Hey guys! Prospective class of 2022 here deciding between Harvard and some other schools like Princeton.
Just finished preview and I loved it (mostly because of BAC and Triple 8 ngl)
but the decision to choosing harvard comes down to what the VES department is like.
Does anyone know if there are things like graphic design and web-design (and just general digital artsy type things) available to take?
If not, can anyone give insight to how feasible cross-registering with MIT (or any other university) actually is? Im sure I’d be happy taking classes in the media lab or just arts courses in general, but someone told me the exam schedules don’t line up and commuting to campus is hard and that it’s not common—is this true?
If someone who has cross-registered with MIT or any other school I’d appreciate any comments.
Also, how possible would you say it is to be a VES secondary without much studio art experience? Like obvsiouly there are people who have tons of prior art experience, but I have little to none. Although the start might be hard at first, if I start in Drawing I or introduction to drawing, will it be alright?
Difficult. That’s because a student needs about 15 to 30 minutes to travel between the Harvard and MIT campuses, which creates sheer havoc when trying to schedule classes on both campuses, especially during the winter months. In theory, it’s a neat idea, but not many students actually do it: http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2015/12/14/harvard-mit-cross-registration/?page=single
Fifteen minutes may not seem like a lot, but it makes it more difficult to take back-to-back classes when cross registering. For example, on the Harvard campus, a student could take a 9am to 10:30am class, followed by another class from 10:30 to 11:30 and pretty much make it all work because it takes 5 minutes (sometimes less) to get from one classroom to the next. But, it’s gets harder to do that when cross registering, as your next class is 15 minutes away on a good day, 30 minutes on a snowy day.
Yeah I was definitely thinking of doing like maybe an hour or so not back to back!
Did you think it was alright and did you enjoy the experience? @DadTwoGirls
I’ve posted the below before, but @gibby pretty much nailed it.
The concept of cross-registration is one of those things that sound very cool to incoming students, but then the reality sets in - the academic calendars don’t line up and the travel time to/from MIT can impact one’s options for classes at Harvard.
Other than the 35-45 students a year that take Corporate Financial Accounting at MIT, very very few make the trek.
Which limits the classes one can take at Harvard. Like many things at Harvard, it comes down to choices. Sure, it can be done, but then is it at the expense of a Harvard class? And the OP is asking about doing a secondary, which will also limit flexibility.
The reality is that if one is attempting to do the “normal” workload of a concentration (particularly if the concentration has specific required courses) plus fulfill distribution requirements, carving out 2-3 hours out of the day to trot over to MIT will be difficult. When one tries to add in other academic options (e.g. joint concentration, honors degree, a secondary, foreign language citation), or try to add in an EC, it’s beyond difficult.
