<p>Just a quick 2 questions:</p>
<p>Cross-Registration to MIT is applicable for freshman right? And how/when might one do that?</p>
<p>How many hours of classes does the average Harvard student attend? (A basic question indeed. Sorry~ please bear with me.)</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>What are your experiences with grad students in T.A. positions like the ones you mentioned above regarding the discussion sections after lectures? Generally positive or no?</p>
<p>Alright, I know it's a cliche, but I hear it everywhere. "Harvard students are unhappy, Harvard students are depressed, Harvard students have no life," blah blah blah. My definition of "having a life" certainly isn't partying non-stop whole weekend, but still...would you say that majority of the successful students spend vast majority of their time keeping up with work, or do you guys ever get a break?</p>
<p>What about Harvard students & sleep? Do you find yourself or the majority sleep deprived on a regular basis because of the workload?</p>
<p>Does Harvard have a campus feel?
Freshman year - without a doubt! (Almost) all freshman are in the Yard, which is enclosed, really close to classes, etc. After that, things are a bit more spread out, but I think there's still a very definitive feeling of being "at Harvard" when you're walking in the area around any of the upperclass houses. Things are concentrated to the point that you run into friends all of the time walking to classes or to parties on the weekends.</p>
<p>How hard is CS 50?
No prior experience with computer science is required (I didn't have any). Some students come in having taken AP Computer Science - but there are special sections and "hacker editions" of the problem sets for them.</p>
<p>That said, the class is difficult and definitely time-consuming. I'd expect to spend about 15 hrs/week on the problem sets. There's a <em>ton</em> of support for you though - I think the TFs held more than 100 hours of office hours last semester, including "virtual office hours" online if you didn't feel like leaving your dorm room.</p>
<p>Is the CS secondary worth it?
I'm a human evolutionary bio concentrator. My feeling is that any secondary field (or any concentration for that matter) is "worth it" if you enjoy the classes. I've loved the CS classes I've taken, so it's definitely been worth it.</p>
<p>One of the best things about going to Harvard is that employers tend to be more open to hiring you for a job outside of your area of expertise. I actually spent a summer workign for a software company before I'd ever taken a CS class (I was qualified, but my transcript sure didn't show it). English majors go on to become investment bankers and so on... So don't worry to much about what your concentration says or what secondary field you get - the Harvard name is often enough to get your foot in the door, where you can show in an interview why you're qualified for the job.</p>
<p>Cross-Registration to MIT is applicable for freshman right? And how/when might one do that?
I'm not sure I'd recommend cross-reg your freshman fall, but I believe you can do it. You'll have more than enough time to look into the details during freshman orientation ("Camp Harvard").</p>
<p>How many hours of classes does the average Harvard student attend?
This is a really good question! Students at Harvard usually take 4 classes per semester (you need to pass 32 classes to graduate), but after your freshman fall you have the option of taking 3-5 (or 6 with special permission).</p>
<p>A typical class meets for 4 hours per week:
Mon, Weds, Friday - Lecture from 1 - 2 p.m.
Thursday: Discussion section from 4-5 p.m.</p>
<p>But this can really vary. Some seminars meet just 2 hrs per week. Some science classes meet for 4 hrs/week, and have 3-5 hour weekly labs.</p>
<p>So if you're taking a very "normal" schedule - you'll have about 16 hours of class a week. But I know people who have had less than 10 hours and more than 20 hours.</p>
<p>What are your experiences with grad students in T.A. positions like the ones you mentioned above regarding the discussion sections after lectures? Generally positive or no?
My experiences have been mixed. In the sciences, I've had generally poor experiences (english language issues, just flat out bad teachers) - but there were a couple of gems. In the humanities, all of my TFs have been okay, and most have been good or great. In fact, my "Justice" TF is one of the best teachers I've ever had.</p>
<p>If you're proactive (and really want useful sections) you can switch out of bad sections... I've usually just dealt with it - and gotten my questions answered other ways when I had them (friends in the class, asking the professor).</p>
<p>Would you say that majority of the successful students spend vast majority of their time keeping up with work, or do you guys ever get a break?
There's a paradox here. </p>
<p>On the one hand, Harvard isn't that hard. You're in class for about 15 hours a week. Homework doesn't take more than 4-5 hours a day - or maybe 24-30 hours a week. So put that together and it's definitely less than a full time job, and probably less than most of us worked in high school.</p>
<p>But on the other hand, if you ask a Harvard student how they are, odds are they'll say "busy" or "swamped".</p>
<p>So what's the deal? One big part of it is the ECs - If you want, you can write a news story every day for The Crimson, and spend 40 hrs a week there (or plan a global conference, or sing in a competitive a capella group, or so on). Another part of it is procrastination - at least for me and my friends, we spend a ton of time "doing homework" but really gchatting or facebook stalking. Finally, I think it's just the nature of the Harvard type to be busy, we are, after all, The</a> Organization Kid - The Atlantic (April 2001)</p>
<p>So I guess my point is that you definitely don't have to be busy or stressed at Harvard. But most students choose - implicitly or explicitly - to be active to the point of overcommitment. It can be hard to be a relaxed type B here - but not because of the work but because of the culture (i.e. A complaint I keep hearing is how hard it is to find someone to go to a concert with you on a weeknight).</p>
<p>Personally, I love it here. To me, Harvard feels a bit like my favorite days in high school when I'd go straight to football practice after school, to school board meetings after football, then to work on the school newspaper... finally getting home around 10 or 11 p.m. </p>
<p>What about Harvard students & sleep? Do you find yourself or the majority sleep deprived on a regular basis because of the workload?
I'm probably not the right person to answer this question, as I haven't had a normal sleep schedule since my senior year of high school. I don't think many people here get 8 hours of sleep a night, but you certainly could if that was important to you (see above). There's a bit of a night owl culture (see FlyByBlog</a> VOID 4/1/09 O_O), but I definitely have friends who are asleep at 1 a.m. and up at 8 a.m every day without fail.</p>
<p>When do you usually get to classes that are smaller seminars? I know there are freshman seminars, but would you say that after the initial introductory course in a subject, the classes become considerable smaller?</p>
<p>When do you usually get to classes that are smaller seminars?
This fluctuates wildly depending on your concentration and your interests.</p>
<p>I took a ~10 person psychology seminar and had a ~8 person Human Evolutionary Biology tutorial my sophomore year. In some concentrations (Folk & Myth, Philosophy) even the lecture classes will be 10-20 people. In other concentrations (Economics, Gov) it's hard to find small classes other than a limited number of sophomore tutorials and/or junior seminars.</p>
<p>I've already taken multivariable calculus, so if this fall I were to take: </p>
<p>CS50
English 10a
Math 21a (repeating multivariable)
Freshman seminar</p>
<p>would it be doable?</p>
<p>That sounds like a very reasonable schedule and I know a lot of freshmen who have similar schedules. Eng 10a is a core, right?</p>
<p>1) What are the pros and cons of using AP credits for advanced standing?</p>
<p>*What are the pros and cons of using AP credits for advanced standing? *
Pros: You graduate in three years
Cons: You graduate in three years</p>
<p>I'm advanced standing eligible (as is at least a third of the class each year), but I never seriously considered graduating in three years. Ever since freshman orientation I realized that there are so many things I would love to do here that I won't be able to do in four years, let alone three.</p>
<p>In addition to giving up a year of Harvard, you also have to plan your class schedule <em>very</em> carefully to do advanced standing. You really have to know your major coming in, so you lose the ability to do some academic exploration freshman year.</p>
<p>One of the upsides of advanced standing eligibility is that if you need to take time off for some reason (illness, want to spend time abroad, summer internship gets extended, etc), you can take off a semester or two, and still graduate with your class.</p>
<p>1) It's possible to come out with a master's through advanced standing, right? Is that useful, or does it generally just mess up the college experience?</p>
<p>How exactly does majoring/minoring work? I.e, do you take say 3 courses in sciences if you want to major in Biology, and then 1 in English if you want to minor in English? Or does a minor require an extra load of classes? (The whole concept of majoring/minoring is new to me because it is non-existant in Switzerland.)</p>
<p>Is there a website with a course database or anything?</p>
<p>If you are going to take the placement tests at the beginning of the year is it necessary to also take the ap exams to place out of some lower level classes? i dont want to do the advanced standing.</p>
<p>*It's possible to come out with a master's through advanced standing, right? Is that useful, or does it generally just mess up the college experience? *
This is possible (and a pretty cool option!) but it only works in a small number of fields. Check out: Advanced</a> Standing: Addendum: Advanced Standing and AB/AM or SM programs</p>
<p>How exactly does majoring/minoring work?
You take between 4-6 classes in a field to earn a minor. Details at Secondary</a> Fields: List of Current Programs</p>
<p>** Is there a website with a course database or anything? **
[url=<a href="http://www.registrar.fas.harvard.edu/fasro/courses/index.jsp?cat=ugrad&subcat=courses%5DHarvard">http://www.registrar.fas.harvard.edu/fasro/courses/index.jsp?cat=ugrad&subcat=courses]Harvard</a> University FAS Registrar's Office: 2008-2009 FAS Courses of Instruction<a href="the%20one%20for%202009-2010%20will%20be%20released%20over%20the%20summer">/url</a></p>
<p>** If you are going to take the placement tests at the beginning of the year is it necessary to also take the ap exams to place out of some lower level classes? i dont want to do the advanced standing. **
The only course I know of where AP Exams are used for placement is intro econ. Even there, you can talk your way into a higher placement if you want one + think you're prepared.</p>
<p>Is there a strong bike culture at Harvard? I know Boston has a huge scene.</p>
<p>Is there a strong bike culture at Harvard?
I don't know if I'd call it strong - but it definitely exists, especially in the Quad. There's a student-run bike shop there (Quad</a> Bikes: the non-profit bicycle shop for the Harvard Community) and a lot of Quad folks bike to classes (Although, if you don't want to bike, there's a shuttle and a walk that's not too bad).</p>
<p>@lei123/misnomer</p>
<p>some info: The</a> Harvard Crimson :: News :: English 10a, 10b May See Demise</p>
<p>1) Are dorms generally spacious enough to be able to comfortably study/work there on a desk?</p>
<p>2) Do outside speakers come to give lectures in a smaller/personal setting? Similar to the master teas at Yale? </p>
<p>Thank you</p>
<p>1) I'm pretty sure all suites have a desk for each person. Some suites are more spacious than others, but it shouldn't be a problem.</p>
<p>2) yo yo ma is here chillin like every other day seriously</p>