Q: I’m considering English, but I’d like to find out more.
A: There are several options to find out information:

• The undergraduate web page has the Students’ Handbook and much more.
• Drop in during the week for walk-in advising with one of our Departmental Advisers.
• The English-sponsored events during the Advising Fortnight in the Spring of the Freshman year give a presentation followed by a question period. You can also attend one of the orientation sessions held at the beginning of every semester.
• After you have been assigned to a house, you can get in touch with undergraduate student liaisons and House Tutors, who will be a great source for information.
• Send an e-mail to enghelp@fas.harvard.edu. It will go right to the administrators of the undergraduate program.

Q: Does the English concentration have any prerequisites?
A: No.

Q: I am still undecided. Are there courses I can take to explore what it is like to be an English Concentrator?
A: We recommend that you try a 100-level lecture course on a topic of interest to you, especially any that is organized around a theme rather than, say, a single-author course or a survey course. Consider courses with a title like “Crime and Horror in Victorian Literature and Culture” or “Art and Thought of the Cold War” or “Shakespeare and Modern Culture.”

Q: I have narrowed down my choices to three concentrations: English, Literature, and History and Literature. While I am still deciding, are there any courses I can take to fulfill a requirement for all three?"
A: English 10a and/or 10b are the courses most likely to count in all three, but be sure to check with the other concentrations to be sure. All three concentrations also have a foreign literature requirement for honors students, which you may want to tackle while you are still deciding which concentration to pursue.

Q: I’m already sold on English and am ready to begin meeting the requirements. What courses should I take first?
A: English 10a, English 10b, and English 17 are three basic survey courses required of everyone in the concentration. They do not need to be taken in any particular order, so you could, for example, take 10b in the spring term of your Freshman year and 10a in the fall term of your Sophomore year. It might also be prudent to take courses to meet the foreign literature requirement for an honors degree in English. (For details on this requirement, see the student handbook.) But you should not feel pressured to take English courses before the Spring term of the Sophomore year: there should be enough time for you to finish all the requirements in the five terms before you graduate.