<p>This is not meant to insult anyone. A friend of mine said Harvard’s CS program was weak, so I’m curious if it’s as difficult to get into CS as it is the rest of Harvard’s programs.</p>
<p>Harvard’s CS program is not weak. CS50 is the introductory course, and I believe it is one of the best introductory computer science courses in the nation, because it is able to impart upon its students those elusive qualities of imagination and creation.</p>
<p>In regard to your second point, you seem to have a misunderstanding. You do not “get into” an academic program in Harvard. You are admitted to Harvard College, and in your sophomore year you may choose what you wish to concentrate in. There is no application to a specific concentration really.</p>
<p>yeah, people always like to think by departments and then people usually say that harvard cs or engineering or whatever isnt so good, but thats not the best way to go about thinking about it. many of the best high school programmers and computer scientists come to harvard often for a variety of reasons (financial aid vs mit can be a big one). for people who actually want to get into cs academia or whatever, it might not be as good as stanford, berkeley, or mit, but its right up there and its only getting better.</p>
<p>just apply. its hard, but if you get in, youll enjoy it just as much as anyone here tends to do.</p>
<p>I also think Harvard CS is strong for the atmosphere of entrepreneurship and creativity that it fosters. After the CS50 fair, many students try to push their project (often times a website) forward, which is great, since they’re taking such ownership of their work. After all, this was the CS program that generated Mark and many other successful entrepreneurs (many of whom are NOT in CS interestingly, but I’m sure the program imparted upon them crucial things).</p>
<p>The premise of your question is incorrect. You don’t get accepted into a program; you get accepted into the college and you can pick any program you want. So no, saying you want to do CS does not improve your chances even if it were a weak program (which it’s not).</p>
<p>^Dwight, I explained this already, but no worries. Also, saying you want to do a certain concentration does in fact hold some weight if that concentration is somewhat rarer, such as classics.</p>
<p>^Oops yeah, didn’t see that part of your post.</p>
<p>I’ve never heard any indication that saying you want to do a rarer concentration improves your chances in its own right. I don’t think Harvard is worried that no one is going to pick classics. Admissions officers love to talk about how people change their concentrations all the time.</p>
<p>Perhaps it helps adcoms better understand you as an applicant, which I suppose improves your chances. But even if this is true, the concentration that best fits your interests and helps them understand you is by definition not a decision you make when you’re filling out the boxes. So, I don’t think it makes sense to consider it a strategic decision that can help or hurt you. But what do we know? We’re just guessing.</p>