Statistics

The Statistics concentration can be summed up with one simple statistic: As of November 2005, there were exactly four concentrators.

You can properly infer from this data point that personal attention is a benefit of concentrating in statistics at Harvard. Unfortunately there aren’t many others. If you truly love statistics and it is your passion and you want to become a professor in statistics—which probably also means nobody will want to hang out with you on Saturday nights—then concentrate in it. Otherwise take this approach: concentrate in something you are actually interested in and then get a fourth-year masters in statistics.

Through one of those great ironies that seem to be ubiquitous in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, it is actually easier to get a masters in Statistics then it is to get an undergraduate degree. This program is particularly advantageous to Economics concentrators who want to pursue a finance career—you get four normal years of college, you’ll end up taking most of the same courses anyway, and you’ll have the impressive masters degree on your transcript and resume. Ka-ching!–better jobs upon graduation and the possibility of starting at a higher pay scale.

As for the actual courses and professors in the department? Well as you might expect, they are dry, tedious, and from the level of Stat 110 and up they are pretty taxing. Fortunately for most people, their only interaction with Stats is Stats 100—which is dry, tedious, but for many, incredibly important.

Oh and by the way, if you have problems with professors who barely speak English, then this concentration’s courses probably aren’t for you.