The pandemic disrupted social continuity at every single high school across the nation. High school seniors who graduated in 2020 experienced a send-off like no other — which is to say, not much of a send-off at all! The students who ended up at Harvard University are no exception (even if they are pretty exceptional in many other regards!). The Harvard Gazette profiled members of the Class of 2024, many of whom were pining for a taste of this conventional American high school tradition that was withheld from them. “‘If you speak to most students in the Class of ’24 — not just at Harvard, but around the country — the lack of closure to high school and the difficult start to college makes people feel like they’re lacking something,’ said Class of 2024 first marshal Fez S. Zafar, a government concentrator from Iowa.”

There you have it. Even the students at Harvard felt the loss of their 2020 senior prom. Luckily for them, Harvard’s campus is replete with extravagant opportunities for partying and socializing. Some of them, like the infamous Harvard Final Clubs, don’t come without their fair share of controversy. Other organizations, like the Signet Society or the Dudley Co-Op, are havens for LGBTQ students on campus who may not feel they fit into the club scene. Either way, formality reigns supreme on campus. It’s not uncommon to see the same students who sport athleisure to their lectures to put on their Sunday best for yet another party at whichever Final Club or social org is throwing that weekend. Sometimes, the stereotypes about this elitist epicenter of the Ivy League are true!

Members of this highly mythologized institution do not need much of an excuse to throw on a tux and drink champagne. When students are not dancing the night away in off-campus spaces, they can often be found attending one of the many lavish balls thrown in Harvard’s various houses, including a Yule Ball hosted in Lowell Library that puts the gathering of the very same name each year at Hogwarts to shame!

Harvard’s Class of 2024 Was Rewarded With a Senior Prom to Revive Their High School Graduation

Even though this culture of formal get-togethers means Harvard students have a steady supply of prom-like parties to attend, that doesn’t mean the Class of 2024 didn’t crave the senior prom they had largely been withheld from four years earlier. As The Harvard Gazette reports, “That meant throwing a series of gatherings, not just on campus but also at venues in Boston. It also meant heeding calls to host something like a prom. Demand was high for the April 25 event, held at a nightclub near Boston’s Government Center. The tickets, which ranged from $20 to $40, sold quickly.”

For a campus that notoriously balks at the suggestion that they should leave their Harvard bubble and venture out across the Charles and into the city of Boston, it’s pretty remarkable that this renewed senior prom drew the enthusiasm it did. We commend Harvard’s students, who endured quite a turbulent senior year, for powering through. It shows that an elite education pays off in more ways than one. 

How Ivy Coach Helps Students Make It Into That Little School Outside Boston

That’s why we at Ivy Coach are very proud of our client batting average for the world’s most prestigious university. Of all our package clients in the last five years, 93% were admitted to Harvard in the Early Action round.

If you would like to optimize your odds of admission to this prestigious Ivy League school, fill out our complimentary consultation form, and we’ll contact you.