I’m a current freshman done with orientation. Recently, I’ve taken an interest to the Harvard Men’s Rowing Team and would like to know the process of joining them. I’m ready to commit to the intense schedule.

I’m played basketball my whole life and weightlift pretty religiously. Im 6’0, 210lbs.

Was just wondering if I even stand a chance trying out. Thanks guys for the help

From HKS.Harvard.edu

In Boston, the start of the academic year is met with the rumble of moving trucks, as thousands of leases in apartments across the city turn over with new tenants scrambling to load and unload truckloads of furniture and other household goods. Much of this moving detritus ends up on sidewalks and street corners in neighborhoods heavily concentrated with students. The city of Boston has long struggled with how to remove and potentially reuse the mountains of discarded furniture that appear each year during what is affectionately—and infamously—known as “Allston Christmas,” in a nod to one of the most affected neighborhoods.  

For Naomi Carolan MPP 2025 and Nora Cahill MPP 2025, Allston Christmas became the subject of their Policy Analysis Exercise (PAE), which Master in Public Policy students regard as the culmination of their experience at HKS. For their PAEs, students examine and develop solutions for a public or nonprofit sector policy or management issue presented by a client organization. We spoke with Carolan about the recommendations she and Cahill shared with the city of Boston to help reduce the landfill waste that Allston Christmas produces.  

Q: Boston is very much a college town. How does the influx of students at the beginning of the academic year put a strain on the city’s ability to pick up furniture and other waste generated by turnovers in apartment rentals? Is this problem unique to Boston?

The pressures Boston faces during move-out is truly unlike any other city I’ve lived in. Because such a high proportion of the city comprises students, it makes sense for the rest of the city’s landlords to align their leases with the start of the school year. If I’m a landlord and want to maximize my selection of prospective tenants to choose from, I’ll want to set my lease for when all other leases are ending. With this unusual herding of lease start dates, the city has to stretch its resources profoundly over the course of just a few days to accommodate mass moving. We found in our research that trash pickups double, and universities and other community organizations fill in the gaps with their own trash pickup and recycling services. One university even hires their own truck to go around off-campus neighborhoods. If you walk around most streets in Boston, you’ll see dumpsters piled high with furniture and mattresses stacked on street corners.  
 

Q: With so much furniture and other household items being left on the curb at the end of the summer by vacating tenants, wouldn’t there  be an excellent opportunity to rehome much of it so that it doesn’t end up in the landfill? Why hadn’t that  been happening? Wasn’t there a demand for what was essentially free furniture?

I had actually tried to talk with some nonprofits about this idea after I graduated form my undergraduate program at Boston University and would hear the same issues over and over again. Nonprofits had considered collecting furniture but were nervous about furniture cleanliness (from stains to bedbugs) and had no way to transport or store furniture. On the government side, everyone we spoke to had always felt bad about the amount of usable supplies going to waste, but developing an entirely new donation function hit on transportation, storage, and sanitation challenges, all while the city was already managing a resource-intensive few days. Moreover, the government’s zero-waste initiatives typically have such bulky items go through their own unique processes. Reusing or recycling furniture would be a whole other beast entirely for them.  

As Nora and I dug into the issue further, we found that furniture banks checked off a lot of these considerations; they had a couple reserve trucks to pick up furniture, massive storage warehouses, and strict inspecting and cleaning protocols. Some of these furniture banks had actually tried to reach out to the city for possible coordination but operated mostly on volunteer support and were unaware of the best avenues to approach city officials. We realized a solution would require joining forces with all of these stakeholders to partner nonprofit capacity with the city’s reach.  

“It’s been a privilege seeing how you can create innovative solutions to help people who don’t always have a seat at the table.” - Naomi Carolan MPP 2025

 Q: What were the recommendations you laid out to the City of Boston in your PAE last spring?

We had a few different possible courses of action that we recommended for a test pilot. The furniture banks we had talked to mentioned that they’d already considered a coordinated furniture pickup, but there were many logistical challenges in maximizing pickup routes, identifying furniture for donation, etc. Moreover, we’d heard from people during the move out days that a lot of their decisions to curb furniture were made last minute. They’d planned to sell it or give it to a friend or squeeze it into their truck and for one reason or another, those options fell through on the day they planned to move out. Coordinated pickups wouldn’t necessarily capture those people. We also recommended stationing trucks on streets where people were already frequently curbing furniture to be near people moving in. This would address some of the last-minute nature around curbing furniture, but if the city were trying to flatten the curve of moving pressures on the city, this option would not achieve that aim. The third idea was to host a yard sale at a central location—something the city of Cambridge did last spring. However, we found it would require a significant amount of resources and liability for the city to take on inspecting, sanitizing, and re-donating furniture all over the course of a couple days. Of course, in our recommendations we laid out possible ways to mitigate all of these challenges. All options felt possible but would require different resources, timing, etc. 

Q: What did the city ultimately implement in advance of Boston’s peak move-out period earlier this month? 

 The city went with the first option, partnering with a furniture bank to execute a one-day coordinated pick up, and from their initial findings, they were successful at engaging households and picking up furniture! I’d assume given the traffic and trash pickup pressures the city faces, they wanted to have a pilot prior to the big move-out weekend to reduce the city’s stress on September 1. At least on a small scale, it sounds like they were able to work through some of the logistical challenges and that option paid off.  

Q: Looking back, how do you think everything went? 

There are always places where you can say to yourself, “Hmm, I wish we went about that a bit differently.” For example, Nora and I wanted to work more closely with the Supportive Housing Division to transport people who need furniture to furniture banks, which are often hard to access for people coming out of homelessness without a car or driver’s license.  

But nitpicking aside, it’s been very rewarding to see the city take a sincere interest in the issue. There were a few times in the spring that Nora and I would be in conversation with someone at the city and they’d say, “oh, wait, you’re the Allston Christmas project! I heard about that at a meeting the other day!” I’ve found that convincing people that an issue deserves their scarce time and resources is half the battle. Once you get the buy-in you need, you can start tinkering around the margins to make the program bigger and better.  

This whole journey made us both excited to work directly in government. It’s been a privilege seeing how you can create innovative solutions to help people who don’t always have a seat at the table.  

They are only 9:00am - 5:00pm M-F right now

I got into both my top-choice seminars, and am excited about the professors and course content, but am unsure whether to do both or just one. Should I replace one of these with a GenEd, or could I do two seminars if the courses really appeal to me?

I originally signed up for Math 25, but now want to drop down to Math 22. Do I still need to take the verification exam? I wasn't required to take the verification exam when enrolling in Math 25. I included the image of my placement result.

hi all, I have experience in Python, data sci, MV Calc, and linear alg.

Will I be ok taking stats 110. heard it’s tough.

also taking expos 20 and math 22.

thanks!

A few upcoming Harvard events:

Friday, Oct 2

• 8:00 PM - Harvard Band at Harvard VS. Colgate
• 8:00 PM - Harvard University Football vs Colgate University

Friday, Oct 16

• 8:00 PM - Harvard Band at Harvard VS. Holy Cross
• 8:00 PM - Harvard University Football vs Holy Cross

Friday, Oct 23

• 8:00 PM - 2026 Harvard Bands Montage Concert
• 8:00 PM - Harvard Band at Harvard VS. Princeton
• 8:00 PM - Harvard University Football vs Princeton University

Sunday, Oct 25

• 3:00 PM - Bands of the Beanpot Concert

Join your campus community here.

Hello everybody,

I'm a European student currently trying to figure out where I might want to pursue a PhD in the US, and I'd really appreciate some advice from people who are familiar with Harvard's philosophy PhD programme.

My main interests are political philosophy and social theory, particularly 20th-century and contemporary thought. I'm interested in areas such as critical theory, pragmatism, postmodern/post-structuralist theory, and thinkers like Habermas, Rorty, Schmitt, Foucault, etc. I'm still early in my studies, so my interests will probably develop quite a bit over the next few years, but that's roughly the intellectual direction I'm currently interested in.

At the moment, I'm in my second year of a Bachelor's degree in Political Science, and I'm starting my first year of a separate Bachelor's degree in Philosophy. These are two completely separate bachelor's degrees at two different programs, it's not a combined bachelor's, or double-major within one degree which I think makes me somewhat more competitive(?). I'm hoping that having substantial training in both political science and  philosophy could be useful if I eventually apply for a PhD focused on political philosophy/social theory.

I'm currently only a sophomore, so I'm not applying anytime soon. I'm mainly trying to understand the landscape early so I can choose my courses, reading, research interests, and eventually master's/other preparation accordingly.

Thanks!

What are the best / most used dating apps for graduate students (mid 20s to mid 30s)?

Hi does anyone know where you can get poster gum on a weekend (house-wise cause yard ops isn’t open). Thank you!

I just received an saying the mail.harvard.edu alumni account will be retired 1/14/2027. I don't know if I am sad or angry. Is it really expensive to keep this email service?

email I got.

We are writing to inform you of an upcoming change to Harvard's alumni technology services.

Over time, the technology platforms, security requirements, and support models for providing email services have changed significantly. After careful review, Harvard has made the difficult decision to retire the legacy mail.harvard.edu Google platform effective January 14th, 2027.

As a result, access to @mail.harvard.edu email accounts and associated Google Workspace services will end on that date.

We recognize that many alumni have used these accounts for years and may have incorporated them into their professional lives. We understand this change may be disappointing. To provide ample time to prepare, we are sharing this information months in advance and will continue to communicate with you throughout the transition process.

I know final exam schedules are posted October, but what are the chances the current "final exam date/deadline" date listed on my.harvard right now will change? I'm trying to buy flight tickets to go back home and the prices keep rising, so I want to know if I should really buy a flight ticket or not & exam scheduling

Hi everyone! I’m a new graduate student at the GSD and I’m looking for good places around Harvard/Cambridge to study and work, ideally late into the night.

I’m especially interested in spaces that are open very late or 24/7, since I sometimes work better at night.

Any recommendations for libraries, cafés, study spaces, Would really appreciate any suggestions!

Hi! Anyone know of "gemmy" math courses I could take (fall or spring) to fill electives? I have a part time job this year

Hi all,

Is there a platform where cross-enrolled MIT students can view professor/class reviews and ratings? In particular, I’m interested in Math 232AR and Math 223AR (Algebraic Geometry I and Algebraic Number Theory I, respectively). Algebraic Geometry is being taught by Mihnea Popa, and I’d like to know more about his teaching style, grading, etc.

Thanks!

Hi, I was wondering what the photography scene at Harvard is like? Classes, clubs, publication opportunities, both on campus and around the city etc. Any anecdotes are welcome! Thanks 🤞🤞

A few upcoming Harvard events:

Friday, Oct 2

• 8:00 PM - Harvard Band at Harvard VS. Colgate
• 8:00 PM - Harvard University Football vs Colgate University

Friday, Oct 16

• 8:00 PM - Harvard Band at Harvard VS. Holy Cross
• 8:00 PM - Harvard University Football vs Holy Cross

Friday, Oct 23

• 8:00 PM - 2026 Harvard Bands Montage Concert
• 8:00 PM - Harvard Band at Harvard VS. Princeton
• 8:00 PM - Harvard University Football vs Princeton University

Sunday, Oct 25

• 3:00 PM - Bands of the Beanpot Concert

Join your campus community here.

I know it's barely been day 2 of pre-o but I can't help but feel like I don't belong. Everyone seems to click in so easily with each other while I'm struggling to strike up a conversation. Any tips or advice on how I can put myself more out there?

pre o is cool but WHERE AND WHEN THE PARTIES ATT????

I can't be the only one who's been approached by tourists several times and asked where "the big Harvard sign" is

They always give me the surprised Pikachu face when I tell them that isn't a thing lol

EDIT: what they imagined I'd assume

Incoming frosh wondering about party scene; is it mostly house parties in dorms or going out to different schools (I heard MIT frats are popular) or bars. Are there usually lots of parties during orientation week? What is halloweekend like?