Fall 2025 Final Exam Schedule

Final exams, reviews, or presentations for non-studio courses (lectures, project-based seminars, or discussion-based seminars) take place during the final exam period, December 12, 15, 16, and 17, 2025.

Students should remain available during the entire exam period. The schedule is subject to change.

Course	Instructor(s)	Room	Time
4123	Ana Maria Leon Crespo	109	9-3
4487	Francesca Benedetto	123	10-6
5204	Avis Devine, David Hamilton, Richard Peiser, Julie Perlman, Charles Wu	485 Broadway	9-12
5206	Jerold Kayden	521, 522	9-6
5212	Rick Peiser	121	1-6
5443	Alex Yuen	110	2-6
6122	Ryan Otterson	111	10-11:30
6241	Max Piana, Chris Matthews	112	10-2
6506	Charu Srivastava	Piper	12-3
7453	Jungyoon Kim	124	10-4

Course	Instructor(s)	Room	Time
2415	Teman Evans, Teran Evans	516 and online	1-6
4487	Francesca Benedetto	123	9-4
5207	Nestor Davidson	111	2-5
6244	Amy Whitesides	Piper	1-6
6503	Nat Oppenheimer	111	9-11:30
9341	Charles Waldheim	112	9-6

Course	Instructor(s)	Room	Time
4423	Erika Naginski	109	9-2
6380	Robert Zimmerman	112	9-11
6387	Dan Tish	Piper	11-3
9674	Alex Wall	122, 123	2-6

Course	Instructor(s)	Room	Time
2122	Carl D’Apolito-Dworkin	Piper	2-6
4384	David Fixler	109	9-6
6229	Martin Bechthold	111	9-12
6492	Panagiotis Michalatos	112	2-6

Updated 11/7/2025

This schedule is subject to change.

Faculty requesting additions/modifications to the Final Exam schedule should contact [email protected].

Option Studio Enrollment

This page provides information related to the Option Studio enrollment process. If you have questions about your eligibility, or about the enrollment process, please contact your program coordinator for guidance.

Current Option Studio information, including enrollment deadlines, studio offerings, presentation videos, and other details.

My.Harvard Website

Registration Procedures

Important Dates Fall 2025

Important Dates Spring 2026

Final Reviews & Exam Schedules

Registrar’s Office Resources

Option Studio Resources

Course and Studio Scheduling Guidelines

All GSD courses and studios must start and end at officially scheduled times.

Non-studio course periods are 75 minutes, separated by a 15-minute transition period. Courses must meet for two course periods, totaling 150 minutes of instructional time.

GSD Course Periods:

• 9-10:15
• 10:30-11:45
• 12-1:15
• 1:30-2:45
• 3-4:15
• 4:30-5:45

Lectures are typically held as two course periods scheduled on separate days. Required lectures should ideally not meet on consecutive days. Consecutive course periods may be approved for lectures that incorporate more interaction and discussion.

Discussion-and Project-based Seminars may be scheduled as separate course periods or as two consecutive course periods with a break during class.

Core Studio schedules differ by department and term. Required course and core studio schedules are finalized in consultation with Chairs, Program Directors, associated faculty, and academic administration.

Option Studios are scheduled for two set weekdays (with the exception of Monday) from 2-6 pm. Additional scheduling guidelines are provided for option studios.

MDes Open Projects are scheduled for two set weekdays from 2-6 pm.

 

Additional Information regarding scheduling:

• Exceptions to the above must be approved by the appropriate Chair or Advanced Studies Program Director.
• The order of priority for scheduling is Option Studios and MDes Open Projects, core studios and required courses, courses meeting distribution requirements, then general electives.
• Effort is made to accommodate all requests while keeping in mind space limitations and potential course conflicts for the various degree programs. The draft course schedule goes through multiple rounds of review, including by faculty, Department Chairs, Program Directors, MDes Domain Heads, as well as Student Forum representatives. Course schedules are subject to change during this review period. Rooms may be reassigned through the start of the semester.
• Faculty must vacate classrooms promptly to allow students to arrive at their next class and to allow the next course in a classroom to begin on time. The 15-minute transition period may be used for informal conversation outside of the classroom but is not part of the official course schedule. Consecutive period courses should allow time for a break during the course.
• Students are not required to participate in class activities outside of officially scheduled course hours. Exceptions may be approved for required courses that have mandatory discussion sections or interactive workshops. These components may be incorporated into the official course period or be in addition to set instructional time. Any exceptions to the standard course schedule must be pre-approved by the Department Chair and clearly communicated in the course descriptions and syllabi.
• Times for discussion sections and workshops are ideally identified prior to the start of the enrollment period. However, as times are often dependent upon TF and room availability, they may be scheduled after the start of the term. The process and timeline for scheduling the required discussion sessions or workshops must be communicated in the course syllabus.
• Schedule details for courses and studios should be included in the syllabus, which must be posted to the course Canvas site two weeks prior to the start of the enrollment period. This schedule should not change after the start of the term. Any modification to the schedule must be approved by the department chair and rescheduling must be coordinated with enrolled students.
• Contact [email protected] with questions.

Option Studio Scheduling:

An option studio instructor is responsible for eight instruction hours a week for the length of the semester. Option studios are scheduled for two set weekdays from 2-6pm, except for Mondays. Local instructors should meet in person two days a week, typically on non-consecutive days. Instructors from out of town may offer their studio on consecutive days to account for travel and, with approval from the Department Chair, may arrange for an irregular in-person instructional schedule.

Option Studio instructors who do not teach in person every week are expected to teach in person at least half of the semester plus the final review. Those who utilize this schedule type should determine how they plan to make up in-person instructional hours on the weeks they are not in residence. The two most typical ways of doing this are as follows (could be a combination of the two):

1. When in residence, faculty may meet with students individually, at mutually agreeable times, outside of set studio hours.
2. Instruction may take place via ZOOM on remote weeks during official studio hours.

Students are not allowed to miss other classes for studio meetings. All group activities, such as group pin-ups, discussions, etc., must take place during the officially scheduled studio time. Details regarding the studio schedule—dates when the instructor will be in residence, studio site visits, how an instructor will teach the weeks they are not in residence, etc.—must be approved by the Department Chair and communicated to students prior to the start of the semester. Details should be included in the studio syllabus, which must be posted to the course canvas site two weeks prior to the start of the term. This schedule should not change after the start of the term.

Cross Registration for GSD Students

As a full-time GSD student, you may cross-register for classes at other Harvard faculties, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and Tufts Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.

Limitations

Total Term Load

Cross-Registration units may not represent more than one-half of the student’s total units in any one term. MDes students may exceed this limit with the permission of their domain head. The petition to exceed this limit is located on the Documents tab in my.harvard.

Availability of Subject

They should normally be subjects not available at the GSD. If there is an apparent duplication of the subject in the two schools, there must be a valid reason for enrolling outside the GSD. If a course is jointly-offered at another school, i.e. it has both a GSD course number and course number at another school, students must enroll in the GSD iteration.

Relevance to GSD Degree Program

They must not constitute, in their ensemble, a program that is separate from, or in addition to, the program for which the student is formally registered in the GSD.

Harvard College, Harvard Summer School, and MIT Courses

GSD Students may take a maximum of 8 units of undergraduate-level courses, at either Harvard College, Harvard Summer School, and MIT (or a combination of the three), to be applied toward their GSD degree. Students will not receive credit toward the fulfillment of degree requirements for more than 8 units taken at the undergraduate level (however, no more than two courses taken at the Summer School, at any level, can be applied toward their degree). Please note, FAS’s Course COMP SCI 50 is not counted towards the 8 units of undergraduate-level courses. It is the responsibility of each student interested in taking cross-registered courses to contact his or her Program Department to learn about specific Cross-Registration restrictions.

Cross-Registration Petition

A student wishing to cross-register for any Harvard or MIT course should simply add the course to their Crimson Cart and enroll in the course via my.Harvard. Step-by-step instructions for this process are found here . Students failing to file cross-registration petitions will not be considered enrolled elsewhere and will not receive credit for the course at the GSD. Students must abide by the regulations of the school into which they are cross-registered and will be assigned grades under the system of that school; however, the GSD will not accept cross-registered courses taken pass/fail or SAT/UNSAT. The only exception to this policy is of the course is ONLY graded in one of those manners. FAS course Compsci 50 can be taken with any of the grade options offered. In addition, any course taken at MIT for the equivalent of their credits between 1 – 5 will not count towards your academic progress at the GSD. The threshold at which they begin to count is 6 or higher.  FOR INFORMATION REGARDING THE MIT COURSE MEETING TIMES AND LOCATIONS, YOU WILL NEED TO REFER TO THE MIT COURSE CATALOG .

Deadlines

Changes in enrollment in cross-registered courses must occur by the add/drop deadline of the Graduate School of Design or of the other school, whichever date is earlier.

The cross-registration deadlines for GSD students can be found in the my.harvard Course Search, by clicking on the Cross-Registration Dates tab.

Grades

If a GSD student receives a grade considered passing at the school at which the course is listed, he or she may receive credit for cross-registered courses offered by Harvard College; Harvard’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Business School, Kennedy School of Government, Graduate School of Education, Chan School of Public Health, Law School, or Divinity School; the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University; and MIT. Students may obtain credit toward the fulfillment of a degree at the GSD for a maximum of two undergraduate-level courses, or the equivalent of eight GSD units, at Harvard College or Harvard Summer School. MDesS Students may obtain a maximum of three undergraduate-level courses or twelve GSD units at the College.

When cross-registering, students must abide by the dates and policies  of the school in which the course is offered, unless the GSD deadlines are earlier (petitions are always due by the earlier deadline). Information on individual school cross-registration dates and policies can be found on the splash page of the my.harvard   Course Search, or on the individual school websites listed below.

GSD students who wish to audit a course should make arrangements directly with the instructor. Audited courses are not recorded on transcripts. Students from outside of the GSD who wish to audit a GSD course should contact the registrar in order to acquire a petition to audit.

Students who cross-register into the GSD will be graded according to the GSD grading system; letter grades will not be awarded.

GSD students cannot cross-register into another course on a pass/fail or satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis, even if the host school allows it.  As noted above, the only exception to this policy is when the course is ONLY offered on a pass/fail or satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis, and the College’s CS50 course. Otherwise, cross-registered courses must be graded according to the host school’s standard, ordinal system.

Grading Systems

 

School	Satisfactory	Low Satisfactory	Fail
Graduate School of Design	DIS, HP, P	LP	F
Business School	E, SA -I, II	LP/ -III	UNS – IV
Divinity School	A, A-, B+, B, B-	C+, C, C-, D+, D, D-	E
Faculty of Arts & Sciences	A, A-, B+, B, B-/SAT	C+, C, C-, D+, D, D-	E/UNS
Kennedy School	A, A-, B+, B, B-/SAT	C+, C, C-, D+, D, D-	E/UNS
Law School	H, P	LP	F
Medical School	EXL, SAT, P		U
School of Education	A, B	C, D	E
School of Public Health	A, A-, B+, B, B-, /P	C+, C, C-	F
MIT	A, B	C, D	F
Fletcher (Tufts)	A, A-, B+, B, B-, SAT		C and below

Note that although MIT utilizes “+” and “-“ grade modifiers internally, they are not reported to other offices, and thus only whole, ordinal MIT grades will appear on a student’s GSD record.

Cross-Registration Credit Chart

Credit/unit conversions can be found in the my.harvard Course Search, by clicking on the Credit Conversion tab.  Choose Harvard Graduate School of Design as your Home School.  Those schools that are not listed have a 1:1 conversion with GSD units.

Cross-Registration Policies at Other Schools

Students should familiarize themselves with the policies and procedures outlined by the school into which they will be cross-registering.

Cross-Registration Policies Within Harvard

• Faculty of Arts and Sciences
• Business School
• Divinity School
• Kennedy School
• Law School
• Medical School
• School of Education
• School of Public Health

Cross-Registration Policies Outside Harvard

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) – Although you are not charged tuition to cross-register at MIT, lab, studio, or other fees may apply. These fees are billed by MIT and must paid through MITPay .
• Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts

Helpful Information

• You may add multiple courses to your Crimson Cart before submitting the actual enrollments.
• It can be helpful to email or speak to the instructor about your interest in cross-registering when petitioning to add a course.
• Instructors will receive an email alert when students have submitted a petition for their course. Instructors approve or deny student requests online.
• GSD students are not enrolled in a course until they receive email notification from the Host School registrar, with the exception of MIT which enrolls you as soon as their instructor approves you, even if you did not take the final step of moving the course from your Crimson Cart to your Enrolled Courses.

Note for Graduating Students

Please note that if you are a May graduate and cross-register in to MIT courses during your final semester, there is a chance that we will not receive those MIT grades in time for them to be taken in to account by your department when they are considering Commencement-related academic awards.  Because MIT’s spring semester generally starts a week after the GSD and Harvard, we find that students are often still taking their MIT final exams at the same time that degrees are being voted on.  Missing MIT grades at the time of the degree vote will not prevent you from graduating; a failing grade would.

FERPA

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, as amended (“FERPA”) is a federal law that gives students certain rights with respect to their education records.

Please contact the Registrar’s Office if you want to discuss applying a full FERPA block to your record.

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (“FERPA”)

Education Records

The Graduate School of Design (GSD) routinely maintains records for its students that describe and document their work and progress. These education records generally include records such as permanent and local addresses, admissions records, enrollment status, course grades, reports and evaluations, completion of requirements and progress toward the degree, records of disciplinary actions, letters of recommendation, and other correspondence with or concerning the student.

Access to your Permanent Record

To be useful, students’ records must be accurate and complete. The officials who maintain them are those in charge of the functions reflected in the records and the offices where the records are kept. These ordinarily include the Registrar of the GSD, as well as academic program offices. All students have access to their own education records and may contribute to them if they feel there is need for clarification. Students wishing access to their education records should contact the GSD Registrar. Ordinarily, students are asked to submit a written request that identifies the specific record or records he/she wishes to inspect. Access will be given within 45 days from the receipt of the request. When a record contains information about more than one student, the student requesting access may inspect and review only the portion of the record relating to him or her. Students also are not permitted to view letters and statements of recommendation to which they waived their right of access, or that were placed in their file before January 1, 1975.

Students should direct any questions they have about the accuracy of records to the person in charge of the office where the records are kept. If questions still remain, the matter may be referred to the Dean of Students. Should it be necessary, a hearing may be held to resolve challenges concerning the accuracy of records in those cases where informal discussions have not satisfactorily settled the questions raised.

Directory Information

The GSD regards the following information as “directory information,” that is, information that, under FERPA, can be made available to the general public: name (including recorded name), local address, local phone, degree program, date of graduation, email address, previous degree(s) and institution(s), and enrollment status. Please note that Harvard University’s definition of “directory information,” found in the Provost’s FERPA Overview, may include elements in addition to those used by the GSD, and that requests for directory information received at the University level thus may result in disclosure of such additional elements.

Students may direct the GSD not to disclose their directory information, usually known as putting in place a “FERPA Block.” To do so, a student must inform the GSD Registrar in writing, of that decision. Students should be aware of the possible consequences of putting in place a FERPA Block, such as missed mailings, messages, and announcements, non-verification of enrollment or degree status, and non-inclusion in the Harvard Commencement booklet. Students who have previously chosen to put in place a FERPA Block may decide to reverse this decision, also by informing the GSD Registrar in writing.

Other Disclosures permitted under FERPA

In addition to permitting the disclosure of directory information, as set forth above, FERPA permits disclosure of educational records without a student’s knowledge or consent under certain circumstances. For example, disclosure is permitted to Harvard officials with a legitimate educational interest in the records, meaning that the person needs the information in order to fulfill his or her professional responsibilities, including instructional, supervisory, advisory, administrative, academic or research, staff support or other duties. “Harvard officials” include: faculty; administrators; clerical employees; professional employees; Harvard University Health Services staff members; Harvard University Police Department officers; agents of the University, such as independent contractors performing functions on behalf of the GSD or the University; members of Harvard’s governing boards; and students serving on an official GSD or University committee, or assisting another Harvard official in performing his or her tasks. A student’s education record also may be shared with parties outside the University under certain conditions, including, for example, in situations involving a health and safety emergency. In addition, the GSD will forward a student’s education records to other agencies or institutions that have requested the records and in which the student seeks or intends to enroll or is already enrolled so long as the disclosure is for purposes related to the student’s enrollment or transfer.

If the GSD finds that a student has committed a disciplinary violation involving a crime of violence or a non-forcible sex offense, then it also may, if legally permitted and in the GSD’s judgment appropriate, disclose certain information about the disciplinary case. The disclosure may include the student’s name, the violation committed, and the sanction imposed.

Student Rights Under FERPA

As set forth above, under both Harvard policy and FERPA, students and former students may inspect and review certain of their education records that are maintained by Harvard. They also have the right to: exercise limited control over other people’s access to their education records; seek to correct their education records if they believe them to be inaccurate, misleading or otherwise in violation of their FERPA rights; file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education if they believe Harvard has not complied with the requirements of FERPA; and be fully informed of their rights under FERPA. Complaints regarding alleged violation of rights of students under FERPA may be submitted in writing within 180 days to the Family Policy Compliance Office, US Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, S.W., Washington, DC 20202-5920.