First-Year Seminars Packed

When Sanket J. Bulsara '98 was looking for classes in a catalogue filled with 936-person courses like Ec 10, he decided he wanted to try something a bit different.

Bulsara applied for three of Harvard's exclusive first-year seminars, hoping to get an intimate learning experience with a top professor.

He was rejected from all three.

Bulsara is not alone: this fall, the program got 1,409 applications for just 240 spots in the seminars. While many students applied to several classes, 649 people sought admission to at least one.

And because of scheduling glitches only 198 students ultimately accepted the spots they were offered, leaving more than 400 first-years in positions like Bulsara's.

"I find it ridiculous that we freshmen, who are supposed to be able to find small and intimate classes, have such a small number of spots available to us for freshman seminars," Bulsara says.

For first-years, who often can't get the small tutorials or high-level department seminars available to upperclass students, the need may be particularly acute.

"Outside language classes [these] are probably the only intimate classes available to us," Bulsara says.

But while administrators applaud the program, they may not be able to expand it to serve more first-years.

"I think it's a very good program," says Dean of the College L. Fred Jewett '57. "It provides an opportunity for students to work closely with a professor in an informal setting."

Faculty members often prefer to teach graduate students or advanced classes, or simply may not want to add to their departmental courseload for the love of teaching.

"I think the main limit is in terms of finding people who want to do it," Jewett says.

For the professors who do teach the seminars, the admissions process can be agonizing.

Franke Professor of German Art and Culture Karl S. Guthke, who is offering a class on "Last Words," says he could only accept 12 of his 92 applicants.

Lowell Professor of Sociology Stanley Lieberson says he faced a similar dilemma. Lieberson accepted just 10 of the 99 students who applied to his seminar on racial and ethnic relations outside the United States.

For those who are admitted, however, the ungraded seminars are among their favorite Harvard offerings.

This fall, 22 seminars are available on topics ranging from the "scientific analysis of materials" to "identity, authority and gender in Medieval Europe."

"I wanted a small class and I like discussion, so I'm happy about the seminar," says Anton D. Ford '98, who was accepted to three seminars and enrolled in one on the United States in the 1960s. "And of course the fact that they're pass/fail didn't hurt."

Guthke says the lack of graded work benefits those in the courses.

"The students are not working for a grade," he says. "All they get is a letter describing what they did that goes into their file."

"This creates a more relaxed atmosphere in which they can follow their intellectual instincts and explore," the professor adds. "They are searching for knowledge, for the joy of discovery."