Great Expectations

So they got here and they met their roommates and they went to the Mixer. They chose classes and turned in problem sets, weathered mid-terms and discovered Elsie's. Life began to settle down a bit. But to the freshmen it's still Harvard. And apparently it's one of the greatest, most exciting places on earth.

Faced suddenly with their first vacation and prospect of eager, inquisitive parents, the freshmen reflect on the first three months in the Yard. What they say will make Mom and Dad very happy. Especially at $10,000 a head.

"Sometimes it's like we're walking around in a dream world," Amy Chua says of her first few months here. "And then you wake up and you say, 'I can't believe I'm at one of the greatest colleges in the world."

"I expected everyone to be boring," she continues. "You know, the glasses-and-books type. But there's a big variety. People are really interesting."

Sitting in the exclusive "round room," others disagree. One freshman laments the fact that no one is as "impressive" as he had hoped. Robert Ulin echoes the idea, but with less frustration. "There are more regular guys here than I expected," he says, adding that he likes school this year better than any other.

Coming from a family of quite a few Harvard graduates, Ed Franklin entered the University wary of the "snooty and close-minded" atmosphere here. But he happily reports that he has found a "relaxed, laid-back" home away from home. For example, he says, "Friends cover up for me when I'm someplace I shouldn't be with some one I shouldn't be with."

Ted Scovell also revels in a new-found camaraderie. "The shaving cream fights are a lot better than I expected," he says. His roommate. who had the distinction of being named the "Scholar-athlete" of Maryland last year, chimes in: "I didn't really expect anything. I guess I expected the food to be better. The food is awful."

Happy Days

Chua and one of her roommates, Susannah Gardiner, wanted to know what it felt like to be obese. So one night at 3 a.m., they stuffed pillows in their clothes and put on their down jackets and went jogging. Now they know what it feels like to be obese. They eat less at the Union these days.

Another time, the rooming group caught the attention of a Harvard policeman, who saw them running frantically across the Yard. When he stopped them, they had to tell him they were hysterical because they had seen a cockroach "big enough to saddle" in their room. "Somedays we just don't stop laughing," Gardiner says.

Jeff Forman, who notes that Canaday is the best place to live on campus because the floors are carpeted, has had a few pretty hysterical memories himself. Like the old toothpaste-on-the-doorknob-to-gross-out-your-roommate routine. It backfired. "Don't put toothpaste on your doorknob," he warns. "See, it's got sugar in it and it hardens and then you can't get the key in."

Because of the high price of airfare, Calvin Ho will not be going home to San Diego to tell funny Harvard stories. Not that he doesn't have any: "The first time it snowed, it was so cold and so white, I really didn't know what to do." He can't remember ever seeing snow before.

"So I ran into my roommate's room and woke him up. I had to ask him what to do, what to wear. He said to take it easy, and I'd get used to it. I did, but it was a shock."

The Guys Downstairs