Drop Responsibly

This Monday marked the beginning of the unofficial academic year, as freshmen joined upperclassmen in submitting their finalized study cards. And if you listened closely, you could almost hear the collective sigh of relief from concentration heads, peer advisors, proctors, and the Bureau of Study Counsel.

Despite study card day’s apparent finality, though, all undergraduates have five weeks to add or drop courses, one of Harvard’s most under-appreciated policies. Especially when one compares Harvard to most other colleges nationwide, which typically have an add/drop period of two to three weeks—if they have one at all—one realizes that Harvard students are already allowed a considerable amount of time to explore their options.

Nevertheless, a few relatively minor changes to the way the faculty and administration think about the drop/add period would allow students to take even better advantage of the flexibility it affords.

Firstly, professors should plan their courses so that students are given substantive feedback, whether in the form of a midterm or other assignment, before the five weeks have expired. Students—especially freshmen trying to gauge their aptitude for various subjects at the college level—should have some tangible indication of their status in a course in time for them to opt to drop without penalty.

Moreover, the College should change its policy of charging a fee for changing courses between the third and fifth weeks so that there is no economic disincentive, however small, to try a new and challenging course, but also to withdraw from an overly onerous one.

Though some have proposed an extension or elimination of the drop/add period, it is in the best interests of both the College and its students to maintain some limit on the time period for changing enrollment. Harvard would do poorly to allow students, as Brown does, to drop classes until final examination period starts, which virtually ensures that students can escape any responsibility for their academic performance. It is also necessary to remind ourselves that being forced to struggle through difficult work—even when the end result is underperformance or failure—has value, however painful it may be.

Nevertheless, the drop/add period is invaluable in allowing the intellectually curious to explore subjects without fear of being locked into a class that they later regret taking. We hope Harvard students take the intellectual risks that this important policy facilitates.