“It’s essential to the success of the program that you get really good teachers and senior Faculty,” he says.

Regardless of the opinions, Doherty says “the balance has shifted” toward more professors leading seminars.

Not Just for Greenhorns

With many students and Faculty satisfied by their experiences with the Freshman Seminar Program, some are now wondering whether Harvard should expand the seminars to upperclass students.

Stanford currently has an Introductory Seminars Program open to both first-years and sophomores.

Glauber and Thomas both support seminar programs for upperclass students.

“One thing we find ourselves asking is, ‘Why don’t we do things like this at all levels?’” Glauber says.

Glauber said department tutorials “to some degree, are supposed to answer” for the lack of a seminar program for upperclass students.

Thomas emphasizes the merits of having first-years in the same classes as upperclass students.

“Recognizing that you can hold your own with juniors and seniors is a sign of health,” he says.

Thomas refers to the decline in enrollment in freshman seminars in the spring semester as an indication that first-years become ready for classes with upperclass students.

“Traditionally, that the spring enrollment has dropped off could be interpreted as a sign that they don’t need to be with other freshmen,” Thomas says. “Also, freshmen develop interests in other things, or become more concerned with their concentration.”

Pedersen agrees that first-years change priorities after their first semester—the reason that two-thirds of the seminars are offered in the fall. But she says she does not believe the value of freshman seminars is diminished for those taking them in the spring.

“There’s a drop-off in applications, but there were still many more applicants than seminars,” she says. “They’re really just the perfect thing for students to come in and do in their first semester.”

Patrick R. Griffin ’05 notes the time constraints most first-years face by their second semester.

“I applied to one in the fall and it got pushed [by the professor] to the spring,” he says. “I didn’t re-apply because I didn’t have the time.”

—Staff writer Alexander J. Blenkinsopp can be reached at blenkins@fas.harvard.edu.