{shortcode-f1906d9bb87db795f5e6861e12e2ea76491331cc} Dear Class of 2029 (aka future Flyby writers),

Welcome to Harvard! We are so glad that we get to be your linguistic guides for your Visitas experience, so make sure to pull out some of these terms to make you blend in as a true… Harvardian? Cantabrigian? Crimson? We might not have a word for a student of Harvard College, but here are 29 words that we know that the Class of 2029 definitely should, too.

1. Berg — Short for Annenberg, where all the first-year students dine on meals ranging from one big boom to five big booms. You’ll make a lot of awkward eye contact here as you search for an open seat. It’s also the site for a much more enjoyable rite of passage: sitting down with random strangers and meeting your new besties!

2. Block — Also known as a blocking group. The group of friends — or hodgepodge of acquaintances — you’ll enter the rising sophomore housing lottery with in the spring. It’s a twisted social experiment that sometimes ends well, sometimes not so much.

3. Brain Break — Free nightly snacks, served from 9 to 11 p.m. on school nights, aka “emotional support carbs.”

4. Cabot — A House in the Quad (see below), but it’s also a library in the Science Center. We know, it’s very confusing.

5. Comp — Allegedly short for either competition or completion (or both!) — the ritual that crushes dreams and builds résumés.

6. Concentration — A fancy word for major. Also a reminder of what you lose during midterms.

7. Consulting — Where half of you will end up, no matter what your concentration or dreams once were or are at the moment.

8. CV — Your résumé, constantly evolving and never emotionally fulfilling.

9. Dhall — Abbreviation for dining hall. Each upperclassman house has its own dhall, though… Some are definitely better than others.

10. Entryway — People who share your door to the outside world (read: brick sidewalks) and your suffering. 20 to 40 souls, one shared WiFi router.

11. Flyby — Misspelled as “FlyBy,” refers to grab-and-go food in the basement of Berg, but it really means the best board of The Harvard Crimson.

12. Gem — A great class you take when your GPA is falling faster than your hopes of a relationship. Low commitment and low effort but high reward.

13. House — Your upperclassman home. Comes with friends, tutors, and more networking opportunities.

14. HUDS — Harvard University Dining Services. Serving food, feelings, and an occasional identity crisis.

15. Lamonster — A creature rumored to live on Lamont Library’s third floor, fueled by sheer desperation and LamCaf (Lamont Café) coffee.

16. MBB — McKinsey, Bain, and Boston Consulting Group. The Holy Trinity of consulting that you will want to sell your soul by sophomore fall, if you don’t already. Or Mind, Brain, and Behavior.

17. Meese — The (non-grammatically correct) plural of “moose.” Also Dunster’s mascot. Don't question it.

18. Noch’s — Short for Pinocchio’s Pizza. Open late, judgment-free, and tastes like salvation at 2 a.m.

19. PAF — Peer Advising Fellow. Paid to be your friend… and somehow (sometimes) actually are.

20. Prehab — Drinking electrolytes before setting out to fight the Sunday Scaries like a champ.

21. (Freshman) Quad — The Radcliffe Quadrangle is for upperclassmen, but the so-called Freshman Quad is composed of three dorms that sit outside of Harvard Yard: Greenough, Hurlbut, and Pennypacker, also known as the Union Dorms. Harvard’s version of exile… with charm.

22. SEC — Science and Engineering Complex. Sleek, shiny, and a soul-sucking Wi-Fi vortex.

23. Section — A mini-class where participation counts for 50 percent of your grade and confusion multiplies.

24. Smith — The Smith Campus Center, the only place where tourists, students, and locals all (at times) peacefully coexist under a single roof. You can find a rooftop garden, a cityscape view, and like five different places to get coffee — the side quests are endless.

25. Stacks — The 57 miles of rows of books and catalogues in Widener Library (or the Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library, if you ask Google Maps). Come for the books; stay for the silence that screams.

26. Tasty Basty — The legendary basement of the Tasty Burger establishment in the Square, where the most frighteningly sad epic parties are thrown.

27. TF — Teaching Fellow. Roughly equivalent to a TA at less pretentious other institutions. Knows everything and also nothing. Honestly more helpful than the professor…

28. Tutor — Fancy word for RA. They're your guide, therapist, and emergency printer all in one.

29. When2Meet — A scheduling tool. Also the reason you now have three overlapping meetings on Wednesdays.

Read the rest of our Visitas 2025 feature here!