Harvard: Roommates
150 words max · ~100 recommended
Top 3 things your roommates might like to know about you.
What it’s really asking
A voice test, and the one people overthink. Harvard wants to hear an actual person, not a fourth essay about your achievements.
Why they ask it
Roommates are the truest test of who you are off paper. They're checking whether you're someone people would want to live with.
Three ways in
The small and true
Habits, obsessions, the thing your friends tease you about. Specific and a little funny beats impressive.
The warmth, slipped in
Show loyalty or kindness through a detail, never by claiming it ('I'm a great friend').
Let it sound spoken
This is the one place a conversational, even joke-y voice is exactly right.
✕ Weak opening
“1. I am very hardworking and dedicated to my studies.”
✓ Strong opening
“1. I narrate what I'm cooking like it's televised, even when it's eggs.”
One: I hum without noticing, usually film scores, and I will absolutely take requests. 1Two: I cook when I am stressed, so before finals our room will smell like my grandmother's garlic soup, and you are obligated to eat it. 2Three: I am a chronic question-asker. 3If you mention you like trains, I will return in an hour with the history of the Tokyo subway map and follow-up questions. I have been told this is either delightful or exhausting, sometimes within the same conversation. 4Fair warning: I will probably learn your hometown's weird local legend before you finish unpacking.
- 1Opening with a small, vivid, slightly funny quirk reads as a real person rather than a resume, which is the whole point of this prompt.
- 2A quirk that doubles as a gift to a roommate shows generosity, hinting at the same care for people Harvard values.
- 3Self-aware framing of a real trait, owning it before they discover it, signals maturity.
- 4Light self-deprecation keeps the curiosity from sounding like bragging and makes the writer likable.
Stuck? Start here
- What do your friends always tease you about?
- What's a small, weird, true habit of yours?
- How do people know you care about them, without you saying it?
Before you submit
- Did you keep achievements out of it entirely?
- Can a reader hear your actual voice?
- Is there one detail that makes you smile?
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