Freshman Seminars See Record Numbers

With roughly 900 freshman seminar spots available this fall, over 300 freshmen will not get any of their choices.

A record 1,251 freshmen applied to at least one freshman seminar this fall, an increase of 7.5 percent over last year’s pervious high of 1,164.

While the final number of students enrolled in seminars is not known yet—students accepted off waiting lists have until today to accept or decline a spot—at least several hundred students will ultimately be disappointed.

“I think [the rise in applicants] was a result of the increase in the number of offerings and also the reputation that the program has at this point as being a terrific experience for freshmen,” said Sandra Naddaff, the director of the Freshman Seminar Program.

The number of seminars increased from 60 to 75 this fall.

Not only are more students applying to seminars, but on average each of the applicants are applying to more seminars. The number of total applications this year was up 15 percent, from 2,287 to 2,630.

Freshmen have the option of applying to up to three seminars, which they then must list in order of preference.

But because each seminar may not be equally popular, the number of applicants can vary widely with some seminars drawing double the number of applicants than spots and others attracting very few applicants.

Abraham J.R. Riesman ’08 applied to three seminars, but was not admitted to any of them.

“I have a fear that maybe some of this had to do with the fact that I pleaded ignorance on all three of my applications,” said Riesman, who will try again in the spring. “I was really excited about being exposed to these topics in a small classroom setting.”

Chair of the Classics Department Richard F. Thomas, who is offering a new seminar this fall on singer and songwriter Bob Dylan, said that he had 33 applicants for his seminar. His class, Freshman Seminar 37u, “Bob Dylan,” was originally limited to 12 students, but he has since expanded enrollment to 15.

“There are a lot of good Dylan experts out there in the freshman class,” Thomas said. “I would have liked to have taken more because it’s always a pity to turn people away.”

Naddaff said that ideally there would be enough seminar spots to accommodate every freshman. She said the overall program has already expanded—115 seminars are offered this fall and spring, compared to last year’s 100 courses.

These numbers reflect a trend that will likely only increase in the future with the Faculty’s recommendations in last spring’s curricular review report.

The report recommended that the number of seminar offerings be expanded to accommodate all freshmen by the 2006-2007 academic year, and that all freshmen be required to take one.

Naddaff said that this year’s increased offerings were not a direct result of the report.

“The desire to grow the freshman seminar program precedes the curricular review, but certainly the curricular review supports that impulse,” Naddaff said.

On their applications, all students are asked why they chose to apply to a particular seminar, but professors can add their own questions.

Thomas asked students about their favorite Dylan song.

Thomas said that his favorite is “Tangled Up in Blue,” but that the most common answer on the application was “Like a Rolling Stone.”

“It was very interesting and very readable,” said Thomas, who taught a seminar on poetic translations a couple of years ago. “I am expecting an enjoyable and stimulating semester.”

—Staff writer Evan M. Vittor can be reached at evittor@fas.harvard.edu.