The Houses

When the Houses went into operation the center of Harvard life for the upperclassman shifted unmistakably from the Yard to the region beside the Charles.

Five of the Houses, Eliot, Kirkland, Lowell, Winthrop and Leverett are grouped fairly close together in one section, while Dunste locates farther down the river and Adams on the old Gold Coast of Mt. Auburn Street. Between the Yard and the Houses, in the vicinity of Mt. Auburn Street, are found also the New Athletic Building, most of the clubs, and the offices of the CRIMSON, Lampoon, and Advocate.

Houses and Tutors

Freshmen are excluded from the Houses because of the intimate relation existing between the House Plan and the TUTORIAL SYSTEM. The real difference in the four-year course comes at the end of the Freshman year at Harvard instead of a year later as in many colleges. By the end of his first year, if not before, the student is expected to be ready to do work of university grade and to work under a tutor.

At this time, therefore, he applies for admission to one of the Houses. Each House is designed to be a cross-section of the College geographically, academically, and socially. A man having a special reason for entering a certain House can say so when he makes his application in the Spring.

Tutors Assigned Sophomores

Each Sophomore is assigned a tutor in the Field of Concentration he has elected, usually a tutor attached to his own House. Of the tutorial staff of each House about ten are resident in the House, while the rest have temporary studies there. The student meets his tutor about once a week, eats with him occasionally, and is expected, in one way or another, to absorb a good deal of learning and to benefit from the intellectual contact. At the same time every upperclassman carries a regular schedule of courses.