Ec 10 Remains Semester's Largest Course

At 5 p.m. Wednesday, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Registrar’s Office bustled with activity as students rushed through the doors, dropped off paperwork, and exited the Garden St. building into the cold. Two hours before the final study card deadline—extended because of an interruption to course shopping by a blizzard last week—the office came alive with students’ finalizing their spring semester schedules.

Economics 10b is the spring's largest course in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. By Harrison H Parker

“We have seen good traffic today,” FAS Associate Registrar for Enrollment Services Maggie Welsh said. “People are coming in, in good spirits.”

After the University closed for blizzard “Juno” during shopping week, administrators said students, if necessary, could submit their registration materials past the Friday deadline until Wednesday evening without a late fee. About 80 percent of undergraduates turned in their course study cards by the original deadline, according to FAS Registrar Michael P. Burke.

Based on the course enrollment data updated on the FAS Register’s Office website, Harvard’s flagship introductory economics course has continued to enroll the largest number of undergraduates this semester. On Wednesday evening, 619 students were enrolled in Economics 10b: “Principles of Economics,” taught by professor N. Gregory Mankiw, compared to 535 students listed on Sunday.

A life sciences course, statistics course, economics course, and a computer science course rounded out the list of the semester’s courses with the highest enrollment. From the updated data, Life Sciences 1b: “An Integrated Introduction to the Life Sciences” is the second-largest FAS course this semester, with 464 students enrolled, followed by Statistics 104: “Introduction to Quantitative Methods for Economics” with 372 students.

Associate Registrar for Enrollment Services Maggie Welsh reviews a study card at the Office of the Registrar Wednesday afternoon. Students took advantage of the fact that they would not be penalized with a late fee if they turned in their study cards late after a winter storm interrupted shopping week. By Thomas W. Franck

Now that study cards have been submitted, the Office of Undergraduate Education can finalize teaching fellow and classroom assignments, according to Dean of Undergraduate Education Jay M. Harris. As add/drop period begins, there will be “final adjustments” to these assignments based on the fluctuations of students enrolled in courses, he said.

Welsh said she expects to see a decline in the number of add/drop forms because the study card deadline extension gave students more time to plan out their spring semester schedules.

Many students who dropped off their study cards Wednesday said the additional time allowed them to shop more classes.

“I had a couple of Tuesday classes I wanted to shop, so extending the deadline was helpful,” Alice M. Xiao ’18 said.

Jessica R. Lucey ’15 also appreciated the additional time to figure out her schedule before committing it to paper. “It was really great that they extended the [time]. There was a lot of confusion and frustration beforehand,” she said.

—Staff writer Melissa C. Rodman can be reached at melissa.rodman@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter @melissa_rodman