In Annenberg, Sophomores Celebrate Concentration Declarations

Hundreds of sophomores gathered in Annenberg Hall Thursday to celebrate the passing of the College’s concentration declaration deadline and their newly-declared plans of study.

The freshly-minted concentrators chatted, munched on hors d’oeuvres and desserts, posed for a photo booth, and penned letters to their future selves at the “Concentration Declaration” event, now in its second year.

For some sophomores, the concentration decision was straightforward. Derek Peng ’19, a new Economics concentrator, noted that his freshmen coursework helped him make his decision early in his first year.

“I was really impressed with [Economics] 10a and 10b,” two popular introductory Economics courses at Harvard, Peng said. Last year, a plurality of sophomores declared concentrations in Economics.

Others, including newly-declared English concentrator Mitchell P. Johns ’19, decided on their concentrations in the weeks leading up to the declaration deadline.

According to Johns, English “was not exactly” sure what he was planning on studying at Harvard, and when he first arrived on campus he was interested in Computer Science.

Still, despite declaring their new fields of study, some students remain uncertain of their future academic plans.

Although Kieren Kresevic Salazar ’19 declared his concentration in Economics, he is still waiting on administrative approval for his proposed joint concentration in Economics and Comparative Literature.

“Ec doesn’t really allow you to join them together, so we’ll see how that goes and whether I can piece them together,” Salazar said.

Brandi Moore ’19 declared Human Evolutionary Biology, but said she remains open to switching to Integrative Biology.

“It’s easy to switch between the two degrees, so it’s not really a big deal,” Moore said.

Students are allowed to switch concentrations until their second to last semester at the College, so long as they fulfill their academic requirements.

Several students, including Lujia Yang ’19 and Anna Z. Zhou ’19, said the College’s Sophomore Advisors, Peer Advising Fellows, and department staff were helpful in narrowing down concentration options. Zhou, an Applied Mathematics concentrator, said her academic advisers guided her throughout the process and connected her with people within the Applied Mathematics department.

In a speech to the newly-declared concentrators, Federico Cortese, conductor of the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra and Senior Lecturer on Music, urged students to think of their concentrations in terms of self-discovery rather than professional goals.