<p>Great responses on Guided Studies. D got accepted into the Cities Program too and would love to know more about it and any comparison b/t it and Guided Studies. Thanks.</p>
<p>I'm a freshman this year, and did my first semester in the Cities Program, choosing it over Guided Studies. While enrollment is advertised to be about 30 kids, my group turned out to be about 17, mostly upper-middle class kids from the suburbs. Cities doesn't have the same "outcast" stigma as the Guided Studies Program does, but also lacks the same academic reputation. </p>
<p>Cities has a strong background, but often poor execution. "Hartford: Past and Present", the seminar course for the first semester, is taught by two generally pleasant professors who seem disinterested with the program. The course is not reading or writing intensive, but does a good job in showing Hartford's progression from New England mill town to the cesspool it is today. </p>
<p>The other class, "City as Built Environment" SHOULD focus on urban development throughout time, but is taught by a weak professor who teaches the same curriculum as she does in her Architecture Survey course. Hartford P+P did a much more thorough job of discussing urban renewal than CABE ever did.</p>
<p>I ended up dropping the program because I was uninterested in the 2nd semester courses (one literature-based, another sociologically-based) and I was off-put by the past semester (specifically CABE). At least three other students dropped the program as well. However, it was nice to have a small group of kids to be a part of, and Cities seemed to be more valuable than other freshman seminars.</p>
<p>As far as decision-making goes, it might be an easy one, as Cities is in jeopardy for next year. Guided Studies gets a reputation for being the nerdy kids, but those who enroll seem very happy with it, and carve out their niche amongst a campus of largely apathetic students.</p>