Ah, yes. Comp season. The part of the semester that re-awakens most clubs and reminds us all which email lists we signed up for. Whether the process of applying to a Harvard club lasts the entire semester or just a few weeks, it can be a daunting task. The word comp itself stands for competency, and the purpose of the requirements and often tedious tasks is to prove just that. Yet oftentimes this isn’t truly the case. Hear from the members of Harvard’s most popular clubs to see how their comp processes fared against the rumors spread about them.
Crimson Key Society (CKS)
Let’s start things out with Harvard’s premier community service organization: Crimson Key. No less than a hundred student organizations at the College are classified as public service, including Phillips Brooks House, Project Access, Harvard College Social Enterprise Association. What separates Crimson Key from the rest of these groups is its specialization in hosting Harvard tours and welcoming first-year students and their families to campus. Current member Daniyal Sachee ’23 explains that its extensive comp process selects their renowned Harvard tour guides.
The first round consists of a short written application, group interview, and a roughly three minute memorized tour stop of any campus building. The first round of the process “lacks much direction and guidance in terms of expectations,” says Sachee. One of the hardest parts of preparing a tour of Harvard is preparing yourself for the questions you can’t actually prepare for. As part of the mock tour process, Crimson Key members will ask compers questions about the College, including its final clubs, admissions process, and other discrete subjects that can put the tour guide on the spot. In the second round of the application process, each CKS comper is assigned a current member to assist with the creation and memorization of an hour-long memorized tour stop.
Once a comper is admitted, their time commitment to the club peaks during the first-year move-in week and whenever tours are needed. Overall, Sachee isn’t shy to express his satisfaction and pride to be a member of Crimson Key, and promises that being a member is in fact worth the comp.
Harvard College Consulting Group (HCCG)
On a perhaps more extreme scale is the Harvard College Consulting Group, a student-run non-profit organization that works with real-world companies on real-world issues. They’re most known for solving strategic problems for clients such as Snapchat, Reebok, Louis Vuitton, and American Cancer Society, and the requirements to join such a high-profile program don’t fail to impress, either.
“During the comp process, I dedicated a lot of my time and wasn’t really sleeping,” says one HCCG member. “I was working, for around six hours a day, on making a deck to solve the problems outlined by the interviewers.”
HCCG is known for its competitive acceptance rate—less than 10% of applicants are admitted, which has both benefits and drawbacks. In a community like Harvard, where many students are accustomed to being the top at their sport, class, or extracurricular, failure is a novelty.
“Too many people have never seen failure, which is why I’m not sure if the level of extreme competition is necessarily a bad thing,” says this HCCG member. “The point of a successful consulting group is that you want it to be qualified and tight-knit.”
Yet this member also recognizes the negative aspects of such competitiveness. “The competition is to the point that it makes HCCG out to be a club that’s only available to students who have previous work experience or who come from prep schools that give them a finance background, which is false,” they say.
Once a comper is admitted, their weekly requirements do not decrease as much as they do in Crimson Key. HCCG members are expected to commit around ten hours a week on meeting with their case teams and calling clients. But for the social connections gained, the HCCG member admits that joining the club was worth it.
Comping a club can sometimes feel like taking a fifth class. This often weeds out the truly committed compers from those who got a little too excited at the club fair.
Harvard FIG
Harvard’s only fashion magazine runs a shorter and less time-expensive comp that allows aspiring members to hit the ground running. The comp consists of three weeks of one-hour meetings where compers can come up with ideas for editorials, write small pieces, and do photoshoots. “The whole goal of the comping process of FIG is to introduce compers to what making a magazine, writing and thinking about fashion, and dialoguing with the industry can look like,” says Sarah Lightbody ’22, current Editor in Chief of FIG. “Compers immediately get the chance to contribute to the magazine and make lasting impacts on the organization.”
Harvard Undergraduate Law Review (HULR)
The Harvard Undergraduate Law Review offers an ever more concise comp process: those interested in joining need only fill out a Google form with their legal interests and submit a writing sample. Once the HULR board goes through each applicant and approves qualified writers and advocates of legislative study, new members are required to write two short articles and then can start writing for the Review. Unlike other clubs, the time commitment is simply dependent on how much each writer wants to participate. HULR writer Lucas Gazianis ’24 expresses his appreciation for this individualized contribution approach. “What I like most about HULR is that I can write on my own terms. Having flexibility to address whatever issue is pressing or that speaks to me is really important,” he says.
The Harvard Investment Association (HIA)
At the Harvard Investment Association, the College’s oldest finance organization, comping is “designed to be super accessible for every student,” says co-chair Steve Cox ’23. The club guides students through a number of employer networking events, job postings, and a student mentorship program, with the aim of helping students navigate the finance world.
Compers must attend hour-long meetings each week and present a stock pitch at the end of the process, usually around Thanksgiving Break. Cox hopes to advertise HIA to more first-year students considering its reliability as an introduction to the world of finance. The entire executive board of HIA is made of members who came to Harvard without investing experience, which reveals the club’s ability to develop students into finance experts.
At Harvard, it’s generally understood that gaining admission to a club justifies the means to get there. Whether students must write articles and stock pitches, manage meeting attendances, or sell advertisements, comping a club can sometimes feel like taking a fifth class. This often weeds out the truly committed compers from those who got a little too excited at the club fair. But Harvard offers unlimited opportunities for students to find their ideal extracurricular outlets. Whether you want to push yourself beyond class requirements and test your talents against your peers, or are just looking to learn a new skill and meet new people, there’s a club and a comp for everyone on campus.
Marbella Marlo ’24 (mmarlo@college.harvard.edu) is the Managing Editor of the Independent.