By Amy L. Jia and Luke W. Vrotsos

A year after Harvard’s historic sanctions on members of single-gender final clubs and Greek organizations took effect with the Class of 2021, the percentage of freshmen interested in joining a social group has reached its lowest point since The Crimson began surveying incoming classes four years ago.

Just 7 percent of freshman respondents said they are “very interested” in joining a social group, while 17 percent said they are “somewhat interested” — in total, meaning roughly one in four members of the Class of 2022 have some interest in joining a fraternity or final club.

This marks a slight decrease from last year — when 28 percent of the Class of 2021 indicated interest — and a steeper decline from the year before, when 37 percent of the Class of 2020 did so. Nearly half of the Class of 2022 — 46 percent — stated they are “not at all interested,” marking the highest level of apathy in the history of The Crimson’s survey. Nearly a third of respondents said Harvard’s penalties caused them to view campus social groups in a less favorable light.

The College’s sanctions, debuted in May 2016, bar members of single-gender final clubs and Greek organizations from campus leadership positions, varsity team captaincies, and from receiving Harvard endorsement for certain prestigious fellowships like the Rhodes. Though controversial, the penalties appear to be effective — numerous all-male and all-female groups have gone co-ed in the past two years. The Crimson reported last month that the final three all-female holdouts had agreed to accept members of all genders, leaving Harvard’s campus without women’s-only social groups.

Each year, as incoming students start packing for their first year at the College, The Crimson emails each class member asking them to fill out a survey. The anonymous questionnaire asks several questions on topics ranging from their religious views to their sex lives to their opinions of current campus and political affairs. Of the 1,661-member class, 1,064 freshmen responded, representing roughly 64 percent of the class. The Crimson did not adjust the survey results for any possible selection bias.

This second installation of The Crimson’s three-part series on the Class of 2022 examines students’ academic and extracurricular interests, and their experiences both in and outside of their pre-college classrooms.

Academics

Consistent with last year’s survey, Economics, Government, and Computer Science remained the three concentrations most popular with surveyed students. Nearly one-third of respondents reported an interest in one of these fields.

The academic inclinations of this year’s survey respondents match well with reported trends among the College population. Harvard’s most popular fall courses typically include Economics 10a: “Principles of Economics” and Computer Science 50: “Introduction to Computer Science I,” the flagship introductory courses for Economics and Computer Science, respectively.

Generally, more male respondents indicated an interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics than did female respondents.

• Economics was the most popular concentration among both recruited athletes and non-recruits, with 35 percent of recruited athletes and 11 percent of non-athletes indicating interest in the concentration.
• Among surveyed students interested in Economics, 62 percent identified as male, while 38 percent identified as female. Similarly, among surveyed students interested in Computer Science, 63 percent identified as male, while 37 percent identified as female.
• Among surveyed students reporting an annual combined parental income of over $500,000, 23 percent said they plan to concentrate in Economics.
• Almost 80 percent of respondents said they plan on pursuing a secondary, citation, or both.
• 86 percent of respondents rated academics as their highest priority at Harvard. 44 percent of surveyed students reported they anticipate studying for over 30 hours a week at Harvard.

Cheating

The percentage of students who have cheated in an academic context is almost identical to that of previous years. Nineteen percent of each of the Classes of 2022, 2021, and 2020 reported cheating in an academic context.

• Consistent with last year’s survey results, of respondents who said they had cheated, over half — just over 56 percent — identified as male.
• Just under half of surveyed students who reported having cheated (48 percent) said they did so on a problem set or regular homework assignment. 27 percent indicated they cheated on an exam, and 25 percent said they cheated on a paper or take-home assignment.
• 22 percent of recruited athletes in the Class of 2022 reported cheating, compared to 10 percent of recruited athletes in the Class of 2021. Nineteen percent of non-athletes in the Class of 2022 said they cheated, compared to 20 percent of non-recruits in the Class of 2021.

Social Life

About one in four members of the Class of 2022 reported being “very” or “somewhat” interested in joining a final club, sorority, or fraternity. The Class of 2022 is the second class to be subject to the College’s historic sanctions on members of single-sex social organizations.

• Interest in single-gender social groups, at 24 percent, is down from previous years — it marks a decrease of four percent from last year and a decrease of almost 15 percent from the year before.
• About two-thirds of respondents said the sanctions has not affected their opinion of Harvard’s single-gender final clubs, sororities, and fraternities. Thirty percent said it gave them a less favorable opinion of the groups.
• 45 percent of respondents who said they are “very interested” in joining a final club, sorority, or fraternity indicated they come from families making more than $500,000 annually. Just 9 percent of students “very interested” in social groups said their families make below $80,000.
• 38 percent of athletes reported being “very” or “somewhat” interested in final club membership, compared to 21 percent of among non-athletes.

Athletics

Twelve percent of freshman respondents said they are recruited athletes, while 8 percent said they plan to walk on to a varsity sports team. A majority of Harvard’s recruited athletes, 76 percent, cited academic reasons as the deciding factor in their decision to enroll.

• Three out of four athletes said it is “very likely” that they will play their sport all four years.
• 17 percent of recruited athletes have a combined annual parental income of $500,000 or more.
• 12 percent of recruited athletes said they expect athletics will be their top priority at Harvard, while 77 percent ranked athletics second.
• Roughly four out of five (82 percent) of recruited athletes said they first made contact with a Harvard coach during their junior year or earlier.

Before Harvard

Members of the Class of 2022 were highly involved in their high schools’ extracurricular scenes, and many held leadership positions. Eighteen percent said they were president of their high school class, and 8 percent said they were editor-in-chief of their school newspaper.

• The most popular high school extracurriculars were community service (73 percent), athletics (65 percent), student government (37 percent), music groups (37 percent), and science clubs or competitions (34 percent).
• Just over half of respondents (51 percent) said they ranked in the top 2 percent of their secondary or high school class. Thirty percent of schools did not rank.
• 43 percent of respondents who said they participated in quiz bowl or academic decathlon and 33 percent of those who participated in math competitions said they own PCs. Meanwhile, 81 percent of those who worked on their school papers said they owned Macs.

Pre-Orientation

Ahead of Opening Days this fall, members of the Class of 2022 had the opportunity to participate in one of six Harvard pre-orientation programs. One of these programs, the First-Year Retreat and Experience (FYRE), made its debut this year and is aimed at serving under-resourced freshman, especially first-generation and low-income students. Overall, 63 percent of incoming freshman reported participating in a pre-orientation program.

• The First-Year Outdoor Program (FOP) was the most popular pre-orientation program, attracting 40 percent of respondents who participated in a program. FOP participants were more likely to identify as white (65 percent) and were more likely to come from families earning more than $125,000 (55 percent) than were participants in other pre-orientation programs.
• Of respondents who reported participating in FYRE, 30 percent identified as Hispanic or Latinx, and 31 percent as black. About 60 percent said they hailed from families earning less than $80,000 per year.

Gap Year

Around eight percent of Harvard’s incoming class reported arriving in Cambridge after taking a gap year. Not all students took these breaks by choice, though: 56 percent of those who reported taking a gap year said they were admitted through the Z-list, a program that offers students admission to Harvard if they wait one year before enrolling.

Eighty-two percent of Z-listed students identified as white and 43 percent said they came from families who earn more than $250,000 annually. This matches with information released this summer as part of an ongoing lawsuit that alleges Harvard’s admissions process is discriminatory — the suit data showed that Z-list admits are overwhelming white and often legacy students.

• Students reported spending their gap years in varied ways: 69 percent said they did paid work, 74 percent travelled, 55 percent volunteered, and 35 percent pursued other activities.
• Students who said they do not receive financial aid from Harvard were about twice as likely to have taken a gap year (11 percent) as were students who said they do receive financial aid (6 percent).