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<p>I am surprised that Harvard would allow such size. Many other privates, I imagine, would have splitted that into 2 or 3 lectures (the one I went to didn’t have anything bigger than 250, let alone 590). </p>
<p>I also think part of the reason is that Harvard students know that their degree is going to open many doors, regardless of what major it is. I suspect many of them were not so sure about engineering to begin with or they would have gone to Stanford/MIT instead. So given this, it’s no surprise to me they are readily to deflect from engineering and choose something easier instead.</p>