How to: Live in a Harvard Dorm

So you just moved into your shoebox of a dorm and you’re thinking to yourself: there must be more. We know exactly how you feel. Sure, some of you might still be excited enough to ~romanticize~ your dorm, but trust us, give or take a month and you too will be agitated by the fact that there is no air conditioning to relieve you from the sweltering heat of Cambridge summer. The good news is, no matter what your rooming situation is, with the right attitude and a little bit of (amazing) advice you can and absolutely will have a blast living in your Harvard dorm.

How to: Laundry

1. Choose the most obscure times. Going to school with the brightest students means you can’t even slack off when it comes to organizing your laundry schedule. So, ready your Tide Pods and read up on game theory because making sure you have both washers and dryers available will be an unnecessarily tedious task. Speaking from experience, the laundry rooms are usually the emptiest on weekday mornings (even weekday nights are good). But when push comes to shove…
2. Throw away your morals and fight for that washer/dryer. All is fair in love and war…and now laundry. Put an “out of order” sign on a washer and dryer that is in fact still very much in order. Put up posters for Laundry Pollution Awareness Month to let people know that if they really cared about the environment they would refrain from using washers and dryers to reduce their carbon footprint. Gaslight your entryway into thinking hand-washing their clothes is the newest trend. Do whatever it takes to ensure that your laundry gets done, because sometimes you just have to put yourself first.
3. Sorry, there is nothing I can say to help with the payment situation except for the fact that I am also infuriated by the fact that every load of laundry is nearly $4.00. For the school with the largest endowment in the world, it’s seriously outrageous that laundry is not free. If you are an Econ concentrator and you’re reading this, please write your thesis on the revenue Harvard makes by forcing students to pay for laundry.

How to: Be a Good Roommate

1. CLEAN: Listen, we do not care if you rated yourself as extremely messy on your housing questionnaire. There is a difference between being messy and being DIRTY. Your new roommate does not want to see (or even worse, SMELL) your dirty laundry creeping onto their side of your double. They also do not want to see your dirty bowl that you said you would clean days ago when you made instant ramen noodles. Pitch in to keep your living space sanitary.
2. Keep them in the loop: Nobody is asking you to be best friends with your roommates, but it is always a great idea to check-in with them when plans arise. You’re out partying? Great! Just shoot your roomies a text to let them know that the sound of the doorknob jiggling at 2 a.m. will be you, not a mysterious intruder.
3. Have social awareness: We all know that living with others can be difficult when you are on different schedules. Maybe your Friday schedule is super chill, but your suitemate has a 9 a.m. lab. In that situation, maybe you don’t need to have friends over till ungodly hours of the night. Recognize that their schedules are just as important as yours, and adjust accordingly.

How to: Optimize Common Spaces

1. In-suite common room: This will hopefully be a place of fond memories and bonding experiences with your roommates. Have fun with the interior design, invite as many (or as few) people over, have movie nights, build pillow forts…the world is your oyster, my friends.
2. Communal kitchens: Put it on your college bucketlist to cook/bake something with your friends. Not only is it a great way to bond, but also by the end of the activity you will have a tasty treat to enjoy. You can even try to finesse ingredients from the kitchen in the Memorial Hall basement, or maybe even ask our amazing HUDS workers.
3. Pool tables/Foosball: If you want a new hobby or if you have an awkward amount of time to burn between classes, drag a friend into a dorm building for a round of pool or foosball. You can take these sports as seriously as you want to. Who knows, you might become the next Foosball champion?

There you have it: our many tips on how to make dorm living at Harvard the most enjoyable. We hope that whether you’re returning to campus or stepping foot on Cambridge soil for the first time, our wise advice can help to make the transition the slightest bit easier. Enjoy your time living the dorm life — as ~interesting~ as it might feel in the moment, it’ll pass by faster than you think!