Undergrad focus at Harvard

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

<p>I am a very outgoing person, but I still fear that I might be lost in the shuffle of a big university. However, I also want the amazing resources that Harvard has to offer.</p>

<p>How would you say Harvard scores on the undergraduate focus, separating freshman/sophomore and junior/senior years, in relation to a liberal arts college like Williams, Swarthmore, or Amherst. How big would you say your average intro classes were and how many of them were a)taught by TAs and b)taught by good TAs that speak english. Are the professors dedicated teachers, or are they mostly researchers?</p>

<p>When do most people really get to know their professors, begin to do research, and when do you feel like you know a professor well enough to get a recommendation?</p>

<p>Given my concerns, what other schools do you think I should be looking at? Do you have a preference between Williams, Swarthmore, and Amherst? (I am leaning away from Swarthmore)</p>

<p>THANKS!</p>

2

<p>bump (10char)</p>

3

<p>Why leaning away from Swarthmore? they have a great rep with undergrads, but maybe too much a small town?</p>

4

<p>I think that swarthmore is a little too small for me and I am not sure if I would mesh well with a quaker institution.</p>

5

<p>Can people like me whose average GPA is 4.0 in cc transfer to Harvand?</p>

6

<p>No; Harvard accepts no transfer students.</p>

7

<p>ESL - You’ll see a lot of opinions on CC from people who have never gone to Harvard that Harvard lacks an “undergraduate focus” (I keep asking on CC what exactly this is supposed to mean . . . no one who’s been concerned about it has ever been able to describe for me what it might look like if they were to encounter it!). You’ll hear quite the opposite from most students. Harvard College - the undergraduate school - is only 6,600 students. The “University” is about 18,000, but undergrad students rarely encounter the graduate and professional schools unless they’re taking advantage of their programs, activities, or facilities.</p>

<p>My two Ds’ experience is that most of the daunting stereotypes about Harvard aren’t accurate, and that the experience offers as much support and warmth as a student could hope for. They’ve had a great deal of faculty contact, small classes (with a couple of notable exceptions), and a lot of support from students towards one another. My D1’s House Master in her residential college has lived with his wife in the attached apartment and eaten in the Commons with the students for 13 years, and he has a Nobel Prize. He’s stepping down from that role and his replacement has just been named by Time as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. The advising for freshmen is four levels deep, all the way from senior faculty down to upperclass student Peer Advising Fellows. </p>

<p>The campus community would not be as intimate and nurturing as a LAC with < 2,000 students (like Swarthmore’s). The same would be true of any mid-sized university. But the resources and experiences available are really phenomenal. As a higher education professional, what I’ve seen of it suggests that it’s a remarkable undergraduate experience - one that leaves in the dust my own experience at my Alma Mater of 2,900 undergrads - one that’s supposedly renowned for its “undergraduate emphasis.”</p>

8

<p>ESL1 my experience at Harvard is somewhat similar to GADAD’s Ds but my take on
the experience may be different. I love my Harvard experience and would not
trade it for anything however there are areas that stick out that certainly could
use some improvement.</p>

<p>** + **
The resources at Harvard are fantastic. Quite simply, if you are the type of personality
Harvard felt happy to admit, you will love the depth of opportunities that no other
university can touch. Especially in science. Most students who are so inclined start
research by the summer after their freshman year and latest by their sophomore
Fall semester. There are literally hundreds of quality opportunities even during freshman
year though these are more likely to involve a less challenging role. The social studies
and humanities research students seem to believe they are in heaven when it comes
to research opps at Harvard.</p>

<p>As an upperclassman Harvard students have a high degree of support from their
Houses and their peers on par with what you might get at Princeton,
Williams or Swarthmore. During the freshman year however Harvard can be brutal
especially if you intend to concentrate on science in areas other than premed.</p>

<p>** - **
Compared to Princeton, Williams and Swarthmore first year advising programs
could use some improvement at Harvard for potential science and most
engineering concentrations. (Math advising is very good though).</p>

<p>The freshman dorm proctors are less informed (with a few exceptions) about
Harvard concentrations and the courses that provide you with flexible choices.
Faculty advisers assigned to you cannot help you unless your interests are aligned
with theirs and it would be too early for you to know. Since science courses are
heavily curved, as a freshman, if you take the wrong introductory course you can
spend the next 3 years regretting it. You have got to learn to read between the
lines in the Q guide (that rates courses) and shopping period can be misleading
(latter part of courses being the real challenge).</p>

9

<p>As far as the TA thing goes, I remember specifically from my tour and information session that no classes are taught by TAs. How that actually works in the real campus life, I don’t know, but that’s what they said.</p>

10

<p>Well, of course. That’s cause they’re not TAs at Harvard. They’re TFs. ;)</p>

11

<p>I have to disagree with GADad … I have found the advising to be very disappointing. Harvard does offer many great opportunities, no doubt, but advising is not one of them from what I can see. My other child’s LAC is head and shoulders above Harvard in the world of advising.</p>

12

<p>so I am interested in math, but my school doesn’t offer calc or other advanced math subjects so I am taking calc next year at my local college. It is clear that I will be behind the people who are going to be in math 55, but is there a real chance for attention at harvard, especially because I hope to get a PhD in math in the future.</p>

<p>What I have heard about the whole TF thing at harvard is that they are relied on quite heavily and that the only reason why harvard can make that claim is because a professor always is officially teaching the class regardless of the amount of work s/he puts in. I only know this from kids in freshman/sophomore years and not from any upperclassmen.</p>

<p>twinmom, where is your other child at?</p>

13

<p>As a Freshman last year, I found the advising to be very good. They’ve made a real push in the last few years to make it better. When was your experience with it twinmom?</p>

<p>Don’t get your heart set on Math 55. If you don’t get to Harvard with a strong understanding of proof writing and alot of other advanced mathematics, it probably won’t be within your range. I know kids who took math as freshman in high school and ended up in math 23. That said, there are plenty of kids who take 21, 23, and 25 who end up as math concentrators. And who move on to grad school.</p>

14

<p>^^ Currently a senior in the fall.</p>

15

<p>Synth: Could you please elaborate on the problems when it comes to science concentrators? Do you have any advice for how to get around the problems?</p>

<p>“During the freshman year however Harvard can be brutal especially if you intend to concentrate on science in areas other than premed.”</p>

<p>“Compared to Princeton, Williams and Swarthmore first year advising programs could use some improvement at Harvard for potential science and most engineering concentrations.”</p>

<p>“Since science courses are heavily curved, as a freshman, if you take the wrong introductory course you can
spend the next 3 years regretting it. You have got to learn to read between the
lines in the Q guide (that rates courses) and shopping period can be misleading
(latter part of courses being the real challenge).”</p>

16

<p>“What I have heard about the whole TF thing at harvard is that they are relied on quite heavily and that the only reason why harvard can make that claim is because a professor always is officially teaching the class regardless of the amount of work s/he puts in. I only know this from kids in freshman/sophomore years and not from any upperclassmen.”</p>

<p>Yes in lots of courses - math and science for example, there are large lectures that the professor teaches and then they are broken into groups being taught by TF’s. What is extremely irksome about this, is that the TF’s grade the exams and papers, without the professor having a clue as to what’s going on. There have been several classes, that my D had questions about the final exam, the professor didn’t have a clue and the TF who graded it, had gone back to China permanently. Also undergraduate TA’s are heavily involved in tutoring sessions that are held during the week and probably involved in some grading. My D is a TA for organic chemistry.</p>

17

<p>“I have to disagree with GADad … I have found the advising to be very disappointing.”</p>

<p>Twinmom: your daughter needs to complain about this and get other advisors. My D had similar issues sophomore year.</p>

18

<p>ecneics, hope this provides a flavor of the freshman situation.</p>

<p>Rule of thumb #1: Avoid courses as a freshman that have freshman students as a
minority % of the class compared to * especially sophomores*</p>

<p>Supplement rule #1 : Identify the few courses that get excluded under rule #1 that
grade/provide feedback based on your contributions rather than relative grading
(examples are lab-only courses like SCRB 65); track down their TFs and chat with
them to see if you want to enroll in Spring freshman year and to get an idea as
to what you will actually learn</p>

<p>Rule of thumb #2: Find the level of course you are comfortable at and then * drop
down one level * in your freshman year (Fall semester-definitely) (the people who tell
you to challenge yourself in freshman year have typically not attended Harvard)</p>

<p>Rule of thumb #3: Identify your top likely concentration and your most peripheral
one (though you might still fall in love with it), add something else in the middle; now
for these 3 concentrations study the ugrad handbook and come up with 4 year plans;
identify which common courses during freshman year provide you the most flexibility to
change concentrations in sophomore year; use the above rules of thumb and come
up with a common bucket of courses you can check out in freshman year</p>

<p>The single most important mistake that those who stumble (or fall)
encounter specificially in Science has to do with trusting the Q guide
or advisors who have not attended Harvard as an undergraduate.</p>

<p>Harvard is synonymous with understatement and it takes a while to
appreciate this. If you are a Science inclined student just admitted to
Harvard, chances are that you have a perfect GPA, a significant number
of national (or international) recognitions and a well rounded resume
(athletics and/or performing arts). You are used to taking
the toughest courses and acing them. Its just hard work and gritting it
out right?</p>

<p>** uh uh … **</p>

<p>What you could easily forget is that your peer group within a Science
course is no longer made up of freshman students. Additionally the few
freshmen who took the ‘wrong’ courses with you will include the
two jokers who spent their last two years preparing for this course in terms of their
research areas and comfortably fall above the median student population. The first
midterm will make the big difference so contrary to what your advisers will tell
you dropping the course and running for cover after this to an Anthropology course is the
best recourse if you want to have a decent GPA when you graduate. </p>

<p>… and ESL1, if one is ‘asking’ about Math55 chances are very high he/she should
not be taking it. Math advising is so well done at Harvard that you will quickly
come to that conclusion once you are here. Unfortunatley the
suitability of MCB 52/54, Chem 17/20 or LS1A/B are not discussed
as thoroughly at the freshman stage (they are in the upperclassman houses).</p>

<p>DocT, what is even more irksome is that the same paper graded by a different TF
would have garnered a different grade. This is particularly true in LS1A that has a
huge number of sections (550-600 students?). In fall of our freshman year we are
not yet Harvard savvy enough to protest.</p>

19

<p>“The single most important mistake that those who stumble (or fall)
encounter specificially in Science has to do with trusting the Q guide”</p>

<p>Synth, what’s wrong with the Q Guide? What shouldn’t you trust?</p>

20

<p>I don’t believe that I will take math 55 even if I get in and go, but I was mostly asking do people who are not allstars get enough attention to go on to the top PhD programs (which I would define subjectively as Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Berkeley, Stanford, and Chicago). If that is my goal, would it be better to go to a place where students are coming in knowing less to get more attention from top professors?</p>