Whither Accounting?

Each year I write an impassioned plea to a plethora of mailing lists exhorting Harvard undergraduates to consider cross-registration at MIT. I explain the simplicity and ease of cross-registration. I argue that the commute is trivial and that there are exciting courses in all manner of disciplines. But without fail, year after year, students decline to make the commitment, except for accounting.

Wither this fascination with accounting? Since the answer to that question is likely tied to Harvard students’ propensity to find jobs in the financial field, it comes as no big surprise that some students are interested in 15.501, Corporate Financial Accounting. But why is it that Harvard students, many of whom are interested in fields other than finance, are only willing to brave the trip to MIT to put accounting on their transcripts?

While I have some concerns about the pre-professional instinct that leads one to choose to take an accounting course in the midst of a world class array of liberal arts classes, my quibble is not with the students who are taking accounting. In fact, I find much to admire in their pioneer spirit—they are willing to spend a little extra energy in order to learn about something in which they are interested.

Rather, my vexation is with the vast majority of Harvard students who do not even take the time to peruse the MIT course catalog and do not pursue academic interests beyond the gates of Harvard. For science and engineering concentrators this is all but unforgivable. Nobel laureates, inventors, scientists and engineers of all stripes are actively disseminating cutting-edge knowledge to all who will listen just blocks away, and almost everyone here seems to ignore it. Maybe Harvard’s future scientists could use a little more of the pre-professional attitude shared by their financially oriented peers.

But MIT is more than just science and technology courses. From architecture to philosophy, from Asian-American studies to gender studies, there is an incredible diversity of courses offered at MIT. Some courses may closely mirror those at Harvard, but many are unique to MIT. Some are taught in fields Harvard students have been advocating for years to be included at Harvard, yet presumably some of these same students won’t travel down the street to follow their interests. Almost all languish as missed opportunities for Harvard students. Except, of course, for accounting.

It is hard to believe that so few Harvard undergraduates even glance at the MIT course catalog, much less sign up for a course. Yes, there is a form to fill out. Yes, the MIT course catalog uses numbers in place of words. Yes, it can take twenty minutes to get to MIT. Yes, the MIT semester starts a few days earlier. And yes, there are literally thousands of courses offered in the Faculty of Arts of Sciences alone each semester. But none of these barriers are sufficiently high or compelling enough to forestall a student’s desire to learn—they certainly don’t stop a sizable cohort of Harvard students from taking accounting!

It is common for Harvard students to make fun of their overly-zealous peers who have a laser-like focus on becoming doctors or investment bankers. Some of that derision may be deserved. But there is much to admire in pursuing a clearly articulated career goal. For those without a professional plan (and even for those who do have one) there is an implicit mission inherent in attending the world’s greatest university: to sate one’s intellectual curiosity. No minor administrative hurdles and no trivial commute should stand in the way, no matter what the subject at hand.

Ultimately, I don’t care whether every student finds an interesting course to take at MIT—it may be enough for some just to push beyond what they are comfortable with in the Harvard course catalog. But I do care that it seems that only economics concentrators are willing to spend a little extra energy to enhance their learning. I hope the rest of you prove me wrong this year.



Samuel H. Lipoff ‘04 is a graduate student at MIT and resident tutor in chemistry at Cabot House. He cross-registered for two MIT courses while a Harvard undergraduate.