Academics

Academic Support Resources

Help with courses

Harvard has many supports to help you build and refine your academic skills, including academic coaching, workshops, accountability groups, and peer tutoring through the Academic Resource Center, as well as assistance in library research, writing, languages, and more.

• Academic Resource Center (ARC): The ARC helps create conditions for optimizing your learning by providing a range of support services that draw on research in the behavioral and learning sciences. You will have access to academic coaching, accountability sessions, peer tutoring, English language conversation partners, and workshops.  
• Harvard Library: With over 20 million physical and digital items, Harvard Library's vast collections are renowned for their global reach and depth, with resources spanning the development of all disciplines and more than 460 languages. 
• Harvard College Writing Center: The Writing Center is a place for you to get help with any aspect of your writing, from specific assignments to general writing skills.
• Language Center: The Language Center is available to all FAS students for support of foreign language learning. 
• Language Exchange: The Language Exchange could be especially useful to students looking to gain confidence in foreign-language conversation with a dedicated conversation partner. Any Harvard affiliate, including alumni, at any skill level are eligible to participate. Folks who register for the Language Exchange can accept a match between any combination of languages they're looking to practice, and meet as often/for as long as they wish. It could be a great supplement to the more formal preparation many undergraduates undertake in their language requirement courses, and a method for maintaining linguistic nimbleness as they start considering more specialized fields.
• Math Question Center (MQC): A community where students in Math M, 1a, 1b, 21a, and 21b come together to work on their problem sets (or PSets). The center is staffed by undergraduate course assistants (CAs) who are there to help you productively approach your PSets. The goal of the MQC is for you to not only complete your homework correctly, but also synthesize the main ideas from the PSets so you can apply them more broadly.
• Economics Question Center (EQC): The EQC has a dedicated team of students to help concentrators with questions on ECON 1010A/1011A, ECON 1010B/1011B, ECON 1123/1126. Visit the EQC for hands-on tutoring by your peers who have been through the classes and can help you see the big (and sometimes small) picture.

Help with requirements and planning your schedule

Find information about academic advising, course registration and course changes (add/drop, withdrawals, change of grading basis), accessibility accommodations, study abroad, and support for international students.

• Office of Undergraduate Education (OUE): The OUE is responsible for the administration of the undergraduate curriculum at Harvard, working with academic departments and instructors to deliver a transformative educational experience.  
• Advising Programs Office (APO): The APO cultivates quality academic advising for all Harvard College undergraduate students. The APO promotes the intellectual and personal transformation of students across the four years by encouraging exploration, reflection, and informed decision-making about curricular and co-curricular choices and opportunities.
• Registrar’s Office: The Registrar's Office supports student progress to degree, assisting with student records, diplomas, course enrollment, academic planning, and classroom management. 
• Disability Access Office (DAO): The DAO partners with FAS students with visible and invisible disabilities to identify barriers and implement plans for access. Through collaboration with the campus community, DAO fosters an environment of equity and inclusion.
• Office of International Education (OIE): OIE supports students by facilitating enriching and engaging study abroad experiences for an academic year, a semester, and/or summer, and by providing academic and social support services to enrolled undergraduate international students. 
• Harvard International Office (HIO): HIO offers services to international students and scholars to support them both upon arrival and later during their time at Harvard. HIO provides information on a wide range of topics, including immigration issues, financial questions, and adjustment to life in the United States.

Academic Requirements

All students must meet Harvard College curriculum requirements in addition to the requirements of a concentration. Some students choose to pursue a joint or double concentration, and/or a secondary field or language citation, among other opportunities.

• Harvard College Curriculum 
• Harvard College Program in General Education
• Harvard College Student Handbook and Fields of Concentration
• Exploring Concentrations

Additional Academic Opportunities

• Research
• Study Abroad
• Dual Degree Music Programs
• Mindich Program in Engaged Scholarship
• Lemann Program on Creativity and Entrepreneurship

Special Circumstances

You may sometimes face illness or other special circumstances affecting your academics. In such cases, it may be possible to:

• Seek course changes (such as adding, dropping, or withdrawing from a course, or changing a course’s grading basis)
• Request accommodations from the Disability Access Office for temporary or long-term illness, injury, or disability, or from the College's Title IX Coordinators in cases of incidents of gender-based or sexual harassment, including sexual assault.
• Request extensions
• Seek makeup examinations

For support in any of these situations, your Resident Dean is also available to help, and you can contact your Allston Burr Resident Dean or First-Year Resident Dean to set up an appointment.

Course Changes

The Registrar's Office's website includes information about seeking course changes, such as adding/dropping, withdrawing from a course, or changing a course’s grading basis. In some cases, approval from your adviser and Resident Dean is required for such changes.

Accessibility and Accommodations

The Disability Access Office (DAO) supports students dealing with temporary or long-term illnesses, injuries, or disabilities, whether visible or invisible.

Title IX Accommodations

The College’s Title IX Resource Coordinators support students impacted by incidents of gender-based or sexual harassment, including sexual assault. In such circumstances, students may sometimes seek course-related accommodations.

Extensions

Extensions before the end of the semester

In the case of medical or other special circumstances, course instructors may grant extensions of time for work up to the end of the final examination period. If you are dealing with circumstances that may warrant such an extension, you should reach out directly to your course instructor, and you can also consult with your Resident Dean. If emailing an instructor to discuss such circumstances, it can also be helpful to include your Resident Dean on the email. Note that no course instructor may accept work from a student after the end of the final examination period without the authorization of the Administrative Board.

For more information, see page 43 of the Harvard College Student Handbook.

Extensions past the end of the semester

In the case of medical or other special circumstances where an extension may be needed past the end of the final examination period, you should immediately contact your Resident Dean to discuss submitting a petition to the Administrative Board. No course instructor may accept work from a student after the end of the final exam period without the authorization of the Administrative Board. Note that extensions of time past the end of the final examination period are only granted in exceptional circumstances, and only for a period commensurate with the time missed.

For more information, see pages 43-44 of the Harvard College Student Handbook.

Illness

Illness affecting class attendance

All students are expected to attend classes regularly. If you are unable to attend class due to illness, you should immediately notify your course instructors, and if your illness persists for several days or it is quite serious, you should also notify your Resident Dean. Students who are ill may consult with Harvard University Health Services (HUHS), Counseling and Mental Health Services (CAMHS), or their own physician, but should report all cases of serious illness promptly to HUHS and their Resident Dean.

For more information, see page 39 of the Harvard College Student Handbook.

Illness affecting midterm examinations

If you are ill and unable to attend an hour or midterm exam, you should report this immediately to your course instructor, Harvard University Health Services (HUHS), and your Resident Dean. Students who have obtained proper HUHS documentation of illness may not be penalized for their absence from the exam. You should give the appropriate form from HUHS to your Resident Dean, who can use this to certify your illness to your course instructor if needed. While some courses may choose to provide a makeup for a missed hour or midterm exam, this is not required and the decision rests with the instructor. Some courses may instead omit the grade for the missed hour or midterm exam and determine the final course grade based on the remainder of course work.

For more information, see page 39 of the Harvard College Student Handbook.

Illness affecting final examinations

If you are ill and unable to attend a final exam, you should report this immediately to your course instructor, Harvard University Health Services (HUHS), and your Resident Dean. A student may petition the Administrative Board for a makeup final exam only if the illness is documented by medical staff at HUHS within the 24-hour period before the beginning of the exam. In an emergency, a student’s illness could be reported to HUHS by a private physician, before the beginning of the examination, and the private physician must also supply a written statement to HUHS. Note that a student who is present for any part of an examination is never entitled to a makeup exam. If a student becomes ill during an exam, this should be reported immediately to the course instructor, and the student will be sent to HUHS until able to resume the examination. Upon resumption of the examination, the student will be allowed only the balance of time remaining.

For more information, see pages 40-43 of the Harvard College Student Handbook.

Harvard College Academic Guides