<p>I once came upon an article that mentioned Harvards exam schedule and academic calendar. Is it true that students leave for Christmas before they take end-of-term exams..and then come back January 1st to take the exams? Intercession is the break between semesters, and when one returns from this break new classes begin? It seems a little different from most colleges...those of which have a break spanning from end-of-term exams at the end of December, through the end of January. </p>
<p>Anyone care to comment about how this works? Do students generally prefer Harvard's system?</p>
<p>There is only one more year of this system - the academic calendar has been changed. I liked the old calendar myself - reading period gave plenty of time for catch up so that I always enjoyed my winter break. I had friends with evil professors who had papers due Jan 2. That wasn't very nice. An advantage to changing the calendar is that it is likely to make it easier to cross-register at MIT.</p>
<p>So 2008-2009 will have this system, and then a more "regular" calendar will be introdued in 2009-2010?</p>
<p>Yes, but they haven't finalized dates for 2009-10.</p>
<p>Good to know...Harvard seemed to have a lot less "vacation time" than comparable schools...not a major concern of mine by any means, but still interesting to note.</p>