<p>cltdad, I am glad to hear the profs are accessible. The size of the large classes concerns me! My S loves classes where there can be actual discussion — he’s not so interested in just being lectured to. Has your D found the classes to be smaller this year? Might it be that hist/int’l relations classes are smaller than the math/science classes?</p>
<p>coureur, I’ve heard this from prof friends (who never attended Harvard & whose kids did not attend Harvard). We don’t know anyone who’s attended Harvard.</p>
<p>S isn’t looking for perfection. S is looking for an intellectually challenging environment – both in & outside the classroom.</p>
<p>only01, the large lectures are generally (if not always) taught by one to several professors, some of whom are very renown in their field. These lecture courses are supplemented by smaller classes outside of the lectures led by teaching fellows (who in other schools may be known as TAs), most of whom are grad students, and these much smaller classes, known as “sections”, allow the students to interact closely with the TFs to go over the materials taught in the recent lecture and to ask any question that they may have. All of the professors hold weekly office hours during which you can drop by to ask questions or go over concepts that might have confused you during the lecture, and all of the TFs hold their own office hours, in case you don’t feel like approaching a professor for help. For large intro math/science classes there are also “problem sessions” that you can attend to work on problem sets with other students, and there will usually be someone there too who will be able to help in case you have any additional question.</p>
<p>(There are, however, certain courses like intro math class/ expository writing that may be taught exclusively in sections by TFs, but there are not the norm and honestly, the TFs are sometimes much better at explaining concepts than the professors. In addition, we have something called a “shopping period” during which you can sit in on any class to see whether you like the class or the professor’s teaching style, so if your daughter feels that a certain class is too big or if there is not enough discussion during class, she can always pick another course that better suits her interests.)</p>
<p>So yes, some intro classes are huge, but with a combination of so many different kinds of resources (the lectures, the weekly sections, prof/TF office hours, recorded lecture videos, etc.), I’m sure your daughter will get personal attention. Also, once you go beyond the intro/general requirement classes, most of the classes at Harvard though are pretty small and are taught by professors.</p>
<p>Okay. So I know what college life is like, but a situation has come up and I need guidance. My youngest (a frosh at Harvard) has a roommate (whom she likes very much and gets along with well) whose mom visits OFTEN (4 times since school started this fall)and supplies her daughter with alcohol (vodka, most recently). My child was dismayed that a parent would do this, but thinks that is between them. And, since my child politely told roomie that she doesn’t like to be around when others drink to excess, the roommate has done a good job of limiting the partying in their shared space. So far so good. </p>
<p>Problem 1: My youngest is worried both for her friend and for herself should the stash be found in their room since neither is of legal drinking age. </p>
<p>Problem 2: The roommate’s mom has now started calling my daughter asking her to wake up her child and make her go to class. I suggested to my daughter that she not answer the calls, but now the roomie’s mom is texting, too. </p>
<p>What an unfortunate situation! Your daughter is wise to consider the ramifications of the roommate’s possession of alcohol. Is the roommate willing to take the entire blame if the vodka is discovered? Or would she likely deny it is hers?</p>
<p>Your daughter should politely refuse the roommate’s mother’s requests to waken and urge the girl to go to class. --‘I’m sorry but that would put me in a sticky situation of playing mom to roomie, and that is not my job.’ Once she has explained herself, your daughter can ignore the new texts and calls.</p>
<p>When will the mother realize her supplying vodka to the daughter could be causing the difficulty in waking up and getting to class?</p>
<p>Were a proctor to find alcohol in your daughter’s freshman dorm, the most likely consequence is that the proctor would have a discussion with your daughter + roommate about it and confiscate the alcohol.</p>
<p>Your daughter would certainly have an opportunity to clarify that the alcohol was not yours.</p>
<p>Thanks for your candid remarks. This makes me feel much better about their classes. Now we just have to wait till April to see whether Harvard wants S as much as he wants Harvard : )</p>
<p>Getting into Harvard is not the same as getting a free ticket to heaven that some kids imagine it to be. No school could ever live up to being known as the The Best College In The Known Universe. In the end it is a functioning university and not a country club or special society. But the way I would sum up Harvard is that it doesn’t do everything perfectly but it does many, many things very, very well.</p>
<p>Your daughter needs to deal with the roommate not her mother. The roommate is one she is living with, and she needs to sort things out with her to have a good relationship with her going forward.</p>
<p>Have D not answer phone calls, emails, text messages or any other communication from the mother; rather simply have D talk to the roommate and tell her she does not understand why the mother is calling D etc, please make it stop.</p>
<p>Secondly, if D is feeling uncomfortable about the alcohol situation, she needs to tell the roommate that is the case and come to some kind of understanding.</p>
<p>If either discussion is to no avail after reasonable efforts, well there are plenty of resources to go to at H to deal with these and other issues. First stop is the proctor, they are not just rule enforcers, they are advisors trained to deal with potentially thorny roommate problems. </p>
<p>Your D should get to know her proctor well not just because of the current issue; but proctors can be excellent resources for many things.</p>
<p>My son is a sophomore and a likely humanities concentrator. Most of his language/literature courses have been quite small. Out of the twelve classes he has been involved with so far, I think only three have been large lecture style courses. These have been his Gen Ed courses, but he’s really liked the lectures and found the sections to be great opportunities to discuss, ask questions, etc. His TFs have been uniformly strong and helpful. </p>
<p>I attended a small LAC that prided itself on small conference-style courses so I too was concerned about large lecture courses. However, I have much enjoyed looking in on CS50, the very popular and rigorous introduction to computer science. Google “This is CS50.” The lectures, assignments, and course structure are open to all on the webz and give a good flavor, I think, of how a large course works.</p>
<p>Finally, fellow students at Harvard provide a really rich intellectual environment. My son’s friends have a wide variety of academic interests and it seems the group spends a lot of time in intellectual discussion.</p>
<p>Harvard’s attitude to alcohol is very laissez faire. The approach seems to acknowledge that college is a time of experimentation and that as long as you are not endangering yourself or others, it’s no harm, no foul. So your daughter is unlikely to get into any trouble over her roommate’s vodka. My impression is that alcohol is pretty common in the Freshmen dorms.</p>
<p>On the other hand, that mother sounds like a real problem. I agree with the poster who suggested your daughter tell her roommate that it is not ok for the mother to call her to wake up the daughter. And your daughter should not answer the phone or respond to the texts.</p>
<p>I’ve had 2 Ds there - both took Ec 10 as frosh which was large and split into sections. All their other courses were small - some as small as 10-12. They’ve had great relationships with faculty, including quality one-on-one time. I’ve been astounded that the personal attention in their college experiences has been far greater than mine was at Wake Forest (which had fewer than 3,000 undergrads when I attended).</p>
<p>We will be staying @ Holiday Inn Express, Cambridge. Can anyone reply as to (public) transfer from this hotel to Harvard Yard??
We will be flying into Boston and will taxi to the hotel. No car for the weekend so I’m hoping transfers hotel to campus will not prove too difficult? Any recommendations for dinner? I was told the Cambridge Galleria Mall is 3 blks. from the hotel (?) and walkable…
Thanks for any help …</p>
<p>In my opinion, the best way to get from the Holiday Inn to Harvard is to take the [#69</a> MBTA bus](<a href=“Schedules & Maps | MBTA”>69 | Bus | MBTA), which runs from Lechmere Station (a quick walk from the hotel) to several spots around the Harvard campus.</p>
<p>The Cambridgeside Galleria is definitely walkable from the hotel – only a bit further than the Lechmere T stop.</p>
<p>Thank You!! I’ve just spent time on Google Maps and printed out directions - I think we’ll be OK - Weather forecast (so far) says possible rain, and low temps - UGH! Hope that changes - we’re Grandparents, coming from Florida, and we’re not looking forward to a rainy, cold weekend (w/Football Game) - My bones ache just thinking about it!! (Didn’t we do this 25 years ago??) LOL!</p>
<p>I have a questions about class rings. My son has told me that the COOP is selling class rings and that there is a ceremony in January or February where the rings are presented?? he said he heard this from a friend and from someone who works at the COOP. Does anyone know about this? Also has anyone heard of the company Balfour? apparently they do class rings. My son is a junior at H now. Should he wait until senior year? </p>
<p>The “ring ceremony” is in March during Junior Parents’ Weekend. Yes, Balfour is one of the large class ring companies, selling both H.S. and ciollege rings. Many students wait until senior year to buy rings. </p>
<p>Has anyone been to this ring ceremony? From the flyers sent by the Harvard Student Agencies, it seems more like a marketing event to encourage the early purchase of rings, rather than a campus tradition.</p>
<p>I went to Junior Parents’ Weekend last year and I do not recall seeing a class ring ceremony on the official program. In any case, guitars, thanks for the heads-up on the rings as I will ask DD if she wants us to get her one. Knowing her, she is likely to say no, but I’ll try anyway.</p>