How to: Do's and Don'ts for Visitas Hosts

You signed up to host for Visitas, but how can you be the best host on campus? How do you make your prefrosh love Harvard? How do you make them commit? Here are Flyby’s dos and don’ts to accomplish all of the above and more:

DON’T: Go MIA just when they arrive on campus.

It’s easy to forget, but Harvard is a very confusing and very easy-to-get-lost-in place when it’s your first day on campus. Asking a prefrosh to go from the Science Center to Weld might very well have them asking Google if there’s a metalworking space on campus. You might think your prefrosh can find your dorm without a hitch, but chances are that they’ll need someone to walk them to your room or, at the very least, very detailed text instructions.

DO: Coordinate with your guest before they get to campus.

Contact your guest as soon as you can to discuss any details about their stay. When do they plan to arrive? Where will you be the morning of their arrival? Do you plan to spend any time with them? What should they bring? Will there be other guests in your suite? Surprises are fun, but not so much when it’s your first time in a new place.

DON’T: “Forget” to throw out your trash for the third week in a row.

Pretty please clean your room. An overflowing trash can and an unvacuumed floor might be a truer depiction of college life than anything your suite will look like after it’s cleaned, but your prefrosh deserves another few months before being scarred by that image. Pre-Visitas is also the perfect time to spring clean pre-reading period and finals, so unleash those cleaning supplies and pretend that your prefrosh’s decision about Harvard is resting on whether or not your floors are gleaming.

DO: Plan to make your guest at home!

Your guest should bring a sleeping bag and/or a few blankets with them, but it doesn’t hurt to be prepared just in case. It’s likely that your guest will forget at least one item they’ll need during their stay, so put aside some extra blankets and chalk as well as some time in your schedule to take them by CVS for any forgotten toiletries. Also, be sure to decide where in your suite — on your floor? On the couch? — your prefrosh will be sleeping (as well as where their luggage will go) and plan accordingly. Planning ahead also has the bonus of helping you maintain the facade of a mature, totally entirely functional college student. (This bonus sadly does not apply if you know your guest personally.)

DON’T: Leave your guest high and dry.

It’s likely that your guest doesn’t know anyone else on campus, and many prefrosh travel alone for the first time for Visitas. Above all, your guest needs your support. You’re busy — your final paper due on Monday and a million for-prefrosh club events have made sure of that — but it’s their first time on campus, and you signed up to be there for them. You don’t have to babysit them, but make sure you’re still semi-available. Answer their questions. Set aside some time to spend with them. Be the host you would have wanted.

DO: Give them a personalized tour of Harvard.

Give them your unofficial (but totally, 100 percent better) tour of Harvard, complete with stops at your favorite study spot and the best BoardPlus location on campus. Take them places their Visitas IDs might not let them (within reason, though). Show them the parts of campus that make your experience unique; if you were matched as host and guest, it’s likely that you have at least a few things in common — your favorite parts of campus might well be their favorite parts in a few years’ time.

DON’T: Monopolize all their time.

This hardly needs to be said, but your guest visited campus to learn about Harvard, not become besties with you (unfortunately, because you’re amazing). Make sure your guest has the chance to meet other prefrosh and to participate in Visitas sans your influence. Weigh in where you can, but let them get their first true taste of independence, too.

DO: Help your guest make the most of their Visitas experience.

There are too many events on the calendar, too many places to be. If your prefrosh is unsure of where to go, help them out! Help them decide on a Visitas schedule that works well for them. Let them know that it’s okay to skip their 20th club event to hang out with other prefrosh. Help them discover the parts of Harvard that won’t show up on any schedule or map. Peer pressure them into committing. Be there for them when they’re confused or lost or distraught. The happier your guests are, the more satisfied you’ll be with yourself as a host.

No matter how your hosting experience turns out, we can guarantee that your prefrosh is so, so grateful that you’ve given up some of your space and your time to make them a place on campus. Try to be the best host you can, but don’t overthink it; as soon as your guest settles in on campus, the hard part is over. Good luck, and Happy Visitas!