Every tourist goes on a campus tour, wanders through Harvard Yard, and rubs John Harvard’s foot.

They don’t know what they’re missing.

There are a lot of great spots on Harvard’s campus that tourists don’t really know about, and are much more relaxed, beautiful, and chill than the usual tour stops.

My favorite underrated, publicly accessible places at Harvard are (in no particular order):

A view of Eliot House (an undergraduate dorm) from across the Charles River (Image Source)

1. The Charles River

Taking a stroll down the Charles River front can be a beautiful experience during the spring, summer, and fall. Walking along the River near campus, you’ll be able to see most of the River Houses (e.g. Eliot, Dunster, Winthrop). Crossing the River will get you to the Business School, which has even more beautiful architecture and grassy lawns than the red brick undergraduate dorms across the River.

Food trucks and tables full of students studying between classes crowd the Science Center Plaza at noon. (Image Source)

2. The Science Center Plaza

There’s seemingly always something happening on the Plaza, whether its the bevy of delicious food trucks selling lunch every day or the random events that Harvard hosts as part of its Common Spaces initiative. There’s also a local farmer’s market every week, and many student organizations host events/activities in the Plaza. If you come at the right time you might stumble on something fun happening!

A collection of Enlightenment-era scientific instruments which helped revolutionize humanity’s understanding of the world, on display in the Science Center (Image Source)

3. The Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments.

Hidden in the Science Center, this small museum has a really cool assortment of scientific instruments that you won’t be able to find anywhere else. It’s usually pretty empty and not many students even know about it, so definitely recommend checking out this hidden gem while on campus.

Radcliffe Yard (Image Source)

4. Radcliffe Yard.

This is where Admissions tours are handled, so you may stumble across this picturesque part of Harvard’s campus anyway. If not, I definitely recommend walking through Radcliffe Yard. I have never seen such perfectly manicured lawns in my life. It used to be Radcliffe College before the two institutions merged to become just “Harvard.” Now, it is the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. (Note: Some students incorrectly refer to this as the “Radcliffe Quad.” It is not, however, the same as the “Quad” that most Harvard students reference — the other “Quad” is a 15 minute walk away, and houses upperclass dorms).

Langdell Hall, the Law School’s main library, is the largest academic law library in the world and the largest building on the Law School campus. (Image Source)

5. Law School / Business School campus

Though on opposite ends of campus (the Law School is north of Harvard Yard, while the Business School is across the Charles River to the south of campus), it would be a mistake not to visit these two graduate school campuses while visiting Harvard College. You won’t be able to enter the buildings, but the lawns and campus spaces are beautiful to walk through nonetheless.

Artifact on display in Harvard’s Peabody Museum. (Image Source)

6. The Peabody Museum

This is more widely known, but most tour groups don’t stop by there for some reason. One of the world’s oldest museums focusing on anthropology, you should make sure you check out the Peabody’s world famous archaeological exhibits while you’re on campus.

Glass flowers on display at the Harvard Museum of Natural History (Image Source)

7. Harvard Museum of Natural History

This museum houses arguably the most famous exhibit on Harvard’s campus, Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka’s “Glass Flowers.” The exhibit is a collection of over 4,300 meticulously crafted glass replications of over 780 plant species. Again, most students won’t take advantage of this during their time at Harvard, but having gone I can say with 100% confidence that you’ll be missing out if you don’t pay this exhibit a visit.

Portrait of President George Washington, housed in the Harvard Art Museum. (Image Source)

8. Harvard Art Museum

Harvard technically has three separate art museums (the Fogg, Busch-Reisinger, and Sackler). However, their collections were combined into one building, and thus functionally they are the same museum. The Harvard Art Museum is a beautiful building, and is usually pretty quiet — students usually only come there to study, attend lectures in the basement, or look at art for a seminar. There aren’t a ton of publicly displayed pieces, but the collection spans several floors and can make for an enjoyable afternoon.

1. Take a Few Days Off

Being waitlisted in March or April can be incredibly frustrating. After fervently crafting your application for months, there is no easy way to accept being told to wait even longer for a clear decision.

It is important to take some time off from thinking about college -- hang out with your friends, pick up a book you’ve been meaning to read, or take a much needed nap.

Acting immediately will not make the waitlist move any faster, or move at all, so ensuring you are in a positive headspace is the best first step to take.

2. Assess Your Other Options

It is more than likely you have a wealth of other college options to consider from the regular decision round. Attend prospective student events if offered, reach out to friends who attend schools you have been accepted to, or even purchase an article of school swag.

It is important to get excited about the options you have and ultimately select an option to put a deposit down. You can always unenroll if you are taken off the waitlist, but failing to put a deposit down can land you in hot water in terms of enrollment down the line.

3. Patiently Submit Additional Materials

Quality over quantity is the best motto to adopt when on the waitlist. By waitlisting you, a school is already admitting that you would be a fantastic addition to their school. After taking a few weeks away from the college grind, review your application and see if there are any additional materials that can shed light on a new aspect of your candidacy.

The two most common options for additional materials are submitting a Letter of Continued Interest (LOCI) or an additional letter of recommendation.

However, some schools do not allow waitlisted candidates to submit supplemental materials, so be sure to check your admission’s portal for waitlist expectations.

A LOCI should be a simple one-pager addressed to a school’s admissions office that begins with a brief paragraph stating your desire to attend if accepted. It is then crucial to list 3-5 bullet points of new developments in your candidacy since submission that you would like to bring to the attention for the school.

Content may range from extracurricular accolades accomplished during senior year to personal circumstances that have recently changed. It is incredibly important that these new pieces of information are unique from what you included in your application. If you cannot come up with enough new information, then it may make sense to submit an additional letter of recommendation.

If you decide to submit an additional letter of recommendation, you must ensure that the individual who writes it can speak to different elements of your candidacy than the two letters of recommendation you submitted in your Common Application.

For example, a student who received a letter of recommendation from their English and Science teachers should approach an athletics coach, dance instructor, or volunteering supervisor instead of another subject teacher. Be sure to choose someone who actually knows you -- many students will try to choose the most prestigious person they know to boost their applications, when a letter spoken from the heart will go farther in practice.

Ultimately, the waitlist is a black box. Be sure to keep up your grades, spend time building excitement towards your accepted schools, and enjoy senior year. If you would like a member of Veritas Essays waitlist team to review your LOCI, check out our services!

We asked our team of Ivy League editors:

If you could spend just 1 hour as a student at each of the 8 Ivy League schools, what would you do at each one?

Here are their answers.

Harvard

As a student at Harvard, I’ve been lucky enough to spend multiple hours in Cambridge! However, if left just one, I would go see some of the amazing speakers that draw huge crowds weekly. As a professor once remarked to me: “You come to Harvard and the world comes to you.”

Yale

Being stuck in the middle of New Haven, CT doesn’t mean there aren’t amazing things going on at campus. I would go browse the shelves at Beinecke Rare Books Library.

Dartmouth

Dartmouth is often thought of as the inspiration for Animal House but surprisingly offers amazing opportunities that don’t involve binge-drinking. In an hour, I would check out the HOP (Hopkins Center for the Arts) and see a show.

Columbia

Despite being in NYC, Columbia’s breathtaking campus is a sight in itself. Not to copy my answer for Yale, but Butler Library is far and away the most enticing building on campus. I’d grab a cup of coffee at the library’s cafe and do some people watching!

Princeton

At Princeton, I would visit a spot at Whitman College that is known for its echo effect. As explained by a student:

If you have a chance, swing by the north Whitman courtyard and have some fun shouting at yourself! Just find this circle of steps, stand right in the middle of the black plaque, face out into the courtyard, start talking really loudly, and you'll be pleasantly surprised by an echo ringing back to you.

University of Pennsylvania

The University of Pennsylvania hosts WXPN 88.5 FM , a listener supported radio broadcast from its campus. I would check out the student interns and staff members that keep the station running.

Brown

At Brown, I would head to the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society (IBES). IBES researches Conservation Science, Land Change Science, Climate Science, Environmental Health, and Institutions and Human Behavior — and their building is pretty awesome as well!

Cornell

With it being winter in cold Ithaca, I would partake in a student tradition and go sledding on Libe Slope. Pictured below, it offers the perfect trajectory for a fun snowy ride!