Late-night backrubs, flowers after you've completed a killer test and a warm hand to hold on the long cold walk to Tommy's are the things that Harvard students dream about. How many times during the last exam period did you wish that you had someone besides your equally deranged roommates to cry to? All this could be yours, but only if you act fast. Get into those Core classes today, tomorrow and every day until add/drop deadline.

The longer you stick around in Sanders Theatre or Lowell Lecture Hall--two prime pick-up locations--the bigger your chances of dating success. Use lines like, "Hey, didn't I see you shopping Fairy Tales last year? I'd love to be your white knight." Or make small talk while waiting outside an overcrowded classroom: "Hey, doesn't it suck waiting out here where we can't even hear the professor read the syllabus to us? Let's go get coffee and read it to each other."

If none of these pick-up lines work, try some old fashioned body language--catch someone's eye, hold it for a moment, smile and see what happens. If all else fails, simply say, "Hey, I didn't get a copy of the syllabus, could you e-mail me the first reading assignment? I really don't want to get behind." At the very least you've established a connection between you and the object of your affection and an e-mail conversation that you can agonize over for hours as you try to craft the perfect thank you. But don't agonize for too long--time is fleeting and shopping period will be over only too soon.

Given the strict time frame, it's no wonder that all these students have taken to heart the maxim about first impressions--you only get one chance. Well, until next semester and next shopping period, in any case.