<p>I got accepted to Harvard and will be enrolling next fall. During my high school, I have made some serious blunders in course selection. So, I wanted Harvard students to give me any useful tips. Any feedback will be really appreciated. </p>
<p>A few questions that I have right now are:</p>
<p>Q1/ How do students generally fulfill the genereal education requirements? Would taking two courses each semester be fine, since it will allow me to complete the requirements in two years? Should I slow down, or try to complete them in less time, or more time?</p>
<p>Q2/ I am probably going to concentrate in either Religion or Econ, when should I take their prerequisites? Should I start straight off in my freshmen year?</p>
<p>Q3/ How many courses should I take? I know 5 is the general number, but would taking 6 courses be way too much?</p>
<p>Q4/ I took AP Macro and Micro in my junior year. Even though my teacher was seriously BAD, and I was very unprepared for the exam, I managed to pull off double 5s. Should I retake the course, or use my credits?</p>
<p>Q5/ How many APs can we use to get credit in college? What general education requirements can be fulfilled by APs?</p>
<p>Q6/ I have heard about the BA/MA program at Harvard. Can someone have a primary and secondary concentration, and still enroll in this program?</p>
<p>Feel free to add absolutely anything :) Thank you.</p>
There’s really no rush. I would make sure you’re taking around 1/semester. If you take more, you might miss out on experiences that could reshape your time at Harvard (i.e. I wish I had taken CS50 freshman year, instead of “The Rome of Augustus”). I’d personally prioritize **figuring things out<a href=“your%20concentration,%20your%20research%20interest,%20etc”>/b</a> before taking gen ed classes.</p>
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I would definitely take a course in religion and a course in Econ your freshman year. You don’t have to declare a concentration until your second year, but if you put off that entire decision until then, you’ll be behind. In Econ, you’d take either Ec10 (intro class) or one of the intermediate series (1010/1011). I’m not sure what the intro religions class is, but someone in the department could easily fill you in.</p>
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4 is the normal number, and what you have to take for your first semester. After that, you can take 5 (or 6, if you get special permission), but be careful… I found that I was much better off taking 4 classes and doing well in them (and having time to devote to extracurriculars), than taking 5 and being really overwhelmed when I ended up with nightmares like 3 midterms and 2 papers due in one week.</p>
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It’s up to you. I’d shop Ec10, 1010a, and 1011a and just see where you fit in the best. The only downside to taking Ec10 is that you’ll have to spend a lot of time junior/senior year taking upper level econ, so make sure to get some Ged Eds done freshman/soph year. Ec10 is a bit of a Harvard institution… I feel a bit bad for the folks who skip it.</p>
I believe you can have a concentration, a secondary field, and a master’s degree. It would require some VERY careful planning of classes. Note that only some concentrations offer the fourth year masters.</p>
<p>Oh yeah, and I wanted to ask about fitness gyms, like, does every residential building haev one? Or are there specific places you have to go to?</p>
<p>Most of the upperclass houses have a weight room, but for a real gym, you can go to the MAC (next to Lowell House) or Hemenway (near the Science Center & the Law School).</p>