Rule number one for avoiding the freshman 15—don't go to events just for the food. However, with Advising Fortnight taking place over the next two weeks, it's time for freshmen to forget about the rules and indulge in the cuisines each department is offering, hopefully learning more about potential concentrations along the way.
Although you may have missed Tuesday’s scrumptious "Sushi and Sociology" event, Wednesday alone brings freshmen a "History and Literature Ice Cream Social" in the Thompson Room of the Barker Center from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m., followed by an "Astrophysics Pizza Seminar" with Professor of Astronomy Daniel Eisenstein on Large Scale Cosmic Structure in Room 80 of the Science Center from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
On Thursday, April 7, you can grab paninis on the fourth floor of Boylston Hall with the Department of Romance Languages and Literature for lunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. If Economics or Visual and Environmental Science interest you more, both departments are holding pizza and discussion time for dinner that night, Economics from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on the third floor of the Littauer Center, and VES in the Sert Gallery Café of the Carpenter Center from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Other departments are taking more unconventional approaches. The Physics Department is enticing students with a monkey bread break in the Leverett Master's Residence on Sunday night from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. For a more culturally unique experience, enjoy "Dim Sum Delight" with East Asian Studies on Monday, April 11 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on the first floor common room of 2 Divinity Ave. That same day, both the Music and English Departments are offering cupcakes and advice—Music from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the Taft Lounge of the Music Building, and English from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Thompson Room of the Barker Center.
Wednesday of the next week, April 13, brings freshmen a smorgasbord of cupcakes, samosas, chai tea, ice cream, and pizza as well as some top-notch advising help. Women, Gender, and Sexuality is offering cupcakes on the ground floor of Boylston Hall from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., and South Asian Studies is spicing things up with samosas and chai on the 3rd Floor of 1 Bow St. from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Want good old fashioned tea and cookies? Come chat with the Philosophy Department from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. in Emerson Hall 10. Round out the day of delectable dining with the Astrophysics Department for a "Pizza Seminar" from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in Room 80 of the Science Center.
The Economics Department will be holding an "Economics Ice Cream Social" on Thursday, April 14 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on the third floor lounge of the Littaur Center.
Although enticing food may draw students to the events, many freshmen said that they would not be swayed by the concentration presentations alone.
"[The food] might draw me to attend the event," Daniel J. Frim '14 said. "It would definitely not influence my choice of concentration though."