Media Center: This Is Harvard
A Broad Curriculum
At the foundation of Harvard’s lofty reputation is a liberal
arts curriculum taught by some of the world’s great scholars.
Nobel laureates and Pulitzer Prize-winning authors teach
introductory and Core courses, and all faculty are readily
available for students.
Now equally well-known for its professional schools, Harvard
originally received recognition as the country’s first and
finest undergraduate institution. It has long been committed to
reforming college curricula and, in fact, the whole elective system
began here over a century ago. Today, Harvard maintains its strong
commitment to the undergraduate with one of the broadest programs
in existence. Students may concentrate in any of 44 fields,
including Afro-American studies, computer and environmental
sciences, government, classics, and folklore and mythology. The
majority of courses offered at Harvard have fewer than 20 students,
and most departments feature a “tutorial” system of
teaching and learning.
Tutorials are directed study courses in a student’s field of
concentration, taught either in small groups or individually.
Harvard has a graduation rate of over 97 percent, and over 70
percent of students graduate with honors. Nine out of 10
undergraduates who apply succeed in gaining admission to a medical
school, with similar rates for other graduate schools.
Contributing to these figures are first-class facilities such as a
12 million-volume library that is the largest university library in
the world, numerous art and cultural museums, and 25
science/laboratory centers.
The Harvard Student
While Harvard has long been a leader among universities, it is
equally committed to developing leaders among people. Thus, its
enrollment is not comprised of 6,700 “geniuses.”
Instead, the University prides itself on attracting the best
all-around young individuals—those with the energy,
innovation and creativity to enliven a classroom.
Some students show unusual academic promise through experiences or
achievements in study or research. Others are more
“well-rounded” and have contributed in many different
ways to the lives of their schools or communities. Still others
could be called “well-lopsided,” with demonstrated
excellence in one particular endeavor. And many students bring
perspectives formed by unusual personal circumstances or
experiences.
The end result is an undergraduate population drawn from every
state and many foreign countries, one that brings together a grand
diversity of social, ethnic and economic backgrounds.
Student Life
Both academically and residentially, Harvard College is fully
coeducational. The centers of campus life are the residential
houses. The house system, established in 1930, provides a small
college atmosphere within the university.
Each house has several faculty members and a staff of residential
tutors associated with it, as well as dormitories, dining halls,
libraries, intramural athletic teams and a number of social events.
There are 12 residential houses, while a 13th unit, Dudley House,
provides a parallel life for the students who live off-campus.
All freshmen live in or next to Harvard Yard. “The
Yard” is the center of the university, and the hub of
Harvard’s activity. Resident adult advisers help students
explore the academic and non-academic opportunities of their first
year. A wide range of programs are designed especially for
first-year students—in the arts, intramural athletics and
Freshman Seminars.
Students run nearly 200 organizations and programs on campus. Last
year, 80 plays and musicals were produced and directed by students.
There are men’s, women’s and mixed voiced choruses,
plus over half a dozen a cappella groups. Two major orchestras,
smaller ensembles, chamber groups and rock bands also thrive. There
are two student newspapers and numerous political, feminist,
ethnic, cultural and religious journals. A majority of students
participate in community service by the time of their graduation,
both through the Phillips Brooks House Association and the House
and Neighborhood Development (HAND) program.
Faculty
Harvard’s faculty is large, diverse, and by any measure, an
accomplished group of women and men.
Each faculty member is both a noted teacher and scholar, for
first-rate scholarship is an essential ingredient of great
teaching. Harvard students learn in classrooms and labs from
professors who are leading authorities in their fields. In this
academic community, all members of the Faculty of Arts and
Sciences, including the most prominent scholars, expect to teach
undergraduates as well as graduate students.
Faculty members also instruct students outside the classroom. In
addition to professors’ weekly office hours, students often
spend time with their professors before or after class. There are
also many occasions when professors take meals in Harvard’s
residential dining halls, attend gatherings in the residences of
House Masters, who are themselves senior faculty members, and
participate in other programs and special events.
Over the course of a year, hundreds of students work closely with
faculty members on their own or their professors’ research.
The opportunities for formal and informal relationships with
Harvard faculty are plentiful and rewarding, resulting in lifelong
friendships as well as professional collaborations that can enrich
students’ lives and careers.
Facilities
Beyond the mentorship of a faculty actively involved in
undergraduate life, Harvard students have access to other
extraordinary academic resources.
By a wide margin, Harvard’s library system, with about 100
central and auxiliary collections and nearly 14 million volumes, is
the world’s largest university library. More than two dozen
university buildings are used exclusively for scientific research,
including laboratories for astronomy; biology; biochemistry;
chemistry; computer science; electrical; computer, and systems, and
mechanical engineering, geology, as well as physics and applied
physics.
Harvard’s computing facilities are likewise extensive and
state-of-the-art. A fiber-optic data network links labs, libraries
and faculty and administrative offices. Students can connect to
Harvard’s high-speed data network, the library’s online
catalog, the Internet and the rest of the world from ethernet
connections in their rooms.
Finally, the university’s many museums include one of the
world’s most distinguished university art collections and a
natural history museum whose scope and importance make it similarly
renowned.
The Undergraduate Program
Harvard offers students everything necessary for a
liberal education in virtually every imaginable field.
The sheer number of curricular choices — the catalog
includes about 3,500 courses — opens doors for the
exploration of widely disparate fields and also for concentration
in special areas of interest.
Harvard’s philosophy has long been that an undergraduate
education ought to have structure and coherence while allowing for
maximum flexibility and individual choice.
Each student takes four courses in both the fall and spring
semesters. Harvard students spend, on average, 12 hours per week in
class and enjoy wide latitude in setting priorities for study and
free time.
Course choices are made in close consultation with an academic
adviser over a week-long shopping period at the start of both
semesters. Over the four-year undergraduate program, each student
will fulfill the requirements of a field of concentration (on
average, half of a student’s total coursework) and the Core
Curriculum (about one-quarter of the plan of study).
The remaining quarter of a student’s coursework is chosen
freely from courses offered throughout the university. These three
components of the undergraduate program together fulfill the
fundamental aims of a liberal arts education.
There is no firm distinction in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences
between undergraduate and graduate courses. Students may progress
in the curriculum as rapidly as their preparation permits and may
enroll in graduate-level courses in the Graduate School of Arts and
Sciences.
Most of Harvard’s 10 graduate schools allow students to
cross-register and to participate in special programs. A reciprocal
arrangement with MIT, our Cambridge neighbor, also permits Harvard
students to cross-register in courses offered there.
While some of Harvard’s most popular courses are taught in
grand lecture halls to accommodate significant student interest,
the majority of courses are taught in more intimate settings of 20
or fewer students.
Among Harvard’s most valuable intellectual assets are its
students. Although they come from many different places and
backgrounds and have a striking variety of talents, ambitions and
convictions, all possess a passion for learning.
That energy can be felt in and out of the classroom. At least as
much learning occurs in dorms and dining halls as in labs and
course lectures. Because undergraduate enrollment is comparatively
small, there are many opportunities to get to know fellow students
well. Late night talks and dinner table debates are very much part
of the daily experience of the women and men at Harvard
College.
Postgraduate Plans
Harvard is committed to providing whatever guidance or assistance
students may need. Given the university’s extraordinary
resources, students’ needs are met swiftly and fully.
Perhaps as a result, Harvard’s graduation rate is 97
percent, among the very highest in the nation. Similarly high
percentages of graduating seniors and alumni express their
satisfaction by stating in surveys that they would attend Harvard
if they had to choose a college again.
Although Harvard’s academic programs are not
“preprofessional” in the sense that they provide
vocational training, Harvard students are very well prepared for
admission to professional schools (business, law and medicine) and
graduate programs. Our students enjoy an extraordinarily high rate
of admission to graduate and professional schools of their choice.
And Harvard College is almost always the best-represented
undergraduate institution at Harvard’s graduate schools.
While some students select fields of concentration commonly
associated with certain careers, many discover they can study in
areas of intellectual rather than professional interest and still
be superb candidates for jobs and graduate schools.
At Harvard, students can concentrate in history and go to medical
school, or study engineering and earn a graduate degree in law.
Admission and Financial Aid
There is no formula for gaining admission to Harvard. Academic
accomplishment in high school is important, but the Admissions
Committee also considers many other criteria such as community
involvement, extracurricular activities and work experience. Last
year’s freshman class of 1,650 was culled from an applicant
pool of 20,972.
Strength of character, ability to overcome adversity, and other
personal qualities often play a part in admissions decisions.
Grades and test scores are relied on to help assess academic
promise, but they are by no means relied on exclusively. Evidence
that you are willing and able to take on academic challenges or
that you possess strengths not fully revealed in objective
information is also of interest to the Admissions Committee.
Believing that cost should not play a primary role in the
selection of a college, Harvard has worked for many decades to
attract students from all economic backgrounds.
Our faculty is committed to admissions and financial aid policies
that help us attract a truly diverse student body. We make
admissions decisions without regard to a student’s financial
circumstances or citizenship, and we meet the full financial need
of each student who qualifies for aid.
The Committee on Financial Aid determines aid packages — in
the form of scholarships, loans, and term-time jobs — based
solely on need using a full range of family income and asset
information.
Over the past several years, Harvard has launched two major
financial aid initiatives to benefit all students. As a result,
students with financial need will now face less educational debt on
graduation and will have more time to concentrate on academic and
extracurricular opportunities.
These initiatives have featured significant annual increases in
the undergraduate schoarship budget, reduced loan and term-time job
obligations, and an outside award policy which allows students to
use the full amount of their outside awards to reduce loans.
Together, with the College’s longstanding commitment to
need-blind admissions and need-based aid, these plans will continue
to keep a Harvard education accessible to students from all
economic backgrounds.
Student Housing
Harvard guarantees every student College housing for four years,
and nearly all students choose to live on campus for their full
undergraduate careers.
All 1,650 first-year students live in or adjacent to Harvard Yard.
The Freshman Dean’s Office assigns roommates carefully among
17 freshman dorms. Numerous proctors (adult residential advisors)
and deans live among first-year students to help them explore
Harvard’s broad academic and extracurricular
opportunities.
One highlight of freshman year is dining in Annenberg Hall, where
all first years gather to eat. Each house has several faculty
members and a staff of residential tutors associated with it, as
well as dormitories, dining halls, libraries, intramural athletic
teams and social events.
As sophomores, students move from the Yard to one of the 12 Houses
— small residential communities of 330 to 450 students. Each
House has its own dining hall, library, common rooms, rehearsal
spaces and other resources.
Houses also provide students with a wide range of extracurricular
programs. A senior faculty member serves each House as a Master.
Masters make each House a home by hosting frequent open houses in
their private residences and by selecting an extensive staff of
both resident and nonresident tutors and faculty fellows. Together,
Masters and House staff set the tone for the House in its
activities and in its functioning as a close-knit community within
the context of a larger college and university
Life Outside the Classroom
Extracurricular opportunities at Harvard are virtually unlimited.
There are more than 300 official student organizations at the
College, and the number and nature of organizations change
constantly as students’ interests evolve.
Casual beginners to accomplished masters find opportunities at all
levels. You do not have to study music in order to play in a
orchestra, nor must you have had experience in drama or journalism
to act in a play or write for a student publication.
College facilities include concert halls, theaters with large
stages and others with more intimate surroundings, dance studios,
rehearsal spaces and practice rooms. Creative students may enjoy
the visual arts as a satisfying hobby or a serious academic
pursuit.
There are plenty of opportunities at Harvard to become a
journalist, poet, disc jockey, or editor. Several campus newspapers
have a wide readership, and there are political, academic, and
literary journals to complement the humor magazines, yearbook, and
radio stations.
Cultural and Ethnic Initiatives
There are more than 50 cultural, ethnic, and international student
organizations at Harvard, as well as communities representing
nearly every major religion.
The Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations
sponsors many activities during the year that celebrate the ethnic
and cultural diversity at Harvard. One of the most anticipated
events is Cultural Rhythms, a festival that highlights the talents
of Harvard students and offers ethnic foods from around the world.
The “Cultural Artist of the Year,” emcees the event,
and past hosts have included Queen Latifah, Jackie Chan, Andy
Garcia, and Halle Berry.
Cambridge, Boston, and New England
Cambridge combines the attractions of a cosmopolitan city with the
charm of a New England town. Organized around traditional town
greens, tree-lined squares, and the grassy banks of the Charles
River, Cambridge is one of metropolitan Boston’s vital urban
centers.
One-of-a-kind shops, international restaurants, bookstores, street
cafés, and cavernous music stores occupy the streets
surrounding the College. Sporting events, theater concerts, and
colorful street performers also draw neighbors and visitors to
Harvard Square.
While Boston is full of history and colonial charm, with its
cobblestone streets and colonial church spires, it is also a modern
city whose liveliness is apparent in its ranging architectural
styles, thriving industries, diverse cultures, and important arts
centers.
Boston Harbor, famous for its Revolutionary War “tea
party,” is home to many new and busy waterfront restaurants
and shops. The waterfront also boasts a world-renowned aquarium,
science museum, and numerous opportunities to walks through
historic districts or cruises to its many islands and recreational
areas.
Within easy reach of Boston and Cambridge are the beaches of the
Atlantic, cozy seaside villages from Cape Cod to Maine, ski slopes,
forests, and historical sites recalling America’s past.
