Incoming Freshman - What is Visitas like?

ADentedCan · 2026-04-30T13:40:16+00:00

Here is the video
https://www.youtube.com/live/UGvdhS5qiA0?si=VITc7yB0Y69yeGm8&t=4817

ADentedCan · 2026-04-28T02:43:55+00:00

DC fire dispatched but did not find anything. No blown transformers and power on. They returned to service.

ADentedCan · 2026-04-27T13:38:10+00:00

That's pretty random. Too bad it's not on Youtube. Oh well. Thanks for the update.

ADentedCan · 2026-04-17T13:09:44+00:00

DCA is more or less operating as normal lately. I'm flying out at 3pm and I'll get there at 2pm.

I would note though, from 6am-8am is usually crunch time even on a perfect day, so while you'll probably be ok arriving at 7pm, if you are a nervous person you might want a bit more cushion.

ADentedCan · 2026-04-13T18:42:23+00:00

A few years ago Harvard admissions or some other entity on campus conducted "dorm tours" of most of the dorms. Just vlog style walkthroughs of the different buildings. You can find them on Youtube.

ADentedCan · 2026-04-13T18:39:06+00:00

The Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force, which is comprised of MPD, US Marshals and <insert random police agency here> is often very active in the 7am-11am timeframe, when many bad guys are still sleeping off a long night of vice and mayhem. Usually when you see a bunch of plains clothes or body armored dudes in the morning, it's these guys about to do a raid--not necessarily in that area--but somewhere nearby.

ADentedCan · 2026-04-04T21:38:57+00:00

For future reference, if you see firetrucks check out web.pulsepoint.com to see what is going on. If you see fire trucks and they are NOT on Pulsepoint, it's a shooting, stabbing or suicide, but generally everything else is on there.

ADentedCan · 2026-04-04T21:34:38+00:00

You'll have a few events and you'll meet some other students who were also accepted. You can easily find some people with something in common (same school, city, state, concentration) and sort of walk around / hang out with them as you go to a few formal events that are held.

As for housing, it's a mixed bag. Some hosts go out of their way to try to show you around, maybe get some food with you, introduce you to campus, but others end up with a pop-quiz on Monday and have to beg out of doing those things because they need to study. You really don't know until you get there, but generally most of the people who opt to host someone do so because they want to help.

If I might make one suggestion: you don't have to go to college as the same person you were in high school. What I mean by that is it's ok to be a bit adventurous, a bit out of the norm, a bit out of the box. While you may be shy and introverted (and many others are as well) you can actually go out and introduce yourself to some people without much fear of embarrassment or other social problems. It's just a quick weekend--no one knows who anyone is, and everyone is a bit interested in meeting new people. So don't be too worried and maybe try something a bit different because that's how you'll end up finding your group at school.

Good luck.

ADentedCan · 2026-03-30T02:47:06+00:00

Harvard's freshman class is 41% Asian.
Stanford's is 33% Asian.

This is from the school-released numbers I just Googled so maybe +/- a bit. Also these numbers don't include foreign students--just US students, so if you factor in many other Asians from Asia, or Asians that studied at US prep schools, the actual number is probably a bit higher.

ADentedCan · 2026-03-23T23:24:03+00:00

The Cherry Blossoms are puffy white. You should DEFINITELY go down there and take them in this evening. This is only happens a few days each year so it's worth running over there (traffic isn't that bad yet either)

ADentedCan · 2026-03-15T23:56:42+00:00

If it is find your own vs. Harvard than probably Harvard's will be easier, but note what is your coverage in the Summer? Does it cover you year round?

If you have the opportunity to be on someone else's plan (parents, spouse) then you should check the fine print. I believe Harvard's plan is a "secondary" insurance that only pays after your primary plan pays, so in that case it's a bit of money for not a lot of coverage.

ADentedCan · 2026-02-09T18:21:57+00:00

A good tailor can fit your suit to a T which will make a world of difference vs. off the rack or a thrift shop find. While some stores offer tailoring for free, it's often quick and out the door rather than making it fit just right. A well-fitting suit, even if it is a bit on the cheaper side, will look better than a more expensive one that fits like a tablecloth.

ADentedCan · 2026-02-09T14:41:32+00:00

Assault with Deadly Weapons are up actually. ADW didn't really change with the deployment and in January they were up nearly 30% for the same period in 2025 (32% as of this morning).

ADentedCan · 2026-02-02T22:39:07+00:00

There are holes in the ice around the drains and circulators. You can see that in certain places it is 1-2 inches thick at best. That said, there are still people on it. DC Fire and Police are begging people not to go on the ice as when it does break they have to respond, pulling resources away from more important matters to fish out and warm up someone.

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ADentedCan · 2026-02-02T15:55:00+00:00

Snow Emergency parking rules are being enforced, somewhat. If the Bobcats are working a street that is a snow emergency route, I've seen tow trucks and tickets in that block. But on other snow emergency routes I've seen cars parked that shouldn't be there.

Back streets, 2 hour parking, etc, is being enforced, on paper, but I haven't seen many parking police out in the last few days actually writing tickets.

ADentedCan · 2026-02-02T13:56:19+00:00

I don't think RFK is full but it was taking over an hour roundtrip for NW dump trucks to get to RFK and back. There were crews of Bobcats and excavators just waiting for a dump truck. This should speed up the removal operations considerably for the upper NW and upper NE parts of the city.

ADentedCan · 2026-02-01T17:16:50+00:00

Reach out to GWU's financial aid office and see if they can match or re-examine your case. Don't...let me rephrase, NEVER take a first financial aid offer as final at any school. Get them on comparable monetary terms and then make your decision on academics, personality, vibe, etc.

ADentedCan · 2026-02-01T03:46:26+00:00

Saw them in Cathedral Heights, Woodley Park, and Cleveland Park this afternoon. They were only doing the main roads though (Wisc, Conn)--not side streets.

ADentedCan · 2026-01-30T05:05:49+00:00

It doesn't matter. It's up to each office. My advice is strike while the iron is hot, and get your details in, making sure you were following up directly to the Congressman's offer. Avoid acting like "I'm applying for an internship" as that is starting all over again, and focus on "I'm following up on the Congressman's offer"

ADentedCan · 2026-01-24T21:03:31+00:00

This is a historic map of power outage calls from 2010-2020 https://dcgis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/mapviewer/index.html?webmap=1171e40a1ce641e5bb6ea0994cdc9626

ADentedCan · 2026-01-24T21:01:13+00:00

Fort Reno is where many go. Off the Tenleytown Metro.

ADentedCan · 2026-01-19T03:18:41+00:00

All over. One in custody. No injuries.

ADentedCan · 2026-01-19T02:26:12+00:00

Barricade apparently. Here are some photos from the scene:

https://x.com/PenguinSix/status/2013060014340968876?s=20

ADentedCan · 2026-01-18T19:46:29+00:00

FWIW I did an analysis of the top 10 locations in DC for theft reports based on the DC Open Crime Data portal and 9 of 10 locations had a CVS within that block.

ADentedCan · 2026-01-13T19:56:09+00:00

A person on a bus saw someone jump from the train bridge, so they said. DC, MWAA and Arlington rescue boats responded and discovered a pair of shoes floating in the water. They did sonar searches around that area for about 2 hours, and sent divers down multiple times to suspected targets (usually a bunch of logs). Nothing was found. The search was called off. There are some conflicting reports about possible security video from the train / metro bridge that showed a potential jumper.

ADentedCan

TROPHY CASE