<p>Humanities courses have a simple numbering system. Any course numbered from 1-99 is either an intro course, a seminar, or a concentration tutorial. These are undergrad-only courses. For example, Social Studies 10 is a sophomore tutorial all social studies concentrators have to take. Gov 20 is an intro comparative politics course. History 74o is a seminar course (meaning class size is limited to 12, it’s designed for concentrators to get to know history profs, but it’s open to anyone at Harvard to take). </p>
<p>For some reason, Economics intro/seminar/concentration courses are numbered 910-999. Nobody knows why this is, or why Ec is annoying and different from all the other departments. Ec is an enigma. Ec 10, the official intro Ec course, is actually Social Analysis 10. It’s not even in the Ec department! Again, no one knows why this is. There are legends, involving Larry Summers and copious quantities of alcohol, but they remain unsubstantiated.</p>
<p>Courses numbered 100-199 and 1000-1999 are open to undergrads and graduate students. They are generally harder than the 1-99 classes, but there is a ton of variation within this group. Use shopping period to figure out the right level of difficulty for you. I shopped both Gov 1060 and Gov 1310, and believe me, 1310 is MUCH easier than 1060 (and even easier than Gov 20!). It all depends on the professor. Some departments (like History) break their course numbers into categories–1000-1099 for ancient history classes, 1100-1199 for European history, and so on. This makes comparing difficulty by course numbers impossible. (MWAHAHA! respond the history professors.)</p>
<p>Any course numbered 200-299 and 2000-2999 is a graduate course. You can enroll in these classes, but you should definitely wait until your sophomore or junior year and be sure you know what you’re getting into. The add/drop rules are different for grad school courses, so definitely talk to your adviser and resident dean to make sure you don’t get stuck in a GPA-killing course. Unless you’re into masochism. I don’t judge.</p>
<p>Any course numbered 300-399 or 3000-3999 is a “Graduate Course of Reading and Research.” This is code for dissertation courses. Stay far, far away, little undergrad. These classes are not for you. There are always a few kids every semester who put one of these classes on their schedule, then get laughed at by their advisers. Don’t be that kid.</p>
<p>For your freshman year, I HIGHLY recommend you start off with some 1-99 intro courses to get used to the workload here. Maybe take a freshman seminar (although many people think they aren’t worthwhile). And don’t even think about taking Math 55, unless you have won at least one international math competition with flying colors. I’m dead serious.</p>
<p>As for pronunciation, here’s a rough guide:
1-99 courses: say the whole number, not the individual digits. (Gov 20=gov twenty, Math 55=math fifty five, History 99=history ninety nine)
100-199, 200-299, 300-399, 910-999: one, two or three followed by the rest of the digits said as one number. (Chinese 140=chinese one forty, Gov 265=gov two sixty five, Ec 970=ec nine seventy)
Any 4-digit course number: break it up into 2-digit groups and say those numbers. (Gov 1540=gov fifteen forty, Ec 1010=ec ten ten, History 1965=history nineteen sixty five, Gov 2080=please kill me) Basically, say these like you say year numbers. Unless you’re a freshman taking a grad course. Then the correct pronunciation is, “Oh God, I am so stupid. I cannot believe I signed up for this. What was I thinking?”</p>