Students Begin Shopping Frenzy

The Science Center looked like a shopping mall in sale season yesterday as hundreds of students tried to escape from standing-room-only lecture halls, jumping over walls and crawling under classmates to dash to their next classes.

The biannual rite of shopping period has begun.

Science classes were not the only courses that were stuffed full. Seminars were some of the most overvisited classes of the day. In many cases, 15-student classes drew 40 or more students.

First-years filed approximately 1,200 applications to Freshman Seminars, vying for a maximum of 300 spaces, according to Gerard F. Denault '67, associate director of freshman seminars.

The number of applications is down from last year's 15-year high of 1,400.

Several Core classes drew 100 to 200 more students than the scheduled room could accommodate.

Hundreds of students jostled each other in the corridors outside Paine Hall just to catch a glimpse of piano-playing maestro Robinson Professor of the Humanities Robert D. Levin '68 of Literature and Arts B-54: "Chamber Music From Mozart to Ravel."

"I couldn't really see past the back, because there was a wall of people there and a wall of people in front of them," said Salley Koo '97, who estimated that more than 600 students packed into the 400-capacity theatre.

According to students who attended, Levin attributed the large turnout to favorable CUE Guide ratings and a Confidential Guide review headline--"Get an 'A' for No Effort"--that painted the course as a gut.

It was unclear last night whether the class would be lotteried. A person answering the phone at Levin's home said the professor was out of town.

Baird Professor of History Richard Pipes said he was pleasantly surprised by the turnout for his class Historical Studies B-56: "The Russian Revolution."

Pipes said last night that more than 100 students showed up for the class, while he anticipated a number between 30 and 50.

He attributed the unexpected boom in part to recent events in Russia, but said that course enrollments can fluctuate wildly from year to year.

"This is really quite unpredictable," he said.

Pipes said he will move the class from Harvard Hall 102 to Harvard Hall 201 to accommodate the extra students.

Meanwhile, about 300 mostly pre-med students crowded into Science Center D for Chemistry 17: "Principles of Organic Chemistry." Visiting Professor Claude Wintner, who is teaching the class for the first time, said the number was about what he expected, although the lecture hall can hold 475 students.

Combined with the 280 students who also flocked to Chemistry 30: "Organic Chemistry," nearly 10 percent of the College is considering taking orgo this year.