With more than 450 student organizations at Harvard, it can be hard to narrow down your search. So, to help you get ready for comp season this fall, the Harvard Independent reached out to students in various pre-professional, academic, creative, athletic, social, and service groups and compiled a (nonexhaustive) list to help you get ready. The following organizations are chosen and listed in no particular order.
Pre-Professional and Academic
Harvard College Consulting Group (HCCG)
The Harvard College Consulting Group, or HCCG, is a student-run consulting club. The comp process starts with an application of short essays about yourself and why you want to join. Next there is a behavioral first-round interview where you talk about yourself and meaningful experiences you believe have prepared you for HCCG. Lastly, the second-round interview requires you to prepare and present slides to respond to a business problem and give advice to a mock client. “The work we do at HCCG has been interesting and has taught me a lot, but the best part of the club has and will always be the people (and the food!),” said Abdu Sahibousidq ’25.
Harvard Student Agencies (HSA)
Harvard Student Agencies is the world’s largest student-run business and is the umbrella company for various branches such as The Harvard Shop, Cleaners & Dorm Essentials, and Trademark Tours. The comp process at HSA involves a short written application and two rounds of in-person interviews.
“I love HSA for many reasons. The opportunity to run a multi-million dollar business as a 20 year old, the 800+ jobs we create for our fellow Harvard undergraduates, and most importantly the people. I’ve met some of my best friends at HSA and it is definitely where I have found my home on campus,” said Juliet Fitzgerald ’25, the incoming HSA President. “From leading strategic planning sessions about the future of our company to carrying microfridges up flights of stairs, working at HSA has made me grow as a young professional and as a leader—I can’t imagine an office I’d have more fun going to every day.”
The Harvard Crimson Business Board (CrimBiz)
Comp for the Harvard Crimson Business Board, or CrimBiz, starts off with an Intro Cocktail, which is an introduction to the Business Board and a meet-and-greet with Board members. CrimBiz then hosts three skill-centered workshops to display different departments within the Business Board. These workshops are group-oriented and emphasize teamwork. Coffee chats and daymanning (office time) happen throughout the comp. Finally, compers apply through an application form, and the Board holds two rounds of interviews.
“I like CrimBiz because it’s a very scrappy and innovative environment where an entrepreneurial spirit runs a 150-year old institution. I love that I get to play a part in strategically supporting the mission of a student-run newspaper that has the power to change the future of Harvard,” said Libby Wu ’24, a Marketing Manager on the Business Board. “I met some of my best friends through the Business Board, and I’ve gotten great professional experience from here, but most of all, it’s a place where I can always laugh and be myself.”
Intercollegiate Model United Nations Team (ICMUN)
ICMUN, the Intercollegiate Model United Nations Team, is Harvard’s competitive Model UN team. The comp process is competitive, where compers submit a written application through the International Relations Council. Next, they go through an interview process with a panel of ICMUN board members. Finally, compers attend a full day mock conference in which they compete against other compers. The process is split between experienced and new MUN competitors to create a fair process.
“For me, ICMUN has been an incredible social community, bonding with people from all around campus of all years with unique backgrounds and interests,” said Alice Yang ’26, a member of ICMUN. “Through weekly themed socials and free travel to conferences, I’ve met and bonded with these amazing people from Harvard and colleges across the US. It is a family that has your back no matter what happens. It is a place where you are encouraged to be who you are and to do what you want, whether it be real or in your imagination.”
Creative and Performing Arts
The Harvard Crimson Arts Board (Crimson Arts)
To join the Harvard Crimson Arts Board (or Crimson Arts), compers take part in a completion-based comp where they write a total of 6 pieces during the semester and attend weekly meetings. Each comper’s portfolio must cover a variety of arts topics, including (but not limited to) Film, TV, and an Artist Profile (an interview and write-up).
“The comp isn’t strenuous if you’re good about writing pieces consistently throughout the semester, and it’s really cool that your pieces get published, even as a comper! As a Staff Writer now, I particularly enjoy writing reviews every so often on movies or TV shows I watch. One of my favorite Crimson Arts experiences was an Artist Profile I wrote after interviewing the writer of a new Star Wars TV show on Disney+,” said Kieran Farrell ’25.
The Harvard Lampoon (The Lampoon)
The Harvard Lampoon, founded in 1876, is Harvard College’s humor magazine. “Comping was a movie. Comp if you’re funny,” said Caden Heiser-Cerrato ’26. (Apologies if you were looking for insights.)
The Harvard LowKeys (The LowKeys)
The Harvard Undergraduate LowKeys is an a cappella group that holds a multi-round audition process every fall with preliminary auditions open to everyone. Then, there are three rounds of cuts. If you make it to the final night of callbacks for the LowKeys or any other a cappella groups, you have the opportunity to preference your remaining groups in your preferred order. All the a cappella groups sort their remaining auditionees based on both auditionee and group preferences.
“A cappella at Harvard has not only been a transformative musical journey but a wonderful way to meet other members of the Harvard community who will have shaped my experience here in such a positive manner,” said Emily Hansen ’25.
Athletic
Harvard Men’s Lacrosse Club is open to players of all experience levels, including people who have never seen the sport. To join, send a message via SOCO and you will be added to the GroupMe, where they communicate the practice schedule, game schedule, and social calendar.
“I’ve been part of Club Lax since freshman year and have yet to find a more laid back and welcoming group of guys on campus,” said Chris Doyle ’25. “The team borders on being a social team that happens to play lacrosse, but that’s what I love most about it. No one on the team takes themselves too seriously, as evidenced by some of our ridiculous inside jokes like wolf-and-sheep-themed mixers and wearing fedoras…everyone knows how to have a good time.”
Harvard Women’s Lacrosse Club is a completion-based comp. They host two practices each week, and members must attend at least one per week. There is a “tryout” period at the beginning of the season where attendance is taken. They do not require a certain level of skill; anyone is able to join. “Club has been a great way for me to meet new people, broaden my horizons, and get to continue playing the sport I love,” said Katharine Forst ’25.
Harvard Men’s Club Soccer is a competitive club team that holds two rounds of tryouts on the first weekend of school. “It’s a great environment that’s a home for me on campus while still being a very competitive team. Club Soccer has been my favorite athletic space on campus,” said Thomas Garity ’25.
Social and Service Organizations
The Crimson Key Society is a community service organization that guides tours and hosts events for Harvard visitors. Key comp is split into two rounds. The first round is a presentation of a single tour stop of the comper’s choosing, and the second round is a presentation of the entire tour to a current member. The goal of this is for the tours to be special for each person, as they ask compers to write their own scripts based on a list of facts Key provides. “We’re really looking for your unique voice to shine through,” said Rick Li ’25, a member of Key.
“One of the biggest reasons I love Key is because of Project Teach. We give tours to middle school students from Cambridge and Boston Public Schools and then eat with them in Annenberg afterwards,” Li said. “It’s the smiles on the kids’ faces as you show them the conduit of sound at Sever or the way their eyes light up when they see the ‘Harry Potter cafeteria’ for the first time. It’s worth every single 8AM Friday morning.”
Asian American Brotherhood (AAB)
To join the Asian-American Brotherhood, or AAB, all recruits are required to get a one-on-one meal, or alternatively a one-on-one event, with every brother in the organization. Additional, large-group events are hosted as well for recruits to get to know brothers in different settings, such as service events, outings, basketball, and more.
“AAB has been one of the most impactful groups I’ve joined on campus,” said Aidan Chen ’26. “It functions as its own tight-knit community in that everyone is family to you. In promoting Asian American solidarity, it has also allowed me to engage in service and activism with other like minded individuals.”
Organization of Asian American Sisters in Service (OAASIS)
The comp process for Organization of Asian American Sisters in Service, or OAASIS, is open to students of all genders and racial identities. The comp takes place over the course of four and a half weeks in which compers must meet three requirements: meeting one-on-one with every current member in the organization, engaging in various group activities (volunteering, casual hangouts, and deep discussions about the Asian experience in multi-generational terms), and a written application in which compers are to reflect on their experience with comp and how they envision themselves contributing to OAASIS. At the end of comp, the members of OAASIS will gather to vote on each comper, and those who receive a unanimous vote will be extended an invitation to join OAASIS. While there is no hard cap on the number of people accepted in each comp class, the nature of the unanimous vote does form an organic upper bound.
“Growing up in a predominantly white neighborhood, I was rarely given the platform or opportunity to explore my identity, or what it even means to be ‘Asian,’” said Ally Chun ’25, the Sisterhood Chair for OAASIS. “Entering Harvard, where I was exposed to so many different cultures and walks of life, motivated me to actively seek out organizations that allowed me to explore my Asian-American identity. In my freshman year, I decided to comp OAASIS, and I met a group of extremely interesting and empowering Asian-American women who have provided me with lasting wisdom and advice both within and outside of the Harvard bubble, and have allowed me to become more comfortable in discussing difficult topics surrounding my identity.”
Last but certainly not least…
The Harvard Independent (the Indy)
The Harvard Independent, also known as the Indy, is Harvard’s oldest weekly undergraduate newspaper founded in 1969. There are three boards: editorial, design, and business, and compers are able to try out more than one at a time. Compers attend weekly meetings, get to know board and publication members, and immediately have the opportunity to contribute to the Independent through writing published articles, contributing art designs, and completing business tasks.
Writer’s Note: I think what differentiates the Indy is its open-mindedness and creativity. The editors I have worked with are incredibly supportive of any ideas you want to pursue and topics you want to write about. I’m grateful to the Indy for giving me a space to stay in touch with my love for writing and journalism and for the wonderful people I’ve met through the club.
Caroline Hao ’25 (carolinehao@college.harvard.edu) writes News for the Independent.