Why is KSG Poor, Volatile and Overcrowded?
Sarada Peri
Issue date: 10/4/06 Section: Op-Ed
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According to the KSG administration fewer classes went to bidding this year, a fact expected to bring tears of joy to the eyes of exhausted shopped-out students. What actually brings tears to my eyes is the asphyxiation I experience sitting in L130, as the kindergarten style uni-desk crushes my ribs. I look around the windowless room for an escape, accidentally elbowing my classmate whose proximity could be misinterpreted as feeling me up. (Any poor soul over six feet tall is in danger of being sued for inappropriate conduct.) During such moments when the claustrophobia reaches suicidal levels, thinking about the shortened bidding list brings no comfort.
This school is overcrowded.
Truth be told, we were pleasantly surprised on bidding day when classes assumed to be oversubscribed were not. After so much time spent strategizing over point allocation, many students had no tough decisions to make. They happily marched into Kamarck and Gergen's American politics course, ready to take a seat and learn.
And they were hastily shoved to the window ledge where, 45 minutes later, they lost all feeling in their asses.
See, you will get a seat in KSG classes. But-harnessing the immortal wisdom of Bill Clinton-it just depends on what your definition of "seat" is.
For example, Akash Deep's finance class did not go to bidding. But don't be fooled - the wily powers that be merely moved the teaming masses into a bigger room. In exchange for not having to bid, you just have to arrive an hour before the 8:40am class begins in order to secure a seat within shouting distance of the professor. Hunched up in the nosebleed section of Starr straining to see, hear, and breathe, it would take a hell of a lot to convince me that this class isn't for all intents and purposes oversubscribed.
Much of this basic volatility stems from the Kennedy School's impoverishment. Thanks to the financial wisdom of the abyss known as Harvard Corporation, each graduate school funds itself. As a result, HBS has waiters who bring you sushi while you attend your Luxury Goods Club meeting. We may produce current presidents of Liberia and future presidents of Nigeria, but millionaire donors are not our specialty.
This school is overcrowded.
Truth be told, we were pleasantly surprised on bidding day when classes assumed to be oversubscribed were not. After so much time spent strategizing over point allocation, many students had no tough decisions to make. They happily marched into Kamarck and Gergen's American politics course, ready to take a seat and learn.
And they were hastily shoved to the window ledge where, 45 minutes later, they lost all feeling in their asses.
See, you will get a seat in KSG classes. But-harnessing the immortal wisdom of Bill Clinton-it just depends on what your definition of "seat" is.
For example, Akash Deep's finance class did not go to bidding. But don't be fooled - the wily powers that be merely moved the teaming masses into a bigger room. In exchange for not having to bid, you just have to arrive an hour before the 8:40am class begins in order to secure a seat within shouting distance of the professor. Hunched up in the nosebleed section of Starr straining to see, hear, and breathe, it would take a hell of a lot to convince me that this class isn't for all intents and purposes oversubscribed.
Much of this basic volatility stems from the Kennedy School's impoverishment. Thanks to the financial wisdom of the abyss known as Harvard Corporation, each graduate school funds itself. As a result, HBS has waiters who bring you sushi while you attend your Luxury Goods Club meeting. We may produce current presidents of Liberia and future presidents of Nigeria, but millionaire donors are not our specialty.
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