<p>Hey I have a question for current students! When should we look into buying textbooks? Where would you recommend we get them?</p>
<p>Bumppp thanks !!!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I’m totally guessing here (you can probably get the real statistic from the math department) but I would guess that a large majority takes either 1b or 21a their first semester. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I’d buy them as soon as the relevant syllabi get posted. They’re all available at the COOP (theoretically) but they’re almost always cheaper on Amazon. </p>
<p>What I do every semester is this:</p>
<ol>
<li>Sign up for a free trial of Amazon Prime (free 2-day shipping)</li>
<li>Compile a list of all the textbooks I need</li>
<li>Compare Amazon Prime prices to Coop prices</li>
<li>Buy accordingly^</li>
</ol>
<p>Amazon isn’t always cheaper, especially when the books are rarer. But it usually is. One semester I paid like $170 on Amazon for books that would have been $400 at the Coop.</p>
<p>DwightEisenhower,</p>
<p>I was curious about ordering from Amazon, more particularly, the delivery. Do you just have them deliver to your P.O. Box at the mail center at the Science Center? I was wondering about the reliability. Thanks</p>
<p>Yeah you can send them to your mailbox at the freshman mailing center. They keep the packages in the back and you can come by with your ID and pick it up, usually the day after they receive it. They’re pretty reliable; I’ve never had a problem.</p>
<p>Buy textbooks or rent?</p>
<p>^I don’t know, whichever you want to do. I’ve never really looked into renting them because I like to write in my books and keep some of them, but if it’s cheaper and cheaper is better, go for it.</p>
<p>I was wondering if courses you take to satisfy concentration requirements can also count for General Ed requirements? Thanks!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Yes. Each concentration on this website gives you a chart of Gen Eds that are satisfied and those that aren’t: [Fields</a> of Concentration Handbook for Students 2012-2013](<a href=“http://handbook.fas.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k88702&tabgroupid=icb.tabgroup147420]Fields”>http://handbook.fas.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k88702&tabgroupid=icb.tabgroup147420)</p>
<p>Oh, and btw, the charts are at the bottom of each concentration page. :)</p>
<p>Thank you so much Via!</p>
<p>So what Via referred to was something based on the Core Curriculum, which no new freshmen will have to deal with. However, it is true that any Gen Ed course that also satisfies a concentration requirement can be double counted as a concentration and Gen Ed course.</p>
<p>For instance, an Econ concentrator could fulfill 4 Gen Ed reuirements with concentration courses. They could count any math class (Math 1a,1b,18,21a or higher) for Empirical and Mathematical Reasoning, Ec 10 for US & the World, Ec 1776 for Culture and Belief, and Societies of the World 34 for the SW requirement. These 4 courses would also count for concentration credit, making room for extra electives in your schedule.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>4?? I should have concentrated in Econ.</p>
<p>My bad! I forgot the table was only for the Core curriculum which isn’t being used anymore.</p>
<p>Hi DwightEisenhower! i was wondering if u could reply to: harvard & extracurricular activities? Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>I’m bumping this back up in the hopes that it’ll absorb some of the questions that would otherwise be spammed repetitively elsewhere on the forum.</p>
<p>Are there plenty of trips that can be taken (with significant financial aid) over the winter session or the Summer? Would you rather do study abroad during term time or during trips in the summer/winter (I know you’ll be a lot more limited over the summer than you would be over the course of a semester, but I just want opinions because I would hate spending too much time away from campus).</p>
<p>Oh, and I was accepted SCEA, which is why I’m asking. I want to at least have some plan of action for the next 4 years to do as much as possible.</p>
<p>Dwight (or anyone else), did you apply early to Harvard? </p>
<p>I’m wondering if it improves one’s chances of admission if he/she applies early, or does the admissions committee only accept “shoo-ins” during the early admissions process?</p>
<p>Also, do you consider it beneficial to send an arts supplement along with your application?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Most summer funds are not need-based. For example, there is a grant called the David Rockefeller International Experience Grant available through the Office of International Education. It is geared toward students who have not yet spent a significant time abroad. Funds are not infinite but most students who apply with some plan of study get most, if not all of their plans covered for their first summer abroad. There are also numerous grants available for research, and many for senior thesis research should it involve travel. Most of these are not need-based either.</p>
<p>As for need-based he Financial Aid Office generally provides subsidized loans should students need them. Obviously loans are not as good as grants, but they’re helpful if you use them selectively. For example, my budget for Jordan was $7000 or something. My David Rockefeller gave me $6000, and I took out a loan for $1500 or so to make up the difference and give a little buffer. A $1500 loan won’t kill you, especially if that on which you spend it turns out to give you career options, which it did for me.</p>
<p>There isn’t a whole lot of winter funding, most of it is for senior thesis research.</p>
<p>As for summer vs term-time, there’s no clear winner. I always preferred summer-time because classes abroad in my target areas (e.g. the Middle East) aren’t as good as Harvard classes and I didn’t want to trade one for the other. But if you’re aiming to study at a good university abroad this is less of an issue. And if you plan to do other things during the summer (e.g. consulting internships or something) you might prefer term-time.</p>