias, from Dallas, said that it took time for her to adjust to campus and meet fellow admitted students.

“It was a little difficult to talk to people at first, but I think after a few hours had passed, I was able to talk to other students and talk to upperclassmen,” Elias said.

Several students, including Elias, mentioned attending a debate hosted by the Harvard College Democrats and the Harvard Republican Club on Sunday evening as a highlight of their Visitas experience.

Sophie C. Nguyen, an admitted student from Maryland, was in the overflow room for the debate. She said that the debate was “really interesting.”

“We weren’t there in person, obviously, but we were all just reacting to the responses. It was just insane,” she said.

Elias added that she was surprised by how large Harvard’s campus was.

“I think that Harvard’s campus is really big for how many students attend, which I think is kind of a pro, in the sense that it shows that they have a lot of resources for students,” she added.

While Elias is not yet committed, she said that attending Visitas had caused her to lean towards Harvard.

Abhishek A. Shah, from North Carolina, said he is not fully committed to Harvard yet, but that Visitas has been a “lively” admitted students’ weekend.

Shah said that he was surprised by the overall personalities of students on campus.

“I always think of a stereotypical honor student, like, a privileged background with sort of an attitude, but people are not like that at all.”

Zavish A. Abbasi, an admitted student from Georgia, said that while he is not commiting to Harvard, he found Visitas to be a fun experience.

“Visitas has made me appreciate Harvard in a better light,” Abbasi said. “Coming here, I already kind of knew I was gonna commit to MIT, but I feel like Visitas has let me see there’s still a lot of very cool people at Harvard.”

Christopher I. Lee, an admit from Georgia hoping to concentrate in chemistry on a pre-med track, said he enjoyed Asian American affinity programming over the weekend.

“The APIDA barbecue was great, and I got to meet a lot of people who share something in common with me. And that’s a great start to having some conversations,” he said.

“People are a lot more talkative than I realized. I didn’t realize people would be so social,” Lee added.

Nurayda S. Albeez similarly said she “did not expect Harvard’s atmosphere and community to be so uplifting and welcoming and inclusive.”

“I really felt at home here. It’s not as competitive as I thought it would be,” she added.

—Staff writer Cassidy M. Cheng can be reached at cassidy.cheng@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @cassidy_cheng28.